LORD OF THE RINGS
(Stern Pinball Incorporated, 2003)
Art: Backglass - 9
The colors and artwork are really brought out, even with a single fourescent bulb. It may not be an old style artwork backglass, but it's not cheesy and goes with cabinet and playfield artwork very well. There is a slight "halo" effect, but it does not reflect onto the playfield glass. The gold trim around the backbox adds a extra bit of class to the game, and looks quite professional.
Art: Playfield - 8
Silk-screened artwork, not terrible in any respect, ala Theatre of Magic cabinet style. A couple of small sore spots are the slingshots, which look awful and cheap, and VUK on the left side (ala Catapult from Medieval Madness). Toys are well balanced, do not expect them to be broken in 20 games. I can tell some where moved, to prevent this occuring from the proto version of the game. I still believe John Youssi or Doug Watson should have been assigned to do the artwork. I think I can add to the playfield to make it stand out more than it should, with a couple of well placed modification additions.
Sound - 8.5
Much improved, and no where are tinny as previous games. It's amazing what 16 bit sound can do for a game (as Stern should have done in the past). Well integrated in gameplay. Standout quotes from films are evident. Music is repetitive, but not annoying. Stern has still not mastered the art of balancing music with voice, but this is also limited basic on the software and hardware used. We will see for the next game they produce. Put in some high quality speakers, and a new subwoofer, and this game will rock.
Playfield Design - 8.5
Excellent flow overall, it in someways reminds me of White Water, but is much closer to Medieval Madness than I expected. game shot flow is better than Indiana Jones in all respects. Shots flow from on to the next. I could get multiple loops, without many problems. A few shots are tight, but not impossible. The "One Ring" shot, is not anwhere as difficult as some people are saying, you just have to have good aim, and it is rewarding. I really like the light show provided, but I wish they would have used more blue, as the red and green are very repetitive. Overall, playfield design is dark, as the theme suggest, which is expected. The game seems very forgiving to a new player. I saw no imperfections on the playfield, but Stern does not use the clearcoat the Williams and Bally did, as it does not have the "shine" I am used to, which is a minor issue and is tiny setback considering the overall achievements, so I can overlook this.
If I had to say what some of the game concepts used and modeled after in this pinball machine,
they would be (in no particular order):
Medieval Madness (Gollum Saucer and "Hobbiton")
Indiana Jones: The Pinball Adventure (Game Modes)
White Water (Ramp Shot flow and orbit loops)
Star Trek: The Next Generation (Overall ruleset depth, and movie theme type quotes)
Monster Bash (Left Ramp Turnabout)
Austin Powers ("One Ring" Ramp and Magnet)
Fishtales (Backside Saucer shot into Barad-Dur Tower)
The Getaway (Sword Ball Lock)
South Park (Barad-Dur Tower)
Attack from Mars (MULTI-BALL and Success Jackpot Shots)
Theatre of Magic (Balrog Target)
and couple of other machines......
WOW! That's quite a list!
Rules - 9
I have to give thumbs up in this area, there is more than enough to keep an experienced player happy for some time. Multiball stacking is addictive, and players who were watching were amazed. This is not a "keep six-month games and sell" in this department.
Longevity - 9
Based on a developed theme, this pin will see play for a long time. I do see some possible problems on location, but as a home use pinball machine, it will be rock solid. The Tolkien theme is everlasting, and the pinball machine has immortalized Lord of the RIngs.
Overall Assessment - 8.5
A solid pin release from Stern, the best in many departments so far! It may not have the depth of Twilight Zone or The Shadow, but it is a winner. The game is definately no Medieval Madness, or even Indiana Jones or Star Trek: The Next Generation for that matter, but it is still damn good. If they would have done something instead of using silk-screened photo artwork on the playfield and already implemented a better quality sound system, I could have then rated it higher to an overall exemplary rating of 9 overall.
Overall a great effort!!
Congratulations Stern!
