Meet Astro—loyal guardian of the game room, keeping a close eye on Godzilla and Jurassic Park. The best pinball guide in the world, paws down!
ZXSpectrum16k
Craig Cole's Video Gaming & Pinball Blog
recent posts
- Memorable Weekend at UKPinfest 2025
- Tokyo Neon 4 Mod ‘Theatre’ is a Must-Have for Godzilla Pinball Machine
- Pinball Art + LEDs = Wow Factor!
- The student becomes the master!
- Beers and Pinball: The Perfect Night with Mates
- Installed TX Door Flasher, Revives my Bally Twilight Zone’s Original Design
- Pinball Masterclass with Mark P at Funland
- New Pinball day, Lethal Weapon 3
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Had a great day at a Pinball League event over at Alan’s place in Leeds with Luke, Andy B, and Matt B. Always a good vibe there—and this one was no different. Relaxed atmosphere, great people, and as always, Alan and Claire were fantastic hosts. The food was spot on, and the whole day had that chilled, welcoming feel that makes these meetups so enjoyable.
Game-wise, I got the chance to properly play Tales of the Arabian Nights for the first time. What a fun machine! With a bit of advice from Paul about how hitting the lamp carries bonus across balls, I managed to string together a decent score. Felt good to get a bit more into the rhythm of it.
Things got intense toward the end—it came down to the final game between me and Luke, who were tied in our little side challenge. Last machine of the day: Whitewater. I was quietly confident—it’s a favourite of mine, and usually one I can put up strong scores on. Luke, on the other hand, isn’t the biggest fan of it.
But pinball had other plans.
From ball one, it just wasn’t happening. One early drain down the middle set the tone, and I was chasing the score the whole way through. Luke stayed cool and consistent, and in the end, took the win with a solid 338 million to my 88 million. Fair play!
To top it off, Luke even earned some tournament points. I just missed out—two places off grabbing a few myself. Ah well, next time!
All in all, a cracking day. Good games, good company, and plenty of laughs.
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I’ve been on the lookout for a classic ’80s machine to add some variety to my collection—and after bouncing between a few titles, Medusa came up for sale at a good price, I didn’t hesitate. Pulled the trigger!
I’ve always thought Medusa was something special. The striking fantasy artwork, those eerie sound effects—and that voice! Just brilliant. The machine does play, but the playfield definitely needs some TLC. I’m seriously considering getting a replacement playfield to bring it back to its full glory. The mid-playfield score display isn’t functioning correctly either, so that’s on the fix-it list too.
One of the coolest features is the upper playfield’s “Time-Locked Zipper Flippers”, which close inward, letting you nail those metamorphic drop targets with precision. And down below, the transparent lower flippers add a unique visual touch. Right between them sits the infamous center flipper, sometimes called the “savior” or “sacrificial” flipper. It gives you one last desperate chance to save a draining ball—or, if mistimed, sends it straight to its doom. Totally innovative for 1981.
Medusa was designed by Wally Welch, with software by Rehman Merchant and that stunning artwork by Kevin O’Connor. Released by Bally in September 1981, it’s a true solid-state classic—and I’m buzzing to bring it back to life.
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Finally got around to upgrading the bridge on Godzilla! I installed the sculpted bridge mod by Art of Pinball, and I’ve got to say—it looks fantastic.
I’d been eyeing this upgrade for a while, but kept putting it off since dismantling and reassembling the bridge can be a bit fiddly. Luckily, it wasn’t as much of a headache as I expected. Took my time, stayed patient, and it all came together smoothly.
The end result? Totally worth it. The sculpted bridge really elevates the overall look of the playfield and ties in perfectly with the theme I’m building for the machine. Adds that extra bit of polish and personality I was after.
Very happy with the upgrade—one more step toward my ultimate Godzilla Pinball !
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Headed over to Andy’s tonight with Dave for a mini competition. Had a proper laugh and met some great people—Andy was a brilliant host! Alongside his epic lineup of pinball machines and arcade games, he’s also got an original jukebox that’s just awesome.
Oh, and the home-draft IPA? Big hit all round.
