# Episode 114 - Die on this Hill: Austin Powers

**Source:** Wedgehead Pinball Podcast  
**Type:** podcast_episode  
**Published:** 2026-03-23  
**Duration:** 62m 29s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** Buzzsprout-18884389

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## Analysis

Wedgehead Pinball Podcast's 'Die on this Hill' episode defends the 2001 Stern Austin Powers pinball machine, widely ranked #236 on Pinside Top 100. Guest Lisa, a technician at Next Level Pinball Museum, argues the game is actually excellent—approachable for new players, mechanically sound, and mechanically innovative, having influenced later classics like The Walking Dead and Lord of the Rings. The hosts dissect negative reviews and discuss the game's rarity (800 units produced), satisfying multiball design, and era-appropriate execution despite poor playfield art.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] Austin Powers was designed by Lonnie Ropp (lead design) with John Borg on concept/mechs/engineering — _Alan explicitly credits Lonnie Ropp as main game designer and John Borg as co-credited for concept and engineering_
- [MEDIUM] Only 800 units of Austin Powers were produced — _Lisa and hosts state '800 of them' but note uncertainty about production numbers from that era: 'if you can trust these numbers, I don't know if you can trust numbers in this era'_
- [HIGH] Austin Powers currently ranks #236 on Pinside Top 100 — _Alan states this directly early in episode_
- [MEDIUM] The game has five different multiballs that are not hard to get — _Lisa mentions 'five different multiballs' and 'they're not hard to get'; later conversation confirms multiple multiballs but clarifies not all ladder shots lead to multiball_
- [MEDIUM] Austin Powers influenced later Stern games including The Walking Dead, Lord of the Rings, and Iron Man through its mechanical innovations — _Lisa states 'Austin Powers walked, so that Walking Dead and Lord of the Rings and... Iron Man could run' regarding mech design_
- [HIGH] The game uses an accessible fan layout similar to Pokemon with well-defined shots — _Lisa directly compares layout to Pokemon: 'It has really well-defined where you're supposed to shoot... It's a fan layout. Just like Pokemon'_
- [HIGH] Austin Powers was released June 2001, three months before 9/11 — _Alex explicitly states 'This is June 2001. For anyone keeping track with with Wedgehead lore, that's three months before the planes hit the towers'_
- [HIGH] The game has a Mini-Me spinner toy whose legs regularly break off — _Lisa confirms: 'The legs do break off pretty regularly' and discusses replacement/maintenance_

### Notable Quotes

> "Austin Powers rules, actually. A hundred percent. This game rules."
> — **Lisa (Next Level Pinball Museum technician)**, ~7:00
> _Opening statement of the defender; establishes the core position of the episode_

> "It has really well-defined where you're supposed to shoot. It really does the shoot the flashing shots very well... You know, it suffers a little bit from like, shoot this four times and then you've completed the mode. But if you're new to pinball and you don't know what you're doing... You kind of need that."
> — **Lisa**, ~10:00
> _Key defense of game's accessibility and intentional design for new players_

> "Austin Powers walked, so that Walking Dead and Lord of the Rings and... Iron Man could run."
> — **Lisa**, ~20:00
> _Central claim about game's mechanical innovation legacy_

> "Playfield feels like a Sega... It's real bad."
> — **Lisa**, ~35:00
> _Acknowledges the game's artistic weakness; notable given Lisa is defending the game overall_

> "I played four games of it in a row, which is extremely unusual for me to do on a game at next level... because I was like, man, I didn't do shit. Like, I didn't do anything."
> — **Alex**, ~50:00
> _Personal experience defending the game's gameplay depth and engagement factor_

> "I can't figure out why, but this game just feels terribly clunky... Just has an awful feel to all the shots. Add to the fact that the sound quality is poor. You have a mess on your hands."
> — **Nick (Buffalo Pinball review)**, ~58:00
> _Representative negative review about playability and feel_

> "Yet another really cool theme that is a complete whiff on execution. This game comes from an era of really low standards for pinball machines, and this one's no different."
> — **Deputy Drain (review)**, ~75:00
> _Critique of execution and era standards; hosts dispute the 'low standards' framing_

> "If I walk away now, I'm going to be embarrassed that I didn't get a replay score on Austin Powers."
> — **Alex**, ~52:00
> _Illustrates game's capacity to engage and challenge players, rebutting 'simple' criticism_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Wedgehead Pinball Podcast | organization | Podcast show hosting the 'Die on this Hill' episode format; based in Portland, Oregon; run by Alan and Alex |
| Austin Powers | game | 2001 Stern Pinball machine based on Austin Powers film IP; subject of this episode's defense; designed by Lonnie Ropp (lead) and John Borg (concept/mechs) |
| Lisa | person | Pinball technician at Next Level Pinball Museum in Hillsborough, Oregon; guest defender on this episode |
| Alan | person | Co-host of Wedgehead Pinball Podcast; one of the owners of Wedget in Portland, Oregon |
| Alex the Waterboy | person | Co-host of Wedgehead Pinball Podcast; records from basement studio with Alan |
| Lonnie Ropp | person | Lead game designer for Austin Powers; longtime Data East, Sega, and Stern programmer; only lead design credit |
| John Borg | person | Legendary Stern designer credited for concept and mechanical engineering on Austin Powers |
| Next Level Pinball Museum | organization | Pinball venue in Hillsborough, Oregon where Lisa works; features Austin Powers among other machines |
| Stern Pinball | company | Manufacturer of Austin Powers (2001) and other machines discussed; major pinball manufacturer |
| The Walking Dead | game | Later Stern pinball game that allegedly borrowed mechanical innovations from Austin Powers (e.g., laser/ramp mechanics) |
| Lord of the Rings | game | Stern pinball game discussed as influenced by Austin Powers mechanical design; considered a Stern masterpiece |
| Iron Man | game | Stern pinball game mentioned as borrowing mechanics from Austin Powers (center ramp to magnet hold) |
| Pokemon | game | Stern pinball game (announced Feb 2026) compared to Austin Powers as beginner-friendly fan layout with multiple multiballs |
| South Park | game | Stern pinball game with toilet mechanic; compared to Austin Powers; discussed as having overly wide shots |
| Nick | person | Buffalo Pinball reviewer; authored negative review of Austin Powers citing clunky feel and poor sound quality |
| Junkyard | game | Pinball game credited as first to feature toilet mechanic (before Austin Powers and South Park) |
| Simpsons Pinball Party | game | Stern pinball game mentioned in comparison; referenced as example of cartoon-to-pinball adaptation |
| Wedget | organization | Pinball venue in Portland, Oregon owned by Alan and others; hosts Wedgehead Podcast |
| Attack from Mars | game | Classic pinball game mentioned as beginner-friendly with clear shot definitions, similar to Austin Powers and Pokemon |
| Pinside Top 100 | organization | Community ranking system for pinball machines; Austin Powers currently ranked #236 |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Game accessibility and design for new players, Mechanical innovation and design lineage, Playfield art quality and era standards, Community reception vs. actual gameplay experience
- **Secondary:** Rarity and collector value, Shot geometry and playability feel, Multiball frequency and player engagement, Theming execution and IP fidelity

