Stern

Shrek

Pinside Rating

This game received 149 approved Pinsider ratings and currently rates 7.429 _/10

7.429

Top 100 ranking

This game ranks #198 in the Pinside Pinball Top 100.

Score breakdown

Score breakdown in the 4 main categories:

Game Design: 7.536

Artwork: 7.374

Sounds/Music: 7.237

Other Aspects: 7.224

Pinside staff rating

This is how we, the very knowledgeable (wink wink) Pinside.com staff & moderators rate this game. 5 of us have rated this game.

7.739

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Found 86 ratings (with comment) on this game

There are 86 ratings (that include a comment) on this game.
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7.124/10

6 months ago

DRD

DrDrain

Pinside member

9y 42,900 57 159

Every game has its redeeming qualities. This one's is the mini-playfield.

Apart from the aforementioned mini-playfield and the little loop underneath it that redirects the ball towards the right flipper there are no memorable features on this game. The most fun I have playing this game is operating the mini-playfield.

In terms of rules this game is alright but it gets repetitive quickly for me. Nevertheless it's quite clear where you're supposed to shoot, at least to start that mini-playfield up.

The artwork package is good for a game of the early SAM era. In comparison to more modern Stern or older Midway games the playfield looks a bit weak. But there are definetely worse looking playfield from that era.

In conclusion this is one of my least favorite games but the mini-playfield is at least a good feature. I have actually never played Family Guy so far but I cannot imagine it's any better. I'd rather play Batman: The Dark Knight as it came out in 2008 as well. Nevertheless I'd still play this game if it were the only (or best) on location as playing on the mini-playfield is fun.

2 Pinsiders starred this!

7.930/10

1 year ago

TBA

tbanthony

Pinside member

16y 81,550 1,524 29

We've had this game in our small home collection for several years and it seems to be staying put. My favorite part of the game is the humor which hasn't worn old. I suppose you have to at least like the Shrek theme somewhat to appreciate it. The game itself has the infamous mini pinball playfield. Honestly, I like it. Yeah, batting the mini ball around can be a little chaotic, but I like the change of pace and unique challenge. The rest of the playfield is definitely a bit atypical of most other machines (ignoring the original Family Guy version). It's not a big "flow" game and is more start/stop but it has some interesting shots and I like having the 3rd flipper. Overall, the game adds variety to any collection. Certainly does not feel much like any other game I've owned and I think that's mostly a positive. Not a big deal, but I do kind of enjoy the fact that this is a relatively rare game. It doesn't get much love amongst pinheads quite frankly but my family enjoys it even after several years and won't let go of it. That's all that matters to me.

7.856/10

1 year ago

F H

derfske

Pinside member

Landgraaf

2y 24,550 82 4 11

my girlfriend loves this game.. she is a beginner, what makes it a fun game for her..
great family pin to own.. better to have than harder games..

for me doh, the smaller pinball inside the playfield is for me a waste of decent shots, but therefore rating it as low as the rest.. no
if the question was best beginner of family pin. this one would be in the top 10 Lol
if i got the change to buy one. i would..

8.104/10

1 year ago

ENS

Erika00Sven

Pinside+ Frequent

2y 29,500 8 9

I have got to play this at State of Mind Public House and Pizzeria in Los Altos, CA (Amazing Pizza btw). They got a great lineup and this one is a lot of fun. Yeah maybe they didn't get Eddie Murphy to do Donkey's voice again, but it's still fun. I haven't played Family Guy yet but I hear they have pretty much the same layout. I like the mini playfield, but feel some of the shots are hard to get. But I like Shrek the movie so please note my rating might be bias.

8.360/10

2 years ago

RAD

DumbRecords

Pinside member

Springfield, IL

6y 49,400 14 8 29

I've owned Shrek for a few months now, it's been updated to LEDs which really makes it nice and bright. I never really had a chance to play family guy or shrek much before getting this machine. I mainly got it because Shrek is a favorite around our arcade. The game definitely feels different and it takes a while to figure out a strategy to play it. If you're just shooting whatever is flashing then you may not understand how to start multiballs, etc. The artwork and toys seem a little thrown together, but that makes sense considering how few of these were made. The music and callouts however are top notch. I'm surprised how much voicework went into this thing and some of the callouts are the funniest in all pinball imo. Like others I wish Donkey's lines weren't so long while you're waiting for the ball to kick out from Donkey pinball. I was worried the mini pinball would get obnoxious after a while, but it hasn't yet for me. It's a nice break every time as the reward for winning it makes it worthwhile. Overall the game is fun to play and many people come to the arcade and I've definitely caught people just starting a game so they can hear Smash Mouth.

DumbRecords has owned this game in the past.