As for the comp… I did alright—took home the trophy for overall points across the games! (it was a close one!) And Matt crushed it on Jaws, snagging the award for best score! 😄🏆
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Choosing between Twilight Zone and The Addams Family wasn’t easy. In the end, I went with Twilight Zone—I figured it had better long-term appeal, even though Addams Family has some of the best callouts in pinball. So when a Twilight Zone popped up on the forum, I didn’t hesitate—it had to be mine.
And now, Twilight Zone has officially entered the building! Massive grin on my face. Big thanks to Martin for the delivery. There was a minor hiccup during setup, but reseating a few connectors in the backbox sorted it.
Luke’s away at uni at the moment—he’s buzzing that we’ve got it, but he’ll have to wait until he’s back home to dive in.
Condition-wise, it’s in great shape and plays beautifully. It’s already rocking a color DMD (bonus!), and there are a few mods—some I like, some not so much. I’ve already ordered a fresh set of white rubbers to bring back that classic look. Next up: stripping out the mods I’m not a fan of, adding a few choice upgrades, installing Col’s plastic protectors, and swapping in some new LEDs to make it pop.
Absolutely buzzing to have this one. A true classic in the lineup.
Twilight Zone is a wide-body Pinball Machine manufactured by Bally released in April, 1993. They produced 15,235
Design team
Game Design: Pat Lawlor Software: Larry DeMar Ted Estes Artwork: John Youssi Animation: Eugene Geer Scott Slomiany Sound: Chris Granner Rich Karstens Music: Chris Granner Callouts: Tim KitzrowIt is themed after the television series that was created by Rod Serling and which aired on American television from 1959-1964 originally. The game is often noted to be the game with the most patents (however Pinball Magic by Capcom has more), the most toys and the most over-cost budget in the history of pinball.
Main features include four flippers, a life-size gumball machine that locks balls inside, a mechanical clock with rotating arms, a mini playfield with invisible (magnet) flippers and a ceramic ball that is not affected by the game’s two stock magnets.
Twilight Zone is one of the most popular machines amongst home owners and many modifications (mods) are sold for it, including a robot toy, a real mini television screen, a flashing camera and more!
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I just managed to get “The Getaway: High Speed 2”. Ever since playing it at Pinfest24, I have been thinking about getting one. It’s such a fun game, and I enjoyed the game flow. It has some solid shots, and the “SUPERCHARGER” mode is fantastic. A small elevated loop, fed by the left ramp and fitted with a magnetic ball accelerator, makes the balls go mega fast around the loop, sometimes five times, sometimes ten times.
When I came across a great deal on the pinball info forum, I couldn’t resist checking it out. The pinball machine is being sold as a project and comes with a new playfield, decals, and side rails that need to be installed. The machine is currently playable, so I’m planning to replace the playfield next summer when I feel more confident about taking on a full playfield swap. The playfield is made by Buthamburg.
I had the pleasure of meeting Andy from Hull, who happened to be selling a pinball machine not too far from my place. I popped over to his place, checked out the machine, played a few games, and had a great chat about pinball. A few hours later, his friend was driving to SouthCave with the pinball machine in his van, to drop it off at my place ;-)
This is my first Steve Ritchie game.
The Getaway: High Speed II is a pinball machine from February 1992, manufactured by Williams Electronic Games, Inc. 13259 units were produced.
Design team
Game Design: Steve Ritchie
Mechanics: Carl Biagi
Software: Dwight Sullivan
Artwork: Doug Watson Mark Sprenger
Animation: Scott Slomiany
Sound: Dan Forden
Music: Dan Forden
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While in Orlando on a family holiday, I took a few hours away from the theme parks to visit ‘The Pinball Palace at Dezerland Park’ with Luke.
I shot a few videos of the machines. I was impressed; although some of the machines needed more TLC, they had a good selection of machines from different eras and loads that I had not seen or tried before.
Call Out for me was ‘The Grand Lizard’, loved playing it, for Luke, it was Attack from Mars
Address: 5250 International Dr, Orlando, FL 32819, United States