### Sentiment

**Neutral** (0)

### Signals

- **[product_concern]** Austin Powers has poor playfield art acknowledged even by defenders; Lisa and hosts agree 2001-era Stern art generally weak (confidence: high) — Lisa: 'Playfield feels like a Sega... It's real bad.' Alan: 'Stern games of this era are not good looking.' Multiple negative reviews cite bad art.
- **[design_philosophy]** Austin Powers intentionally designed as approachable entry-level game with clear shot progression and frequent multiball rewards (confidence: high) — Lisa: 'very approachable. It's really straightforward. You know exactly what to do.' Game explicitly instructs 'shoot the flashing shots, look up at screen'
- **[design_innovation]** Austin Powers pioneered or early-deployed mechanical elements later used in acclaimed later games (Walking Dead, LOTR, Iron Man) (confidence: medium) — Lisa: 'Austin Powers walked, so that Walking Dead and Lord of the Rings and Iron Man could run.' Specific mech callouts: crossbow, center ramp to magnet, laser/scoop systems
- **[collector_signal]** Austin Powers rarity (800 units) contributes to high secondary market price despite poor reputation (confidence: medium) — Alex: 'it's very rare... only made 800 of them' and 'You see them about as often as you see a Sega Godzilla (500 units)' and 'it's not particularly cheap'
- **[community_signal]** Large gap between poor online/review consensus (#236 Pinside) and actual operator/venue satisfaction (confidence: medium) — Lisa: 'operators mention that this is a game that does well for them, but it's also interesting because it's very widely hated'
- **[gameplay_signal]** Game's shots are positioned non-intuitively despite appearing like clean fan layout; confuses players expecting obvious geometry (confidence: medium) — Lisa: 'the shots aren't quite where you think they are. They all look exactly like a perfectly distributed fan. They are not.' Attributed to Lonnie Ropp working from scratch.
- **[product_launch]** Austin Powers released June 2001 (pre-9/11), marking end of era for lighthearted spy comedy themes; followed by patriotic NASCAR license surge (confidence: high) — Alex: 'June 2001...three months before the planes hit the towers' and 'I don't think you'd make a game like Austin Powers in 2002'
- **[sentiment_shift]** Episode frames Austin Powers as underappreciated; defenders counter narrative of mechanical innovation and operational popularity (confidence: medium) — Lisa's opening defense contradicts its #236 ranking; Alex played 4 games in a row (unusual for poor game); multiple hosts independently praise gameplay
- **[operational_signal]** Austin Powers reports strong operator performance at venue locations despite community disdain (confidence: medium) — Lisa: operators 'mention that this is a game that does well for them' and she pushes new players toward it at Next Level
- **[design_philosophy]** Lonnie Ropp's solo lead design with no template copying resulted in distinct playfield feel different from typical Stern architecture (confidence: medium) — Lisa: 'Lonnie was on this and he didn't have anything he was copy pasting from... when you have someone with a fresh set, it's like Scott Denise's games do not feel like anything'
- **[content_signal]** 'Die on this Hill' format encourages community re-evaluation of poorly-ranked games through passionate guest advocacy (confidence: high) — Episode entire premise is defending #236-ranked game; format designed to surface underappreciated titles and challenge consensus
- **[market_signal]** Austin Powers licensed during peak movie-tie-in era for Stern; represents earlier approach to current license selection vs. modern strategy (confidence: high) — Alan: 'example of how Stern used to choose more current licenses for their games' and game released 2 years after 2nd film, 1 year before 3rd

