Hi all,
My Merlin's Arcade arrived this week and as I believe this is the first one in the UK, I thought I'd start a thread for it. Hopefully more UK people buy it, otherwise I'm creating a thread just for myself. I have agreed to take it to Play Expo Glasgow in July so anyone wanting to try it can play it there.
First up, what is the game all about? Its by Turner Pinball and the aim is for you to battle knights by playing games in Merlins Arcade. Each knight has their own sport/game which is achieved by shooting their appropriate area on the playfield - basketball, darts, pool, air hockey, video games etc which are awarded by shooting orbits, ramps, standup targets, pop bumpers etc. Once you complete enough of the knights shots, you can then shoot the scoop to start a battle. If you dont go for the scoop, you can continue making shots to qualify for the other knights and then when you hit the scoop you can battle multiple knights at once. Battling one knight at a time is quite easy. Shoot their specific shots, eg hit the 7 pool targets to defeat the pool playing knight then hit the 8 ball (scoop) to defeat that knight. Other knights are similar, shoot their orbits, ramps etc then hit the scoop to defeat them. When you defeat them, they turn evil and go from being a good knight to a bad one and their graphics change. After you defeat a knight you can also play that specific knights multiball - each knight has a multiball. There is also a more standard multiball, Merlins multiball, which you can lock balls for by hitting the 2 standups at either side of the ramp and then shoot the ramp itself. Repeat 3 times for Merlins multiball. You can stack Merlins multiball with the modes so best to start a battle mode first and then collect Merlins multiball. There are also duels but I've not got that far yet.
Cool toy in the game - has to be the foosball spinner modelled to look like a knight. Absolute joy to hit.
Cabinet - very innovative. When you release the glass, it can be lifted up, so no need to keep 3 feet of space in front of the pin in order to slide the glass off. Glass comes off along with the side rails etc so you can hold it from there and not cover the glass in fingerprints. Cab itself is solid with proper joinery (didnt think i'd ever need to write that but after Sterns Spike 3 cab, it now doesnt seem to be a given that woodwork would be properly done).
Other nice ideas - Finesse flippers - theres an extra set of flipper buttons that you can use to pass the ball over from the left to right flipper and vice versa. Lights beside the flippers change when you use it - green, amber, red - and you need to wait a few seconds for it to charge back up again so you can use it. Really nice idea. Took me a few games to master it but once you get the hang of it, its really easy to do and makes you appear to be a top pinball player (which i am certainly not!).
Code is currently at 0.85 so theres more to come for it. Turner Pinball is also developing PinAccess which they have said will be available in a couple of months - guess it might be similar to Stern Insider but not entirely sure, so I will update with what it does if I can get on their beta program (emailed asking to join).
My thoughts so far - its great fun, I really like it. It was a random punt and I've been burnt with taking punts on games I haven't played before and I hated them (Halloween) so I was very relieved that this game is decent. Admittedly my first 2-3 games weren't great as I had no idea what I was doing and I was pressing the finesse flippers at the wrong time and making a meal of it. If I had only played one game on this at a show, I would have been confused as to what I was meant to do and would probably have walked away thinking the game was just ok but not one I'd buy. I did exactly that with Ninja Eclipse so I think I now need to revisit that game and put 4 or 5 games on it as its probably gonna be similar to Merlins in that you dont really get a feel for it in 1 or 2 games. I think thats probably due to not having loads of call out telling you what to shoot, but obviously once you play the game 3-4 times you start to learn what to shoot (it is on the screen and shots do flash as normal). Plus I guess having call outs telling you what to shoot would get annoying after you know what you're doing so thats not exactly a bad thing. After a few games though, I love it! Its VERY fast and that makes Merlins multiball very hectic and challenging. I also really like the artwork - very 80s cartoon style with good knights on one side of the cabinet and the evil knights on the other. The game itself is kicking my a*se at the minute, but thats also a good thing for a home use pin as it will take me a while to get through it.
I was originally going with the Pro equivalent model but upgraded to the LE equivalent and it was worth it! Cabinet lighting built into the frame just finishes it off. Massive thanks to David from Retro Arcade Specialists for helping me upgrade it to the LE. Above and beyond service as usual!
I'll add some pics of it below and find the video of how to remove the glass as I think that is a potential gamechanger for people without much space in front of their pins and hopefully more manufacturers adopt a similar system.
