# Episode 15 - Die on this Hill: No Fear **Source:** Wedgehead Pinball Podcast **Type:** podcast_episode **Published:** 2024-01-29 **Duration:** 39m 50s **Beat:** Pinball **URL:** Buzzsprout-14363932 --- ## Analysis The Wedgehead Pinball Podcast's 'Die on this Hill' segment defends Williams' No Fear (1995), Steve Ritchie's final Williams design. The hosts praise its extreme sports theme, phenomenal art by Greg Freres, innovative jump ramp mechanic, straightforward but engaging rules, and fast-paced gameplay, while addressing common criticisms about theme appeal, playfield flow, and punishing drain difficulty. They counter negative Pinside reviews dismissing claims of limited shots, poor theme execution, and excessive post-heavy gameplay. ### Key Claims - [HIGH] No Fear is Steve Ritchie's last pinball design for Williams after an ~20 year partnership, released May 1995 — _Hosts establish historical context; confirmed release year and final Williams game status_ - [HIGH] No Fear sold 4,450 units, making it the second-highest selling game of Williams' nine releases in 1995 — _Specific sales figures provided; context of Williams releasing 9 games annually in 1995_ - [HIGH] No Fear currently ranks #183 on Pinside's Top 100 list — _Hosts cite current ranking; described as disrespectful given game's quality_ - [HIGH] Steve Ritchie didn't design another pinball game for 8 years until Stern's Terminator 3 in 2003 — _Hosts discuss gap in Ritchie's design output following No Fear's release_ - [MEDIUM] The game features a jump ramp designed by Ritchie that is superior to Robocop and Jurassic Park jump ramps — _Host Alex's subjective assessment of mechanical innovation; comparative evaluation_ - [MEDIUM] No Fear's art package ranks in top 10 game art packages of all time — _Host opinion stated as rhetorical assertion; artist credited as Greg Freres (legendary)_ ### Notable Quotes > "If you believe in something, you sign your name to it." > — **Opening monologue (sourced from external media, not podcast)**, 00:00 > _Thematic framing for 'Die on this Hill' segment; establishes commitment to defending unpopular opinion_ > "It's a Williams game designed by Steve Ritchie. It's probably what I would consider his best... No, no, it's not his best, but it's really good." > — **Alex (co-host defending No Fear)**, ~01:40 > _Self-correcting claim about No Fear's place in Ritchie's catalog; indicates top-tier but not #1 ranking_ > "Stern does. Stern releases three maybe in a year. They were doing nine, okay?" > — **Host (comparing Williams' 1995 output to modern Stern production)**, ~05:00 > _Industry comparison highlighting manufacturing scale differences between eras_ > "This game's fast, frantic with straightforward rules and wrapped up in this amazingly cheesy 90s theme. To me, it's like, this is a fucking winner on all fronts." > — **Host (summarizing appeal of No Fear)**, ~16:30 > _Core argument for game's quality; synthesis of mechanical and thematic strengths_ > "I only liked it because of the theme before I played it... I only enjoy no fear because Alan liked it and forced me to play it a few times." > — **Host (co-host's conversion experience)**, ~17:45 > _Demonstrates theme-driven initial appeal, but gameplay-driven conversion to positive opinion_ > "It's covered the whole cabinet's covered in like night... guy's head exploding... it's sick as hell." > — **Alex (defending cabinet art package)**, ~20:00 > _Refutation of Pinside review claiming poor artwork; enthusiastic endorsement of design execution_ > "He's a hack... this guy's a hack but limited only ramps... if you're ignoring the modes if you're ignoring the extra ball." > — **Host (responding to Pinside review claiming game is 'only ramps')**, ~24:00 > _Dismisses recurring criticism as based on incomplete gameplay understanding_ > "No Fear equals no forgiveness. You suck. You are nothing." > — **Host (riffing on Pinside review tagline)**, ~41:00 > _Frames game's punishing difficulty as feature, not bug; reframes negative as positive characterization_ > "I love when he makes you forces you to hit shots that you don't like... if the safest option is throwing it into exposed pops you're like now we're talking, yes, this is pinball." > — **Host (on shot design philosophy and risk/reward balance)**, ~38:30 > _Articulates design philosophy preference: punishing players for missing challenging shots as core to pinball appeal_ > "It's like the epitome of... you got a full Richie fan and you have a repeating upper loop shot but the repeating upper loop doesn't take any space on the lower playfield because it's up in the air. It's awesome." > — **Host (on jump ramp innovation)**, ~42:00 > _Technical analysis of mechanical design elegance; space-efficient innovation praise_ ### Entities | Name | Type | Context | |------|------|---------| | No Fear | game | Williams pinball machine released May 1995, designed by Steve Ritchie; extreme sports theme; defended in this episode | | Steve Ritchie | person | Legendary pinball designer; designed No Fear as final game for Williams after ~20 year partnership; did not design another game until Terminator 3 (Stern, 2003) | | Greg Freres | person | Artist credited with No Fear's artwork package; hosts describe work as legendary and top-10 quality | | Williams Electronics | company | Major pinball manufacturer that released No Fear; released 9 games in 1995; experienced declining pinball sales; sued Mark Ritchie for joining Capcom | | Mark Ritchie | person | Steve Ritchie's brother; jumped from Williams to Capcom pinball division in 