Top 5 Greatest Pinball Machines From Each Company (SDTM, 2025)
Top 5 Greatest Pinball Machines From Each Company (SDTM, 2025)
THE TOP 5 GREATEST PINBALL MACHINES FROM EACH COMPANY! SDTM lists the best of the best from each pinball manufacturer. COMMENT on your TOP 5 pinball machines from each pinball company. Do you...
Highlights
- Jaws (Stern) is at code 0.98 and already competing for top-tier status despite still being in early code
- Haggis Pinball went under; host lost money on merchandise
- Jersey Jack now has 10 games released
- Lord of the Rings (Stern) has one of the hardest wizard modes to reach and is played on White Star system
- Elton John (Jersey Jack) had very low initial sales that slowly built through word-of-mouth
- Willy Wonka (Jersey Jack) marked first time JJP delivered a 'pinball players game' rather than focusing on toys and glitter
- Rick and Morty (Spooky) 'shoots like a dog' mechanically but excels in themes, rules, and call-outs
- Walking Dead and Ghostbusters (both Stern) are the two games that taught hosts how to actually play pinball
Notable quotes
“Haggis went under and I lost my ass... This is a scar on this entire industry. I've got to get rid of it.”
“Keith Johnson's greatest rule set. Cuz it's not overly saturated with multiballs. It's got that depth to it, but fun.”
“Did we really want an Elton John pin?... But guess what? Slowly. It was a little spark. People cannot dislike this game.”
“It's as close a field to Bally Williams that we've ever come.”
“Walking Dead and Ghostbusters were the two games that I truly learned to play on because if you're not nudging and you're not manipulating that game, you're not playing pinball.”
“Godzilla... took people by surprise because no one was really thinking about Godzilla... But then when it came out, it was such a good game.”
“I like the rules better than Attack... But there's just something about the special... about the comedy, about the castle.”
“Number one's probably better than number two. I like it. I like number two better than I like number one.”
Entities
- Barrels of Fun· company
- Chicago Gaming Company· company
- Haggis Pinball· company
- Jersey Jack Pinball· company
- Spooky Pinball· company
- Stern Pinball· company
- Elton John· game
- Ghostbusters· game
- Godzilla· game
- Halloween· game
- Jaws· game
- Lord of the Rings· game
- Medieval Madness Remake· game
- Rick and Morty· game
- Walking Dead· game
- Willy Wonka· game
- Straight Down the Middle· organization
- Bill Greb· person
- Greg Bone· person
- Joe Catz· person
- Keith Elwin· person
- Keith Johnson· person
- Lyman· person
- Steve Richie· person
More from Straight Down the Middle: a pinball show
→ All content from Straight Down the Middle: a pinball show
Beetlejuice Pinball Featurette (Spooky Pinball, 2025)
Spooky Pinball Presents Beetlejuice Pinball Take a behind-the-scenes look at the officially-licensed Beetlejuice pinball machine, as game creators discuss bringing the ghost with the most into the...
Beetlejuice Pinball Trailer (Spooky Pinball, 2025)
Spooky Pinball Presents Beetlejuice Pinball Beetlejuice pinball is a limited edition, collectible pinball machine, set in the iconic world of Tim Burton's classic 1988 film. Players will experience...
Beetlejuice Pinball Teaser (Spooky Pinball, 2025)
Beetlejuice Pinball Coming November 2025 by @SpookyPinball BEETLEJUICE and all related characters and elements © & ™ Warner Bros....
