Olds go nostalgic for the good old days of pinball

[LockeCJ]

@ChickieD

Spooky Pinball’s Total Nuclear Annihilation.

I was lucky enough to get to play this as a homebrew/prototype at TPF. The gameplay was essentially the same, but with an essentially empty backglass and hand-drawn sharpie art on the playfield. It was still a blast to play and a testament that a good design and fun gameplay are far more important than gimmicks or theme. The ball lock on this game is legitimately cool. The music, which was composed by the game’s creator, is fantastic. One small point of clarification: The retail game is produced and distributed by Spooky Pinball, but was designed almost entirely by one person, Scott Danesi. He went on to design the Rick and Morty game for Spooky, which I haven’t had a chance to play yet.

I though I had posted about it before. It took a little digging, but here’s what I said back then:

@LockeCJ

There is a game being produced by Spooky Pinball called Total Nuclear Annihilation. It has no ramps or extra playfields, very much in line with the street-level concept. I played a prototype of it earlier this year(before Spooky got involved), and it was some of the most fun I had among 400+ machines available at the show.

I found the pictures of the whitewood too:

@ChickieD

Jersey Jack games are a lot of bells and whistles

I haven’t played Toy Story 4, Guns 'n Roses, or Wonka yet, but I highly recommend Dialed In! which was designed by Pat Lawlor (The Addams Family, Funhouse, Banzai Run). It’s not licensed, and one of their lower sellers as a result (probably), but I think it’s one of their best playing games.

@ChickieD

Banzai Run - the only pinball table with a fully functioning pinball game in the back glass as well as the main table.

It’s a pretty memorable gimmick, but I could never get much ball time in the backbox, what with gravity and all.

@ChickieD

I spent a lot of time on Pinbot. I love that game so hard.

Same. Pinbot and Safe Cracker are the two machines I would probably most want to own. Neither are difficult to find, but they are also not cheap. I’ll probably never get a Pinbot via windfall, since my Brother-in-law also wants one, and the chances of finding two are low.

I like Bride of Pinbot, but not as much. Jackbot is also good and more technically advanced, but I think that the original is the best of the three. Also worth mentioning is the Doctor Who table, which has a similar upper playfield toy.

@ChickieD

flippers in the upper part of the table that would sometimes move and knit together to stop the ball

According to IPDB, there were 31 games that used Zipper Flippers, most produced between 1966 and 1970. Medusa, in 1981, is one of the latest games with that feature, although I don’t think I’ve seen it in the upper playfield on others. I was going to say that I haven’t played Medusa, but after looking at it, I’m not sure any more. I can’t find any photos to back up my fuzzy memory. Notable tables with that feature that I’ve definitely played are Fireball, Four Million B.C., and The Wiggler.

@ChickieD

variations of Black Knight

I still haven’t played the most recent one. It’s a rare unlicensed game from the modern-day Stern. I have a soft spot for games that don’t lean on known quantities, you might have noticed.