Pinside rating

This game has received 47 approved Pinsider ratings. 3 more approved ratings are needed to get a rating and for it to be eligible for the Pinside Pinball Top 100 ranking.

Pinside staff rating

This is how we, the very knowledgeable (wink wink) Pinside.com staff & moderators rate this game. 3 of us have rated this game.

7.081

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Found 22 ratings (with comment) on this game

There are 22 ratings (that include a comment) on this game.
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8.388/10

1 year ago

MJM

Sonic

M&M Creations

11y 114K 1,515 9 11 2

Of the Capcom pins (PM & BS only... BBB & KP don't count and FF isn't really a pin), Airborne is the one I see the least in the wild and the least up for sale. It makes me wonder if owners tend to hold on to this pin more than the others once in a collection. That said, the game is hard...very.... and thus I keep coming back for more. In a non-home setting the pin would be awful to try to understand and score well, but in a home setting where you can understand the rules and callouts - it's excellent. The 'complaint' is the linearity of the game play - I don't see that as a bad thing at all - you simply travel from air show to air show trying to win by completing tricks that are called out by the co-pilot as well as the lighting queues ....but man those shots are hard.... there are other modes along the way and the dots/sound are fantastic. The pin definitely needs LED's, however unless the LEDOCD board can be found (no longer available at this writing) you have to stick with incandescent. Compared to the other aviation themed pins of the 80's and beyond: Gold Wings, F-14, Operation Thunder...Airborne wins the show!

Sonic currently owns this game.

9.820/10

2 years ago

XQZ

douggalecawitz

Pinside member

Naperville, IL

11y 62,900 45 85

Severely underrated game. I'll say it..... this game is better than F-14 Tomcat by a country mile. Great layout, tons of shots, a great skill shot, multi language game modes, great theme, wonderfully intricate ramps, great backglass. This is a top tier wishlist game. Too rare to find in the wild. I wished they'd made 10000 of them.

douggalecawitz has this game on the wishlist.

7.888/10

3 years ago

RGJ

bigguybbr

Pinside+ Frequent

3y 100K 3,275 6 17

Fun but challenging table. The first thing that jumps out at you is the crazy amount of wire forms, three levels stacked on one another accessible by the right ramp, the left ramp, and the 2 center scoops. The playfield also has a jet fighter as part of the top of the wire form stack and a control tower to the left as the only real toys on the playfield. The gameplay is linear in that you always start out having to buzz the tower, then knock down the drop targets to spell air, etc. to progress through each set of air show stunts while competing against a timer. While this linear approach bothers some, I think it works that you have some familiarity of what comes next since the drop target shots are hard, and the center scoops are pretty narrow, so knowing what comes next helps you complete stunts on time.

This game has my favorite skill shot, where you use the flipper buttons to activate a rear bumper called the injector that helps you guide the ball down a particular lane for either 1 million, 4 million, or a ball lock in the jet fighter at the top of the wire forms. Using this it is possible to lock 2 balls and start the game with 2 ball multiball. There is also a 3 ball multiball mode with locks in the lower left out lane and the upper right of the playfield.

The DMD animations on this game are very well done. One of the best parts of the game is being given the choice to keep or eject your copilot, with the eject animation being pretty funny. This will be even better if and when a ROM comes out for ColorDMD. The individually controlled lights do a good job in attract mode, and a pretty good job in game to help call out the shots you need to make, with DMD animations helping to direct you to your next target.

bigguybbr edited previous rating on December 27, 2021.
bigguybbr has owned this game in the past.

7.352/10

4 years ago

JP

jake35

Pinside member

7y 114K 2,554 25 9 5

Cool rare machine. I think this game would be more popular if it wasn't so rare. Most people have never played it. Would be 100x better if color DMD available for this title, which should be soon.

jake35 has owned this game in the past.

6.963/10

6 years ago

DVK

davideokills

Superelectric

Cleveland, OH

10y 78,150 631 51 24

The ramps and rails are so over the top in this game and they become a distraction instead of a positive feature. It's fun but just doesn't have the lasting power you'd expect from such a cool looking game. Capcom quality is so awesome it is a shame we didn't see more tiles from them.

davideokills has owned this game in the past.

7.888/10

7 years ago

DMC

Pinside member

Orange

10y 50,900 514 22

This is a lot of fun when in good condition and set up properly. So many things going on that are unrivaled in many other games. This game relies on good shot placement. It's an excellent example of a quality designed pinball machine.

DMC has owned this game in the past.

7.856/10

8 years ago

TDK

TomDK

Pinside+ Frequent

11y 87,800 1,923 30 2

I was looking for years for a nice Airborne, now I have it and shopped it out. Plays like new, looks like new. Vrery nice and fast games, only the straight missions are not optimal. But in all a very nice game with lots of fun, great sound and animations, a technic WMS was dreaming about in the late 90´s.
Not too expensive but hard to find.

Like it !

8.192/10

9 years ago

DAN

BeaverBrewing

Pinside member

Beaver Falls, PA

11y 80,150 289 7 282

Wow! Never saw this before this weekend...what a great game! Starts with a wonderful skill shot...lots of options off the plunge and locking a ball is one.

Wicked fast. Center ramps remind me of who dunnit?...but don't miss! If you do it is a rocket right back to you.

Hard to hit drops on each side...great ramps...deep enough rules that I could play this a lot more! Really love the layout...if this were themed as top gun with Tom cruise on the backglass their would be 5,000 made.

7.240/10

9 years ago

AJ

BoP

Pinside member

Albury

10y 70,050 460 20 30

Super fast and lots of fun. Lots of wire forms too which is cool but the games not all about the ramp shots.

