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Monster Bash - Good, Bad or Ugly?

Judge Dreads

Judge Dreads

Site Supporter
10 Years
Joined
Jul 21, 2011
Messages
2,312
Location
Y Felinheli
What’s the verdict? ... mine is up and running after a major refurb and looks the dogs nad sack, cab restored and re-decaled, new playfield, new pop bumper skirts, bumper caps, pops rebuilt, flippers rebuilt, rubbers, new legs 'n bolts, some plastics, all screws cleaned, new star posts, side rails recycled as they were a 9.7 out of 10 (no point being silly) so it’s pretty mint but not immaculate and the rest of the pf parts are as is, all faults sorted, will post a pic when I move it to it’s resting place.



Things to do, lockdown bar could be nicer, new glass, swap coin door for a nice one and a few bits and bobs.



So the game…played on it for 10 mins before it was pulled apart, first impression, nice but since it has been rebuilt I think mmmmmmmmm, every comment on Pinside seems to suggest a perfect game but I can’t help thinking that it’s way over rated, centre shot is badly placed, nice flow from left to right ramp, nice toys, rule set seems vague and all in all think TOM is a better game (thought I would throw that in there to get your attention)



It's like when you cook a long drawn out meal for guests and find you don’t feel hungry when it’s time to eat it, not sure if the task has left me burnt out with the game before I start but I can’t help feeling that the MB is way over rated.



It’s definitely not bad, it’s definitely not ugly but is it good? I mean number 4 good? am I missing something here or am I on the right track?
 
A good fun game for a while I think but prob get bored eventually so all in all a nice fun game but not a keeper in my op ,I've not owned one but have played a few games
 
Not a fan of MB myself. Played it at length at the first south coast slam and in that environment, thought it was ok. I then played it at a friends house and just thought it was too cheesy. It feels like a 'happy days' version of cftbl and ss mashed into one machine. The more i played it, the more i wanted to play something else... Massively overrated imo.



We really could do with a UK top 100. I bet the opinions would be a lot different when it comes to rating the 'top' machines.
 
Its a fun game to play now and again, on location - they had one a few years ago in our local dive pub and we had many a good evening on it.



BUT in home use ....I don't think so. Gets OLD very quickly. I haven't had one but Will Barber picked one up a few years back, we basically completed the game in a few plays - he sold it within a 2 weeks :eek:



No way on earth it's the No.4 pinball game of all time !!
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... It just falls into that group of games that all American collectors have and hose themselves about.



I actually quite like the cheesiness of it, like Drac coming out, the whole 'Its Alive' sequence .... but overall not enough challenge, fairly easy shots all round and a fairly routine late 90s Williams ruleset.



New players, guests etc will love it of course
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Bang for yr buck ...you can do so much better. As with most of those late big titles you are paying for the 'relative' scarcity of it.



Sgt.GrizZ
 
Set up properly, it's a reasonably challenging game, it IS quite easy to complete if you get everything running before a multiball - but then that's a playing strategy and it may not come off.



For the better player, it is probably too easy overall but then I haven't looked at mine (as it's in pieces) to see what tweaks can be made to make it that little bit more difficult. Certainly with no extra balls and outlanes all the way out, I imagine it becomes a challenge. There is the added bonus of Lyman's Lament in there after 43 (I think) scoop shots which is quite a cool thing to get as well as mosh pit multiball.



To look at, I find the artwork stunning - playfield, back glass and cabinet. To play, the shots are smooth and there is enough variation to keep you interested. The sounds are good, with plenty of humour and the animations are great (extra ball being my fave animation on any game
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)



George Gomez recently (at AEG last week) said it was HIS favourite game that he'd designed. In a collection of one, it would get old quickly. In a collection of 5+ games, I imagine it's one you'll enjoy coming back to
 
Well, saying TOM is better than MB is certainly a statement;) Is it true? Well, I do actually like TOM but would like it more if there was more humour in it. MB I have only played a handful of times and it didn't grab me from the off but is it one of those games that you like the more you play it???? Hope so as I am thinking of possibly getting one........



Also stacking the big 6 is one of the hardest stacks in pinball........supposedly......
 
Seems like plenty of ways to adjust to get level of difficulty that is equal to ability. A lot of people seem to say if you like AFM, you will like MB. AFM is my favourite game so maybe MB would be good. The thing with any pin is that no matter how good a pin's reputation is, there are always people who really dislike a particular game. It is also hard sometimes at shows to form an opinion as you can't hear very well and tend to make instant opinions that can change when more chance to get to know a pin....



I remember you said you did not get on with TS. I have TS and I love it but I am not sure why people describe it as 'deep'. There seem to be 4 goals to get to final battle and that is it. Haven't got there so probably loads undiscovered. Maybe a MB would go well next to TS:D



MB has a much better theme and is more fun to play in my opinion. I also like the

scoring on MB better. I don't like the scoring on TOTAN, it is too

low, they should have upped the point value. Some modes are fun, but

just not as good as MB. If you like AFM, MB is pretty much

the exact same game, only with Frank instead of the saucer and

monsters instead of building weapons. If MB gets easy for you, all

you have to do is shorten mode times and up the number of hits and the

game becomes damn near impossible to do anything on.
 
Replay' date=' post: 1690383 said:
The thing with any pin is that no matter how good a pin's reputation is, there are always people who really dislike a particular game.

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Indeed and I meant to say this in my post, there are plenty of people out there who dislike MM, TZ, TNG, MB etc and love GI, Popeye, Hurricane, PZ and other not so well thought of games. As the saying goes, "one man's meat is another man's poison".
 
One MB looks pretty much like another so won't bore you, here are a couple of pics, pic 2 shows the inner cab sides made to a glass like finish ready for some decals
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, this was a complete cab swap, the original MB cab will be stripped and made into a TOTAN cab which will be available at some point.





