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Hardest game in pinball?!

Bobbdobalina

Bobbdobalina

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Joined
Apr 6, 2021
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Hi all, just missed out on a FG the other week on gumtree so been watching the PAPA YouTube video on Flash Gordon game play and it looks brutal!

Is it generally considered ones of the hardest pins or are there some more that just chew you up a spit you out?
 
Most old games have short(er) ball times but I don't think that necessarily makes them harder as there's also less to achieve.

I thought IMDN was really hard - some tricky shots and you absolutely need to be good at stage flipping in the multiballs.
 
Fubar said:
Most old games have short(er) ball times but I don't think that necessarily makes them harder as there's also less to achieve.

I thought IMDN was really hard - some tricky shots and you absolutely need to be good at stage flipping in the multiballs.
Click to expand...
That rings true, only played imdn once and thought it was quite hard.
 
So far for me Halloween, balls popping up everywhere in multiball, some hard shots to make and 3 playfields to work on. You need to get balls into the subway to give you time to do other things before they pop out again otherwise you will be struggling. I still struggle!

Agree, most SS games are quick games. Coin munchers! Not a bad thing though😎
 
My understanding is that the following are considered hard pins:
  • Flash Gordon (mostly due to the centre pops)
  • Bram Stoker's Dracula (lightning flippers)
  • Stern Jurassic Park (narrow playfield with tight shots, and timed/linear gameplay)
  • Total Nuclear Annihilation (very simple rules, everything on the playfield wants to kill you)
  • Paragon (heavy widebody with risky inline drops)
  • The Shadow
  • The Walking Dead (playfield configuration)
Some people think Fish Tales is hard, but it depends on how it's set up.
 
Depends what you mean by hard?

The older games tend to have shorter ball times, does that make them hard?

There isn't a Bally/Williams I haven't got to the wizard mode on.

I've got to wizard mode on virtually all Sterns I have owned - including TWD (LMS),LotR, AcDC, BDK, JP, GZ, AIQ, SM, TSPP, FG, etc.
I was very close on IMdn but didn't quite get there before selling it. But sure I would get there now with flipper cooling fans.

The Sterns I was furthest away from wizard mode were PotC and WPT, both need lots achieving and if you mess up on a mb it gets harder to requalify and attempt again. I've never seen ANYONE get to Gauntlet on PotC.

I've only had limited time on Woz and DI from JJP, but was only 1 shot away from wizard mode on both. PotC doesn't even have a wizard mode, but the mini wizards are incredibly difficult, especially considering the effort to get there, and then once you do limited instructions on what you're meant to do.

Some wizard modes you achieve by default just by having long games (GZ), others you have to target specific tasks (BDK).

It really all comes down to your definition of hard.
 
Flash Gordon is tough but it’s achievable - other games are tougher and not so achievable - Frontier is one example Bounty Hunter another.
 
I feel like we had a similar conversation in the "games that make you a better player" thread.

I think a game is as hard as you want it to be and depends on the circumstances.

Often games that appear harder don't have an end goal and are just about getting points, like the early solid states and earlier WPC games.

I suppose modern games can feel hard because you're aware there's multiple modes or objectives you may never see.
 
I owned a Flash Gordon and sold it in short order. It was not because it is a hard game. Fish Tales is my most played game and many folk conaider this a hard game.

I dumped FG as you can play 10 games in a row and get radically different scores. I have probably owned 20 games or so, none have displayed this level of scoring volatility. FG is a badly designed game with too large an element of chance. No matter how good you are, you can have a terrible game on FG.

Properly designed games like TAF, WW, SS reward you according to how well you play, not how lucky you are
 
FG 1981

TAF 1992
WW 1993
SS 1996

Very different era games.

If I play friends and family I win 9/10 times, if it was that volatile surely it wouldn't be used so consistently in classic comps. The Pinfest Flash Gordon qualifying scores would suggest good players get the best scores to me.
 
DRD said:
I owned a Flash Gordon and sold it in short order. It was not because it is a hard game. Fish Tales is my most played game and many folk conaider this a hard game.

I dumped FG as you can play 10 games in a row and get radically different scores. I have probably owned 20 games or so, none have displayed this level of scoring volatility. FG is a badly designed game with too large an element of chance. No matter how good you are, you can have a terrible game on FG.

Properly designed games like TAF, WW, SS reward you according to how well you play, not how lucky you are
Click to expand...
With all due respect, I couldn't disagree more ☺️
 
DRD said:
I owned a Flash Gordon and sold it in short order. It was not because it is a hard game. Fish Tales is my most played game and many folk conaider this a hard game.

I dumped FG as you can play 10 games in a row and get radically different scores. I have probably owned 20 games or so, none have displayed this level of scoring volatility. FG is a badly designed game with too large an element of chance. No matter how good you are, you can have a terrible game on FG.

Properly designed games like TAF, WW, SS reward you according to how well you play, not how lucky you are
Click to expand...

Fantastic Pinball Facts No. 81
FG is plagiarized from Black Knight the designer worked opposite to Steve Ritchie or something.
 
Gottlieb Sinbad at Special when lit - I think it probably has the shortest ball times, great fun going for all those drops though(!)
 
I find Stern SW pro really difficult- lots of right out lane drains, stand ups that hit it down the middle, a ball launch that was designed by Stevie Wonder- not Steve Ritchie
 
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