Starting to look for an 80's pinball, suggestions please...

OldTymeToys

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Starting to look for an 80's pinball, suggestions please...

I'm not a pin guy, but I played my fair share in the arcades BITD. I vividly remember playing Comet, Haunted House and Space Shuttle at the local bowling alley. I always dropped a few bucks into them and enjoyed them, but never as much as video games.

A few of my buddies and I got to talking over the weekend how "everyone needs at least one pin" and that was it. I'm looking for one pin now!

After hours and hours of thought, I've decided I don't necessarily need one of the 3 pins above, but I do want one from the 80's. So here are my criteria so far:

- $600-$800 price range
- 1980's era
- a bit obscure but with decent art
- preferred themes are prehistoric or medieval
- PG rated since I have little kids.

After digging into the above, the first pin that caught my eye was Grand Lizard.

All suggestions and critiques welcome…
 
Grand lizard i heard is a great pin, i like the looks. Sorceror is also another one worth checking into - and - you can play it on Xbox 360 or PS3 Williams classic game (its a good game to have - Funhouse, Medevil madness, firepower i think, etc).
 
Lost World appeals to me more than Firepower, but both are viable options I suppose. I guess I should take into account gameplay too ;)

Your theme request is why I suggested Lost World. Nice pin for kids - easy to play.

Firepower, on the other hand, now THAT'S fun for everyone.

"FIIIIREPOOOOWER"

Love that pin.
 
Grand lizard i heard is a great pin, i like the looks. Sorceror is also another one worth checking into - and - you can play it on Xbox 360 or PS3 Williams classic game (its a good game to have - Funhouse, Medevil madness, firepower i think, etc).

I like the looks of Sorcerer! I do need to pick up that Williams classics game...

Barracora!
Fathom!

WOW- I love Fathom's art!!! How's the gameplay? I've never heard of it, but that's not saying much- I wonder if they are hard to come by?
 
Don't limit yourself to the 80's. The early 90's stuff was pretty damn good!

Lost World - I have one of these and I find it REALLY boring, sorry. http://ipdb.org/machine.cgi?id=1476

Escape from the Lost World - http://ipdb.org/machine.cgi?id=789

Swords of Fury - http://ipdb.org/machine.cgi?id=2486

Personally, I did not find Grand Lizard all that fun, but everyone likes different stuff :D

Others I like that are family friendly (may be a bit out of the price range though)

Diner - http://ipdb.org/machine.cgi?id=681

Mousin' Around - http://ipdb.org/machine.cgi?id=1635

Black Knight 2000 - http://ipdb.org/machine.cgi?id=311

Be sure you play what you're thinking of buying BEFORE you buy. Nothing like being stuck with a pin you hate :(

Chris
 
WOW- I love Fathom's art!!! How's the gameplay? I've never heard of it, but that's not saying much- I wonder if they are hard to come by?

Fathom is pure awesome all the way around, art and gameplay. They are a bit hard to find, I'm wanting to find one myself. Hopefully in a few months after I finish the 3 pins in the queue now I'll find one.
 
+1 Firepower. I'd say High Speed as well, but I say Firepower over this because it covers both pre-hump and post-hump players*. High Speed is asking for a slightly more specific chain of events to happen in order to progress, so it can be a bit less friendly to beginner players. Firepower you can flail and accidentally light the ball save and locks to progress just because the targets are right there.

Both are simple but deep when you wanna start accomplishing rules. Both will test and level up your skills. Both are bad ass for that era.

Fantasy themed stuff: Sorcerer, BlackKnight (same designer as FP/HS) and Gorgar are great (you can check em out on the Pinball Hall of Fame releases on 360/ps3). I've played Grand Lizard a few times, I thought it was fun. I just haven't played it enough to have a solid opinion beyond that. :p

*= I say hump, in that everyone goes through this phase with pinball of just keeping the ball alive and shooting randomly and thinking the game is all luck...then they get over the hump by gaining ball control and realize how much skill there is and that these games can have a ton of gameplay depth.
 
Roller Games is one of my favorites and people on here seem to say it's not well regarded so you can probably get it for real cheap. It's not medieval or pre-historic themed but boy oh boy is it 80's! Gnarly!
It has a great music track as well.
 
Anybody else like Taxi? Fun game, great looking art, simple to learn but hard as shit to complete (IMHO). Im not a pin guy either so maybe I just suck. My 3 year old loves that game though. You could find one in your price range though.
 
Anybody else like Taxi? Fun game, great looking art, simple to learn but hard as shit to complete (IMHO). Im not a pin guy either so maybe I just suck. My 3 year old loves that game though. You could find one in your price range though.

I just got a Taxi and forgot how much I loved it. Great game for visitors and pin newbs since the voice does a great job of giving cues about what to do next.

I snagged a Pinbot a few months ago (my favorite pin of all time), and in addition to the Taxi I want to get Space Shuttle, High Speed and Big Guns.

None of those games are exotic or expensive, but I love them!
 
Pinbot and Black Night seem like good ones to me... both fun games.

And, they always seem to be in demand by collectors. A good thing if you ever decide to sell.
 
You'd be hard pressed to find any of the mentioned titles in the $600 -$800 price range, but you never know.

I'd say Black Knight, Xenon, Fathom, Sorceror, Black Hole. Again, price will be the problem.

Maybe Lightning or Meteor.
 
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