I played a foo fighters pro a month ago and while I had fun playing it. I quickly lost interest. Scooby on the other hand... I had a hard time walking away from it. The theme is just so well done. Its not the most challenging game, but its fun and all the modes give it life.
Great review Gonzo. Objective as possible. Own FF premium and have a Scooby on the way. Also have a bunch of other Spooky’s and Sterns. Your comment about Stern quality really surprised me. My limited experience is the opposite. Received a recent TNA- autolauncher was not working out of the box-the coil was not attached! Of course-an easy fix and game is now fine. My UM (great game severely underrated) needed the CPU replaced as well as the 3 motorized servos (have not even bothered fixing-does not affect gameplay). Biggest problems for me with Sterns- optos, coil stops, and crappy stock balls. I also replace all of the speakers and add speaker lights (never have to do that on Spooky games). Code, artwork, theme used to be a huge Stern advantage- Spooky has certainly figured this out. Stern design teams are currently the best. Their code updates are fabulous, although not very timely. Spooky is starting to catch up here, but still behind. As far as SD and FF comparison- you pick the one that resonates with you- both are great games. As a baby boomer I definitely prefer the SD theme. In fact I still don’t like the FF theme, but do like the game. Your observations about gameplay are spot on. Thanks for posting!
Sterns QA lately has been unacceptable. My buddy who got a elvira from the most recent run and a load of problems. With the amount these cost stern needs to have more care when making them.
I feel the same way about the Spooky tables. I've had nothing but mechanical issues with the two that I've bought. They are beautiful tables but having it have mechanical issues right out of the box and taking forever to get replacements makes it hard to plunk down the money for the CE's.
It took months for my Scooby to work. Spooky is run by a bunch of kids. My 3 Sterns were all great out of the box and same for our 2 JJP machines. If your Scooby works its an amazing deal but there's a huge difference in the build between my Spooky and a JJP next to it. JJP is a tank. Stern needs to do more RGB LEDs, they're so cheap. Scooby has some beautiful light shows
Very well said Gonzo. Difficult to compare these two models although the build quality doesn't fundamentally change with Stern. It's a shame the best games come with useless coil stops, flat plastics, terrible balls, poor sound quality and loud fans. It hasn't stopped me buying Sterns but it's ridiculous for Stern to ignore these issues rather than charging an extra $100 and fixing them.
Interesting take. I am about 150 plays into my Foo Fighters LE and some of the shots really remind me of the Deadpool LE I traded to get FF. Now I am wondering if it's time to move on from FF LE and go for JP 30th LE. Decisions....
I owned JP for 2 1/2 months…. The quickest flip on a NIB game I ever had. One game flows, then the next few are a bunch of brick-fests. Hot take: I think JP Home Pin is funner.
I think FF did an amazing Scooby homage and it is the most creative music theme by far, but SD is not only am amazingly adaption of its own theme with more to come, it is arguably the best and most detailed theming in pinball.
I saw the stream Spooky did and Adult mode is a joke. If you turn it on it tells you that you are playing a children’s game so there isn’t an adult mode.
I would love Scooby if it had a better layout. I've played it a bunch, really want to get into it but the weak layout holds it back for me. It would be amazing if it had fun interesting shots but it's one of the most boring layouts I've played in a while. Forgive the bluntness, it's out of frustration because I love the theme so much.
Foo fighters is lame. It is such a right flipper heavy game which bored me. Only one shot smoothly feeds the left flipper and its the shot thats easiest and safest to hit with the back hand anyways... so the only shot that cleanly feeds the left flipper is the left flipper. Boring.
But to their credit the dead post in the left lane is not something u normally see. I'm no pinball wizard but when my friend showed me, it made me feel like I was a better player.. lol like I beat the game on its on playing field by cheating it out of a loss. And wham back in the game 😂
Who made the best possible pinball machine they could... I think the answer is Spooky!
That doesn’t make it good champ.
I played a foo fighters pro a month ago and while I had fun playing it. I quickly lost interest. Scooby on the other hand... I had a hard time walking away from it. The theme is just so well done. Its not the most challenging game, but its fun and all the modes give it life.
Your take on Godzilla is spot on. Great game but once you know it a game can take forever. I’m thinking about getting FF.
Great review Gonzo. Objective as possible. Own FF premium and have a Scooby on the way. Also have a bunch of other Spooky’s and Sterns. Your comment about Stern quality really surprised me. My limited experience is the opposite. Received a recent TNA- autolauncher was not working out of the box-the coil was not attached! Of course-an easy fix and game is now fine. My UM (great game severely underrated) needed the CPU replaced as well as the 3 motorized servos (have not even bothered fixing-does not affect gameplay).
Biggest problems for me with Sterns- optos, coil stops, and crappy stock balls. I also replace all of the speakers and add speaker lights (never have to do that on Spooky games).