My Merlin's Arcade arrived this week and as I believe this is the first one in the UK, I thought I'd start a thread for it. Hopefully more UK people buy it, otherwise I'm creating a thread just for myself. I have agreed to take it to Play Expo Glasgow in July so anyone wanting to try it can play it there.
First up, what is the game all about? Its by Turner Pinball and the aim is for you to battle knights by playing games in Merlins Arcade. Each knight has their own sport/game which is achieved by shooting their appropriate area on the playfield - basketball, darts, pool, air hockey, video games etc which are awarded by shooting orbits, ramps, standup targets, pop bumpers etc. Once you complete enough of the knights shots, you can then shoot the scoop to start a battle. If you dont go for the scoop, you can continue making shots to qualify for the other knights and then when you hit the scoop you can battle multiple knights at once. Battling one knight at a time is quite easy. Shoot their specific shots, eg hit the 7 pool targets to defeat the pool playing knight then hit the 8 ball (scoop) to defeat that knight. Other knights are similar, shoot their orbits, ramps etc then hit the scoop to defeat them. When you defeat them, they turn evil and go from being a good knight to a bad one and their graphics change. After you defeat a knight you can also play that specific knights multiball - each knight has a multiball. There is also a more standard multiball, Merlins multiball, which you can lock balls for by hitting the 2 standups at either side of the ramp and then shoot the ramp itself. Repeat 3 times for Merlins multiball. You can stack Merlins multiball with the modes so best to start a battle mode first and then collect Merlins multiball. There are also duels but I've not got that far yet.
Cool toy in the game - has to be the foosball spinner modelled to look like a knight. Absolute joy to hit.
Cabinet - very innovative. When you release the glass, it can be lifted up, so no need to keep 3 feet of space in front of the pin in order to slide the glass off. Glass comes off along with the side rails etc so you can hold it from there and not cover the glass in fingerprints. Cab itself is solid with proper joinery (didnt think i'd ever need to write that but after Sterns Spike 3 cab, it now doesnt seem to be a given that woodwork would be properly done).
Other nice ideas - Finesse flippers - theres an extra set of flipper buttons that you can use to pass the ball over from the left to right flipper and vice versa. Lights beside the flippers change when you use it - green, amber, red - and you need to wait a few seconds for it to charge back up again so you can use it. Really nice idea. Took me a few games to master it but once you get the hang of it, its really easy to do and makes you appear to be a top pinball player (which i am certainly not!).
Code is currently at 0.85 so theres more to come for it. Turner Pinball is also developing PinAccess which they have said will be available in a couple of months - guess it might be similar to Stern Insider but not entirely sure, so I will update with what it does if I can get on their beta program (emailed asking to join).
My thoughts so far - its great fun, I really like it. It was a random punt and I've been burnt with taking punts on games I haven't played before and I hated them (Halloween) so I was very relieved that this game is decent. Admittedly my first 2-3 games weren't great as I had no idea what I was doing and I was pressing the finesse flippers at the wrong time and making a meal of it. If I had only played one game on this at a show, I would have been confused as to what I was meant to do and would probably have walked away thinking the game was just ok but not one I'd buy. I did exactly that with Ninja Eclipse so I think I now need to revisit that game and put 4 or 5 games on it as its probably gonna be similar to Merlins in that you dont really get a feel for it in 1 or 2 games. I think thats probably due to not having loads of call out telling you what to shoot, but obviously once you play the game 3-4 times you start to learn what to shoot (it is on the screen and shots do flash as normal). Plus I guess having call outs telling you what to shoot would get annoying after you know what you're doing so thats not exactly a bad thing. After a few games though, I love it! Its VERY fast and that makes Merlins multiball very hectic and challenging. I also really like the artwork - very 80s cartoon style with good knights on one side of the cabinet and the evil knights on the other. The game itself is kicking my a*se at the minute, but thats also a good thing for a home use pin as it will take me a while to get through it.
I was originally going with the Pro equivalent model but upgraded to the LE equivalent and it was worth it! Cabinet lighting built into the frame just finishes it off. Massive thanks to David from Retro Arcade Specialists for helping me upgrade it to the LE. Above and beyond service as usual!
I'll add some pics of it below and find the video of how to remove the glass as I think that is a potential gamechanger for people without much space in front of their pins and hopefully more manufacturers adopt a similar system.
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