[attachment=460:mb2.jpg]
 
Mine only lasted 10 days.

Like Nic has said MB needs to be set up totally different to your other games. She looks beautiful and sexy but her game play is pants.

Also the dots are one of the best out there. Like whats been said one man's gem is another man's turd.

Its not for me, but there are people out there that love it, everyone to there own.

Congrats on doing a blinding resto job on the machine Andy, she looks sweet!
 
Cheers for the input, whatever happens it is one more machine rescued - restored for the future generations to enjoy, I enjoyed playing it today, it is a little cheesy but like you say the dots are superb, lighting is cool and it has got a lot going for it but has it's weaknesses also which resulted in a few members giving it the heave-ho quick sharp, I think it will be a good one for modding which is my angle on it so it won't be going anywhere in a hurry, after all that work I will just have to hone my taste for cheesy games, a few of you will no doubt already class me as a camembert connoisseur being a fan of the TOM
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Paul' date=' post: 1690432 said:
I may be able to sort that out....
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Now that is something I would like to see, a U.K. top 100.

Bring it on.

If everyone entered there top 10 machines we would have a good idea of whats the U.K. top machines are.
 
Dreads' date=' post: 1690381 said:
Me too, I really... really... really... hope so
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Well if not you could always trade it for another high end pin, maybe an AFM or newer Stern
 
I think the problem would be limitation of information, I could personally only comment on about 25 machines (the usual suspects, this would apply to most I'm sure), that is probably way more than the average casual pinhead, then you have the masters like Nick etc who could rate 100's of titles, people who play one or two games on a title at a show are hardly in a position to give an accurate rating for a game, e.g if you played a BOP in an arcade or show you would think it was the holly grail but at home it's limitations become all too obvious very quickly so that would result in a skewed rating. Pinside has reviewers from all over the planet with different ranges of experience (me included) and their ratings have taken years to establish from a time when machines were widely available for use. If only 5 people in the UK have had a go on a BBB and all 5 think it's crap then that would write that game off but rated by a 100 people the results may be very different esp if it was in home use, maybe these are the limitations of a small nation supplying reviews on machines, I think to get an accurate interpretation of the overall desirability of a title it has to be either in home use/extensively played and by at least 100+ reviewers to get a broader opinion.



There is a discussion looming here I'm sure
 
It sure would be prudent to have an 'experience' tab next to a reviewers details. Categories such as casual player to obsessive collector could point out to folk where a perticular reviewer is coming from in regards to how they percieve a game.



For example i would consider myself to be a 'player that buys'. My preferences to pin gameplay would be 'speed and flow in buckets'. See where im going with this? More info on the actual reviewers credentials as well as gameplay preferences would be ideal.



I just know Paul is all over this......
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It would be interesting to know how many members we've got on this forum now and then of that total how many have posted or voted in other polls we've had. Might give an idea of the pool of people that are likely to post ratings? If it's just 20 of us for example (as there generally seems to be a standard group of people who post) then it'll be limited in its use (as per Dreads comments above) but if there's loads of us then it might be more accurate. All of these lists had to start somewhere so it'll definitely take a while for it be become stable.



I like Darren's idea of everyone entering their own top 10 list as this would show both what peoples fav's are and what pins have been played the most in the UK. It should also limit the ratings of pins that people have hardly played as if it's in your top 10 then I'd expect you'd have had a few goes on it. It should come up with some interesting stuff as my list, having hardly played any pins, is going to be massively different to Nick or Stan's.
 
ronsplooter' date=' post: 1690434 said:
Sounds like a new forum feature might be on the horizon
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Well it;s about time 'we' as in the UK pinball community had an official "top 10".



It's in the pipeline - ETA a few days....



Paul
 
good to hear - i'll start work on my personal top games, will keep listing til i get to ones i didn't play much - will probably get to about 50
 
Sounds good. Count me in. Played a lot of pins, but only have intimate (Oo err, *nod to dreads*
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) knowledge of 20 or so.



Your opinion can change in a heartbeat when you get them all alone....hehe.
 
Rus121' date=' post: 1690450 said:
It sure would be prudent to have an 'experience' tab next to a reviewers details. Categories such as casual player to obsessive collector could point out to folk where a perticular reviewer is coming from in regards to how they percieve a game.



For example i would consider myself to be a 'player that buys'. My preferences to pin gameplay would be 'speed and flow in buckets'. See where im going with this? More info on the actual reviewers credentials as well as gameplay preferences would be ideal.



I just know Paul is all over this......
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Click to expand...



Good post, that would certainly help keep it on the right track.
 
Paul' date=' post: 1690452 said:
Well it;s about time 'we' as in the UK pinball community had an official "top 10".



It's in the pipeline - ETA a few days....



Paul
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Awesome ....I'll spam it to death until Popeye is #1
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...oh yes...the spinach guzzling, pipe smoking ,Bluto bashing, Olive lovin, wild animal saving (!) sailor boy *will* have his day :cool:
 
GrizZ' date=' post: 1690459 said:
Awesome ....I'll spam it to death until Popeye is #1
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...oh yes...the spinach guzzling, pipe smoking ,Bluto bashing, Olive lovin, wild animal saving (!) sailor boy *will* have his day :cool:
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You'll be sorry when they start fetching £3k on ebay
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Erm - are we looking at a UK top 100, or a Reviews thing??



UK Top 100 is on it's way anyhow...



Reviews engine will be released over the coming months - it's currently in trial over at the developers site...



Paul
 
How about some extra cat's e.g top 10 for HU- longevity, top 10 BBB -Best Bang for your Buck (always thought STTNG was one) top 10 overrated
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, 10 to play on site but not own......the list goes on.
 
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