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## Transcript

 You signed your real name? Of course I did. If you believe in something, you sign your name to it. Alright, I'mma tell you right now. I ain't crazy. This is the ground you'll die on. Are you sure? Oh my god, are you serious? Son, people can see you. I don't tell you what to do with your money. Don't fucking tell me what to do with mine, okay? I'm not as dumb as you think I am. I will defend myself. He means it, sweetheart. Well, that's because you're an idiot. I will fight and win because I am the most intelligent. You sure about that? You sure about that? I got something I want to say. A lot of you motherfuckers think you know who Teddy Powers is. Well, I'm here today to tell you all you don't know shit. Oh, I give up. You're gonna get yourself killed and this time I won't be able to save you. I make you laugh, I'm a clown, I amuse you, I'm here to fucking amuse you. Come on, don't bullshit me. Go ahead and go, but I'm not going to stop yelling because then that'll mean I lost the fight. So please leave a key under the mat. I love y'all very much. Peace out. Serenity now! Serenity now! What you've just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points and may God have mercy on your soul. Okay, a simple wrong would have done just fine, but this makes no sense. Hello everybody and welcome to another episode of the Wedget Pinball Podcast. I'm your host, Alan, one of the owners of Wedget here in Portland, Oregon. Joined in the basement studio of my co-host, it's Alex the Waterboy. How are you doing? I'm doing great. You know, we're back here, back in the basement, We're recording Die on this Hill, which is something we haven't done before or in a while. We've done it before, I suppose. But yeah, before we get into that, I got to do my thing and plug the Ko-fi account. That's right. If you're a fan of this show, you get to go to ko-fi.com slash Wedgehead Podcast, if you want, and throw us a few bucks to show support. We always appreciate it. We're going... I don't know if I want to officially say we're trying to raise money now to buy an ultra rare game that's super cool Super cool and rad, but... You might as well. We may soft launch that. We're gonna workshop it here. Yeah, if you're curious what game we're trying to raise money to buy, you know, then you can throw us a few bucks, join the discord, maybe we'll tell you there. Yeah, exactly. That's a good way to tease that. But that's not what we're actually here for today, not just the coffee plug, even though it's my favorite part. What are we here for, Alan? In case any listeners out there are new to this concept, since it's been a little while since the last one we did, Our Die on the Hill episodes are a series where we invite a pinball fan onto the show to defend their love for a commonly hated game. In this episode, the game is 2001 Austin Powers released by Stern Pinball. Allow myself to introduce myself. John Borg is co-credited for the concept and the mechs and engineering. But the main game design credit belongs to longtime Data East Sega and Stern programmer Lonnie D. Ropp. Yeah baby! Oh. It's his only lead design credit. Bonnie is also listed as a programmer on the game alongside Keith P. Johnson. Man, that's like a dream team. You would think. Yeah, huh, I thought it was a Borgi game, I forgot. I actually think he might have got laid off for the first time. I think that maybe is why he's not listed as the lead game designer. Interesting. This is a game that was released two years after the second movie, but a year before the third and final movie of the trilogy, and is an example of how Stern used to choose more current licenses for their games. Unfortunately, this game was not well received at the time, and I am not sure that much has changed in the last 25 years since its release. I've been frozen for 30 years, I gotta see if my bits and pieces are still working. Because it currently ranks number 236 on the Pinside Top 100 list. But joining us today on the show to defend the honor of Austin Powers is our friend Lisa, who is a pinball technician out at Next Level Pinball Museum in Hillsborough, Oregon. Welcome to the show, Lisa. Now tell the listeners and us why Austin Powers is actually a great pinball machine. Hi. Austin Powers rules, actually. A hundred percent. This game rules. Working at Next Level, I'm on the floor a lot. I have a lot of people ask me what to play. You get a lot of families, they have no idea what they want to play. Like, what do I play? Like, tell me about pinball. I always tell them to go to Austin Powers. You are hairy like animal. Go, baby, very good. Wow. Yes. Like 100%. I mean, that's a good, that's a good rack, I think, for that crowd. So for this sake, it's an IP that's familiar to them. It's an IP that's terrible and I I hate it and I don't know why there are three movies that's too many. It's three too many. Oh well, then there is no pleasing you. They could have put anything else on it and it still would have been a good table. You hate the movies but you still love the game despite that? Yes. Smashing baby! That's interesting. You know, that's why we were interested in having you on because that's not what I expected. No, the movies are terrible. Uh, I, no, awful. It's my favorite movie! But the game is very approachable. Okay. It is a fan layout. Just like Pokemon. Just like Pokemon. Groovy, smashing, yay capitalism! It has really well-defined where you're supposed to shoot. It really does the shoot the flashing shots very well. You know, it suffers a little bit from like, shoot this four times and then you've completed the mode. But if you're new to pinball and you don't know what you're doing... You kind of need that. You need that. You know what else features that, so I've heard, is a Pokemon. Oh, behave. Oh yeah, Stern's Pokemon. Yeah, also Attack from Mars. Yeah, exactly. Many, many such cases. Yeah, many widely loved kind of beginner friendly games. It's true. And this does have the reward of like, I think there's five different multiballs you can get on it. Don't make you Randy! Yeah. And they're not hard to get. People love multiballs. People love multiball. I bet Pokemon's gonna have five. At least. It's gonna have five at launch. Oh yeah. It's gonna have five, but they're all gonna be eight ball multiballs. Oh god. Yeah, so every shot is clear. Everything is defined, and it's satisfying and rewarding for a new player. Can I have a hug? But for somebody who's been playing for a while, the shots aren't quite where you think they are. They all look exactly like a perfectly distributed fan. They are not. I don't know why. I don't know what like messes with the flow of it, but they are not quite where you think they are. It's because Lonnie was on this and he didn't have anything he was copy pasting from. He's like, ah, let's just throw this shit here from scratch. You know, I think when you have someone with like a fresh set, it's like Scott Danesi's games do not feel like anything. And I think it's because he's working from scratch. Anytime someone's working from scratch, you end up with just a different vibe, even if it looks straightforward. Mm-hmm. But yeah, man, looking at that layout, it is really gorgeous. I think part of it's the gaping scoop hole. I feel that's appropriate for Austin Powers, really. Shag well by name, shag very well by reputation. Yeah. It also has really cool mechs. I think that Austin Powers walked, so that Walking Dead and And the Lord of the Rings and what's the other one I can't think of right now. Iron Man could run. Yeah, yeah, those are the words I was looking for. It's interesting how many good mechs this game has. It was like throwing spaghetti at the wall. They tried everything on it and they all work. They all work really consistently. What about the Mike Myers little action figure here above the scoop? What's it? Does it do anything? I can't remember. It's been a while since I played this game. He spins. Okay, he spins. Just going to finish with the very hot conversation about Sidney Well, this is the era where they were buying literal action figures off of store shelves. Yeah, they were like literal toys. They ran out of the red suit and they got like other ones and they're like, oh, fuck. Yeah, I mean, I'm sure this was just a contemporary Austin Powers action figure. If you're a big power head, you know, if you're a big Austin guy, you're gonna want all the variants I assume. That's true. That's how they get you. Real power heads now. They sell three of them. Well, I want to ask Lisa. So Lisa mentioned it, but Lisa's a pinball tech out at Next Level. You said it's got great mechs and they all work. Meaning they all work and they're not a problem to maintain? In my experience, we've had to do some work on Dr. Evil a couple of times. I'm your father, Dr. Evil. But Dr. Evil is the ironmonger? Yes, he's the ironmonger. It is surprisingly consistently functioning. That's awesome. I am. I am always shocked. Well, especially with you actively pushing the hordes of people coming in. Yes, 100%. Towards Austin Powers. 100%. Yeah, and it's got the crossbow mech from Walking Dead on here. I'm sorry, Walking Dead has the crossbow. Yeah, that's awesome. She's right. Walking Dead has the frickin' laser beam from Austin Powers. It has the center ramp that shoots up into the magnet hold, which I can't really remember. It kind of feels like a Lord of the Rings or like Rush. Yeah, it's like a jump ramp up to a magnet. Yeah, like Mechagodzilla. