My IM thoughts
goatdan
the novice division tournament (which I'm still in disbelief over!)
Only got to play twice, the lines were really long and there were
other pins and games to play so I did other stuff for the other time.
My qualification round was my first time ever playing, as I tend to do
better on my first game on a new Stern machine then I do for the next
500 plays. At the MGC, I played the BBH once at the end of the day
Saturday to see what it was like, and I got a top ten score for the
weekend. I've played route BBH's at least a dozen times since then
and haven't sniffed 25% of what I did that time... That's just how it
goes.
Anyway, I returned for the finals and my second game, had a horrid
first ball and then very good second and third balls. I really,
really like this machine. And honestly, I still don't really get most
of the rules, but from the two first games I played, this and BBH make
two huge winners from Stern recently.
All right, let's see here -- the raising up and down of Iron Monger in
the middle of the playfield is absolutely spectacular and a great
first draw to get into the game. When that thing raises up and you
see it there, it just looks awesome and you want to go check it out.
Great attract mode software here.
The music and dots are the best music and dots on any game that I have
ever seen, period. The music I am pretty sure is the music straight
from the score, which is perhaps my favorite movie music ever. For
those wishing for AC/DC, I really don't think it would have added
anything to the game that isn't there from the score music, and I
think the score music really pumps the game up. The dots are stuff
from the movie that look incredible -- not all muddy like I thought
Spider-Man's dots looked, but really nice, clean, *easily*
recognizable movie stuff that looked outstanding. I was definitely
enjoying it as I kept my eyes on the game as people qualified near the
end, trying to determine if I'd stay in the top 8 or not ;)
The game itself I like just about everything on. The War Monger (I
think) cannon thing that shoots the ball back at you does it perfectly
for a feature like that, as I never felt like it was heading to an
uncontrollable spot. Loved that shot. The orbit is nice, but the
spinners are more challenging due to their location on the playfield
than you expect them to be, which makes it a little harder to hit
them. Which to me is a great design -- you really have to aim to make
those shots. The magnet near Iron Man I didn't really get what it
did, but it was a great visual I thought. The War Monger bash toy is
an absolute blast, and the magnet in front of it with the exception of
the start of multiball, if you aim your shots well doesn't affect play
much, but if you don't it most certainly does affect play. A great
addition, and I like the randomness that it has. Makes nudging more
important to the game.
The ramps that everyone was complaining about being too hard to shoot
I think are that way for a reason. Those ramps give out very big
awards for each shot that is taken on them compared to the points you
can get elsewhere in the game. And you have to urge the ball to make
it over the top of them because if not, they definitely have a
dangerous return toward you. Yes, they are not flow ramps. But they
also are a great risk and reward shot for a game that has a decent
amount of easier to make shots. Do you risk the 500k for a ramp shot,
or do you take the cheap shot for a lot less points? This is a
perfect use of the longer ramps, and I found the curves in them to
mean that the ball didn't necessarily come out of them the same way
every time, which again I appreciated.
I'm a fan of tough games, and toughly set up games -- if you played
any of my games at the MGC, you know that -- and maybe part of the
reason that I liked IM so much was it was set up SO tough. I could
have dropped easily $15 in it in an hour but I would have. And I
think the general public will hopefully feel the same way. The
obvious bash toy, the overall look (including dots) of the game and
the sound of the game should prove to be a great reason to want to
walk up and play the game.
I haven't played it enough to really make the call of exactly how good
I think it is, but IM is easily one of my top five Stern pins (which
my list includes SM, BBH, AP, WoF and now IM) and might just be at the
top of that list. Excellent, excellent machine. I hope it does
really well for the company.
By the way, my 17 year old cousin and my friend's 12 (I think) year
old son both loved it too, and had it not been for the huge lines
would have gladly played it a ton. Hopefully, that is a sign too!
George Hali
Nice review but I have to disagree with the dots. Most are too fuzzy.
Maybe future updates will help. Yes. The game is awesome.
George
Pindufus
local bar yesterday. I agree with all the favorable comments. The
only negative I have of the game is that the magnets can, on
occassion, throw the ball SDTM or directly into the outlane. I had
one game where all three balls drained because of that and only scored
under a Mil total as a result. I felt a little cheated by the game as
a result. The game screwed me rather than my normal stupid play. I
thought something like a 2 second ball save might be appropriate when
the ball shoots off the magnets. Just my opinion, of course.
Just curious. What were the high scores that took home trophies?
gangstarr
looks like next time you need not to enter novice division. in a
setting like that, novice is for people who dont own games or play
much...
step it up dan, join "us"...;)
On May 8, 12:07 pm, goatdan <loo...@goatstore.com> wrote:
goatdan
> sounded too easy for you to win, even when never playing it.
> looks like next time you need not to enter novice division. in a
> setting like that, novice is for people who dont own games or play
> much...
> step it up dan, join "us"...;)
The "Novice" division was for anyone not ranked in the top 250 on
IFPA, which even if I had qualified for I wouldn't have made it. It
definitely wasn't set up easy, but since I have all my games set up to
be super freaking hard as their "normal" settings I think that gave me
a bit of an advantage in playing a super tough set up game.
I'd love to get ranked higher, I need more tournaments that are closer
to me that I am not written out of playing in ;) Right now, with no
job and a brand new baby, I really don't have the opportunity to
travel :(
mnpinball
I know Dr. Who has a few second ball save feature when the balls are
released from the center balls locks because at times they go SDTM.
Not such a bad idea on IM but it does make for a tough game. I don't
like a game that gives you everything. ;-)
Learn the game and adjust accordingly. Bump and nudge and hit that
monger with a side shot helps.
d rock
>
> - Show quoted text -
George,
I had two different spideys and feel that the animations on my iron
man are very clear and much nicer then spidey's dots
derek
George Hali
>
> - Show quoted text -
They may be nicer than the Spidey dots, but very clear? Maybe the
words shoot the center spinner or multiball etc are but the movie clip
animations are fuzzy as hell.
George
George
llabrevlis
I have to agree about the need for a ball save when one of the magnets
throws the ball either STDM or into the outlane, VERY frustrating when
it happens. If anyone remembers, early software versions of the
original Indiana Jones didn't have a ball save when you made a perfect
center drop shot and the ball went straight out the left outlane.
They soon changed that to make it a better, fairer game.
I was at the Seattle launch party, and got in about 4 games on IM, too
early for me to give a definitive judgment on it, but I'd have to say
I'm encouraged by what I saw, and look forward to playing it more in
depth in the future.
One small gripe about the launch party though, and I guess Stern's
marketing in general, they didn't even give away flyers, never mind
any keychains, plastics, or any other kind of souvenirs ;-( I know
they are on a tight budget, but flyers have been an advertising tool
for pinball since, well forever!!! If you are going to print them, why
not use them!!
Dale