Next Stern - Star Wars it is
- Thread starter Smokezz
- Start date
kool1
Well-Known Member
There are a lot of amazing fan layout games and I'm hearing the shots on this are pretty tight so if the code pans out nicely it could be the best Star Wars game. The only things I really don't like are the Vader and storm trooper helmets and the playfield art is not great. This is no Godzilla in terms of layout but the theme is gold for Star Wars fans. Can't wait to try it.
shinynick
Active Member
We Will be getting our Star Wars - Fall of the Empire LE Demo unit next week. This is definitely turning out to be a try before you buy game.
Chris Bardon
Well-Known Member
I put a couple of games on this last night, and yes, the shots on it are very tight. If your aim is off, lots of shots will brick and you won't make a lot of progress. I didn't actually get the Jedi save to work the way it's supposed to, but it also seems to work to cash in an add a ball in multiball, which is good to know. The bowl on the Jabba shot just seems...weird. On Creature and Whitewater it's something you can see as an "animation", but here it's hidden in the back. There also doesn't seem to be a switch on it, so does the game know how long a ball is in there for? There doesn't seem to be a reason for it that I can see. I want to play more of it and get to know the rules once the code matures a bit more. I think I like it more than Kong already.
Tried it at the Quebec show last weekend. Not hearing anything was weird (loud environment). Shots were tight as mentioned above. I did well on the leaderboard but honestly didn't understand anything I was doing. Just shooting lit arrows. Didn't get the jedi save to work as intended either.
kool1
Well-Known Member
I played about 5 games each on the pro and premium at Expo in Chicago
I could not get the Jedi ball save to work for me to save a ball but I saw others do it.
Personally I would go pro on this game. There is a beautiful Jabba mod you could add to the right corner to make it look good and you get the death star ball lock. The collapsing AT-AT doesn't add much.
At the same show with MrMikeman, I had the opportunity to play 7 games on an LE.
From the get go, YASWM doesn't hype anything on my end (same as YAMM)
After these 7 games, No "wow" factor there! (IMHO)...
The AT-AT MB (Hoth I think?) was intuitive enough, but for the rest, I was just trying to it the flashing lights... :/
I was able to make the outlane jedi save work (which I can admit it's cool), but the flipper one seems complcated and didn't figure out the timing nor the length that you need to hold the button to pop it back on the flipper. No, I didn't check and gameplay videos beforehand on how to do it...so it's not that intuitive...
There are more fun titles out there... my $0.02
From the get go, YASWM doesn't hype anything on my end (same as YAMM)
After these 7 games, No "wow" factor there! (IMHO)...
The AT-AT MB (Hoth I think?) was intuitive enough, but for the rest, I was just trying to it the flashing lights... :/
I was able to make the outlane jedi save work (which I can admit it's cool), but the flipper one seems complcated and didn't figure out the timing nor the length that you need to hold the button to pop it back on the flipper. No, I didn't check and gameplay videos beforehand on how to do it...so it's not that intuitive...
There are more fun titles out there... my $0.02
kool1
Well-Known Member
The one thing that pulls me to this game is the theme - I LOVE Star Wars
If I see more intriguing code down the line I will revisit. For now I'm just watching.
Chris Bardon
Well-Known Member
Yeah, that's where I'm leaning as well. The jump ramp doesn't add much, so the question is whether the magna save is $2500 cool. I'll have to try out a pro sometime.
Got to play a Premium. It's a nice looking machine and the assets are good but I wasn't really drawn into it. This could very well be a result of it being on location and not at home. I guess in the end I didn't really find the layout exciting which I guess shouldn't have been a surprise since there are plenty of photos of it online. I think for me personally this is a more enjoyable game than the other Star Wars Stern put out, not as challenging, in some ways feels more like a SAM era type game outside of the LCD, which I've always enjoyed. I don't know if it's a better game than the 2017 version, I just had more fun shooting it. I had no issues hitting the middle warp ramp at all, but both times I went for the death star ramp my ball somehow ended up on the round ramp to the left of it after hitting the front of the death star. Regardless I think this is a decent pin, it's biggest problem is that it's about as basic a layout as AP's BBQ game. I could see myself owning a Pro for a year at some point but I wouldn't buy new.