1994; sued by Williams | | Capcom | company | Short-lived pinball division that employed Mark Ritchie; context suggests brief market presence | | Pinside Top 100 | organization | Community ranking system; No Fear currently ranked #183 | | Alex | person | Co-host of Wedgehead Pinball Podcast; defending No Fear in this Die on this Hill episode | | Chris Roads | person | Business partner of one host; notably hates No Fear; provided negative review for segment | | Stern Pinball | company | Modern manufacturer; releases approximately 3 games per year (contrasted with Williams' 9 in 1995); employed Steve Ritchie for Terminator 3 (2003) | | Theater of Magic | game | Williams 1995 release; only game outselling No Fear that year | | Attack from Mars | game | Williams 1995 release; described as 'all-time classic'; outsold by No Fear; referenced negatively as 'fan layout' by host | | Jeremy McGrath | person | Extreme sports athlete sponsored by No Fear brand; featured in game modes | | Sammy Duvall | person | Water skiing athlete featured in game's extreme sports modes | | Black Knight: Sword of Rage | game | Steve Ritchie game referenced as comparison point for fast, punishing gameplay similar to No Fear | | Robocop | game | Referenced as having inferior jump ramp to No Fear | | Jurassic Park Home Edition | game | Referenced as having inferior jump ramp to No Fear; also criticized by host for breakable shots without ball danger | | Terminator 3 | game | Stern pinball game released 2003, designed by Steve Ritchie after 8-year gap since No Fear | | Ultraman | game | Pinball game referenced in sniper shot criticism; has shots that don't endanger ball | | No Fear (brand) | organization | 1990s extreme sports clothing brand; founded by brothers; sponsored extreme sports athletes; defunct in original form | ### Topics - **Primary:** Die on this Hill segment format and execution, No Fear game design and mechanical innovation, Steve Ritchie's design philosophy and legacy, Community reception and Pinside reviews, 1990s extreme sports theme and cultural nostalgia, Playfield layout, shot design, and flow mechanics, Game difficulty, punishing drain mechanics, and player skill - **Secondary:** Williams' pinball manufacturing decline and industry context (1995) ### Sentiment **Positive** (0.85) — Hosts are enthusiastically defending No Fear against negative community opinion. Alex passionately advocates for the game's theme, mechanics, and design. Other host was initially skeptical but converted to positive view through gameplay. Strong dismissal of Pinside reviewers' criticisms as based on subjective theme preferences or player skill issues rather than design flaws. Some frustration with community undervaluation evident. ### Signals - **[sentiment_shift]** Pinside review consensus negative on No Fear focuses on three recurring themes: (1) theme/art appeal subjective, (2) complaints about post-heavy layout and punishing drain, (3) dismissal of shot variety as 'just ramps'. (confidence: high) — Multiple reviews citing theme dislike, post complaints, and shot repetition; hosts counter each systematically - **[competitive_signal]** No Fear's punishing design creates skill-gap gameplay where player setup (tilt sensitivity) significantly impacts experience and drain frequency. (confidence: medium) — if you have it set up easy it might suck... if you have one of these if you play one of these with a real loose tilt... it should not be a long game if you're nailing posts - **[design_philosophy]** Some reviewers perceive No Fear as having limited shot variety and over-reliance on jump ramp mechanic, though hosts argue reviews demonstrate incomplete gameplay understanding. (confidence: medium) — people saying it only has ramps... there's only two ramps in the game and then there's the jump ramp - **[design_philosophy]** Steve Ritchie's design approach emphasizes fast, straightforward shot sequences with high punishment for missed shots (no safety nets). Hosts frame this as ideal pinball design vs. modern trend of forgiving gameplay. (confidence: high) — It's a game I love and I wouldn't argue that the theme is great But I love the game regardless... it's wrapped up in this amazingly cheesy 90s theme - **[manufacturing_signal]** Williams released 9 games in 1995 (compared to modern Stern's ~3 per year), indicating massive production capacity difference and broader industry decline context. (confidence: high) — Stern does. Stern releases three maybe in a year. They were doing nine - **[market_signal]** No Fear available at significant discount vs. other contemporary Williams games despite comparable sales performance; secondary market undervaluation. (confidence: medium) — that's gonna be the tagline this is one of those bang for your buck games... it's half the price of every other like bally williams game - **[community_signal]** Steve Ritchie personally involved in game promotion (promo video riding dirt bike), lost tip of finger in prior accident; game reflects personal extreme sports lifestyle alignment. (confidence: medium) — He made like a promo video for the game where he rides up on his dirt bike... lost the tip of his finger... it's peak 90s Steve Ritchie - **[personnel_signal]** Steve Ritchie's 8-year gap between No Fear (1995) and Terminator 3 (2003) corresponds to broader pinball industry collapse; took Williams lawsuit against brother Mark as context for departure decision. (confidence: high) — it was eight years until Steve even got to do another pinball design when Stern released his Terminator 3 game in 2003 - **[product_concern]** One