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Best & Worst pinball designers & why

Gonzo

Gonzo

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5Years
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Sep 2, 2019
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Okay you lot. No more touchy-feely nonsense. Let's have a good old fashioned chat about who designs the best & worst games. I don't care about code or drawing on the playfield, I'm talking about ramps, shots, scoops & geometry.

No second choices, just the your favourite and your least favourite.

I'll kick it off . . . .

The best: George Gomez: Deadpool itself is an absolute triumph and reason for a sainthood but chuck in LOTR and Monster Bash and you have the champion. 🍄🏆🎖

The worst: John Borg: He makes games that chuck the ball between the flippers and down the outlanes. He should be banished to live out the remainder of his life on Uranus. 💩
 
Steve Ritchie for me... Designs are awesome and fast flowing (No fear, ACDC, BK, Stern Star Trek), and is an awesome guy... Pat L a close second..

Worst - deffo not a borg Fan...
 
Worst - John Trudeau. Not kidding!!! But I do like Robowar😊

I quite like some Borg pins, can’t beat a quickie.

Pat Lawlor and Steve Ritchie are kings and Brian Eddy is up there.
 
Worst Pat Lawlor
Fan boys main line on his BS.
too much stop and go. He should have stayed retired.
Best John Trudeau
a unique feature on most of his tables.
But he is a peado ******
 
Gomez makes slightly clunky shooters though no? I'd take Ritchie or Borg over him for sure. Trudeau made Ghostbusters and should be in prison....... Ahem. I must bore people with this but Elwin is comfortably the most interesting designer at present. Will said it the other day, Elwin crams so many interesting shots into one game and is genuinely doing things not done before making ridiculously good games without the aid of gimmicks, just pure layout design. Very cool.
 
huggers said:
Gomez makes slightly clunky shooters though no? I'd take Ritchie or Borg over him for sure. Trudeau made Ghostbusters and should be in prison....... Ahem. I must bore people with this but Elwin is comfortably the most interesting designer at present. Will said it the other day, Elwin crams so many interesting shots into one game and is genuinely doing things not done before making ridiculously good games without the aid of gimmicks, just pure layout design. Very cool.
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Each to they're own which is why I'm interested in people's views on this one.

Gomez games are a bit clunky, you're absolutely correct mate. Elwin does produce innovative shots but the sword ramp & schnikt shots on DP are hardly Penny Farthings compared to i-Phones.

JP2 is one of the one of the finest pinball's ever made and I'd have it back in a heartbeat but for me Deadpool is fun and never leaves me frustrated. Elwin is excellent but I'm not sure that he makes fun machines, for me they're too tough hence my choices.

It's a bit like looking at a Heston Blumenthal recipe, being amazed but fully aware that you'll never do it justice . . . . . I'm more of a steak & ale pie man 😉
 
Gonzo said:
Each to they're own which is why I'm interested in people's views on this one.

Gomez games are a bit clunky, you're absolutely correct mate. Elwin does produce innovative shots but the sword ramp & schnikt shots on DP are hardly Penny Farthings compared to i-Phones.

JP2 is one of the one of the finest pinball's ever made and I'd have it back in a heartbeat but for me Deadpool is fun and never leaves me frustrated. Elwin is excellent but I'm not sure that he makes fun machines, for me they're too tough hence my choices.

It's a bit like looking at a Heston Blumenthal recipe, being amazed but fully aware that you'll never do it justice . . . . . I'm more of a steak & ale pie man 😉
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I've not played DP but I'm glad he got a sword ramp right as the one on LOTR is a disaster! I'm not sure I really love any Gomez games tbh. Seems a nice chap though. Wait did he do Sopranos? I love that game! The idea Elwin doesn't make 'fun' machines is bonkers to me. I had more fun with Iron Maiden than pretty much any pin I'd played or owned up until that point. Then JP2 comes along and boom headshot!
 
huggers said:
I've not played DP but I'm glad he got a sword ramp right as the one on LOTR is a disaster! I'm not sure I really love any Gomez games tbh. Seems a nice chap though. Wait did he do Sopranos? I love that game! The idea Elwin doesn't make 'fun' machines is bonkers to me. I had more fun with Iron Maiden than pretty much any pin I'd played or owned up until that point. Then JP2 comes along and boom headshot!
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Don't confuse my definition of fun with enjoyment mate.

I thoroughly enjoyed playing Jurassic Park. It can be rewarding and very satisfying and many of the shots feel great. Seriously, it's in my top 5 probably.

However do I play it with a smile on my face and laughing? No. Sometimes I want to smash the fu(£ing thing 😂.

I love that twisting ramp on the right of JP. I love the 'O' orbit, the helicopter shot and the missile launcher. Alas, I just can't hit them often enough to progress in the game.

