Best and Worst 80s and mid 90s Pinball Games (2024)

What are the best and worst pinballs from the 80s and up to the mid 90s?

I'm new to the pinball world, just want to get a feel for the best and worst.

Best and worst are your opinion after playing them.

I like pins others don't.

Some considered "A supreme" 80's and 90's titles i absolutely do not like but others do.

You cannot judge a pin by what others do.

You must play them and make up your own mind.

Peace
Buffett

Pinside has game ratings and you can filter/customize different lists.

Yes, ratings are subjective/personal/flawed, but my man has to start somewhere. Get out to a show/location and play, play, play

Yeah, so subjective but that list will give you a good start to what most think are good games. But you have to get out and play some, or at least try some digitally to get a feel for what you like in a game. Do you like drop target banks? Do you like satisfying ramp shots? Do you like multiball? Do you like a story?

My two favorite pins are from the mid 80's- Sorcerer and Grand Lizard. They check all the right boxes for my taste. Damn, the ramp shot in Sorcerer is SO SATISFYING!

Indiana Jones The Pinball Adventure (1993) sits squarely on top of the mountain.
A lot of people rank The Twilight Zone (1993) slightly above it. But they're WRONG.
Star Trek the Next Generation (1993) is really good too.

Wow. 1993 was a special year for pinball.

Since you are a KLOVr, the early 80's Williams pins may do it for you - Firepower, Black Knight, Alien Poker, Flash, etc. The sounds in them (from Eugene Jarvis i.e. Joust, Defender, Robotron) will be familiar and they are incredible. Sound can make or break a pinball machine for me. I love this era of WMS pins.

If you aren't old enough to have been playing in arcades in the early 80's then 90's DMD Bally/Williams pinballs might be more your type of game. Best pinball games ever in lots of folks' minds. Addams Family, Monster Bash, Attack From Mars, Getaway to name a few of my faves. These DMD games have a certain charm to them that newer games don't.

I would start with the Pinside Top 100 and discount any pin that has been out for less than a year or two...heavily. Those ratings are artificially high and will come back down to Earth.

As many have said, with people having different tastes and with the varied condition that games are readily available in...these are the biggest contributing factors when deciding if a pinball is good or not.

I choose my machines based mostly on the theme. Since I like movies and loved Indiana Jones as a kid, the highly rated Williams early 90s classic was an obvious choice for me. It is very highly rated despite its age, but often when I've come across them in a public setting they played very poorly. Only once I got mine and spent the time to truly tune it so it works perfectly, was it truly able to be enjoyed at a high level.

Indy is a wide body that plays like a FAST standard table. If it's dialed in it plays like no other! Truly epic game.

EDIT: just had a look on pinside. Indiana Jones is still ranked #16 best all time. I didn't realize it's that high still. And it's 30 years old next year! That says a lot about a game.

Some of the especially fun ones before the DMDs are: F-14 Tomcat (super fast), Fun House (pricey), High Speed, Jokerz, Pinbot & Bride of Pinbot.

And my early 90s faves include: STTNG & Indy Jones (as mentioned above), Hurricane (affordable), Pinball Magic (capcom!), Doctor Who, & Corvette (both pricey).

Popeye Saves the Earth is famously one of the worst ever made and I'm bored by the Pat Lawlor games after Earthshaker except Road Show. Games like Gilligan, Bugs Bunny and Bullwinkle are great themes but poorly implemented to make them not that fun and very disappointing.

hisnice said:

Popeye Saves the Earth is famously one of the worst ever made

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This is why this is super subjective. Popeye is one of my favorite games.

Part of the issue is that there are so many dimensions regarding what people like. Actual gameplay is only one part.

DZA said:

This is why this is super subjective. Popeye is one of my favorite games.

Part of the issue is that there are so many dimensions regarding what people like. Actual gameplay is only one part.

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Couldn't agree more and everyone has their own taste and it's a great journey to discover what you like and don't like.
The OP's question is a little like "I've never listened to music, what should I listen to?" Well... there's a lot, but here's what I like. YMMV.

I personally think Adams Family is the most overrated pin of all times and yet, they made 20k of them.

cwilkson said:

Indiana Jones The Pinball Adventure (1993) sits squarely on top of the mountain.
A lot of people rank The Twilight Zone (1993) slightly above it. But they're WRONG.
Star Trek the Next Generation (1993) is really good too.

Wow. 1993 was a special year for pinball.

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Bram Stokers Dracula also came out in 1993. One of my favorites.

Thanks all for the feedback. It sounds like pins are way more subjective than video games. It also sounds like you can go on whatever theme you want, like I am a fan of Indiana Jones and Corvette so maybe I should go for those, or at least try them.

I recently played Space Shuttle and thought it was gonna be a dog but actually really like the sounds and feel.

quickray said:

Thanks all for the feedback. It sounds like pins are way more subjective than video games. It also sounds like you can go on whatever theme you want, like I am a fan of Indiana Jones and Corvette so maybe I should go for those, or at least try them.

I recently played Space Shuttle and thought it was gonna be a dog but actually really like the sounds and feel.

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Theme is the least important part of a pin. A generic theme with great gameplay is always better than a great theme with bad shots or rules. Theme is there to impress non-players and try to entice a coin drop. Gameplay has staying power, theme is fluff.

redfivexw said:

My heart lives in the early 80s solid state era. Still affordable too.

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Yeah, if I ever get one I want one of those. Kind of racy in an inappropriate way. I don't want Frodo on the damn thing.

calvin12 said:

Theme is the least important part of a pin. A generic theme with great gameplay is always better than a great theme with bad shots or rules. Theme is there to impress non-players and try to entice a coin drop. Gameplay has staying power, theme is fluff.

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agreed. Either you have a good game or you dont. But a good theme combined with a good game mechanic elevates the experience above the sum of the 2 parts.

They must be tightly coupled from day 1 of the design though. You usually can't slap a theme on an already designed game and have it feel "right". And the reverse also holds true.

You can't have a rollercoaster game with just bumpers and targets. It would just be weird.