Pinside reviewer reported quality control issue: molded skull plastic pieces (top/bottom) made of different materials with yellowing on top portion. (confidence: medium) — the top part of the skull was made of different plastic than the bottom half... top yellow terribly - **[sentiment_shift]** Community perception of No Fear has declined significantly; ranked #183 on Pinside despite being second-highest seller for Williams in 1995. Hosts view this as unjustly low given game quality. (confidence: high) — 183 on pinside top 100 list... that's disrespectful it is disrespectful - **[licensing_signal]** No Fear brand was short-lived 1990s extreme sports clothing company with athlete sponsorships; now defunct in original form. Game serves as cultural time capsule. (confidence: high) — started by like a couple brothers... they're a clothing company... short lived thing... gone in its original form --- ## Transcript You signed your real name? Of course I did. If you believe in something, you sign your name to it. Alright, I'm gonna 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. Well, 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 going to 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 T under the mat. I love you 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. Yes, we're putting Alex in the hot seat. We're doing another Die on this Hill segment, and this is the first time one of us is doing a Die on this Hill. For anyone that hasn't listened to the earlier episodes, Die on this Hill is a segment where somebody, usually a guest, in this case, Alex, the co-host, you sit in the hot seat and you defend a game that you unironically love that most people don't have high opinions of. Okay, so in the past, we've done games like Gilligan's Island, Popeye Saves the Earth, and WWF at the time, Royal Rumble. And this week, what game are you doing? We're doing the masterpiece. It's a Williams game designed by Steve Ritchie. It's probably what I would consider his best. No Fear. Whoa, his best game? No, no, it's not his best, but it's really good. It's really good. Okay. No Fear. I'll be laying on the hyperbole a little thick this week. No Fear was released in May of 1995. It was Steve Ritchie's last pinball designed for Williams, a partnership that lasted almost 20 years. Pinball sales were starting to fall at this point. And Williams was also busy suing his brother, Mark, at the same time for jumping ship the year before to the short-lived Capcom pinball division, which I'm sure influenced his decision to leave. Maybe a little bit. Like, the company that you and your brother both work for is now suing your brother, trying to keep him from designing games at a different company. Yeah, you're probably like, fuck this. Like, I think he saw the writing on the wall and the pinball division was slowing down. But also, I can't imagine at the Thanksgiving table, it wasn't a little bit awkward that he's working at Williams and they're trying to sue his brother. Like, I imagine this had something to do with why it was his last game at Williams. Although, did he stay on for long after that? Because I know he was kind of just like, he was like the George Gomez. He was like the head of creative or whatever there for a while. This was his last design. I think he left pretty close after this. I think it was he might even left a little bit before and it was released right like in 95 but it would be eight years until Steve even got to do another pinball design when Stern released his Terminator 3 game in 2003 oh wow yeah that's a long gap it was eight years yeah it was a while I mean obviously pinball basically died in that time yeah which we'll go into on another podcast episode in depth but man it was wild so this was the end of an era I mean he sold a lot of games He's the most iconic pinball designer of all time, working at Williams. He was running the industry at the best pinball company of all time in most people's opinion. One of the biggest, the biggest seller. And he put out what is, you know, his swan song, No Fear. So we're going to get into it. No Fear sold 4,450 units, which is a far cry from most of his early 80s and early 90s games. but it was still the second highest selling game of the nine games that Williams released in 1995. They still released nine games in 1995. Isn't that crazy? Nine games a year. By today's standards? Yeah, man. Insane. That's genuinely nuts. Most boutiques don't release one every year, right? Yeah, Stern does. Stern releases three maybe in a year. They were doing nine, okay? And so even though this was a letdown, he's still the second best selling game of that year, most notably ahead of attack from mars holy shit which is an all-time classic also 4400 like companies today would kill for 4400 some of them some of them yeah that's probably lower for a stern but that's like i mean still more than the sure second place i think that's still breaking even or making a little bit i'm i think you're like oh we're not losing our ass if we're selling yeah 4400 units but yeah theater of magic was the only game that sold more during that year but no fear currently sits at number 183 on the pin side top 100 list and is also very notably true in 83 i know jesus that's disrespectful it is disrespectful it has what we're going to talk about yeah it's that's fucked up it's also notably hated by my business partner chris roads and uh guests on this podcast so i did get a bad review from roadsy that will read out Oh, good episode. So he'll get his say on this episode as well. Good. But