Pinball Hall of Fame must plays?

[JMB]

I'll be in Vegas for a long weekend in January. A trip to the Hall of Fame is on my list of things to do. What would be on your must play list? This will be my first chance to try Medieval Madness.  Any highly recommended EM's?

[Jeff AMN]

Honestly, once you get in there and start walking the aisles you'll really know what you want to play. I made a list the first time and ended up not even referring to it once there.

[gShooter]

I always seem to end up playing 8 Ball Deluxe more than I should.

[Otifrank]

I went with a big list to play, found the Black Knight 2000 and several hours later.....OMFG!! It's dark outside! How long have I been here??

[Zero_Hour]

If it's working, Pinball Circus is a must play. Otherwise just walk the aisles a couple of times and you'll find the one you didn't even know you were looking for.

[pinballwizard79]

That place is the ---steaming pile of meadow muffin---!

You should play everything

[jtslade]

Please post pics!

[Q*Bert_OP]

Play everything besides Bally/Williams DMD games and you'll be off to a good start.

Agreed, except be sure to play Pinball Circus...that's the only place you can play that game in the US...

[smartbomb2084]

Why wouldn't we want to play Bally/Williams' DMD games?

[smartbomb2084]

The vast majority of blanket statements are false.

[amendonz]

Haha it seems like you aren't a true pinball lover till you hate most pinballs.

[smartbomb2084]

I would try and play all of the games I have not played before regardless of era or manufacturer and If time was plentiful play the games I do like that I have not played in a while.

All this negative bias around here is so unsettling.

[JMB]

Thanks for all the opinions. I'm in my early 40's so the late 70's to late 80's are the machines I grew up with and stick in my mind the most. I will probably suck at most of them so at least I'll be able to play a lot in a short period of time! 

[RayB]

Try out:
TX-Sector
Black Hole
Xenon
Spectrum
Arena
and Future Spa just to laugh at the artwork and theme.

[Q*Bert_OP]

Don't bother with Black Hole...

Last time I was there, there were 2 there, and I broke both of them. Also in my numerous past visits, I have managed to break the Black Hole and Haunted House...all 7 times

Good luck completing a game on it without a problem.

As far as what I like:

Impacto (foreign EM pin, plastic playfield...very fast and strange feel)
Orbitor 1 (weird early Stern SS...curved playfield makes the game all luck, but a cool novelty game)
Banzai Run
Space Station
Time Machine
Safe Cracker
Almost all Gottlieb EMs
Many of the DMD Gottliebs, except Waterworld

I would avoid many of the DMD games and late 80's games othat rely on ramp shots...many of the games there have weak flippers

If Tim's Medieval Madness was the first example of that title I played, I wouldn't touch it again, much less have $2500 in parts for it sitting around.

For the most part, Tim's current Stern DMD games seem to work OK, but those can still be found on location

[Jeff AMN]

Both Black Hole and Haunted House were working very well earlier this year when I visited.

[chiLLbiLLy]

The #1 must play machine out there is Pinball Circus, without a doubt.  Not because it's a great game (it isn't), but due to it's super uniqueness and rarity (only 2 in existence, I think is the claim), you just simply have to try it out.  I found it quite fun, myself, but also quite easy.  Not a game I would keep coming back to, but I'm glad to say I've played the only one out there.  Where is the other one, I wonder?

Beyond that, the PHOF just has lots of stuff you've probably never seen or have only seen in photos, unless you tour the country regularly attending pinball conventions.  Lots of EM games, too, if that floats your boat.  I quite enjoyed playing Q-Bert's Quest, Fireball, '79 Star Trek and many of the woodrails, EM's and others that just don't make it to my neck of the woods out at the Texas Pinball Festival. 

And while it's probably cheaper to just charge a flat fee and play any game for free after that, like they do at pinball conventions, I kinda like the fact that it's pay-to-play there.  Makes earning a free game (or matching) mean something again...

[Pinball Wizard]

If you play Pinball Circus you should play the pinball that is in a Robotron cabinet. It's again not the greatest game in the work but where else are you going to play it?

And while it's probably cheaper to just charge a flat fee and play any game for free after that, like they do at pinball conventions, I kinda like the fact that it's pay-to-play there.  Makes earning a free game (or matching) mean something again...

That's why when my gameroom is finished (does that ever happen?) I'm putting it on tokens. I know that you will just be able to go up to my changer and push a button on it but it is still the fact of the coin that makes the difference.

[chiLLbiLLy]

Yeah, I think that if you ever consider your gameroom as actually being 'finished', then you're probably either:

1) Dead
2) Broke
3) About to get married/have a child (see #2 & maybe #1)
4) About to get divorced (definitely see #2)
5) Have lost all interest in the hobby

   as far as using coins in your own gameroom goes, though.  I don't have a coin changer or anything, yet, but it still makes a huge difference to me, to have to run over and grab some actual quarters out of a jar and actually put them into the pinball machines or arcade machine, versus just constantly coining-up using free credits.  Guess it all just depends on what you're used to.  I grew up in the arcades back in the day, so I'm used to using real quarters or tokens, plus I like periodically opening the machines to collect the coins and what have you...just like an arcade or game operator would do.

[Pinball Wizard]

I just got lucky with the changer. I paid $40 for it in an unknown condition and got lucky that it worked. It is a nice one and it hold ~$100 in it.

[Mikezilla]

Do you guys know the name of the pinball that showed someone getting killed on it? I think they drowned or something. I think it started with a "F". 

If that even exists, I would play that.

[Mikezilla]

Ah thank you. that was going to bug me. 

[nostrebor]

Impacto (foreign EM pin, plastic playfield...very fast and strange feel)
Orbitor 1 (weird early Stern SS...curved playfield makes the game all luck, but a cool novelty game)
Banzai Run
Space Station

Qbert's list is the same as mine. Orbitor 1 was strangely compelling and grin-worthy. Banzai Run was much more fun than I expected. The Black Hole was working the day we were there, but wasn't as awesome as I had hoped. We also played the variety of EM gun games he had and a bucket-load of AFM and the new Sterns that we had not been able to play on location. The Williams DMD row was good for about a game each, but there were issues with many of the pins.

There were a lot of people there that day, so we didn't get to play everything we wanted.

Worth the trip x 10!