7.219/10

2 years ago

BAW

Bankshot

Pinside member

6y 37,050 7 12 18

Solid game for newbies but I had little trouble dominating this game from the start. Lots of cool gimmicks and call outs but after I racked up some games I moved on. Great theme, but just not my cup of tea.

8.592/10

3 years ago

EDH

TigerLaw

Pinside Moderator

Jennings, LA

14y 224K 20,105 24 240

A hard to find game here, even harder to find in decent shape. Out of the 600 Shrek machines out there the vast bulk of them were routed, not many true HUO examples on this title. This game if fun and collectible.

The mini-pinball machine within the machine is the big toy on this game. It’s a ton of fun and truly one of the greatest toys ever designed for a pinball machine. Good call outs peculiar to the mini pinball machine as well.

This game has great flow and combo ability (though the mini pinball machine is a good deal of stop and go and the transitional call outs consume more time than they should). Even though these playfield design was for Family Guy, it works great for Shrek as well.

The bad: the game plays a bit long on factory settings, you’ll need to open up the outlanes all the way and make the modes harder to start. The light show was made for incandescent bulbs, get a driver board for sure on this title.

TigerLaw edited previous rating on December 19, 2021.
TigerLaw currently owns this game.

7.112/10

3 years ago

TKM

Daditude

Pinside Moderator

Rockwall, TX

5y 266K 10,128 23 271

This pin definitely puts a smile on my face. I find the Shrek movies amusing, so that certainly helps. The gameplay is fun too. It is an all-around solid pin, but there weren't many made, so you better start looking if you want one.

Daditude edited previous rating on October 19, 2020.

9.020/10

3 years ago

JDR

Aflacjack

Pinside+ Frequent

Bristol, TN

6y 102K 1,164 34 36

The game is gorgeous. It is way fun and tons to shoot for. A couple of the call outs are repetitive, but even though it is a retheme of Family Guy, it is done really well. Great game and pretty deep. What more can you say other than this was done well. Very glad to have bought one.

Aflacjack has owned this game in the past.

8.240/10

5 years ago

???

locksmith

Pinside member

10y 90,300 819 53 1

Fun game that is deeper than first glance.Stern did a good job on this one.With only 600 made bumps it up a bit.

8.820/10

5 years ago

JAS

pinheadaustralia

Pinhead Australia

5y 40,150 3 81 23

My favourite thing about shrek is that it plays All star by Smash Mouth everytime you start a game (although about 30 seconds in it changes to a more instrumental version of the song which is weird but whatever). the shots are fun and unique. mini playfield is an important feature as its the only way to progress into the donkey multiball or whatever its called - this is bloody hard to complete as each time you time out it gets tougher to make your way back up there to complete it. although a childish theme it still has appeal to those under 30 as SHREK 1 is old enough to be nostalgic to us

pinheadaustralia currently owns this game.

8.156/10

5 years ago

???

klbonn

Pinside member

6y 46,300 9 53

This is a fun game for the whole family

6.968/10

5 years ago

???

cyberbear

Pinside apprentice

Glasgow

5y 18,750 43

I thought this was quite a good machine, good flow, lots of fun playing it, rare to see, better than a lot of Stern's even if people are saying it is a re-theme. Love the callouts.

8.608/10

5 years ago

MNL

Mnluz

Pinside member

Sao Paulo

6y 29,400 152 8 18

I own a Shrek for about 3 months now, it took some time but its working a 100%, shooped and fixed.

Code is a big surprise, I love the way stack was designed, you have to stack before activating a multiball mode. If you do that, you get a lot of points and that makes the machine more challenge and also makes you keep coming and try to get modes on the right order before MB.
Good modes, interesting wizard (shot, shot, scoop, restart, shoot, shoot, scoop), the final wizard mode is almost impossible.

Lots of different shots, mini playfield is fun and attractive to family and friends, art is very well implemented according to the theme, gorgeous.

The call outs are fun and there a lot different ones, I do enjoy the original smash mouth song and added other shrek songs to the modes using pinball browser ( a most IMHO). Add color DMD, use pinball browser and this pin comes to live.

I got shrek because of my 2 young daughters, but I have being playing it a lot more them MM, because of the code.
It will stay here for a long time, one of the best family pins available and only 600 hundred were made, a true LE.

Mnluz has owned this game in the past.

7.027/10

5 years ago

GIL

Imagineerie

Inactive member

10y 44,550 7 190

When the mini pinball game on the playfield is more fun than the main pinball game, you’ve got a problem. In fact I was wishing there was a way to play just the mini game instead of the rest of the game because it was so much more fun.

6.811/10

5 years ago

ROB

aerobert

Inactive member

8y 57,800 489 2 57

Ugh this game. It's one of those I really want to like because of the theme. It's put together and integrated quite well but I'm just not that into hearing Smash Mouth every time.