I want to give the floor to you and I want you to start by pleading your case. Why is no fear a good game and why is it deserved to be remembered better? OK, let's start off with the strongest point of no fear, which is it's incredible theme, dude. It's amazing. I don't know if for those for those listening or if you were either too old or too young for no fear, you might not remember. but it's kind of like a time capsule of the 90s. It was started, I think, by like a couple brothers that drove NASCARs, which is weird because that's not really what I associate with No Fear. But they just sponsored various extreme sports athletes and they just made clothing. They're a clothing company. Yeah, they just made like t-shirts and shit, but they would sponsor, you know, Jeremy McGrath and he'd have No Fear stickers on his Kawasaki. And so everyone's like, hell yeah, everyone in middle school went and bought a No Fear shirt. This was like very much when I was young. I was probably too young to be the target demographic, but like I saw older kids wearing it and I thought it was a cool brand when I was a little kid. I had no fear shirts. Okay. Yeah, that makes sense. You were a little, a little bit older, a little older. I had no fear shirts. It was a short lived thing. And that's why very much is the theme. It's incredibly like cheesy and corny. It's got this guy in like motocross, like goggles staring at you with like his head exploding. And it's not like cartoon. When I say that, if you haven't seen the back glass, you're picturing a cartoon when you say it's like motorcycle guy with a head exploding but it's like photorealistic hand-drawn art yeah but it's actually is the artist yeah okay legendary phenomenal team everyone on this game is killer 183 that's fucking insane dude you see that art package that's a top 10 game art package damn and it's it's just so the theme incredible extreme sports clothing brand long out of business i think it might have been repurposed at some point but it's gone in its original form okay and then you get to the actual game so theme we're already off on a very strong foot then you get the actual game it's fucking you know all these games you're talking you're over there gassing up fucking that piece of shit attack from mars oh a fan layout if you want to talk goddamn fan layouts no fear is the fanniest of layouts it could possibly be they drew the art on the playfield to illustrate that even more every shot has its own like beam of color going to the fucking flippers it's just straight up fan across but it's got the sickest little toy thing of all time which is the getaway hyperloop except for you actually get a flip it there the getaway supercharger but you get a flip it this time yeah and it's a jumping upper jump shot it's a jump so you shoot it up the ramp so if you haven't played this game i'm gonna describe it as if you've never seen it before it's kind of got like a terminator 2 layout with the right ramp is just like a little quick ramp that feeds back so the ramp on the right side that you hit with the left flipper feeds to the right flipper the ramp on the left side that you hit the right flipper it goes up it has magnets so it can divert it via magnets which is a very bizarre choice can stop the ball with magnets feed it back to the left flipper so you can get it a payback time we'll get into that later but otherwise if it doesn't divert it it shoots up there it speeds it up with three coils that are hidden three magnetic coils that are hidden behind the ramp it feeds it to an upper flipper that's floating it's mounted on this fucking like 18 inch post it's insane it's a flipper way the fuck up there and it's on this clear ramp you get a flip there's a jump everyone loves jump ramps it's way better than robocop it's way better than jurassic park home edition it's the sickest jump ramp in a pinball machine it rips around there it goes it's got this fucking six inch wide trough that the ball slams into violently every time it feels like the game's gonna shake itself apart it just does that because everything's up in the air so it slams into this trough rips around and then the magnets feed it back up so it's a perfect system because it's just fast as fuck it's fast as fuck and it just keeps getting faster and you just you can keep ripping those loops comes in very critical for some modes to rip loops and if you miss a thing it immediately drains feeds it back to the right flipper so you have another chance at it should probably like not feed it say if that would be one of my gripes i wish the ball was in danger off of that if you fucked up but it does it so fast that it not like upper playfield purgatory it kind of like it like a it's like a white water or something where it's not really an upper playfield it's just one chance at a flipper shot if you miss it you're just playing immediately again you're not fucking waiting for the ball to be delivered it's amazing another thing that shot is incredible another incredible choice here from Steve. There's two shots into a subway. The subway has a staged ball in it, which is like something that, you know, Scott Denisey would bring back on Rick and Morty. So you're not waiting around for a ball to travel on the subway. It reminds you of this when you have at home because every time you fucking turn the game on, it launches a ball into the subway three times over and over to make sure that shot's functioning correctly. It's actually kind of nice, but it launches three balls in there, verifies it as a staged