There's something special about the B/W Class of 92-98. These are the games that most of us remember, even if we only got a couple games in before pinball disappeared from the public's eye heading into the 21st century. I think I may have gotten 2-3 games on Scared Stiff before not getting to play it again until around 2012, but those couple games were enough to help me fuel the fire of desirability in the 2010s, which was only amplified after discovering Chris Bucci's videos and watching the one for SS over and over. Fast-forwarding to February 2019, I am finally able to say I own a SS. Was it worth the wait? Well, let's dive in and talk about it for a second.
I know I already mentioned Chris Bucci's videos, but I have to say, between him and Bowen, their videos really help me gauge if I will like a game or not. Unfortunately, the Florida Panhandle is a death-zone for pinball; so any resources to help me determine if I'll like a game or not are very valuable. That being said, I took a $6800 chance and bought one from Games Exchange in Colorado, and it arrived to my doorstop in about 1.5 weeks, which was very fast considering the winter weather back in Colorado.
Got the game setup, and I have always really liked the cabinet art on this game. Granted, it's a coffin, so not all of the space is utilized, but that may not necessarily be a bad thing. The artwork gives a real bang for your buck with a bunch of corrected messages in red ink, a really good "As Seen on TV" look-alike logo, and the infamous "RRR" scratched out, which on the prototype was intact and read "Real, Raunchy, and Ribbed for your pleasure". Side translite art is nothing too special - spiders - scary. The translite is really cool with all sorts of cool throwbacks and indirect references - and I love that there's a backbox toy in this game. You don't really see that too often, and it's a cool gimmick of a spider twirling around the web providing the player with different awards. The awards, when used at the right time, can be really helpful, especially the crate and coffin MB extensions....!
The PF artwork is really cool. I love the Stiff-o-Meter artwork and insert lighting - looks really awesome! Greg Feres really hit it out of the park with the art on this game. As far as the rules are concerned, I won't deny they are a bit shallow. It's all about completing the six tales in the game, and none of them are exceptionally difficult. While that may start the Stiff-o-Meter, you still have to complete it - and most don't really consider it to be the wizard mode of the game. The true wizard mode of the game is Spider MB, which is reached by collecting all 16 awards on the backbox toy. Good luck. I have heard a few have done it, but I've never seen anyone do it, and I certainly have not completed it myself.
Music is absolutely fantastic - has a upbeat "Super Ghouls and Ghosts" feel to it. Music definitely doesn't get old to me. Some of the callouts do though, which is a bummer. Some of them are pretty clever, and thankfully a few rarely get mentioned, so those stay fresh, but some really get hackneyed - especially the Deadhead callouts :/. YMMV on this one.
Lighting on the game is visually very appealing, especially transitioning from game over to attract mode. The flashers go nuts in a CW/CCW motion that just beautiful when running. I am a big fan of B/W attract mode lightning; it's like no two games have the same pattern, which cannot be said for today's manufacturers where I can nearly predict one pattern after another.
No real toys on PF. Closest you'll get to them are the crate and stiff in the coffin, which are more clever transition points for the ball to go from the PF to underneath the PF or vice versa. Don't get me wrong, they work very well and look the part. Just don't go looking for "ball interactive" toys on this game. The gameplay makes up for it though!
Some great aftermarket DIY mods are available for this game -particularly the Dancing BoogeyMen, Candle light, and Skull pile LED mod. I performed the Skull pile mod on my own, and with some LEDs, hot glue, and patience, I was able to bring that mod to my game - which really looks the part.
This game has really shot up in price the last 6 years. I had to put down $6800 to get my hands on one, which I understand I paid a distributor's mark-up, but hey, I wanted it and no one else had one FS at the time. Just is what it is. Is there $6800 worth of game here? Absolutely not, BUT, with your family/friends, there's $6800 worth of fun here to me. This is a very family-friendly game in terms of difficulty. TWD or BSD this is not - SS is a fun game for nearly anyone who puts minimal effort into their shots, and nearly everyone can at least get Crate MB. If everyone's having fun, that to me, is far more important than the difficulty of a game.
Lots of rumors about Elvira 3 or a CGC remake right now, which is another reason I paid what I did. We really don't know if the game will be remade, and we don't know if/when Elvira 3 is going to hit. I felt the time was now to get one, and so I did. Whatever happens to the value of the game - doesn't really matter to me. I got a game I like, and that's what is important.
Well, I hope that helped paint a picture on SS for you. Thanks for killing some time with me : ).