Williams

Banzai Run

Pinside Rating

This game received 230 approved Pinsider ratings and currently rates 7.887 _/10

7.887

Top 100 ranking

This game ranks #108 in the Pinside Pinball Top 100.

Score breakdown

Score breakdown in the 4 main categories:

Game Design: 8.125

Artwork: 7.873

Sounds/Music: 6.911

Other Aspects: 7.999

Pinside staff rating

This is how we, the very knowledgeable (wink wink) Pinside.com staff & moderators rate this game. 8 of us have rated this game.

7.719

Your Rating?

You need to be logged in before you can rate pinball machines. No account yet? Registering only takes a sec!

Found 100 ratings (with comment) on this game

There are 100 ratings (that include a comment) on this game.
Currently showing results page 2 of 4.

List options

Ratings sort order

Type of ratings to show in list

Owner status of review

Exclude flagged ratings

Keyword or username search

8.784/10

4 years ago

TKM

Daditude

Pinside Moderator

Rockwall, TX

5y 266K 10,134 23 271

Such a quirky design...how could you not love it? System 11, motorcycles, and more pinball!!

These have climbed greatly in price, so it is tough to pull the trigger on one unless you like the rarer/oddball stuff.

Daditude edited previous rating on August 22, 2020.

7.735/10

4 years ago

DWD

KnockerPTSD

Pinside member

Hamilton, ON

6y 95,850 3,957 3 100

Once you figure out what to do this game is so much more fun than just trying to get into the upper backboard area

8.223/10

4 years ago

SHO

Bigshow

Pinside member

Watertown, SD

4y 29,250 1 6 17

A very unique pinball, challenging but as others noted not as much replayability as you would think.

6.376/10

4 years ago

ADM

PinDoctor82

Pinside member

5y 77,050 278 6 104

I realize that this is a unique game due to the vertical playfield section, but I really didn't enjoy this game. I felt fairly bored with it after just moments, and that's not normal for me. I wasn't feeling the flow of the shots, and none of the shots in particular felt all that good to hit. I'll give it another go if I come across another and maybe it'll grow on me.

9.726/10

5 years ago

SMT

shadski

Pinside member

Burnsville, MN

6y 31,650 48 1 7

To me, this game belongs firmly on the list of top 15 pinball machines ever made. 30 years have passed and very few games have met or surpassed the ingenuity and creativity that went in to this game, despite numerous major technological advancements. If it wasn’t for start ups like JJP, I think it’s safe to say we never would have seen pinball machines start to push the envelope again in terms of what is possible. The original theme, the awesome music, the difficult and unique sequence required to become the King Of The Hill; It is the perfect blend of everything. You can pick up on the objectives of the game easily and intuitively without reading a novel of rulesets. This was the first game I hunted down for my personal collection, and it will never leave!

shadski currently owns this game.

9.196/10

5 years ago

???

plinde1

Pinside member

Jackson Twp., OH

12y 39,050 88 20 27

Banzai Run is a the most unique designed game other than Pinball Circus. The game plays super fast if dialed in, especially if you are lucky enough to have one with upper and lower xR7 playfields. The challenge of defeating racers, getting laps and heading up the Banzai Hill makes each game memorable. Everytime I hit start, I know I am playing something special. It stands out in any collection and shows how Mr. Lawlor, even on his first attempt, pushed the limits of pinball forward. Innovation, beyond measure, a true motocross race under glass, start to finish. In my opinion, when locked in, this game holds it's own against the legendary wpc titles. In fact, I am starting to believe this may be the best game we have. Cannot believe it is ranked so low in top 100. More people need to play this gem!

plinde1 edited previous rating on March 15, 2022.
plinde1 currently owns this game.

3 Pinsiders starred this!

7.966/10

5 years ago

CUZ

mcuzz

Pinside member

8y 117K 500 137

Unique gameplay, fun to play . The extra play in the backglass is memorable, and fun.
Dirtbike race theme is cool.

8.537/10

5 years ago

BAD

ImNotNorm

Pinside member

6y 143K 7,060 99

Pro's +

Unique game
Music/Sound package is cheesy but great
Really fun

Con's -

Gets repetitive
Not much staying power

ImNotNorm edited previous rating on June 23, 2019.

10.000/10

5 years ago

SEE

FLASHBALL

Pinside member

Mulvane, KS

10y 73,300 1,164 12 6

Favorite pinball machine out there. No comparison!

