The 11 Greatest Pinball Machines of All Time* *according to one die-hard-fan

Kevin Martin, founder of Pair Networks, a Pittsburgh-based Web-hosting company, has been playing pinball his whole life. In the late 1990s, he began seriously collecting machines and later became president of the Professional & Amateur Pinball Association. A look at some of his collection, which happens to be one of the biggest in the world.

"The Addams Family is the original classic game that has something for
everyone -- no, everything for everyone. Great pacing, great theme, decent
flow, and an excellent package of sound and artwork. They built so many of
these, the industry never really recovered, and you can still find them on
location today. See also other classic designs by designer Pat Lawlor,
such as Whirlwind, Funhouse, and Earthshaker."

"Twilight Zone is another Lawlor design, but it's far more complicated and
challenging and therefore better suited to expert players. Again, the
pacing is terrific, and the rules have more depth than Addams. No game
really compares except possibly later Stern titles with rules by designer
and programmer Keith Johnson."

"Eight Ball Deluxe is an absolute classic which was ultimately produced in
three different models. It wasn't the first to use speech, and it
certainly wasn't the first to have a bank of drop targets, but it made
excellent use of both features, as well as a fairly sophisticated ruleset
for its time."

"Attack From Mars was an instant classic as soon as it came out, with its
entertaining theme and accessible gameplay; I even bought one brand new.
The "Bally" brand was bought out by Williams Manufacturing in the 1980s,
and subsequently, the names 'Bally' and 'Williams' were applied somewhat
randomly to the machines produced by the same company. It's purely
coincidence that most of my picks are under the 'Bally' brand name."

"Whitewater is the game that caused me to skip class for days when it
appeared in the gameroom at Virginia Tech. On one of those days, I
actually played it for 10 hours straight. Along with Twilight Zone, it's
the only game on this list for which I developed a detailed strategy guide.
You can read nearly two hundred such guides in my Pinball Archive at
www.pinball.org."

"Like many of the games on my list, World Cup Soccer has excellent pacing.
By pacing, I mean not only a variety of fast and smooth shots, but also the
timing of animations that play when the ball is being held after a shot is
made. Games not on this list which also have terrific pacing include
Demolition Man and Creature From the Black Lagoon."

"Cirqus Voltaire is one of the most creative pinball games ever built.
It features a nonstandard layout with unusual outlanes, major features
that rise out of the playfield only when needed, and a unique,
non-licensed theme with amazing sound and artwork. This is easily one of
the most challenging games ever when it comes to keeping the ball in play."

"Lord of the Rings easily has one of the most extensive and sophisticated
rulesets ever conceived in pinball, while still being accessible and fun
for novice players. A fantastic license comes together with excellent
design and strong programming by Keith Johnson."

"Tales of the Arabian Nights, like Cirqus Voltaire, is an unusual game,
combining 'retro' elements, such as its spinning lamp target, with
innovations such as the mechanism that makes the ball "disappear" in
front of the Genie. The unique flow of the playfield really makes this
game best-suited to tricky ball handlers."

"Target Pool embodies the simple but challenging play of electromechanical
machines, which feature the classic sounds of chimes and clicking relays.
At its height, D. Gottlieb & Co. was turning out dozens of different
pinball models a year, so it's hard to pick just one. There were
certainly very few duds (not true of the 1970's models, however).
Unlike more modern games, Target Pool only allows a single player."

"Tommy is a pinball theme that is among the best-known outside of pinball
itself. This terrific license was tough but was handled competently. The
sounds are terrific, gameplay reasonably good, and multiball is especially
challenging. Although not as complex as later games, the multiball rules
did have some depth. (OK, I admit it, I worked at Data East and helped
with the rules -- a little bit.)"