Retro v Modern

My introduction to pinball came through playing Pinball Dreams/Illusions on the Amiga, which really switched me on to the silver ball. After that I used to play whatever was in the local bowling alley (I held top score on Streetfighter 2), and have played the odd table in RL when I have had the chance. Then not played for years until Pinball Fx, then TPA came along, which has reignited my enthusiasm.

I have downloaded all the tables, and love love love the older ones. Black Hole has had me gripped and downloaded Gorgar last night and it has a real just one more go quality that I think the newer modern tables lack. I was trying to get the 300,000 goal, and just kept going for it. They have a purity to it that is really appealing. BOP is similar to me.

I do like the more modern ones, TOTAN and TOM in particular, but having completed the wizard goals on them (after not that long really) I feel like I've 'completed' them and rarely play them now. And other modern tables just don't appeal - I never got my head around Ripleys (too much going on) and I played Cirque Voltaire, and without even knowing what I was doing I found I had lit most of the circus acts just by keeping the ball in play - it seemed to me to lack any requirement for focussed targetted play. Compare that to BH where every hit really really counts to get that score up.



I think the older tables have a longevity and challenge to keep building that high score that the new ones lack a bit - what do others think - retro or modern?

TOTAN and RBION are my favourites, and I find they have the most longevity out of all the tables due to 2 factors (the same goes for TOM and MM as well come to think of it):
1)a lot of stuff to do, unlike BH and Gorgar, with a lot of setting up (lightning lamp x 3 in Multiball, 2 x playfield Atlantismode) possibilities with challenging risk/reward ratios
2)no easy to reach "wtf imba score mode" like Monsters of Rock, Ringmaster Battle etc that other newer tables seem to have and that make high score runs focus on them solely and as often as possible.

Rbion has a high score modus (Atlantis), but setting that up to be very valuable is a long, complex and very entertaining process. TOM's and MM Highscore mode is a harder to reach Wizard mode as well. Totans wizard mode is easy to reach but not extremely valuable. Compare that to the easy to reach Monster of Rock, Ringmaster battle (and Join Cirqus) and

To get a good highscore, or beat my own highscore Totan and Rbion require very good play over a long course of the game as my number of balls are limited (although easier to get in RBION). The problem I have with the older tables in that sense is the fact my highscores there revolve around getting as much extra balls as possible as they are seemingly infinite.

BH saving grace in that department is that extra balls alone aren't enough, and setting up a 2x lower playfield multiplier with multiball is a challenge every time.

Honestly, I prefer the modern tables. I like lots of stuff going on, lots of stuff to try to achieve during the game. I like toys on the playfield, lots of vocalizations, flashing lights and whiz-bangs. I like feeling like I'm striving for something, like a Grand Finale, or rescuing a Princess, or creating a metamorphosis. Black Hole bores me to tears.

I think the biggest difference between older and newer games is length of play time. The really challenging stuff on modern games (wizard modes etc.) takes a long game to build up towards whereas older games tend to be harder and less forgiving from the start. An extra ball or special on an older game should be a genuine achievement.

For me it's the difference between playing an '80s arcade game and a modern console game. The former is a 2-3 minute burst of challenge and the latter is an hour long test of endurance. I enjoy older games precisely because they are over so much quicker. Settling in for an hour of MM isn't always what I want or have time for.

Similarly I love viciously hard arcade video games. YMMV.