F-14 Tomcat

"Definitely one of the best pinball machines I have ever played."

I was hanging out at an arcade I had never been to before, and while wandering the machines this machine caught my eye. I stepped closer and read the name “F-14 Tomcat.” I looked at the image that all pinball machines have, and was mesmerized by the fighter jets flying around shooting missiles with big explosions. Because I had just seen Top Gun this pinball machine looked even better. I just had to play this machine. When I plopped that quarter in the slot, I didn't know what I was in for.

Playing this machine was the best idea I had the whole day. The pinball machine was the standard size, but it seemed to have so much more depth than all of the other machines there. There were so many little tracks you could get your ball on, making for a much more interesting pinball experience. The main point of this pinball machine is triggering a fight with Yagov. He is some sort of Russian general, as you can tell by some of the things he says. You must shoot his planes with the ball multiple times, and he will apparently die, and you will hear a loud scream from him. Goal-oriented pinball machines definitely have the capability to be much more entertaining than ones where you just play to play, and F-14 Tomcat demonstrates this perfectly. This machine plays very fast, and this makes the game much more intense and fun than it would have been if it were slower. Sometimes you will find that your ball is bouncing around so fast that you lose track of it.

The graphics that are in the machine look nice and fit the game well. There are a few little fighter jets drawings in the machine and they have some good detail to them, just like the image on the backboard thing. It seems that the dominating color is black, which isn't a bad thing in this game's case.

The pinball machine I visited had very responsive flippers. Right when you press the button, the flipper will shoot up. There were no problems whatsoever regarding the flipper controls or any other aspect of using this pinball machine. This game is somewhat challenging, and will differ in challenge level to people with differing amounts of experience in pinball. It was just about a medium for me, and I have a good amount of experience with different pinball machines.

Always be sure to carry around a few quarters to play this machine if you ever see it. You won't want to miss out on playing this excellent pinball machine! After you play it once, you will most likely want to play again and again, so be ready to go find a change machine, or somebody who will exchange you quarters for dollars.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 01/27/06