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So Mechagodzilla is stealing from Austin Powers. Yeah. Walking Dead is stealing from Austin Powers. I think we can go that far. Iron Man is stealing from Austin Powers. It's got a toilet, which they stole from South Park. Yes. I, you know, I'm... I guess it was in Junkyard first. Yeah, that's true. Oh yeah, it was in Junkyard first. But those are the three toilet type games. Those are the three toilets. I was thinking about it while we were, we're like, while we were setting up, because I was like, I... There's another game that has a toilet in the art, which someone will tell us about in the Discord, I'm sure, after, after this episode comes out. They're screaming right now in their car. We got a corrections episode coming, so, you know. But yeah, the toilet-based games are always kind of a hard sell for me. Okay, so the mechs are cool. They apparently work. They work. We love it. We love that they work. It's insane. Dude, the feed off of that back behind the backboard ramp does kind of look Iron Man-ish, too, where it kind of undulates on its way back out. I think some people call this kind of like a more loaded Iron Man. Help! I'm in a nutshell! How did I get into this nutshell? Look at the size of this bloody great big nut! So what sort of shell has a nut like this? This is crazy! Oh man! It certainly is a, uh, we're just staring at a photo of the playfield. It's, um, looking at the layout- wait, no no no, you're not allowed to talk about the art or anything yet. Looking at the layout, I'm like, this layout does kind of rule. Like, it's not bad. It's just shots, dude. There's nothing wrong with that. It's just shots, it's all shots. Good ramps that are like, you know, loopable. They're not like super wide. It's not a South Park situation where the shots are twice as wide as they should be. Correct. Because it gets lumped into it's probably because they both have toilets in similar era. They recycled some animations for the toilets, I believe. So it gets lumped in with South Park a lot. And I'm like, very, very different playfields. It's also got a really unique spinner. You want to talk about the spinner? It's a little mini-me, and I have seen his legs do break off. The legs do break off. The legs break off pretty regularly. Hello up there! I seem to have fallen down a cliff. I'm still alive, but I'm very badly injured. I think my legs might be broken, but I'll try to stand up. Oh! Yes, they are broken! Perhaps you could toss me a Band-Aid or some antibacterial cream. I'm in an extraordinarily large amount of pain. I'm not in a good mood. I have no strength. I'm at a loss. I broke it! Perhaps you could toss me a bandaid or some antibacterial cream. I'm in an extraordinarily large amount of pain. The bone has gone through the skin. I fear it might be gangrenous. The wound is beginning to smell a little like almonds. But when they're not broken off, it works. It's great. Yeah. It's really fun. He rips around, dude. You know, in the movie, he gets kicked or something. It's been a long time since I've seen Austin Powers. I think I've seen the first one. And I believe Mini-Me gets kicked. Rules for the Kummel Game This is the masterpiece that is Aspen Powers. What do you do when his little legs break off? I think we've replaced him before, but sometimes we just don't have legs. He just has to hang there legless. Can you still hit him? I think so. I'm pretty sure you can. Like, the feet will break off. So it's... Dracula on Monster Bash will do that sometimes. But there's targets behind the feet on Dracula. Just keep chipping away at more and more of his legs until there's little stumps left. He gets shorter and shorter. Exactly. Now going on to what Alan wanted to talk about, the art. How do you feel about the art package, Lisa? It's not good. I mean, it's not good. It's Austin Powers, so I wasn't going to like most of it anyway. I gotta say cabinet art and the back glass... Tasteful. Tasteful. Very honestly, as good as Austin Powers game could look. Playfield feels like a Sega... It's real bad. The Playfield's remarkable. Mark There are only two things I can't stand in this world. People who are intolerant of other people's cultures and the Dutch. What? It's like someone using like, I don't know my Photoshop tools, but it's just kind of like little like blobby soft kind of like, it's lots of smudging. Lots of smudging. Yeah. Tie dye inspired. And it is. It looks like people learning Photoshop for the first time. For sure. It's some wacky shit. Stern games of this era are not good looking. So, you know, this is not... This one is definitely one of the most colorful though. It's true. You know what would make it pop is if you put a bunch of like RGB lights in there. Yeah, I bet it would. Maybe just color changers. The Todd Tuckey color... You know how Todd always likes to throw in? Just how they just change every color? They just passively change color. That would actually make me like this more. I think that'd be very funny if you had those like under the slings just constantly changing color. Todd Tuckey does love that. Anyone listen to this? If you got an Austin Powers, put the passive, the RGB color changers in there. It's really nice. I'm going off. But yeah, so the rules, straightforward, fun for everybody. Yeah, it's I think it's really, really approachable. It's really straightforward. You know exactly what to do. It also does still say on the rule card, like, if you don't know what to do, shoot the flashing shots, look up at the screen when you can. Yeah, that's what it says. Yeah, it really does. And it's, it's just satisfying as a new player. When you get to the end of the game, you're like, I'm going to do this. I'm going to do this. I'm going to do this. I'm going to do this. I'm going to do this. I'm going to do this. I'm going to do this. I'm going to do this. I'm going to do this. If you don't know what to do, shoot the flashing shots. Look up at the screen when you can. Yeah, that's what it says. Yeah it really does And it just satisfying As a new player when you get a multiball it satisfying It fun Does every one of the main shots on here that has a ladder does every one of those lead to a multiball No, not quite. I couldn't tell you exactly which ones do. Well, you said there's five multiballs in the game? But there are five of them. Okay. But do you get the multiballs just by repeating the same shot over and over? One of them is at least for finishing all of the modes. Okay. Okay. But I don't remember. I don't think that they're all a multiball. Okay. I was just curious. I didn't know if it was just like blast any of them and you get into a multiball or not. And it's got like a surprisingly like big focus on the bonus as you're on the inserts. Way bigger than it needs to be. Which is very, very, very throwback. Way, way, way bigger than it needs to be. Like something you'd see on an EM and you're like, I don't think the bonus is significant on this game. So it's just funny. It's really not. That they're like, ah, what should we put on the inserts? And they're like more bonus countdown. Is this one of those, is this the era of Stern's like the big buck hunters that have crazy like factory high scores that are really hard to get? Like have you ever played like the big buck hunter from this era of Stern and they're like, I think they just capped everything at like a hundred million as like factory GC, but some of their games are like... Actually hard to hit that? Really, like really hard to hit that. It's always funny to, this is quite a bit earlier than big buck hunter. Yeah, I guess that's true. This is 2001, which is crazy. This was June 2001. For anyone keeping track with with Wedgehead lore, that's three months before the planes hit the towers. No one would make that connection. And it's crazy the shift in tone that happened quickly after that, because I don't think you'd make a game like Austin Powers in 2002. What was the first game that they came out with after the towers? It's not NASCAR, but NASCAR was the first to be directly a result of it, I think. My opinion. That's why that's why 2001 is kind of a big thing in the podcast. Because it led to the creation of NASCAR. NASCAR got super popular after 2001. For anyone that hasn't listened to the NASCAR episode, super popular after 9-11 when everything patriotic got widely popular and NASCAR is just patriotic as hell. Yeah. Hit its peak in popularity and when NASCAR was at its literal peak in popularity, Gary Stern got the license locked down. That rules. It's so funny. NASCAR rules too. It's a good game. NASCAR does rule. Thank you. It all checks out. Yeah. Austin Powers though, not everyone agrees with rules. Is there anything before we move on to reviews? Is there anything else you wanted to cover or touch on with it? No, I think I think that's that's about my defense. It is a good game, actually. It is fun for new players and seasoned players alike. Yeah, because it is kind of hard. It's harder than you'd think. It is harder than you think. Danger is my middle name. I agree with we kind of me and Alan were before we got on air, we were talking about it. And it's a game that both of us have been like gone and played and been like, I got to play that again because like I should have done better. I also like to live dangerously. Yeah, I played so badly the first time that I gotta play it again, because I'm a better player than that, I think. I've heard, I've seen operators mention that this is a game that does well for them, but it's also interesting because it's very widely hated, I would say, but it's not particularly cheap, and I think that's just because it's really rare. Yeah. They only made 800 of them, which is, I mean, I guess if you can trust these numbers, I don't know if you can trust numbers in this era, it does seem to be very rare. It does feel about 800 units rare. You see them about as often as you see a Sega Godzilla, which is a known 500. Yeah. Or whatever, and you're like, you really don't see Austin Powers all over the place. So, if you got one in front of you, that's something special. You should be celebrating that. Yeah, if you're out at next level, you need to be walking over to Austin Powers, fighting off the hordes of people, waiting in line to play it after this episode comes out. Every single person that's walked in the door, Austin Powers, that's the game to get on. That's it, that's the one. There's a fucking line around the block. JAWS Like a groovy baby t-shirt or something. I do have a three kilos of pure dirt one. Oh, your water world. Yeah, water world. Do you've got a water world that next level? Yeah, it's right next to the tech shop on the other side of our