ball. So, okay, layout, awesome. it's great there's a little u-turn with the fucking skull in the middle okay so that's the actual like physical layout then you get into the fucking talking skull it's Steve Ritchie impersonating like the no fear logo flaming skull it's this gigantic gigantic piece of molded plastic that's sitting in the middle of that upper loop i'm talking about it's just great it's just Steve Ritchie shit talking it's like it talks if you like black knight if you're impressed by the black knight topper you're like uh no fear had that fucking whatever 30 year fire it's awesome it's just Steve Ritchie saying stupid shit the whole time telling you to play better or whatever it is great past that the rules very straightforward you can launch right into modes has that choose your skill shot yeah like kind of the same thing as like a next gen where you kind of choose your skill shot so you can kind of cheese your way into a multiball there's a couple different ways to play it some people i'm sure when we get into the reviews they'll bitch about the rules but it's kind of like you can go through the five standard modes you can time them out if you're a wimp like if yeah if you're a little scaredy cat but like i don't know why you would do that and it's genuinely just not it's not a sure just to make a rush to the wizard mode but it's not even a sure thing so it's kind of a bad strategy because you can get a lot of points out of the modes especially if you're talking for like league play for sure so it's like it's got five modes and then you get into like mini wizard one mini wizard two actual wizard mode which are all different multiballs and those all kind of have like different ways to cash in jackpots the standard three ball multiball very cool entrance little animation on there of like the motorcycles a little right oh yeah the animations on this game also sick yeah and so what all the modes are based on all of the modes are extreme sports which are portrayed on the back glass with it also with real life streamed sports stars of the day yeah so there's like there's the like who's the wake border oh it's not a wake border he's a fucking water skier it's extreme water skiing with sammy duvall sammy duvall i only know so jeremy jeremy mcgrath's the only one i probably knew before this the rest of them were all you know articles of their time they kind of sure and died in the 90s even if there's no one yeah yeah so there's like the nascar one you got to shoot that little race track off-road racing which is very sick because that's yeah shoot the ramps and if you keep looping the jump ramp you can get like serious points out of that there's the water skiing gotta shoot the tube you know which that's a thing in water skiing you're shooting those tubes constantly yep sammy duvall yeah that's how you juice all the other jackpots sammy duvall that's how you juice the other jackpots uh i'm trying to remember off the time i had the other ones skydiving which has that just insane intro with the whole guy like i don't know how to do this what i'm doing But Steve Ritchie's like, just jump. Yeah. Dude, that's the thing. All of this, it's like, it's good pinball. It's a fast, frantic game with straightforward rules. And it's wrapped up in this, like, amazingly cheesy 90s theme. So I just, to me, it's like, this is a fucking winner on all fronts. Like, I might have some little gripes if I nitpicked it, but it's really minor shit. The game is fucking fun. this is we're not going to give away the ending here but like i love this game too like i yeah i could have done a die on this hill i only got i only enjoy no fear because alan liked it and forced me to play it a few times and i was like okay this is good i only liked it because of the theme before i played it which is hilarious because as you'll see when i start reading these reviews a lot of what people don't like is that they're so mean it's but you're you're that age where you're like oh this is cool because it's like throwback to not to like bad 90s culture it's your generation's like this is fucking cool yeah i guess i like that but it's like i think the game is fucking fun it's fast as shit it's punishing yeah like and it's also another one where if you have it set up easy it might suck yeah it's like if you have one of these if you play one of these with a real loose tilt if it by factory default it lights that uh the kickback i have my kickback you have to go actually light it out of your way to hit those targets you have to hit those fucking cliffhanger targets i can't remember the finger of that or the the rock climber sorry yeah the rock and those are low on the play field and very dangerous to hit and yeah yeah so that makes it quite a bit meaner and like all of our games it has standard rubber on it doesn't have silicone or anything yeah you have a very you found a very probably the nicest yes i wish i could remember the seller's name was a guy out of the tri-cities in washington and he he pulled it out of like some guy's house that it had been sitting in for 20 years and he replaced the ramps and did everything and it's phenomenal i did zero work on the game and it's gorgeous it's gorgeous it's got to be nicer and you got it for a great fucking deal because it's a game that a lot of yeah a lot of people yeah a lot of people don't like for some reason i guess we'll learn here in a second so anyway that's my piece game fucking rips you can just stop the episode there nothing good from here well we're gonna read the other side the reason why this game makes the