FLASHBALL has this game on the wishlist.

6.762/10

6 years ago

SAS

stavio

Pinside+ Addict

6y 110K 475 16 13

The back glass is tough and unique. I like the dirt bike theme but like a video game I also like (enduro racer) it doesn't seem like many were made or around. I would still buy this pin if priced right.

stavio has this game on the wishlist.

7.213/10

6 years ago

WXW

Lawlor_and_Order

Pinball 518

7y 81,400 38 112

Ah, yes, the most unique pinball machine between Black Hole and Safecracker. From a collector's standpoint, if you were making a museum of pinball, this would be on the must-have list. The vertical pinball takes the mechanical back box animation to its ultimate logical finale, a call out to both pachinko and bagatelle, and is tons of fun. The major flaw of the whole design is the rules and scoring and playfield challenges aren't balanced. Jackpots are incredibly hard, relative to payoff, and the lower playfield (ahem, main playfield) is simple. While I always dig the originality of Lawlor's theming, and the dirt bike maze is well thought-out, I still think that somehow if there had been a different thematic hook to this machine other than another racing game it would have had more staying power. It's a player's machine in that it's not particularly easy to master, but not in the sense that it rewards a balance of skills, and it takes a lot of plays consecutively to get into the game successfully.

I think the analog to this machine isn't, say, No Fear or even Safecracker or Haunted House, but Hercules -- a novelty machine so wonderously weird you really have to put it on your checklist of machines to play, but not one you're likely to pine for when you haven't played it a while. A bucket list machine, not an obsession.

That said, when I start my Pat Lawlor Museum, this will be on the list, for sure.

8.348/10

6 years ago

NMS

Natemsmith04

Pinside member

North Ogden, UT

6y 42,150 1 29 17

So I’m not sure if I’ll ever buy the game, as there’s not enough variation in modes and objectives but this game is fun to play. The top playfield is challenging at first, but quickly gets easy. Still always satisfying to make a cliff jump. Fun to beat racers and move up in the standings. I’d have to play this game a lot to get better at it. It’s good, but not great.

Natemsmith04 has this game on the wishlist.

6.576/10

6 years ago

ROB

Robertstone0407

Pinside member

Marysville, OH

7y 122K 3,054 9 64

Cant get into the gimmick

5.726/10

6 years ago

MNO

MNO2pin

Inactive member

Rotterdam

6y 20,500 4 9

Great, unique pinball. Rules are kind of shallow and if you got it finally up it's pretty hard....
Nice try from Lawlor. Don't need this in collection I think it's a to heavy. classic game

7.648/10

6 years ago

IAN

icallison

Inactive member

Seattle, WA

12y 22,750 1 101

Unique, but I get bored pretty fast.

8.021/10

7 years ago

FAV

bemmett

Pinside+ Addict

12y 127K 3,976 127 2

Awesome and unique pinball. Rules are kind of shallow but Lawlor classic, gotta love it!

9.368/10

7 years ago

KPH

Sorcerer

Pinside member

Loup City, NE

12y 33,450 36 12

One of the best system 11 games out there.
It's a challenge to beat the game.

Sorcerer has owned this game in the past.

7.798/10

7 years ago

WPG

guymontag451

Wedgehead

Portland, OR

13y 92,800 1,006 25 172

Crazy first effort from the legend Pat Lawlor. Although this isn't his finest design (but to be fair, he has 10 pins that made the top 100), this is great fun built around a very unique gimmick. The vertical playfield, whilst a nightmare to keep running, brings an entirely new dimension to pinball. Super fun. Great Pin.

3.572/10

7 years ago

TRG

TomGWI

Pinside member

12y 143K 10,945 156

One trick pony game.

3 Pinsiders flagged this.

7.271/10

8 years ago

SAP

seshpilot

Pinside member

11y 112K 2,552 169 2

Banzai Run has quickly become one of those pins that people will spend more than they should on. Yes the design is absolutely unique; there's absolutely nothing else like it! Unfortunately, I just don't think it's a great game (i.e.: there's a reason there aren't any other vertical pins like this).

The bottom playfield is really not laid out all that well. Without the top part, it would be a terrible game. The game really relies on the top portion, which just feels weird. It's a cool gimmick but not something I would want to stand around and play for hours on end.