door. Yep. So awesome. You just hear it all the time. Yeah, that's a good game. Good theme. OK, OK, should we get into the bad reviews, Alan? Anything you wanted to add before we get into this? No, I do want to say that, like, I played this, like I mentioned, out at next level most recently. And I think I played four games of it in a row, which is extremely unusual for me to do on a game at next level because... Yeah, especially like a White Star era Stern. Well, it's because I was like walking up to it and I was like, this game, you know, I mean, it's like a little, it's like a stupid fan layout, whatever. And then you just go up there and you're like, man, I didn't do shit. Like, I didn't, I didn't do anything. Yeah, you're not allowed to, that's kind of like you and I's rule, and this isn't a real rule, but Alan and I won't hate on a game if we suck at it. Yeah, absolutely not. Something that you're like, if you're not good at, it's like, well, I need to do better. Yeah. Not really allowed to have an opinion until I feel, well, it doesn't, yeah, I'm fucking GC something, but you have to have something that you're like, that felt respectable. Yeah, before I make a judgment. And honestly, it's the fastest way to my heart is a game that's like- Makes you actually hit start again? When it makes me like focus and lock in, because if I'm just like kind of slapping a ball around, and I feel like I can't lose the ball and it's just giving me shit over and over, but Austin Powers, I'm kind of like, I don't know. If I walk away now, I'm going to be embarrassed that I didn't get a replay score on Austin Powers. You know what I mean? Like, it's embarrassing. So I just played it until I did. And I had a pretty good time. I mean, this does have good call outs. I don't know if I ever remember any call outs. I'm hoping they're like knockoff. They're from the movie. So, no, they're not good. Throw me a frickin bone here. Well, you can't ask for more than that. Yeah. I mean, I was hoping it was like a Shrek style, really bad knockoff. Mike Myers. Oh, yeah. Where it's just like they just get a dude that's in the back of the shop. I think it's just really that they, uh, I think they like Pulp Fiction did like they just ripped them only from the movie. Yeah, that's no custom calls. Just legitimately the best. What you don't need someone saying jackpot when you have someone saying, yeah, baby. Yeah, baby. Like realistically, if you have a movie like that, it's like you don't need more than what they already gave you. So yeah, I say roll with it. It seems like they did good. Seems like they were really faithful to the IP. Yeah. This is that era, you know, it's like they were gearing up. This was kind of the warm up run for Lord of the Rings. And it was like they took this one as seriously. Well, don't look at me like I'm frickin Frankenstein. Give your father a hug. Touch me. Hug. Hug. Get away, you lazy-eyed psycho. Yeah. Comes through on the quality, right? Not everyone agrees, though. OK, we'll get into that. That's always my transition. Slick transition. We all love it, but not everyone agrees. The first person that doesn't agree is Nick Buffalo Pinball. He says, I can't figure out why, but this game just feels terribly clunky. I've played two different machines at two different locations, so it can't be the setup. Just has an awful feel to all the shots. Add to the fact that the sound quality is poor. You have a mess on your hands. It sounds like they need to get good. Ouch, baby. Very ouch. They need to find out where the shots are. I don't know where you think when you look at this and it's been a while since I played it but there's not any goofy geometry changes they're smooth plastic you just have to find them yeah people complain about this on Rick and Morty too and it's literally like yeah the shots are in awkward spots find them yeah the shots are there and none of the none of the rollbacks will really like screw you over either okay like none of the yeah yeah none of the feeds are bad so interesting that's different than it sounds like they just uh sounds like they just need to get good I just find the shots. You know, what's funny is the Buffalo Pinball guys there. They kind of like hard games, you would think. I'm kind of surprised. I wonder. I wonder how old that review is. And if they're oh, it's I'm sure it's a long time ago. It was a long time ago. They're not leaving a review in 2020. Yeah. For Austin Powers. I mean, it could have been before the towers. It could have been. Free towers. I don't know if it was inside. I don't think it was. Yeah, they'd sing a different tune after those planes. Some respect on all of those planes. Austin Powers. Alright, Red Rob says, I want to like the game because I enjoyed the movies. Decent sound and game, but other than that, it has bad playfield art and both quality of print and design. Would never own and probably never play again. Not my cup of tea. This is, this sort of thing ain't my bag, baby. One book, Swedish made penis and larger pumps and me, this sort of thing is my bag, baby. By Austin Powers. He's not wrong about some of these things. He's really not. I mean, he's wrong about having enjoyed the movies. That's incorrect. The sound is like fine. The playfield art is terrible. The playfield art is not its strong suit, but nothing from this era has good playfield art. All of these games are ugly at this time. Also, he would, you know, only wish to be so special as to own one of 800. See不 Här Be Tapete in theевyann I. Shop Zoupalik Fe genome unten wo jaomemm Alakac gew's 됩니다 Schepp THE obstacle or kylo I do want to know what this person would expect to see. I mean, really, it's like pretty true to the movie. Exactly. I don't know. Like the movies are like cornball cheesy stuff. They probably just wanted Simpsons Pinball Party. And they got this. Yeah, but Simpsons Pinball Party is like pictures of the Simpsons. They happen to be cartoons. And this is pictures of Mike Myers. So what do you want, dude? I mean, Red Rob, man, come on. Just try it again, maybe. He likes the movies. He's halfway there. Lisa overcame it. She hates the movies. Exactly. Okay. Deputy Drain says, Yet another really cool theme that is a complete whiff on execution. I don't really think it's anyone's fault. This game, this comes from an era of really low standards for pinball machines, and this one's no different. It's pretty trashy, and the gimmicks are pretty dumb. The only cool shot is really the time travel shot, But any pin with a toilet and a spinning character is hardly even trying. Some of the loops are nifty, but overall there is nothing special going on. Whoop-de-doo! What does it all mean, Basil? He just said nifty. Any pin with a toilet and a spinning character is hardly even trying? I object to. This is the only pin with a toilet and a spinning character. We already talked about the other toilet games. None of them have spinning characters that I can think of. This is also to Lisa's Lisa came in hot on this episode. Lisa was pointing out that lots of games after this, lots of very popular games took a lot of things from this game first. So it would be like weren't even trying. They would be lucky to have one of these Macs in a pro now. You know, all of these are like it's like there's like a lot of shit going on here, which is interesting because you're like, oh, there's nothing. It's just it's a game from the era of low standards when they're making stuff like, you know, Simpsons and Lord of the Rings. Our A good point. You know. That has broken me. It's nonsensical. He didn't read it back. Gimmicks. All right. M Rossman 5 says, not great or even good really. Bad art and not a fun machine. No wonder in this person's life. I've lost my mojo. Enjoy a multiball or five. Or yeah, have five of them. Have five of them. You're like, come on. This pinballer says two words, awful and tacky, and then he put a little angry frowny face. Would you like a schmuck and a pancake? I want a schmuck and a pancake. You know, flapjack and a cigarette? Hmm, alright. Sugar and a waffle? No. Pipe and a grape? No. Bong and a blintz? No. Oh well, then there is no pleasing you. I think, I assume the eyebrows got out of place there. Yeah. Either that or it's just like a guy with a nose frowning. It's a front facing nose down frown. You can tell it's an early internet review. Yeah. It's not free towers. Tappy, indeed. Awful, incorrect. I really, it is interesting and when it's like, are you critiquing the theme? Because it's like Austin Powers, yes, is very tacky. Of course, the game executes on that exactly how it could. I really can't imagine if JJP made an Austin Powers game today, it would look similar. Yeah. And everyone would be like, oh, it's perfect. It's just so faithful to the movies. I hadn't considered that as a possible like... Jersey Jack. Oh. You should always... That made my stomach hurt a little bit. You should always consider Jersey Jack making a dream theme of yours, Lisa. No. Well, and also because Stern's already made it, so they've really like going back to games Stern's made 20 years ago. They love looking at Stern's biggest hits like like Austin Bowers and redoing them. I mean, they read it Avatar. That's true. You know, so they did. Maybe they'll come back for Austin Bowers. Make some of the. They did. They read it. Pirates. They read it. Guns and Roses. Hobbit following up Lord of the Rings. Yeah, they kind of just go back to the well often. Hey, some of these guys might be happier with the new J.J.P. version, though, might be what they want because the themes they hit. Everyone agrees in the videos. Okay, next up is We Buy Pinball. They say, I'd have a hard time even taking this game if someone gave it to me. The spinner doesn't really spin. One of Stern's worst games ever. Charming. They're worst games. And the spinner does, doesn't need to fully spin and it doesn't quite. It's weighted because of like... It kind of like, it like flips and then it kind of like pendulums a couple times. Yeah. Yeah. And it counts it as it's going back and forth. Yeah. Grab your football glove, selection of the Sang certified