list and why we have to defend it yeah why it's half the price of every other like bally williams game that's half as good as it i agree with that man i think it's this is one of those plays the game half the price that's gonna be the tagline this is one of those bang for your buck games i think i think it's a fucking super fun game we've if you haven't heard us talk about Steve Ritchie on almost every episode this podcast on our second episode we did an episode based on him and his brother so clearly we're both richie guys this is a Steve Ritchie game it's an ultra Steve Ritchie that's how i say this is like distilled Steve Ritchie he made like a promo video for the game where he rides up on his dirt bike that Steve Ritchie's a big dirt bike guy and he lost the tip of his finger he got stuck in the chain in the sprocket or whatever and lost the tip of his finger and it's his own like this old promo video that he made for the game it just it really is Steve Ritchie and the fact that it has Steve Ritchie talking in it just is like icing on the cake you're like this is it it's peak 90s Steve Ritchie so yeah it's fantastic but we're gonna go into the battery yeah now let's see what these fucking dumb shits on pin side have to say and roads all right so the first one I have pinball slave says quote not a fan of the artwork or theme at all had the game for a while and the gameplay didn't inspire me either is that your best i mean i just that's inherently wrong the artwork's gorgeous greg freres dude he doesn't do bad work he's got a guy's head exploding on the it's it's sick as hell it's covered the whole cabinet's covered in like night okay the cat on flames the cabinet we didn't talk about the cabinet looks like guy fury's shirt dude it's like the cabinet that was a weak era for bally williams cabinet art because they just put the brand or the name on the side yeah but it's got like flames they're always faded one side of mine's faded them yeah gorgeous yeah uh but yeah the gameplay on inspiring you're like if you don't like Steve Ritchie games maybe and if you don't like Steve Ritchie you don't like thin ball so like he also admitted to not liking the theme this is a common thing with like people it's like there are some people that can't get past the theme they don't like i'm not one of those people like theme doesn't matter to me in the same way it matters to a lot of people that like it matters to me buying for my house on location theme is probably like the least important thing which is funny because as you said at the beginning you like legitimately love the theme oh the theme is all dude that's the thing like my brother came my brother was here he's not a pinball guy and he saw it and i was like oh i was like dude this thing's sick it's like peak 90s and he's like yeah no shit this is peak 90s like he's like this is the most 90s looking game you could design i'm like yeah it's awesome yeah i mean i i love this game and i wouldn't argue that the theme is great But I love the game regardless of the theme. Okay, next, next. Okay, so Bam McDonald says, I've owned 24 games, and this is the least favorite I have ever owned. Wow. However, I got it cheap when acquiring a couple other games, so it was not a big disappointment. The game is very fast. I found the game played manic with very limited shots, just ramps. The obnoxious talking skull got old quickly. Oh. The one I owned. the top part of the skull was made of different plastic than the bottom half i mean that's his problem and the top yellow terribly making it look sort of crummy i mean this is just his own personal gripes with his mismatched plastics this guy's a hack but limited only ramps you're like if you're ignoring fucking all of the modes if you're ignoring the extra ball oh okay he also says the makers of this were obviously targeting the extreme sports types guys skateboarders and BMX riders, if that is you, then you might like this game. From my experience, there are many better games to own. There's no skateboarding or BMXing in the game, you dumb shit. Fatality. Yeah. Look, this guy doesn't know what he's talking about. I don't think he's even seen a No Fear. And he saying that it only for BMXers and skateboarders or extreme sports fans none of which you do I mountain bike so you know i a i a very extreme sport enthusiast you always see me chugging monsters yeah i think it funny that he says it's only ramps we're gonna get to these there's a lot of people like it's only ramps i was like there's only two ramps in the game and then there's the jump ramp which uses ramps the left ramp as part of it so the two ramps it's like are you playing games of less than two ramps no they're saying it's all ramps that's what i'm saying you're like how could it be all ramps like no fucking 12 shots in the game two of more ramps in the ramps i mean the jump ramp is pretty heavy in the game but like it kind of makes sense i don't know it gets used a lot but like all of the shots get used for the modes yeah if the jackpot collects like it's like you always shoot this i disagree man okay i'm with you i'm with you but fat panda says if you're not making shots you're hitting post if you're hitting post it could be a long drawn out and frustrating game the jump ramp is cool but other than that there's not much else going for it i win he has an interesting point here that i didn't i was just talking about this with megan actually it is all post there's no stand the only stand-ups in the game are those uh rock climbing targets off to the right yep everything else