Elwin makes games for good players. Gomez makes games that I can play.
 
Gonzo said:
Don't confuse my definition of fun with enjoyment mate.

I thoroughly enjoyed playing Jurassic Park. It can be rewarding and very satisfying and many of the shots feel great. Seriously, it's in my top 5 probably.

However do I play it with a smile on my face and laughing? No. Sometimes I want to smash the fu(£ing thing 😂.

I love that twisting ramp on the right of JP. I love the 'O' orbit, the helicopter shot and the missile launcher. Alas, I just can't hit them often enough to progress in the game.

Elwin makes games for good players. Gomez makes games that I can play.
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That O shot is a bugger there's no doubt about it. Being a one pin man it's kinda the perfect game for me, good challenge with a lot of stuff to do. I'm a big fan of flow too and if you're dialled in on JP2 it flows so good with the variety of shots. And yeah that whirly ramp on the right is so great. Weirdly I can hit the helicopter pretty easily, it's the almost identical but opposite control room shot I struggle with.

The current climate may mean I have to downgrade my pin next year to something a little more budget friendly which is going to suck so bad. Hopefully not!
 
huggers said:
That O shot is a bugger there's no doubt about it. Being a one pin man it's kinda the perfect game for me, good challenge with a lot of stuff to do. I'm a big fan of flow too and if you're dialled in on JP2 it flows so good with the variety of shots. And yeah that whirly ramp on the right is so great. Weirdly I can hit the helicopter pretty easily, it's the almost identical but opposite control room shot I struggle with.

The current climate may mean I have to downgrade my pin next year to something a little more budget friendly which is going to suck so bad. Hopefully not!
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Well you're welcome here to play mate. The mancave is in the garden so you don't even have to get contaminated by the plague carrying children 😂
 
This guy is always overlooked, probably due to Steve’s success and some inactivity,
But Mark Ritchie games have a great flow.
Diner and Fish Tales are both in my top 10 and I’ve never played Indiana Jones, but that’s often raved about!
 
Fat Lil’s said:
This guy is always overlooked, probably due to Steve’s success and some inactivity,
But Mark Ritchie games have a great flow.
Diner and Fish Tales are both in my top 10 and I’ve never played Indiana Jones, but that’s often raved about!
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I didn't realise he'd done all three.

I've played them all and you're absolutely right.
 
John Trudeau for me. He's responsible for a lot of the Gottlieb/Premier 80b games that I just adore. His layouts of this era were just so unique, lots of weird little lanes to shoot for, loads of drop targets etc. He made a lot of interesting whitewoods too that sadly Gottlieb never put into production including a 4 tiered playfield! It's just a shame that he's a bit of a nonce.

Unpopular opinion but JPop is a very close second for me, Cirqus Voltaire has always been one of my favourite pins alongside TOM and TOTAN. Can't really say I have a least favourite designer 🤷🏻‍♂️
 
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Sven Normansson said:
Worst Barry Oursler.
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Pinbot, Space Shuttle and Dirty Harry are all great games, and these are Oursler games I think?

Also I've literally just sat down after having a few games on Jungle Lord, undoubtedly the best of the multi level Williams foursome! :thumbs:
 
They all have good and bad games...


Steve Kirk - easily the best.

Brian Eddy amazing games but only 4

Borg is off and on - some games of his I totally love - TWD, Metallica, others less so, Munsters, avatar.

Richie I love but even he did Star Wars...

I like all of them but maybe pat lawlor the least. Gomez making clunkers - in my view JP2 has its fair share of clunkage!

Eric and Keith have the fortunate position of only designing a handful of games. When they have the same number under their belts as Borg, ritchie Lawlor let’s see if they are all hits!

Nordman I like also i500, and EHOH are fantastic games.

Jpop I also don’t get but from what I understand he had huge help in getting games finished. But the love for totan and CV baffles me.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 
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An observation:
All these guys are very talented but some designers are very different from others.
You have designers such as Eric Meunièr at JJP. Heres a chap with a background in pinball design and holds an Electro Mechanical degree from a good standing university. He knows how to build pinballs from ground up and even understands coding.

Keith Elwin - has designed some great pins, has expertise in playing pinball at world level, gets involved with the geometric design.
He’s doesn’t build the mechs, or gets involved with the electro mechanical aspects but is involved with the shot geometry and playfield layout etc....

In summary, when we say who designed the Pinball. Is it a collaboration of team members?

Or

Just one guy who takes the credit.

If I owned a Pinball company, I feel employing someone with Eric’s background would tick more boxes.
 
In my small collection of seven pins I have 3 by J Pop: - Totan, Tom, WCS and 2 by Mark Ritchie: - IJ and Diner. So they are clearly my favourite designers 🙂
 
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