Champion Pub!

This is a crazy machine!   Though hard as hell and frustrating, Champion Pub has the potential to be played and played and played and played......its that good.   In my visits to Old Port Tavern Billiards, I've felt a wide array of emotions - ecstatic joy and pure defeat.   Classic!

Old Port Tavern Billiards is a classy joint...at the front door there is a "proper dress required" sign, not something you would pass by at, say, ForePlay.   but putting other bars down aside, the ambiance of   OPTB is truly alluring - low lights over eight full size tables (for just $7 an hour), free darts and this jem of a pin.   

This game is progressed through a series of training exercises that lead up to the "main event" in which the punching bag rotates to reveal your opponent.   Training events include a mechanical/magnetic jump-rope event, a speed bag as well as many dot matrix sub games, all of which are very clever and difficult.   There is a stopper between the flippers that rises for the main event and stays up only when your "health" is high.   Basically, the game kicks ass.   I'm no high score champ on this pin, but the game-play allows for me to improve each time I visit.  The pace is high, the shots are difficult and precise and the sound effects are pretty funny (although HORRIBLY offensive and stereotypical).   I really like this pin.   If i could put machines in my house, this would be one of them.......

World Cup Soccer.

Fore Play.   Have you been there?  I hadn't either, but i figured they might have a Pin - I've come to find that i don't really dig this joint and their pin is in desperate need of servicing!

That being said, I would REALLY love to play this machine when its working - its got tons of cool shots, a great array of possible scoring options and gadgets galore.   Oh, but it sticks....and its at fore play.  

Lets put it this way - the first opportunity i had to run in and give it a shot was a Thursday night at about midnight.   Well, there was a line of scantily clad girls at the door with their Frat boy friends.   Not that I'm against scantily clad anyone and who can deny the alluring charm of the pledge paddle, but really?   This place was kind of whack.   Plus, when i finally did get in to shoot, the machine was totally haywire.  wonk-wooonk.....

  
That all being said, ill check this spot in a month or two and see if anything has been done about it.   This pin really is my speed and i'm starving to try it once its prepped.......

TRON....

I love Tron.   the movie, TRON that is.   An ahead of its time science-fiction film staring a young 1982 Jeff Bridges - I even loved the current day remake/episode 2 of the series, but seriously?......

Out on Forest Ave lies a little hole in the wall bar called Forest Gardens.   I walked in at like 10pm on a Tuesday night to find the bartender asleep on his stool.   The bell startled him as well as did the fact as i was there just to play pinball.   Its a shame a six thousand dollar machine meant for professionals goes unused.   I literally had to wipe the dust off before i played.    

Unfortunately, this pinball machine is a downer.   Like, beat you over the head, write on your face with sharpie, steal all your money and take a picture to send to your loved ones.    I'd heard that the pin was "unforgiving," but I've come to find out that this machine was actually designed to limit the game-play time, thus increasing revenue.   Its made for pros, and i'm no pro.   I like to be able to explore a game, find its rythm and tricks, but this thing was so fast and consistantly draining that i never got a chance.   Five dollars of quarters and no progress to speak of - I'll pass.

In good news, I'm glad to say that I've spent some time on this rig.   As this machine was produced just a year ago (May 2011), it has many of the new advancements that Stern has to offer.   The spinning disc shot and upper-flipper light cycle shot are really cool as is the lighting on ramps and bumpers that replicate the effects from the big screen.   Also, the sound board on the machine really hits the movie right on the head.   Catch phrases from the film show up when you hit specific shots on the table - pretty cool.

I think Stern went a bit far with the complexities of the shots.   If you had this machine in your house and were able to really figure the order, it would be a blast, but in order to progress in the game-play one has to make shots in a specific order.   For me, it was just too much  Also, the outer rails are vicious as is the kickback off the disc spinner.   It would be alright too if there was a ball-save, but there isn't, so it isn't.   Ultimately, I won't go back....not for another year of playing is under my belt and need another dose of humility.

New great website....

while surfing the other day, i found this sick site.....check it if you want to know actual facts about the machines - i just rant.....

http://pinside.com/

Indiana Jones!

In my constant search for excitement, i came across the fact that i have not visited Geno's Rock Club here in Portland.    Not only is this place a testament of the will of punk rock, it also has a pretty wicked pinball machine.    Geno's is known to be that spot, the one where men dawned in black smoke their cigarettes between sets, where cash is king and all others head for the door.    I've not seen that many military boots since telling the army recruiter to screw himself.    Guys are sixty, still living out their twenties in a spot like this; i can get down. 