Rules are decent. Modes are OK, and mini pinball game feels like an afterthought. Pass

8.132/10

5 years ago

JRB

jordan_dts

Inactive member

Unknown

7y 14,750 4 8

Really enjoyed this game. Played it once, and was hooked. Always a line of people setting up to play at the pinball hall of fame in Vegas.

8.408/10

6 years ago

MCH

Pinkitten

Pinside+ Pro!

Williamston, MI

6y 136K 3,796 14 88

I recently added a very nice, HUO Shrek after admiring the playfield colors and art for a long time. I really like the art package on Shrek. The game design is unusual, not a surprise given it’s a Pat Lawlor design. I enjoy games with a wide array of shots, and Shrek has many, many shots and some from tricky angles. Donkey Pinball is really cute and creative, to me. People complain the upper pf is repetitive and boring. I find many upper playfields gimmicky and get old or waste space. This one is essential to collecting the characters and starting the main mb. I can see how this game’s appeal is even more personal and subjective than pinball already is. You need to like or at least tolerate Shrek and the Mike Myers and Eddie Murphy-sounding callouts. I like them, most are directly from the movie. This one is very kid-friendly too, and we need that for lots of reasons. But this game isn’t just for kids. Lawlor designed a tricky game where skill is needed to excel, and I enjoy the modes and rules. Pretty varied, if not super “deep.” Plus, there are only 600 of these pins. That’s a small run. I find it interesting too that Family Guy (which I don’t care for) is ranked pretty high, like #57, but Shrek is outside the top 100. The game is physically the same, with different art, sound and rule packages. Because I enjoy Shrek more, I would flip those rankings. Either way, this is an underrated game which is good-looking, unusual and fun to play. Plus, kids run to it first! They can’t all be for us “grown-ups.” UPDATE: after playing for several more days, I must admit I really love this game and enjoy playing it. Easy to play, hard to excel at and beat, and offers something different than most other pins. It's unique and it's fun. Give this one a real try if you can find one!

Pinkitten edited previous rating on August 26, 2020.
Pinkitten has owned this game in the past.

2 Pinsiders starred this!

6.313/10

6 years ago

EVN

EvanDickson

Pinside member

Charlottetown, PE

10y 91,550 2,679 5 49

Hard to get into this one. Playfield has a weird layout, and they sacrificed a bunch of space for a terrible bagatelle game. Somehow I keep finding these in the wild, and I've given them a lot of plays, but it's just not a great machine. Probably a great one if you have kids and want a pin for them though.

8.940/10

6 years ago

DDW

sohchx

Pinside member

9y 87,050 2,259 76

Obviously if you like the layout of Family Guy, you'll like this one. Excellent re-theme in my opinion. Being that I am an adult I don't particularly care to much for the voices and music, but its absolutely perfect for the kids or fans of the movie in general.

7.320/10

6 years ago

RIK

rtotans

Pinside+ Frequent

7y 75,100 211 34 4

So I played for my first time today. I wasn't that impressed. After my 3rd game I was very bored and ended my game early. However For any game... sometimes it might take 20 games for you to know if the game is good or not. So please take everything I say with a grain of salt. I will add more once I play a few dozen games.

Pros

Great artwork on cabinet and play field
Great music
Great sound and voices

Cons

mini game is a big waste of space and takes away from the play field
mini game gets old real fast and you really just want it to end quickly
Game isn't that exciting. For a $5000 game used, I want to be blown away. I want to have fun playing. For me know being able to get through 3 games before boredom sets in, might speak volumes.

Maybe I will find some more fun things with the game after a few more plays.

8.207/10

6 years ago

MOO

Herk

Pinside member

Johnstown, PA

7y 45,900 128 3 18

My fiance loves this machine. I like it. 8.5/10.

Herk has this game on the wishlist.

7.005/10

6 years ago

YPS

cooldan

Inactive member

London

13y 54,800 129 5 53

Shrek is just a rethemed Family Guy, so all the same stuff applies -good layout, ace mini playfield, sound callouts can get repetitive. if you like one then you'll like both, but the one you come across first (steady there, not literally) will be the one you prefer. I first encountered (swerve) FGUY so for me this always seemed just an inferior copy.

good fun game though and not too many about, so definitely have a play if you ever find yourself ejaculating into one sorry I mean coming across one.

cooldan has owned this game in the past.

1.105/10

6 years ago

BJD

Arcadefan

Inactive member

Saint Albans, NL

6y 39,900 111 18

I think this is one of the worst pinball machines I don't like it

7.093/10

7 years ago

???

colonel_caverne

Pinside member

Biscarrosse

10y 80,800 3,262 3 72

The layout of this one kills the flow of the game.
The mini playfield is cool toy.
Not my taste and the theme does nothing for me.

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