it's just shot shot shot shot there's no pop bumpers yep oh in the game at all i didn't even mention that's another awesome part about it no fucking pops no filler dude i'll kill all killer no filler in but it is posts but i would say that's a problem with your setup if you're if you're nailing posts on it it should not be a long game if you're nailing posts on my no fear you will drain and you will drain immediately you'll hit a sling or you'll go right down the middle or you'll go down an out lane and you're gonna get fucked either i'll also say like I use Black Knight Sword of Rage as an example. This game qualifies. They're both Steve Ritchie games. They both feel the same thing. All the shots in the game, both of those games are easy. They're both very fast games. But when you miss a shot, you get punished. It's very punished. I love that in a pinball machine. To me, what I hate in a pinball machine is I hate breaking shots, like clunky shots, but you don't lose the ball. And we're both, like, looking over at Ultraman right now. you have like sniper you have sniper shots on that game and they don't put the ball in danger yeah i hate that you're like well what the fuck is that so then you're just you're just aiming at it forever and that's bad i hate like that's what i feel about stern jurassic park the reason why i don't like that game particularly it's the same thing i feel like you could break your way around that game and not lose the ball it's true you can play that you can play that thing forever and like some people wrote they love that game they it's one of their favorite games it's a well-regarded a game i don't like it because it's like i want to be punished for missing shots that to me is finball and i also like shots i like to be punished i like to be punished when you make good shots that's also i love when he makes you forces you to hit shots that you don't like every episode we're gonna come back to solid states and you're like dude you play frontier every shot you make except for the spinner that feeds it up to the top yeah which then it's just coming out of the pops which can also fuck you but like that's this if the safest option is throwing it into exposed pops you're like now we're talking yes this is pinball so anyway back to no fear we have another person aerobert says quote hate the theme hate the colors brown and orange everywhere okay play field layout and gameplay but not a fan at all pass ask see you got to get past that if you don't like a theme you can't just write off game because of that but it's like the colors there's not brown maybe on again his maybe on these shitty ass copies of health here mine is just it looks like crackling flame on it it's gorgeous yeah dude like you said guy fieri's shirt on the side of yeah dude oh you don't like guy fieri you don't want to go to flavor town come on dude yeah this is Steve Ritchie's flavor yeah this is flavor town all right isochronic frost says no fear bores me to tears wow hit ramps endless and be precise many better games from Steve Ritchie i rule this world Steve Ritchie does have better games but not many yeah there you go i agree i agree i think this is one i think this is a top five richie game which means a lot and if i really sat and analyzed things i might come i'd like i always joke about i can never recreate my list twice yeah we saw that in the super pins episode is it's uh it's a killer layout and it's i don't know for fun man it's a game i love it's a game i love i love Steve Ritchie and it is one of my favorite Steve Ritchie games yeah it's like like where you keep saying it's just distilled richie it's like the really it's the epitome of it's like you got a full richie fan and you have a repeating upper loop shot but the repeating upper loop doesn't take any space on the lower play field because it's up in the air. It's awesome. It is awesome. Yeah. It's awesome. DRSFMD says, Holy drain monster, Batman. Maybe it's just the way the particular example I played was set up, but I couldn't keep a ball in play for more than a few seconds at a time. Impossible to find a groove, accomplish goals, etc. It was all straight down the middle. Brutality. Well, that's a good review in my opinion. I think so. I don't know why I'm like, well, you know, like, you're like, you're allowed to hate the game for it being too hard if you're a shitty player. I love when people are like, this game's hard. Yeah, but also, like, can't find the flow. That's the one thing when you, you do have days, like, I'll play my No Fear because I've got the one sitting here in the house. I'll play it some days and just, like, you really find the flow and you can just absolutely rip ramps and you're just, like, you're able to get, you know, looping, you're looping orbits on the fly and stuff. and then there are days where you suck and it just feels like it's going to punish you but i'm like that's what makes it but it's on you dude it's on you it's ultimately your skill yeah it is hard though i love that it's not doing anything mean it doesn't even have like we keep saying i like the shots that make the ball go out of control and really no fear is all pretty safe shots because it's a richie richie kind of does that but he does it well because it's fast because it's fast yep so when you do miss a shot you hit it off one of those posts trouble yeah you're in trouble. Absolutely. But yeah, good to bad review. I'll take that one. So Pinball Purdy says, while I do like the rules, I just can't get into the shots. Too many posts to be considered a good flowing