Indiana Jones uses all four films to create a wildly multifaceted game-play that is fast and fun.   I dig this machine! though the price of .75cents is a bit steep for my preference, I was able to extend my two dollars to a total of five games (one replay and one match), making for a quality game-time.   I was really impressed with the different shots of the table - the element of temple of doom came through in a wild ball lock that was challenging but not impossible to get - the five ball lock for the last crusade was pretty ill too, but the game really comes together with the elements of "Kingdom of the Crystal Skull."   In order to lock the multiball, one has to shoot the skull target.   the target is attached to a strong magnet that throws the trajectory of the ball way off - way fun.   I kept hitting the target again and again - the cool pitch of the ball was exciting enough, but after hitting it eight times, the magnet stuck hard and the ball was stopped on a dime.   The play-screen went wild with sounds and lights and a depiction of the crystal aliens sweeping everyone away.....and then eight friggin balls came spitting out at me.   I've been playing a lot of pinball lately, but it was the single most exciting moment I've had thus far.    so ill.

the game is great.  awesome play features - great shots, cool elements and figures, easy game-play, relatively long game-play (with an additional center stopper) and the most dynamic sound-board i've heard on a game thus far.   each sound is bright and reminiscent of the movie - straight up thrilling.  

Geno's is great too - the tender was sweet and kind, the guys hanging out where hospitable enough and even cheered me on as I was playing - probably cause i was kicking ass.   plus, it smelled like stale beer and whiskey drinks and sweat.   mmmmmmmmm

Medieval MADNESS!!!

Wondering the streets of Portland past say, eight o'clock just inst on my agenda anymore.   I mean, who doesn't long for the days of wondering around looking for some trouble to get into, a place to crash.....someone who is 18 and will but us cigarettes!?!?   It just so happened that I found myself out and about at ten one night and asked a group of "frequent fliers" where i could find the closest available machine.    Pizza Villa!   

I got a good vibe right away.   The bartender was wearing a tacky Hawaiian tee-shirt with palm trees on it - no lounge music here, just Steel Pulse bumpin on the stereo.    though there were one too many TVs, i found the atmosphere to be welcoming and laid back - a classic workingman's establishment.  

The machine was getting plenty of play when i entered and had to wait a while to get my chance, but it was a worthwhile wait - Medieval Madness kicks ass.   

Say NO to drugs

Medieval Madness is a straightforward, well designed and fun game produced in 1997 by the Williams company.     It has many of the characteristically defining components of a late 90's machine - lots of lights, tons of shots (and opportunities for misses), good soundtrack and a well developed game-play that is challenging yet easy to follow.    

I was told immediately that the "point of the game" was to destroy as many castles as possible - a good tactic, but upon inspection on the internet it seems that all shots are needed to complete final game task.   Though castles ramp up the score (2mill the first time, 4mill the next and so on) I will approach play a bit differently next time.....

Though I was mislead, I still managed to put a hurt on the machine.   On a two dollar/five credit run, i played eight games (and had two beers!).   I found that the speed of the machine was a bit slower than those i am used to, but it made for a different experience and some long multi-balls.   

I'll be going back to play this game, that's for sure.   

Monster Bash

This is the machine I fell in love with pinball on.   Monster Bash is fast, has tons of shots, is easy to rack a score up on, offers tons of multi-ball options and has a super long replay.....its a great time!   

At City Coast Comics (http://www.coastcitycomics.net/) lie five of portlands fastest and best kept machines.   These include Nightmare on Elm, Elvira, Dr. Who, Six Million Dollar Man (the OG), Batman (RIP) and the lovely machine in which you are reading about.    Amongst other countless reasons why I like this game is the fact that I have not grown tired of it yet.   Yes, maybe some rigs have more lights, crazier play or bells and whistles, but what other machine features Frakenstien, Creature from the Black Lagoon, the Mummy, the WereWolf, Dracula, Bride of Frankenstein and Egor?   None of em. 

 

Another big draw to playing at City Coast Comics: the guys at City Coast Comics.   Tristan (the owner of the joint) is extreemly knowledgeable and passionate about his pinball - not to mention comics, video games, figures, cards ect....   Tristan does a great job of maintaining the boxes too: most machines in town have defects or issues that are never resolved.....never an issue at CCC.   If I mention an issue with one of Tristan's units, he'll take care of it by the next time I visit.   Also, I appreciate that they are into pinball, because pinball is the bomb.   They keep the replay nice and long so that your money goes a bit further - people leave happy.   Plus, the staff are in to me bringing my kid - huge bonus.    She hangs out and steals goodies out of the quarter to dollar bin while I take my frustrations out on a little silver ball.   Classic.

Soon to come with a brief run-down on other machines.

For a full report on this and other machines go to:  http://pinball.org/rules/monsterbash.txt