Legends Pinball Machine Review: I didn’t Even Like Pinball!
Retail Price: $749.99
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Social media can be such a powerful marketing tool for companies. This pinball table sitting in my house is the perfect example of that. I don’t even like pinball and I still ended up with an Atgames Legends Pinball machine thanks to the constant reinforcement from Reddit and Facebook. If you’ve been following the home arcade circle lately, you’ve probably noticed that digital pinball has become all the rage during the Covid-19 pandemic. Continuing the heavyweight battle first initiated through cabinets, both Arcade1Up and Atgames released their versions of affordable pinball tables to the public and immediately received high demand. Both companies have had difficulties keeping their tables in stock throughout 2020 and 2021. After seeing all the r/Arcade1Up and r/LegendsUltimate posts reenacting Christmas morning with their shiny new pinball tables, I jumped at the chance to get on board the train with wave 9. So what’s Legends Pinball all about? Let’s find out.
A New Take on Classic
Digital pinball machines aren’t necessarily a new fad. Various companies have attempted to make pinball more accessible by merging games into a digital platform. The problem was that the digital tables were sold at prices near what a used classic bar table would cost to be acquired. At those prices, many players (I would too tbh) would much rather buy an actual original table from an arcade. Atgames’ solution was to sell their machine at around $800. For comparison, Arcade1Up sells their three licensed tables at an MSRP of $549. Many used non-digital tables go for north of $1400+ in varying conditions. Whereas Arcade1Up curates games by theme per table, Legends Pinball comes with 22 tables from the classic gaming company originating from the roaring 1920’s, Gottlieb. The promotion I purchased is called Pinball Plus, which Atgames provides buyers with a redeemable code for 4 DLC volumes of Zaccaria tables when you buy the machine. This brings the total table count up to 127 licensed classic tables out of the box. While many of the tables are simply variational remakes (thus allowing for some repetitional gameplay), this was still a bunch of games to practice at home with.
As with the Legends Ultimate cabinet, the best reason to go with Atgames is because the gaming library is always expanding. Just recently, a new set of tables from Taito was added for purchase on the E-store. The possibilities are endless for how far official support can go for this table. To download additional games, all you have to do is use a thumb drive and go through the FlashDriveX setup. It’s that simple. And just like the Legends Ultimate, the Legends Pinball has an HDMI port and two USB-A ports for accessories. You can connect the table to the internet with Wi-Fi or ethernet to compete to reach the top of weekly leaderboards. Internet connection is also essential for Atgames’ ArcadeNet platform. Finally, there’s also Bluetooth support which isn’t always a given for a device of this structure.
The Digital Experience
Pinball, like many other cabinet arcade-type games, requires significant practice to utilize the hardware. There needs to be a physical relationship with the unit in order for a player to succeed in obtaining a high score. Those people who understand this will be glad to hear that the Legends Pinball table has tactile feedback and accelerometers to enhance the simulation of a real pinball table. If you’ve seen a “pro” player take on a pinball table, you’ve probably seen quite the hammering and thundering of hardware shifting left and right, front and back. Physically forcing or kicking the machine is as much a part of pinball as hitting the flippers. It’s a difficult task that requires extensive knowledge of when to utilize the nudging aspect to add more umph on your ball strikes. Doing so too often in succession will lock the table up into an automatic “Tilt” game over. For a casual player like myself, this aspect of pinball has always thrown me in for a loop.
Since this is a digital replication of pinball, Atgames has included a left, right and front nudge button to make shaking the table accessible without actually having to physically shake it. Even I personally don’t feel quite right operating it like that, but it is easier to access for newbies. Practicing at a bar or arcade would have cost me quite a few dollars when it was all said and done. I can honestly say that my nudging game has improved significantly with unlimited repetitions thanks to the Legends Pinball.
While I wouldn’t say that the digital simulation of pinball truly replicates a physical classic table with an actual physical ball, I am quite impressed overall with the sounds and feel of the gameplay. Latency with any kind of digital display can make or break a user experience. To the naked eye, nudging actually seems quite close to real time. There is a slight delay of course, but nothing too substantial to influence your casual play. You can see this messing around with the plunger as well. Such a near absent delay surprised me tremendously. Once again, the pinball fad was a little bit before my time, so I didn’t have the same amount of exposure around pinball machines as I did with cabinets. However, my Baby-Boomer father spent most of his formidable youth at diners banging on pinball tables with his brothers and friends trying to set high scores. When I had him test the Legends Pinball out, his eyes lit up and he felt right at home. While he did complain that this wasn’t a “real” table and that the depth was throwing him off, I could still tell he was right back into the zone the minute his fingers touched those switches.
