Oh. This is about the pins. I thought it was about the movies. In which case I was scratching my head why "Neither suck" was not a poll option.

The deserved knock on Robocop is that it's only two shots, spinner and ramp. The standup targets are (usually) spotted by the roll over lanes, leading you to qualify multiball, meaning said standups are dangerous and pointless.

If you do get grindy with one, it will teach you ball control if nothing else, because it is a brutal game. Even if you get bored with it casually, to lock in on it and get the jackpot feels like an accomplishment.

Both are great themes, of course. Robocop (real mirrored) backglass has all the assets, at least.

Data East's cartoon playfield art leaves a lot to be desired.

I have a small collection, so I did not keep it long (see: two shots), but they are cheap and rare and I had a nice one, and data east coils are awesome, so you get your fun where you can take it. So what it might lack for in fun (more shots) it makes up for in "is a very challenging game." The ramp shot is legit cool, but you can't make it (at least on mine) off of a trap. And even if you get the right power to the ball on the fly, chaos ensues off said ramp if your aim is off.

I think I liked it more than Flash Gordon, in any case, another all-time brutal quarter eater.

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1) Call outs and general sound is awesome.
2) Art fits the theme, better than JP/SW/LAH.
3) I do like shooting the saucer, particularly if extra ball is active. The other shots are optional as you have noted.

The ramp shot during multiball is worth it, great game if you want a fast 5 minute workout.

Put me in the “Robocop is a fun pin and BTTF was a blunder” camp

Never played BTTF (I hear it sucks lol), but I have owned Robocop for over a year, and while it's not the most in depth game having only 2 shots like mentioned above, it does get chaotic and brutal if you start missing them. Fire the ball at that center bank of targets and wrong way with those Data East flippers and it comes screaming back at you real quick. Great game for learning ball control.

It's fast and challenging. I love the theme, the sound and music is awesome and while everyone shits on DE art, I think it's fine. Sure they could have gone a different direction with it, but I don't hate it.

It's one of those games I'll flip on when I have a few minutes to kill only to find myself playing "one more game". Simple, yet challenging.

Robocop is a million times better than BTTF. I would actually consider owning a Robocop, BTTF is one of the worst games I've ever played

What was up with DE artwork decisions at the time? The artwok on many of their titles appears to be rough concept drawings.

Why is R&B the only real artwork package from DE? TMNT isn't bad either.

Not to derail the BTTF vs Robocop debate, but I don't think they were ever intended to be art pieces. They pumped out new games to keep things fresh for arcades/operators to collect quarters. At the end of the day they're vending machines. I doubt they ever intended or thought that these things would be sitting in someone's living rooms like today's modern games with well thought out, and multiple art packages from the talented artists in the industry now.

I thought this was going to be a which theme deserves a modern pin more, but turns out the answer is the same: Robocop

RC is not nearly as clunky as BTTF. When this game first came out, the art look gave me "colored in menu at a resturaunt" vibes, and that has not improved over the years, the use of the gray paint in wide splotches is not something i'm into, but wms did this with the gray a lot as well, so DE does not get dinged for that.

A good Robocop pin is a dream theme for me, but so is BTTF. At least we know we're getting BTTF. I suggested Robocop for AP when people were throwing out dumb ideas like "price is right" and everyone told me I was dumb and nobody cares about Robocop anymore.

Robocop would sell well.

Robocop is fun and i would love to have one in my collection. BTTF is one of the worst games ever made. I had one in my collection for a brief while and couldn't get rid of it fast enough. It's a stinker.

Lots of terrible movies made for great pins. BTTF is the opposite. The idiot who paid $14k for one at the Banning auction literally made the worst purchase in the history of pinball.

Robocop is the way better pin, and would be a way better modern pin as well.

Except there are those people who bought Supreme

We were/are big fans of the 80's movie. I think the pin captures the movie feel quite well. Even though I don't recall a jump he had to do.
The call outs are great, we went to the director cut one night re-release in the summer and its amazing how many of the movie call outs there are.

I didnt find BTTF that fun. Sadly bc its another great theme.

Fewer than 200 self-reported in a collection or on location.

Yeah these DE's had other issues with GI and insert lighting and burnouts etc, so this RC is somewhat a survivor if it does not have scars from any of that.

I completely agree on these feeling disposable at the time, which is a shame really.

Movie = BTTF, but robocop was pretty damn good too.

Pinball = robocop, not a bad game for the time. Ive only played one a few times and thought the layout is better than BTTF.

???

The alphanumeric to the first DMD (128x16) Data East games sure seem to have issues with playfield wear and cabinet planking that's for sure. As much as I hate mylar sheets on playfields, without someone putting those on, most of those era of games would be completely trashed. After that when they switched to 128x32 displays (ver3?), the playfields seemed to hold up way better, other than scoop wear and the cabs are also pretty solid, from my experience anyway.

Well I know of at least 3 (including mine) here in my small province with a population of just under 1 million people.

I'd take Supreme all day over BTTF. The best part of Supreme is how mad it makes all the boomers. Thats worth the price of admission in itself.

Robo-Cop kinda feels like BSD to me. It's fast and the shots feel good. Plus it has a sweet jump. It would've been nice if Boddicker was the last criminal to catch, but hey--its Data East in the 80s. Expectations aren't super high.

BTTF blows. Hit DMC a bunch of times until you have to hit DMC in order. The layout doesn't seem as clean either. A bit of a clunk fest.

bttf is one of the worst

Those organic fuses are a PITA to replace.

I think the Robocop layout became Checkpoint, which is a one-shot pony. To be fair a lot of them were, but the code on them could have probably been tuned a bit better.

But that wasn’t just Data East. Space Station pops into my head because I owned it briefly. Awesome soundtrack and light show but I had a smaller lineup at the time and it got old quick.

Oh, it's just a stroke then. No big deal.

As one of those (people) I like data east pinball games. Back to the Future: The Pinball is a sad game. I did not enjoy Robocop either. Having played every data east but King Kong. Being space and money were not part of equation i would get most of their games.

I've been on a Data East kick lately, I wouldn't mind picking up a Robocop. BTTF though, hard pass.

Robo cops a very fun game

wheres crujones4life ?

I too enjoy the Data East lineup. Certainly some are allot better than others, but their art style resonates with me.
On theme alone I would like to have a BTTF if space wasnt an issue..

im going to buy only sucky games from here on. i will have friends over and have beers and we will grow to love them and maybe give each other hand jibbers.

bet i could get one within a month if i really wanted one.

Here I am brother. Sorry I'm late. I love my DE BTTF! Great for simple fast games and I get to hear the awesome soundtrack.

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Man BTTF is a dog. Torpedo Alley...now that's a DE

Don’t forget DE Tine Machine.
Love those ramps if they aren’t cracked, Pac-Man, chimes and other sound effects.
A true sleeper / underrated pin with a ton of Easter eggs.
It’s kinda like a poor man’s Big Bang Bar.

you got the wrong spinner in the game

Already rectified the spinner situation. Old pic.