Code, artwork, theme used to be a huge Stern advantage- Spooky has certainly figured this out. Stern design teams are currently the best. Their code updates are fabulous, although not very timely. Spooky is starting to catch up here, but still behind.
As far as SD and FF comparison- you pick the one that resonates with you- both are great games. As a baby boomer I definitely prefer the SD theme. In fact I still don’t like the FF theme, but do like the game. Your observations about gameplay are spot on. Thanks for posting!
You're very welcome and thanks so much for your post David.
I'm sure you'll really enjoy Scooby when it arrives.
Sterns QA lately has been unacceptable. My buddy who got a elvira from the most recent run and a load of problems. With the amount these cost stern needs to have more care when making them.
Could not agree more.
I feel the same way about the Spooky tables. I've had nothing but mechanical issues with the two that I've bought. They are beautiful tables but having it have mechanical issues right out of the box and taking forever to get replacements makes it hard to plunk down the money for the CE's.
It took months for my Scooby to work. Spooky is run by a bunch of kids. My 3 Sterns were all great out of the box and same for our 2 JJP machines. If your Scooby works its an amazing deal but there's a huge difference in the build between my Spooky and a JJP next to it. JJP is a tank. Stern needs to do more RGB LEDs, they're so cheap. Scooby has some beautiful light shows
Wow this over GZ? Both great but that’s a compliment to Foo!
They've both been sold now although they were decent games. I've kept Batman66 and Deadpool
Very well said Gonzo. Difficult to compare these two models although the build quality doesn't fundamentally change with Stern. It's a shame the best games come with useless coil stops, flat plastics, terrible balls, poor sound quality and loud fans. It hasn't stopped me buying Sterns but it's ridiculous for Stern to ignore these issues rather than charging an extra $100 and fixing them.
Thanks mate.
I think that's the point . . . all of Sterns problems are fixed without too much cost.
Interesting take. I am about 150 plays into my Foo Fighters LE and some of the shots really remind me of the Deadpool LE I traded to get FF. Now I am wondering if it's time to move on from FF LE and go for JP 30th LE. Decisions....
Tough one. I've owned JP twice and it's a good game. I think I might prefer Foo Fighters but I'm not sure yet.
I owned JP for 2 1/2 months…. The quickest flip on a NIB game I ever had. One game flows, then the next few are a bunch of brick-fests. Hot take: I think JP Home Pin is funner.
That's a unique story. Haven't heard that one before. Definitely gives something to consider.
What is the price difference between the basic model of each? I know JJP is always the most expensive, but I love my Willy Wonka.
I find foo fighters to be fun as hell. Probably 50 plays on location already
Which machine is better for me? Any mid 80's to 90's pins. :D
Attack from Mars 👌
My foo fighters pre, hasnt had any problem or parts coming off which is good. Had it for 7 months so far
I wonder if the adult mode is anything like when they played with their twangers on Rainbow. Definitely needs enabling at pinfest on the evenings.
😂😂😂 I did consider that funnily enough
Scoob-Busters from Mars for the win! I think they did the Scooby theme better than the Scooby pin!
I think FF did an amazing Scooby homage and it is the most creative music theme by far, but SD is not only am amazingly adaption of its own theme with more to come, it is arguably the best and most detailed theming in pinball.
I saw the stream Spooky did and Adult mode is a joke. If you turn it on it tells you that you are playing a children’s game so there isn’t an adult mode.
Oh dear
I just bought Scooby for at home 😆 would way rather give my cash $ to spooky pinball rather than stern!
Have you tried the adult mode yet? If so what did it say?😂
😂 I might try later Seth
I would love Scooby if it had a better layout. I've played it a bunch, really want to get into it but the weak layout holds it back for me. It would be amazing if it had fun interesting shots but it's one of the most boring layouts I've played in a while. Forgive the bluntness, it's out of frustration because I love the theme so much.
Not at all mate, say whatever you want. It's your opinion.
@@GonzosPinballFlipperama Appreciate that, great video as always. One of the best pinball channels on youtube if not THE best.
Comparing a pro vs a CE? 10k vs 7k ? Not a good way do do it.
Foo fighters is lame. It is such a right flipper heavy game which bored me. Only one shot smoothly feeds the left flipper and its the shot thats easiest and safest to hit with the back hand anyways... so the only shot that cleanly feeds the left flipper is the left flipper. Boring.
yea thats one design flaw I feel. After time you can learn to hit that with the right flipper though. I'm equally proficient with both.
I hadn't actually considered that. Great point.
But to their credit the dead post in the left lane is not something u normally see. I'm no pinball wizard but when my friend showed me, it made me feel like I was a better player.. lol like I beat the game on its on playing field by cheating it out of a loss. And wham back in the game 😂