AKP sponsors, keyword reader or Greg Dunlap, put on blast! Your dot animations are trash, dude! There's too much stuff. Too much stuff on it. Oh, it's too much shit on it. Way too much. Too much fucking shit on me dude It is a loaded Stern but I don really like Ripley either And that like a widely loved from people are always like that like a shiny shining star from this era It because Keith Elwin said he liked it So, oh, yeah. Once something gets once a Keith stamp, then it's it's good. It's objectively good. Sorry, it goes on my list. I think mine is mine is your your coworker and friend Charles Rolling Stones. Stern Rolling Stones, I think, is awful. Yeah, that's an awful game. I think yeah Rolling Stones That's one that we need to do a die on this game is so bad I'm gonna tell you a good story That game is so bad that my business partner Rhodes when I first met him that game had come out Rhodes bought one He put it in the bar. I used to work at and then he pulled it out And then he subsequently says I've never had one and I said bull Shit, you never had one you had one in the bar that I was in he's like no I've never had one of those. I was like, are you fucking kidding me, dude? Like, he's like gaslighting me about it, dude. Maybe he maybe he blacked out. He forgot it. It's like a traumatic experience for him. I was like, he has no recollection of owning it. I know he's bought and sold a lot of games. But like, he's like totally be like, no way, dude. I never had that. He's like, no, it couldn't be me. My only beef with that game is that I feel like a ball should drop off the tongue. Yeah. And it doesn't. They save that for KISS, but, like... Yeah. They saved all the good shit for KISS, you know? It's a great game. Great theme. I like how every time you throw it in there and it comes out his tongue, it just goes right down the middle. I was like, this is pinball dude. I like this. Yeah. Nothing I love more than, like, feedages that just go straight down the middle, not a chance, so it makes NASCAR so good. Yeah, that's why the games are so good. You get the dot animations of Gene Simmons. He's like, ahhh. Ball's gone, dude. It's my favorite, man. People love that shit. All right. Kaneda Cross says, this machine isn't shagalicious at all. Okay, he's a good chart. I like when people get thematic with it. On Playfield Bonus Counter, while unnecessary, is a nice throwback to 60s and 70s machines. That's what we were saying, yeah. Frickin' Laser is a nice toy, although Walking Dead used it a lot better. Okay, I mean they had like 12 more years to figure out, you know. Fat Bastard Multiball is an awesome, challenging mode that requires effort to complete, helps you remember the layout of Attack from Mars and the rules of Monster Bash in case you forgot them. That's kind of fun call out there, because I mean, he ain't wrong. Con's backglass art is horrendous. Rules are pretty much the same as South Park, except with a gun thrown in. A little bit, yeah. Really terrible sound quality, not as bad as X-Files though. Quotes don't match with what's going on at all. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, exhibit A. Toilet shots often brick out. Mini-me often doesn't spin at all. Mojo multiball is boring and gets old really fast. When a problem comes along, you must zip it. Zip it good. I mean, Walking Dead wouldn't have the crossbow without the freaking laser beam. You know, I have one simple request, and that is to have sharks with frickin' laser beams attached to their heads. It's true, dude. So, you can't. You can't even be mad at it for being the predecessor for this. Like, you can't. I guess the fat bastard shot can be kind of bricky, but of course it's horrendous, the back glass art. I don't know. I don't, like, yeah, sure. Yeah, sure. I think the back glass is pretty good, guys. I'm okay with the trans light. The trans light's okay and the cabinet's okay. The playfield is god awful. The cabinet's cool as hell. The cabinet would make me want to put this next to a 007. Because that would be funny. Hey, that would rule, actually. I'm into that. If you have like a Dr. No and Austin Powers and you're like, hell yeah, dude. British pride. Yes. I'm English. Right where I keep all my British spies. Yeah. One little corner. Yeah, exactly, Beatles there. That'd be a good little lineup, I think. Beatles, Austin Powers, Dr. No. I mean, I suppose, the toilet shots, I do remember that. I remember that from playing this game, and I don't remember much. I remember being like, I cannot get it in that fucking thing. Did you just soil yourself? Maybe. So, that's something, I gotta say, this guy actually seems to play and understand the game. So I'm gonna give him a lot more credit than most of our reviewers, stills-alffff checks for future updates And be boring if you're like, oh, yes, I know where the shots are and I have to hit these shots X amount of times. This feels like a guy that's good at pinball and has had to play this far too much at a league location or something. He's like, good God, dude. It's like me, like, I got to play Stern's NBA this week in a league. And I'm just like, yeah, when you play something like in that kind of circumstance, you're a lot more critical because it's like this guy clearly knows what he's talking about. He's not complaining about the shots being too hard or anything. It's like, It's like, that's why you're like, um, this is actually a valid one, so I'm going to give it to him for once. Okay, after this we get to Metal Philosopher. He says, This is a novelty machine that wears its theme on its sleeve at all times. It goes without saying that unless you're a huge Austin Powers fan, it will grow annoying very quickly. With a theme so goofy, I suppose the kitschy nature of the table is to be expected. Some of it works, like the spiraling time tunnel. Some of it is just lame, like the spinning Austin action figure. And I don't know what to say. I disagree. I think all games should have spinning action figures. They're very funny. And I don't know what to say about the ramp that leads into Fat Bastard's Toilet. That right there is a pretty good indicator of whether or not you'll like this table. Gameplay-wise, it's perfectly playable and of the nothing but ramps school. If that's your thing, you'll probably be happy with this table, provided you like the theme. As for me, the whole thing's just a bit too gaudy and jokey for my tastes, without compelling gameplay to back it up. Learn a lot! Yeah! A lot of people are talking about it with the Pokemon... At least two people have said it. We're recording this around the time of Pokemon's release, so both people are always comparing every new game to Austin Powers. Yeah. And they both, it's really obvious, they both have clear Junkyard influence, so of course the comparisons are going to get made. Widely beloved IPs of about the same caliber. Crikey! And, uh, yeah, you can see it. They're not going to be for everyone because they're made to be approachable, uh, you know, because people like these IPs. Are you mad? No one's hating on Sopranos for having spinning strippers. That's true, dude. Just saying. Just saying. You can have spinning characters. We wouldn't have had a party at the Bing if it wasn't for Austin Powers. Everything... Austin Powers gives. Dude, Austin Powers... What are you gonna say? He's the giving tree. He's generous. He's the giving tree, yeah. Just gives and gives and all he does is get hate on for it. It's absolutely true. Turkey Robinson says, I wasn't really impressed with this game. I'll play it if it's the only machine around, but nothing seems to work very well on it for me. Shots to the time machine and the toilet seem to bounce out half the time, and sometimes don't even register if you do hit them in. The theme is decent, and it's a bit funny, but that doesn't help the frustrations of hitting your shots only to have them pop right back out on the playfield. Somebody's playing a prank on me! Overall a really annoying game. There's enough to keep playing it, but you're better off just playing a different game. I mean he did say that he'll play it if it's the only machine around. Yeah, that's pretty good. So, I don't know man, I think he's playing it. That's positive, we're taking that as a positive one. Yeah, we'll take that one. That's a win, we'll move that to our side. We'll take that, that's a win. Yeah, that's a win. Yeah. Okay, Neo Ace says, this table has a poor, uncreative playfield design. This game looks and feels cheap and rushed. Why make trillions when we could make billions? It does look pretty cheap. It looks visually cheap. It looks really cheap. But when you look at the, like the mechs, I would not say this is like an uncreative or cheap playfield. It's definitely creative. The mechs are creative. So the like layout itself is fairly straightforward, although not, I mean, it's kind of weird. It's got like two dead end shots, which is weird, the toilet and the center ramp. That's bizarre. That's not something you really see on any other game. And then it's like kind of a standard fan around that standard looking fan. But the mechs are where it's like, dude, this is not cheap at all. Yeah, I, again, I, I guess I keep coming back to if the game was so cheap, and the mechs All of these games were so bad, why did they reuse them on like several other games? I agree. I think that's kind of like the funny thing. It's like if you're dismissive of this, then it's like you're dismissive of a lot of like mechs that were coming back later. Yeah. And you're like, no man, like the crossbow mech, like that's the one that kind of like shines to me, the whatever, the frickin' laser on this. Frickin' laser beam. And you're like, that's a cool, like that's like, I know it's just like a Steve Ritchie style launcher, but it's like well done and it's an interesting like how it feeds to it and putting it on the apron. That's cool. And then you have like a big rising toy, which is not something that you, I mean, you got like trolls and stuff, but nothing of this scale prior to the, uh, the brain bug. And that's exactly what I was thinking. The