9.096/10

9 years ago

NAM

kwiKimart

Inactive member

San Diego, CA

12y 90,650 10,693 3 71

What a great Capcom game!!!! This is F-14 Tomcat on Steroids!!!!! I love all the wireforms across the playfield and really shocks me that people don't think this is Capcom's best released pin!!! Well, I think this is Capcom's best pinball they've released!!

kwiKimart has this game on the wishlist.

3 Pinsiders starred this!

7.104/10

10 years ago

ROB

RobKnapp

Pinside member

Colorado Springs, CO

13y 110K 3,116 13 183

Nice playfield , Fun

9.464/10

10 years ago

POW

powerslave

Inactive member

Mascouche, QC

14y 56,550 305 1 60

The cab and the translite are ugly but the gameplay have lot think to do,it's hard to see all toys on the playfield,very unknow funny game

powerslave has owned this game in the past.

7.467/10

10 years ago

AGN

Rustyck

Pinside member

Maple Grove, MN

11y 45,400 240 16 18

Lots of bark, not much bite. The metal rails are sweet to look at, but the gameplay was so-so.

4.860/10

10 years ago

SAP

seshpilot

Pinside member

11y 112K 2,540 169 2

Capcom has made some decent pins (Big Bang Bar probably being the best). This is not one of them IMO. The wire forms are cool, but other than that, this game just bored me. Not much to it. The skill shot at the beginning is cool, but I just didn't dig this one. I wouldn't buy this game unless it was crazy cheap (like $350). Pass.

5.457/10

11 years ago

ZUL

Caucasian2Step

Evil McBooty

12y 163K 1,456 51 1011

Airborne is a Capcom game that is... well... it's OK.

The Pros:
I LOVE this BG with the upside- down perspective. The PF is laid out with some good shots. The game feels solid and the eject button is a peek at the humor to come in Big Bang Bar.

The Cons:
For a game about flying... there is no flow. The game just does not feel satisfying. High in the "Meh" scale for my tastes.

The Takeaway:
If you like the theme and the Capcom feel... Give this a go. I'm looking for other games to play besides this one.

Update:
After spending some time on a friend's copy. This game can be broken down to left ramp all day. It's a shame really. All those habit trails and mechanisms...

Update V.2:
I love the plunger/flipper bang down skill shot. The lock in the upper right hand side of the PF is REALLY well done. Not a fan of the 3 standups and 2 lanes so close to the flippers. So many habit trails, this deck must be a beast to disassemble and shop. Is it me or do the dots look muddy for the most part? The rules still are escaping me, but that just means I'll have to play it some more! I am happy to give this game anther chance, errr... frequent flier miles to really find out what it is all about.

Caucasian2Step edited previous rating on November 22, 2016.

8.216/10

11 years ago

BRI

gweempose

Pinside Moderator

13y 154K 20,208 37

Airborne is a great game! It may not be very polished in the rules department, but when it's properly tweaked, the thing is super fast and fun to play. The playfield layout is unlike anything else out there. I love how you can lock balls in three different locations. I also think the skill shot with the injector was a very clever idea. And you gotta love the wireforms on this game. I can't think of another pin that has more of them. I particularly enjoy hitting the scoop ramps. Just make sure you don't miss, or those yellow standup targets will send the ball back toward the flippers at insane speeds.

If I had to complain about something, it would be the linear gameplay. It's not a deal breaker by any means, but it would have been better if the modes were in random order. Some people are bothered by the fact that it's difficult to hit all the targets from the flippers. This may be true, but once you get used to the shots, it's really not that bad. Plus, the ball flies around the playfield so fast that you'll usually have no problem completing the banks purely by accident.

Overall, Airborne is an absolute blast to play. If you get a chance to add one of these to your collection, I highly recommend it.

6.931/10

11 years ago

MIC

RipleYYY

Pinside member

14y 87,050 4,394 2 34

build quality is top, as all CAPCOM, but i cant found the fun i got with PINBALL MAGIC... :/

RipleYYY edited previous rating on May 19, 2019.
RipleYYY has owned this game in the past.

8.900/10

12 years ago

???

accetta

Inactive member

Pittsburgh, PE

13y 8,750 2 16 13

fun pin with some interesting hard shots .. very fun to play

7.568/10

12 years ago

SLY

Snurdley

Inactive member

Cincinnati, OH

12y 51,800 634 1 121

Wow! This game really surprised me. Really fast! Oooooooooo wire forms!

Snurdley edited previous rating on September 16, 2021.

9.036/10

13 years ago

???

e3winter

Inactive member

Kalamazoo, MI

13y 5,500 1 11

My first pin, decent layout albeit feels a bit cluttered until you're used to the shots. Very very fast gameplay. The game rules are time based and many players consider the ruleset to pretty much unbeatable.

e3winter currently owns this game.

8.958/10

14 years ago

???

gumby

Inactive member

Yampai, AZ

20y 15,500 24

Some have called this pin "cluttered." I say it requires precise shotmaking. Best Fun with Bonus countdown music ever. Also, it's linear like Pinball Magic, though the timer relieves the player of the obligation to make a shot before other ones become possible.

6.092/10

14 years ago

DAK

lightguy

Inactive member

Unknown

18y 26,900 1 17

One of those games I had to have then once it was here, had to go. I challenge anyone whom has said they have beaten this machine to look me in the eye and say it.
The one unbeatable machine on the planet. Frustratingly not enjoyably.
The ramps while a big draw to the purchase were in reality just that; eye candy. Not really used or useful in the game to the extent of their presence.
Buy a Breakshot if you want a Capcom deal.
Like the saying ; "Less is more"

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