A DEfinitive Display
I think what will eventually win some of the old timers over is the mammoth sized 32 inch LCD display. It’s Full-HD and pushes 60 FPS across the vast playfield. That’s automatically a win over the much smaller and lower resolution Arcade1Up unit. Pixel density really plays an important factor when it comes to replicating something that wasn’t digital before. While there isn’t a 4K consumer table yet (to my knowledge), this display is the definitive digital pinball screen at the moment. Pinball aesthetics also rely on another vital display board to complete the experience. Thankfully Atgames didn’t skimp out here as there’s a second 15.6 inch LCD backglass that houses graphics and scoreboards. If the playfield is the main attraction, then the backglass is the eye candy. This really exemplifies how to translate pinball into the digital age using technology. I love the blackglass and everything it brings to the table. I’m even okay with the Atgames logo placed directly below it with two front-firing speakers targeted right at my eyeline.
The Legends Pinball machine nails the classic table look down to a tee. While the panel art is essentially a mish-mash of Gottlieb properties that remind me of a 1950’s comic strip, I personally enjoy the retro feel the unit exudes. It’s a bit of an art piece as much as it is a gaming console. Constructed from the same type of wood as the Legends Ultimate and supported by aluminum legs, I’m quite satisfied with the overall build quality when fully put together. The whole process only took me about 30 minutes and it was just as easy as building Ikea furniture.
Still Room for Improvement
Here’s where a couple annoying issues with the quality control reared its ugly head. While not necessarily a problem, Atgames ships the unit in two separate boxes: one large one containing the playfield and a smaller one containing the backglass. The strange thing was that they’re shipped separately and arrived during different times through different delivery services. To further muddy the process, Atgames only supplies you with one tracking number. In my case, I received the backglass first and the tracking claimed the delivery was completed. I was aware that it came in two boxes, but expected them to be delivered at the same time. To my relief, a different freight service arrived the next day with the other half of the unit. This could be quite frustrating to the uninitiated. Fortunately, those aforementioned social media groups I’m a part of did give me a bit of a heads up on what to look out for during the delivery process.
The next issue I had was a cracked CTR board. It’s not the most noticeable thing, but it is there on a brand new table. I emailed Atgames and two months later, they’re still working on getting a replacement part out. Their support system (while responsive), takes a very long time to get back to you with information. Be prepared for things to drag out for weeks if you need support help.
Speaking of the CTR board, I’m not a fan of the layout to navigate through the interface. There’s a single D-pad occupying the CTR board with the logo accompanying it. In a pseudo-coin slot area, Atgames has a Start and Menu button. On the right side is the plunger and on the left of the coin slot is the front nudge button with a Rewind/Back button next to it. To get around to things on this interface requires two hands on two different spectrums of the machine. One hand needs to be scrolling along with the D-pad while the other is bent around your pelvis to click on the Start button and often times the Rewind button. This is an awkward button layout that is frankly uncomfortable. I’ve seen modders add joysticks and buttons next to the D-pad and quite honestly that should have been the natural spot. It may not have looked as clean aesthetically, but it would have been better ergonomically for the player.
A Great Addition to the Home Arcade
As far as the variety of tables are concerned, there are a handful of tables that are really fun to sink your time into. Lida and I compete with one another on what has become our favorite go to matchup on the 1980’s Zaccaria table, Stargod. The trying quests along with the overpasses and tunnels make for a classic 80’s table that even I have some recollection of playing during my childhood. Some of the older classics are so much more difficult due to the wide gap between flippers. Many of the older games also don’t have kick-back or ball saves which makes it significantly more challenging to keep your three balls in play for more than 5 minutes. For someone who doesn’t really have an affinity for pinball in general, I’ve actually accumulated just about, if not more hours, on here than I have my Legends Ultimate cabinet. That’s a bit surprising to me and the reason as to why I think that transpired is due to the ease of getting into a game of pinball in general. There’s something about just jumping into a quick game and after losing your three balls down the drain, you can get back to what you were doing and jump back onto the machine later on. Like with the Legends Ultimate, whoever has come to visit since we’ve acquired these two Atgames machines, end up leaving the house just a teeny bit happier and a whole lot more nostalgic. For me that’s totally worth the price of entry.
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Alex
Caught in between the conundrum of his fascination with retro and the future, Alex has a very unique taste in technology. Never one to follow trends like his millennial peers yet constantly desiring to get ahead of the curve, he sees technology like he does his other love: comic books. Always looking for the best value or a hidden gem, his collector mindset reflects on some of his favorite gadgets: the Moto X (2015), HTC U11 and the Google Pixelbook. If there’s a good tech deal out there, Alex is on the hunt!