I forgot the magna save existed until I just came here to post my thoughts lol. Damn, what a flop on my end. The AT-AT is another thing I didn't really notice or forgot was a Premium feature. The middle ramp is pretty cool but when I hit it while it was down, it was the fastest SDM I've ever seen so in my eye the Pro is the best option for this one. To each their own
I forgot the magna save existed until I just came here to post my thoughts lol. Damn, what a flop on my end. The AT-AT is another thing I didn't really notice or forgot was a Premium feature. The middle ramp is pretty cool but when I hit it while it was down, it was the fastest SDM I've ever seen so in my eye the Pro is the best option for this one. To each their own
Ced's Atomic Dustbin
Member
Ottawa Pinball Arcade got their Pro in yesterday.
The general consensus of the players in for freeplay/tournament night seemed to be that most people were pleasantly surprised after reading the reviews/the basic fan layout/YASWM etc. Best of the Star Wars games for most people.
I've got no interest in Star Wars but it was fun to shoot without any real wow factors. I like the wildness the symmetrical pop bumpers above each sling gives it
More people were wowed by Stranger Things Premium. Especially the projection effect on the targets, spinners and ramps. The ST prem feels like a big step up from the pro..
Brand new Venom Prem and John Wick Pros also came in and a WKD remaster is coming soon. Sad to see Foo Fighters Prem leave, though. Don't think there is one left on location in Ottawa.
The general consensus of the players in for freeplay/tournament night seemed to be that most people were pleasantly surprised after reading the reviews/the basic fan layout/YASWM etc. Best of the Star Wars games for most people.
I've got no interest in Star Wars but it was fun to shoot without any real wow factors. I like the wildness the symmetrical pop bumpers above each sling gives it
More people were wowed by Stranger Things Premium. Especially the projection effect on the targets, spinners and ramps. The ST prem feels like a big step up from the pro..
Brand new Venom Prem and John Wick Pros also came in and a WKD remaster is coming soon. Sad to see Foo Fighters Prem leave, though. Don't think there is one left on location in Ottawa.
Last edited:
Chris Bardon
Well-Known Member
Accessories are out relatively quickly for this one:
sternpinball.com
The topper looks OK, if a little sparse compared to BKSOR and Foo Fighters, but I do think the Threepio head is a good match, especially with the callouts. I also saw on another Stern video that there's a replacement bracket available that fixes the rejects on the Death Star shots (which I think I've run into on a couple of the copies I've played).
Stern Pinball Launches Full Line of Star Wars: Fall of the Empire Pinball Machine Accessories - Stern Pinball
https://youtu.be/J_1oqWi8YFE CHICAGO, IL – December 18, 2025 – Stern Pinball, Inc., is excited to announce a full line of Star Wars: Fall of the Empire pinball machine accessories compatible with the Pro, Premium, and Limited Edition (LE) models. These newly available upgrades will level up your...
The topper looks OK, if a little sparse compared to BKSOR and Foo Fighters, but I do think the Threepio head is a good match, especially with the callouts. I also saw on another Stern video that there's a replacement bracket available that fixes the rejects on the Death Star shots (which I think I've run into on a couple of the copies I've played).
Steve Lennox
Active Member
kool1
Well-Known Member
Chris Bardon
Well-Known Member
I played a bunch more of this the other night, and I'm still not sure about it. I will say that the Jedi save seems to work better than before-I got a couple of good ones in, and is definitely the coolest thing about the physical package. The fact that the pro is missing this is the one thing that would make me go premium on it. Does the pro just work as a standard ball save?