brain bug is huge. It's like half the play field, but there's some interesting stuff going on here. And that's why they kept like recycling from it, which is very funny to be like, yeah, we're, we're stealing this from awesome powers. Cause no one's going to remember. We sold 800 of them. We, we remember though. Tommy Groove says, This is my least favorite machine I have played thus far. How many machines has he played though? He doesn't say. He's played two. Yeah, and he's like, I played Medieval Madness, I played Awesome Powers, this one stinks! This is my favorite criticism. I really love really short reviews that are just like, I hate this game, this is the worst. Like, it's just like, those are always good. Yeah, you didn't have to leave a comment, which is always the funniest part about it. They went out of their way. Now, they're like, I'll fill out the form. Okay, Pinball Psycho says, What an absolutely awful machine Stern made again. What a bummer. I was so happy buying it because I love Austin Powers, but bleh. Oh, blimey. I thought I smelled cabbage. Did you notice how blurry Dr. Evil and Austin are on the playfield? They're totally out of focus. LOL. The laser always has issues, the ball gets stuck under the right ramp, the skill shot is way too easy, the ball also gets stuck in the toilet, And the ball actually goes down with Dr. Evil and falls into the cabinet? Now I'm going to kill you. Did you read that? The ball falls into the cabinet. How frustrating. When someone played it at my house and I had to take off the glass 40 times to retrieve the ball. The dude that designed this machine should be put away before he gets a new idea. I lost $500 on this machine because I was the only dweeb to buy it. But the upside, the cabinet looks super cool, and the music and movie franchises are hilarious. I am a sexy bitch. Still, shame on you, Gary Stern. Shame on you. The machine frustrated me in so many ways. Eww! Personal Gary Stern vendetta, dude. Dude, shame on Gary for putting this out. Gary goofed. Gary must have goofed on that. I liked that the bar, he's like, I lost $500 on it! And you're like, oh man, you're in for an insane ride when you buy a Jersey Jack in 20 years, fella. You're like, it's standard. When you buy in like boutique stuff, it's pretty standard to lose like five grand now when you're buying a 15 grand game. And you're like, yeah, 500 bucks, take the win, dude. Yeah, you know, how'd you get out of that Ultraman? Ultraman, I mean, well, I traded for NASCAR, so I came up. Yeah, but theoretically, yeah, I had a standard and I took a three grand wash pretty much on it. I don't like the idea of not getting a choice in the matter. And that was a standard. The CEs were hit worse. There's been a lot of, in recent years, it's like the Godfathers took a huge hit. The Guns N' Roses have taken a big hit. Ultraman is one of the worst. Ultraman and Godfather are the two that really you can like lose like an entire Stern Pro. In valuation, it would be the same as if you bought like a venom and then just threw it off a dock. You'd lose the same amount of money as like buying some of these other games, which is why $500? Dude, nothing. Just keep moving on. Like, don't worry, Gary didn't do you that bad. I do say balls falling into the cabinet. Always funny. When they when they mess something up like that. You're like, Oh, oops. Yeah. I will say they they definitely made that so much better on Iron Man. It will happen occasionally on an Iron Man where like the monger will be going down and it'll pinch a ball. It's rare. And it can pinch it but it doesn't have do they ever drop into the cabinet on it? No. That's like I can get it to like every once in a while you see a pinch one and then it does a ball search. It's just it's wild that you know they took all these great ideas and then perfected them in other games that people like. It's because they're working towards the eventual remaster of Austin Powers. Oh, I'm in. Lisa, Lisa, in. LMPD, Stern Insider connected. I will be the only one on the leaderboard. I will be the only one playing. No, all those people you've been telling over the years, they're going to be so hyped when they come in if they saw a new Austin Powers and they're like, finally, they got Goldmember in here. I've been waiting to see Beyonce. I'm waiting for the third movie. I need Beyonce in my Austin Powers game. All I know about Goldmember is Beyonce's in it. Okay, Ripley says, this game looks great, but that's where it stops. Damn it. You are handsome. Ho hum. Wait, wait, wait, wait. Doesn't it look great? That's a bold starter. But he says, this game looks great, but that's where it stops. Ho hum, not really much to it. I loved the movies in the cool British flag cabinet makes it a looker. Nice toys, but doesn't leave you wanting more. Incorrect. Absolutely incorrect again. Except the flag thing. The flag is cool. I was gonna say, he calls out the toys and the flag, which to me are the two standouts of this game. Yeah. The flag cabinet's sick. Yeah. I mean, like, that's as good as you can make in Austin Powers. It's as clean as you can make anything on Austin Powers. Exactly. You're like, oh, cool. But, I don't know, does it leave you, it left me wanting more. It is a shocking first line to that review. The game looks great. I know that's why. I was like, whoa, whoa. I was like yeah I was taken aback I read it with the wrong emphasis because I wasn expecting that I like hold on hold on I just can imagine standing over that game and looking at that playfield and going oh yeah I mean, like, this is good. I mean, just imagine owning one and being like, it looks, now, like, it looks great, but it just doesn't have the gameplay. Everyone comes over to play the game and they're like, settle down, everyone. I know this game looks great. Gameplay? Lil ho hum. But the toys, it looks great. Hey, you know, he didn't lose 500 bucks on it, so it could be worse. Well, Bartron says, worst game ever made or is likely to be made in the future ever. Really? Really? Oh. That's pretty bold still. He's like, they'll never go down from here. And for 2001? Yeah. I know, we've had 25 years since then. Worst thing that happens. You know that guy had to wake up in September and be like, oh God, worst pinball machines. He's like, how is this going to impact the future pinball machines? He didn't realize it would lead to NASCAR and subsequently the revival of pinball. So really, you know, the domino effect. But DJ Moab says, this one is all over the place. The cabinet arc or the cabinet artwork is tremendous. The back glass is hacked together in Photoshop. Music and sounds are terrific. Playfield is an utter disaster. The original material, which the table designers had to work with, was bursting with inspiration. I've been searching for this table to play in person for quite a while and finally had the chance this weekend while having lunch at a roadhouse in South Washington. Oh, you're going the right way for a smack bottom and I don't care who knows it. A roadhouse? Oh, we might know where this roadhouse is. I know, I was like, we gotta find this game. I was excited when I first saw the table. It was the first one I dropped quarters in. Within about six minutes, I felt like I was missing something. Tried three more attempts and walked away with, this has to be the most boring vanilla table I'd ever freakin' played. Two nights later I went back to the same roadhouse for dinner with the family in tow. One more chance! Shots weren't a challenge. The great sound effects couldn't hold my interest since the game didn't have a good flow. My 11 year old daughter, who loves pinball, had a similar response. Kinda boring. Who's Austin Powers? Not a fun game and doesn't do the films justice. Disappointing! I love this guy going back. Dude, two days later, with the family. He's like, kids, get in the car, we're hitting the roadhouse. Check out how bad this game is. You guys gotta try Austin Powers, let me know what you think before I leave the review. And his dad, his kid's like, Daddy, who's Austin Powers? Daddy, Daddy, who's Austin Powers? And he's like, doesn't matter. The game doesn't do it justice anyway. God, man. I do, I don't know. A lot of these, I know we keep coming back to the same defense, but it's really like, I'm surprised that people are like, there's no inspiration. And you're like, dude, you saw all these like mechs and shit. I guess one thing to remember is that we're really coming off the end of Bally Williams here. This is the like malaise Stern era that kind of recalibrates people. And that would be hard to go from looking at games that came out at the end of Bally Williams and then seeing like this art package and like this rule set and that would be tough. This is three years after Monster Bash. This is four years after Medieval Madness. Yeah. So like people were upset. Like now we look back on it. Two short years after fucking episode one. We were, we look back at this now where Stern has completely flipped the way people think about pinball where it's like it's stripped down, it's mostly shots, it's just deep levels of code, you know, and it's just, it's just a different game. But back then they were absolutely like how many mechs can be in a game? Yeah, and how much molded plastic is in there and shit like what's the world under glass and you're like this is not a world under glass experience it is like a fucking tie-dye shirt with some action figures taped to it yeah but it's like it's Austin Powers man what'd you expect they're like I thought they would have the card in there going back and forth they're like I don't know but people were thinking that would be a funny aspect dude just since it's like You know, that's the best part. You just keep bashing it and it just moves back and forth barely. This is modified John Wick. Dude, modified John Wick car. Can you imagine if they had the car though and then John Wick pulled from it? They're working up, it's clear, they're working up towards the Austin Powers follow up game. Well you heard it here, Lisa let it slip, she wasn't supposed to, but they're a dealer