Sword Ball Lock Post
After many games this plastic post (Plastic??? This was stupid) will probably break. They need to make one out of stainless steel (ala Getaway). I have already seen ball locks fail, and will need to install a rubber post to absorb impact from fast moving balls. Additionally, the ball lock switches, if improperly adjusted or fail, will cause ball hang-ups. If this happens, the game will grind to a screeching halt, as the current software, does not account for proper ball searching. If the first of the three lock switches fail, there is the potential for all four balls to be "locked" on the sword, and no game can be played! Owner's please be aware, the game MUST BE properly leveled (do not trust the leveling bubble, they are sometimes inaccurate and only measure the incline level of the game, NOT the side to side leveling), to minimize balls falling off the sword (until they install a new wire guide on the sword) or the problem will be multiplied. Many sword problems can be fixed by this solution alone!!!!!!!!
The "One Ring" Shot and Magnet
This magnet shot gets hot, and starts "pulsing" to get the ball moving properly. Its bound to fail under the strain of a good player, and the fuse will BLOW, causing the magnet to not work at all. Some of my games lasted close to 40 minutes, when I got the hang of it, so these problems were evident (the magnet "pulsing"). This problem reminds me of The Addams Family magnets, or the No Fear: Dangerous Sports jump ramp. Another issue is the critical switches (optos) located behind the magnet. If they stop working, no game modes will be able to be completed.
Blue Rebound Rubber Pad on the Left Orbit
This part has a tendency to get loose with repeated hits, and causes the metail rail below it to grind and gouge the playfield. Additionally its positioning causes defected shots more easily and reduces gameshot flow to the Barad-Dur Tower, and makes the Fellowship of the Ring MULTI-BALL harder to obtain and start. Overall easily adjusted, by redrilling the pad and rail, and readjusting the mount.
Balrog Target (#89 Lamp)
This lamp which gives the incandescent "lava" red lighting of the Balrog, is easily burned out by the vibration of repeated hits. A simple solution is to line the area around the bulb socket with foam weatherstripping to reduce vibration to the bulb.
Stern currently has plans to re-engineer the lamp with an LED.
Balrog Target (Target Switch Senstitvity)
I am getting numerous reports (by other owners, distributors, and operators) of non-registered Balrog hits, when this target is struck. This could be caused by a multiple of different reasons. Based on the design the activation switch is considered in the pinball world as a "normally closed" switch, which when the Balrog Target is "struck", the target leans forward allowing the swtich to open and register. This can be "good and bad" depending on usuage in pinball design. It does prevent the switch from being shorted caused by multiple "bashings" of the target. However, it can cause false readings and hits not to register. There is also a strong possibility that the switches being used could be defective, poorly mounted, or misaligned at the Stern factory. Due to the difficulty of accessibility to this switch, this definately a design problem which needs to be addressed. The primary solution is to "build-up" the target surface in front of the switch to allowed increased sensitivity. This is a "mechanical" switch, not an opto (ala Roadshow's Bulldozer), so my recommended solution is to put a piece of foam-weatherstripping tape on the target surface to absorb the hit (with a tighter fit) and increase sensitivity (a non-destructive modification) or replace the switch with a Bally/Williams/Capcom (wide "beefier" version). Its unfortunate, that Stern did not use a opto in place of this particular mechanical switch, as they could have used this is conjunction with an Eddy sensor to adjust the sensitivity of the switch from the underside of the playfield (ala Theatre of Magic).
Anyway, back to the subject at hand, I have done similiar modifications to my Theatre of Magic, and it eliminated all problems. This problem is NOT catastrophic by an means, but could be very disappointing to a person playing the game on location.
This problem reminds me of scenarios I have seen in games such as Roadshow (Bulldozer), Theatre of Magic (Trunk), Champion Pub (The Boxer), and the Cirqus Voltaire (The Ringmaster).
This is not a new problem by any means to pinball machines. Other problems of design have been much worse, such as the Twilight Zone clock, ball hang-ups on the high-wire on Cirqus Voltaire, or Medieval Madness Troll Carriages. An owner, sometimes has to be creative in the meantime, before the problem is finally solved.