Because I have a limited pinball budget, whenever I think of buying/trading for something, I always think of "is this game worth what it costs?" If BR was a $2000 game, maybe it would be worth it. It's no $4500 game though. Pass.

7.271/10

8 years ago

SAP

seshpilot

Pinside member

11y 112K 2,552 169 2

Banzai Run has quickly become one of those pins that people will spend more than they should on. Yes the design is absolutely unique; there's absolutely nothing else like it! Unfortunately, I just don't think it's a great game (i.e.: there's a reason there aren't any other vertical pins like this).

The bottom playfield is really not laid out all that well. Without the top part, it would be a terrible game. The game really relies on the top portion, which just feels weird. It's a cool gimmick but not something I would want to stand around and play for hours on end.

Because I have a limited pinball budget, whenever I think of buying/trading for something, I always think of "is this game worth what it costs?" If BR was a $2000 game, maybe it would be worth it. It's no $4500 game though. Pass.

7.271/10

8 years ago

SAP

seshpilot

Pinside member

11y 112K 2,552 169 2

Banzai Run has quickly become one of those pins that people will spend more than they should on. Yes the design is absolutely unique; there's absolutely nothing else like it! Unfortunately, I just don't think it's a great game (i.e.: there's a reason there aren't any other vertical pins like this).

The bottom playfield is really not laid out all that well. Without the top part, it would be a terrible game. The game really relies on the top portion, which just feels weird. It's a cool gimmick but not something I would want to stand around and play for hours on end.

Because I have a limited pinball budget, whenever I think of buying/trading for something, I always think of "is this game worth what it costs?" If BR was a $2000 game, maybe it would be worth it. It's no $4500 game though. Pass.

8.669/10

8 years ago

DRD

Inactive member

Newark

9y 26,650 17 11 11

Awesome game for its era. One of a kind with vertical playfield that is beautifully integrated into the game. And the vertical playfield is more than a gimmick, it has been very well designed to offer multiple shots from each of its three flippers.

Superb System 11 music. One of the best jackpot shots in pinball, earned by completing a number of other great shots in sequence.

The hill shot is too easy which is the only real criticism that I have of this wonderful game.

Lifter to upper playfield interrupts the flow of the game but the great music and excellent integration with the theme make up for it.

Unique cabinet design makes it truly horrible to move. Even worse to work on as amongst other things it has a unique display panel and interconnect board. You can see why production volumes were low as operators must have hated it. But what a joy to play after you have rebuilt the 6 flippers.

A true collector's piece.

DRD currently owns this game.

8.560/10

8 years ago

BOB

Bwilson

Pinside member

9y 50,800 261 18

Banzi Run has one of the greatest system 11 sound tracks ever created. Swords of Fury comes in at a close second. It's one of the main reasons I'm attracted to this generation of machines, the sound designers were so talented with the limited sounds they had to work with. This game absolutely jams!

Obviously a very unique layout and one of a kind. Its great for a change of pace. I've only touched this game a handful of times but I will say it probably has the hardest jackpot in all of pinball. A two ball multi-ball in which you have to land the saucer behind the pop bumpers then make it all the way to the top of the hill and hit the captive ball. A true testament to no free rides in Lawlor multi-ball.

I will own you some day.

Bwilson edited previous rating on April 02, 2016.

7.043/10

8 years ago

RHO

spiroagnew

Inactive member

11y 121K 982 161

Banzai Run has a really interesting concept that was way ahead of its time. These days, I see it as too gimmicky for its own good. The bottom playfield is really a snoozer—very bare bones. The backbox playfield provides an interesting challenge, but it’s a hook that wears out its welcome on me very fast. I love the art package of the game, and the overall design is interesting, but I’m not compelled to play this game more than a couple of times when I find one…gameplay just doesn’t grab me.

Previous Next 1 2 3 4

There are 100 ratings (that include a comment) on this game. Currently showing results page 2 of 4.

You too can add your own comment by rating this game! Click here to rate this game!

Over the years

Visualizing this game's rating and rank over the years

Hey there! Welcome to Pinside!

Donate to Pinside

Great to see you're enjoying Pinside! Did you know Pinside is able to run without any 3rd-party banners or ads, thanks to the support from our visitors? Please consider a donation to Pinside and get anext to your username to show for it! Or better yet, subscribe to Pinside+!