for Stern so we know that Elliot Eismin's next game is Austin Powers. I'm so hyped. Oh, no. Because we'd have to, you know, it'd be a good game. We'd have to be playing Austin Powers for the next 20 years. Just yeah, baby. Groovy. Yeah, just all over. I do want to say I appreciate that he did seek this game out. I know. And he gave it another shot. I will say as a someone who was once an 11 year old daughter, we have bad taste. Next review, Jar155 says, truly a terrible game. Even if you're an Austin Powers fan, this game is sure to annoy you before the end of your first play. The sound and music are repetitive and of poor quality. The layout is a very standard fan layout, but the rules are so basic that it all just ends up being a huge snooze fest. The toilet shot is unreliable as clean shots often just fall off the side rather than hit home. The mini-me spinner is too heavy to get good spins going. Just a lot of bad and uninspired ideas in this game. The layout was partially recycled for Iron Man, but Iron Man, the rules get a massive upgrade and the shots are so much better. Night and day differences between the games. I give Austin Powers a hard pass. How about no? You wouldn't have Iron Man without Austin Powers. Respect your roots. It's also funny because you're like, Iron Man went on to do well, it sold well, it did, it has a positive reception despite being like a hard game and you're like, that game is very stripped down compared to Austin Powers. Like Austin Powers has a lot more shit going on. Austin Powers does have more shit going on. And it's why it's like funny to be like as just it's uninspired. It's weird. We've seen multiple people call it uninspired. And I'm like, I don't know what you would what an inspired Austin Powers game would look like. Yeah, I really don't know what they want. I can't imagine a more Austin Powers game. They wanted they wanted Simpsons Pinball Party. Yeah, I mean, that game to be fair, that game is fucking like loaded with stuff. It's got the same action figure stuff, but it's just got too much going on. It's got a lot of stuff on it. I mean, I don't... Simpson's Pinball Party is not my cup of tea. You're more of an Austin Powers guy? I'm more of an Austin Powers guy. I can tell you right now, if I walked into a bar and they had those two games, Austin Powers would be getting my quarters. One hundred percent. If I go into a roadhouse... Yeah, it's South Washington. This is the first game I'm dropping quarters in. I guarantee now, because it's a weird one. So I'm like, of course, I'll always play the games I don't see. But will you go back with your family? I would take them back. Okay. I'd have to have a kid. Yeah. Hold them hostage. And I'd be like 11 years from now. You can take George, your dog. It's a rite of passage. George is like, who's Austin Powers? Okay. Our last, our last review from fan favorite. Right. You know, a frequent contributor to our reviews here, Caucasian Two Step. He says, Austin Powers is what happens to pinball when the advertising and marketing The funny thing is that this theme could have led to a great game, but we got this one instead. Hmm. We must have a chat with the designers. The pros. The theme is a funny one, and the sense of humor carried over onto this table. The cons. Uninspired design. First generation toys. Lonnie D. Ropp borrowed heavily from the school of George Gomez playfield layout. Damn! Worst backglass ever. It's so bad. There is no one to take credit for this abomination on the IPDB database. This is probably out of pure unadulterated professional shame. The mini-me spinner does not spin. The laser above the flippers is cool, if it works, and that's a big if. Mr. Powers, you'll notice that all the sharks have laser beams attached to their heads. I figure every creature deserves a warm meal. We could go on for a while about uninspired rules and you get the idea. The takeaway? We see the warmonger and the ring from later Stern games hashed out on this table. Maybe this game was practice for these other later designs and that's the reason for this game's existence. It's practice and development time for future Stern products. The toilet was funny in South Park, but this, my friend, is no South Park. This game makes me want to walk away after one ball. Yes, it's that bad. Where'd it tick? That means I'm single again! Oh behave! Yeah! Damn, worse than South Park. Some real strong, strong language in this one. I think it's crazy to be like, this is no South Park. And you're like, dude, nobody, like you're like, that's not, like that's not, uh... It's not. Yeah, you're like, it is into South Park. It's certainly not. Certainly not. But hey, you're going to get those comparisons. Dude, George Gomez catching strays on this one had me like, I was like, whoa, what? You shut your mouth, you bastard! Yeah, uninspired design Loni Rop borrowed heavily from George Gomez. You're like... I never once had played that, and I was like, this feels like a George Gomez game. I mean, I guess it's a fan and it's got two flippers and George rarely does more than two flippers. I'm like, I'm like trying to lay it with like Monster Bash in my head. And I'm like, not really. I don't know. Yeah. I don't know. I hate you two step. I don't know. Explain yourself. Reach out to us. Talk to our buddy, AJ. He'll, he'll relay your response in the discord. I do really think there is something though, to the takeaway of it being practice and development. Yeah. Because it's, people were excited about Austin Powers at the time. Like it makes sense that it would be a theme that people are hyped for, but again, they threw a bunch of spaghetti. And I think it's a genuine discredit to this game's existence, like, to besmirch it so readily and so easily, especially knowing that there are so few of them. Yeah. So it feels like a bunch of, like, oh, I hate this because I hate Austin Powers. Like, sure, Austin Powers is terrible, but the game is not bad. I don't think anyone's saying that Lisa, you're loud and clear on that, but I think everyone else wants to like it. They want to like it, but I think that they're wanting to like it for the wrong reasons. Yeah, that's true. That's true. That's I guess what I mean. I didn't let the game be what it is. They were too far. It is kind of like when you see someone make your dream theme and you have like all these ideas and I think a lot of the guys that really wanted this game, it's like this was their dream theme, you know, they're like, oh, this is such a cool movie series. It's really cool. I really like Mike Myers doing voices. And then they got the game and it's not what they imagined. And you're like, well, to us going in without any expectation or holding Austin Powers in high regard, we're like, oh, this game's actually kind of fun. And you're like, it's very different approach. And I think that always expectations really set a lot of these reviews, I think. So it's always just kind of hard. Yeah. Yeah. That's why I don't wish for dream themes, dude. I know. I don't dream about themes, bro. I dream about good games. I dream of whitewater. Yeah, I mean, I don't even dream of whitewater, dude. I just want, I walk up to every game, smooth brain. Just walk up and just slap the ball around, just see what happens. I don't even- That's all you can do. I don't come in expecting anything. And if you're looking for a recommendation on a good game to do that on, Austin Powers is the where to start. I would say too, some of these people were like, oh, the shots are not that hard. I was like, I found them kind of hard. I don't know, but I mean- Other people in the reviews think they're hard. It's interesting, it's like, eh, they're not too easy. They're not too easy. I think South Bark is too easy. Yeah, to me that's the, I mean, yeah that's the issue with South Bark. It's like all of the feeds are like or all of the shots are like two or three times wider. It even has a shot through the pops which, like, oh cool, shot through the pops that I have to hit, but you're like it's still too wide. Like, all the shots are too easy to hit at any time. It's interesting. It's an interesting design. uh at least Austin Powers will make you kind of fight to find some of the shots so yeah i have recommended it to some people who regularly play at next level i'm like oh no but you should give it a shot again like oh okay i guess and then i walk by and they're playing maybe a third game on it i'm like oh how is it well i had to play it a second time i wasn't sure yeah i'm like yeah I told you, it's not what you think. Yeah, it has more to it than you might assume. Yeah. That's why hopefully a lot of people after this episode go out and give it another shot, if they're lucky enough to have access to one. Yeah. And if you see Lisa at a next level, just make sure when she's working on a game to walk up behind her and go, wow, that's a lot of wires. And then I'll pop my earbud out and say, what? Oh, I was just saying there's a bunch of wires. There sure are. There sure are. Well, Lisa, I want to thank you for coming on the show and joining us and defending your love of Austin Powers. This was a great time. Yeah, thanks for having me. And we just want to tell the listener, you know, use the pinball map, find an Austin Powers near you. If you're listening here in the Portland area, you already know they got one out next level. Don't even fucking pretend like you didn't know that. Don't walk by it anymore and disrespect Austin Powers ever again. I know they have 300 pinball machines And if you can't hit a replay, you better play that shit again. You better play that shit again, because you can't have a bad, you can't have a score like that and then talk shit on Austin Powers. Especially when there's five multiballs up there. I mean, yeah. You gotta get that replay. But until next time, everyone, good luck. Don't suck. Yeah, Blah Blee Blee Blee. Well done. Very good. Dr. Evelin, that was fantastic. Thank you, number two. I wrote that, yeah.

_(Acquisition: groq_whisper, Enrichment: v4)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: 254eaf16-0641-402d-a32e-26c76754e30f*