The rest of the layout is just...straightforward? I like being able to backhand the AT-AT lock, and I just realized that it's pretty similar to the lock shot on the DE Guns & Roses (maybe a little harder to backhand). I like the pops out in the open, which seems to be the new way of things, but that's about it for the bottom of the PF. Everything else is at the back, and it's a pretty standard fan. The death star lock is really just a static ball, and the Jabba bowl is still weird. That really leaves the rules as the star of the game, and I think I still need more time on this to know whether the rules make it a keeper.
The rest of the layout is just...straightforward? I like being able to backhand the AT-AT lock, and I just realized that it's pretty similar to the lock shot on the DE Guns & Roses (maybe a little harder to backhand). I like the pops out in the open, which seems to be the new way of things, but that's about it for the bottom of the PF. Everything else is at the back, and it's a pretty standard fan. The death star lock is really just a static ball, and the Jabba bowl is still weird. That really leaves the rules as the star of the game, and I think I still need more time on this to know whether the rules make it a keeper.
Not sure about you guys, but I'm super excited about this one. Played a Pro locally and it was a ton of fun. I didn't find the shots too tight personally, though my current only home game is Jurassic Park. Is there anything tighter to hit all the combos than this game? lol Star Wars seemed like a walk in the park by comparison to me.
Ordered a Premium the same day after playing. The force save, and I loved the speed and shots, and the "toilet bowl" I didn't mind at all. I found it gave a little break to slow down for 5 seconds and bring the heart rate down slightly lol plus I think it actually allows you to select a mode while the ball is in there spinning around. The theme is just awesome, and I bought some expression lights to go with the game ... this is one sweet looking game to my eyes. I'm not a huge Star Wars fan but I enjoy the films; the pinball machine makes me more of a fan
Never understood the hate for even the 2017 SW I always hear about. That game to me is a blast as well; I'm not practicing to beat Elwin lol I'm just here to play pinball.
Ordered a Premium the same day after playing. The force save, and I loved the speed and shots, and the "toilet bowl" I didn't mind at all. I found it gave a little break to slow down for 5 seconds and bring the heart rate down slightly lol plus I think it actually allows you to select a mode while the ball is in there spinning around. The theme is just awesome, and I bought some expression lights to go with the game ... this is one sweet looking game to my eyes. I'm not a huge Star Wars fan but I enjoy the films; the pinball machine makes me more of a fan
Never understood the hate for even the 2017 SW I always hear about. That game to me is a blast as well; I'm not practicing to beat Elwin lol I'm just here to play pinball.
I believe the hate is because they are fast, short playing games. Folks with limited or average pinball skills prefer games like GZ because they play longer, which makes the player feel good. We had the 2017 SW and it’s a super exciting game to play on the fly since it’s so fast.
Chris Bardon
Well-Known Member
For the 17 SW, I thought the multiplier rules got in the way of the game. To do well, you had to pay too much attention to where those were placed rather than just making the shots and making progress. I also thought the "mash the action button to hit tie fighters" feature was dumb, although probably a deliberate nod to the stormtrooper shootout from the DE game. Admittedly, I never made it super deep in the game. I'd start modes, get the one MB, and occasionally finish something, but that's about it (I've probably got 30 or so lifetime plays on it).
I can see that. Also depends on your attitude in some sense, though if you can’t keep up at all that’d be pretty frustrating. Some games I walk up to I don’t really care as much if I lose a ball for whatever reason, I still find it fun. Others … I want to restart the game constantly after a bad ball 1 lol “you m#%%#¥ f****er of a game”. For whatever reason, Star Wars for me is one of those games that I just have fun on.
I can see that with constantly having to hit those multiplier targets before the “heartbeat” but I kind of liked it, and if you can’t quite get enough time on a game to start finishing modes I can see that too. I liked the fun little mini games myself; and having to hit the tie fighters while playing with one hand was kind of exciting and required you to be watching what was on screen at the same time as playing.