game, which is a Steve Ritchie trademark. I played this game a lot for League and every time I start putting something together I hit one post and it's all over. No fear equals no forgiveness. You suck. You are nothing. I mean that's cool that's a cool tagline no forgiveness uh yeah i don't know here Steve Ritchie record that no forgiveness yeah it's like you have to have something in between shots like i don't think the shots on no fear are particularly hard so no they're not hard we're getting kind of it's interesting to hear these reviews because it's like you the biggest recurring thing is that people don't like the theme or the art or whatever which is yeah that's saying that's just a bad yeah it's subjective but they're also when you're saying that when you're saying that it doesn't have flow yeah you're like you're out of your fucking mind dude play better grow up play better man that's what i'd have to say that one i get one post and i lose the ball yeah yeah fucking you're like why'd you hit that post hey dummy don't hit the post hit the ramp it's all ramps that's what the other guy said all right nick buffalo pinball says shoot this lane shoot that lane wash rinse repeat very boring game that was pathetic that's from buffalo pinball huh that's a big buffalo pinball i think that's the the dude that's uh yeah you know i better like watch my words here then they might come for us oh no that's not who i'm thinking of either way i think he's just wrong that's not what you do i mean you can say that about this lane shoot that lane you're like you just mean like what first of all what's he mean by lanes second of all there's not just two repeating shots if that's what he's getting at i think it's just like the thing is is like he's being reductive but you can say that about every pinball machine all modern games are lane shots like yeah like if you're shooting an orbit there's a switch there in the lane that tells you that 100 or it's right in front of a scoop that's a lane that goes to the scoop right the ramps are lanes like all modern games are lane shooters versus old games have a bunch of targets It's either drops or stand-ups. To be fair, there are no drops on the game, except for the one guarding the scoop, the skydive scoop. But other than that, it is very much just shots. But it's true. That's true of most modern pinball, dude. Yeah. That's it. You're shooting lanes now. That's what modern pinball is, is you're shooting lanes. You're not shooting targets. Yes. And the targets that are on most games are usually inconsequential. And a lot of times people will put stand-ups where he puts posts on this game. They don't fucking matter anyway. Yeah, they just put little stand-ups just to kind of, like, reward you for doing dumb shit. For doing nothing. Yeah, a lot of the time I feel like it's just, I don't know. Now that you say that, I'm like, you never have to shoot a dangerous stand-up, and that's something that could make the game better, maybe. You do have to shoot the drop target when it's up to light lock. You have to shoot the drop to get your extra ball kicked back. You have to, yeah, that's true. Gotta get those. Those are dangerous, dude. Those are dangerous. So, yeah. Again, it's just kind of like, it depends how you're playing the game. I think a lot of these people have a real shallow understanding. It's like the guy being like, oh, you're just going for ramps. And it's like, if you're not going for the extra ball into me, it's like, yeah, for a high score or if you're not to go hit boats. Yeah, exactly. And you're like, what are you doing? All right. John H. says perfectly emblematic of the no fear brand. Yes. As precious as it is shallow. Oh I like the flipper on the ramp And I leave the comments at that Prepare to die Oh wow Well he like if I only have something nice to say that all I think Yeah I was going oh okay No, there he goes. Yeah, brash and shallow. Diplomatic. Try all diplomatic in his bad review. It's cool and straightforward, just like the brand. I like the spin. misio tigre says is it a pinball machine for adults or just for little kids you will die mortal absolutely nothing to do just a bunch of ramps to hit over and over after you play it twice you are done with it that's just every pinball ever is this for little kids it's just hitting ramps over and over yeah yeah it does different stuff when you hit the ramps i'm just like i don't think any kids would like this thing it's a very cool adult theme you know we're adults dude yeah be rated in for mature at anything okay it's extreme it's very extreme not for kids you have to be into skateboarding or bmxing to like this game all right bartron says no fear more like no fun i always like those ones it's like this will get them was that all he said no no fear more like no fun i thought i was going to like this game with all the flow and loops but by god if you're off by a fraction with your shot and it's good night vienna the music is most annoying and the skull after a few games will make you just want to remove the glass and smash it off the playfield that's kind of the point of the skull is to shit talk you if that's what he means if he just means annoying in general i disagree because i've heard that skull you know for a thousand games i still love it yeah dude it's it's supposed to be like rudy yeah or the black knight it's a nice yeah it's the antagonist yeah it kind of it's also like the commentator it's a funny role like the skull tells you what to do which is interesting yeah it is it is a sideways like rudy doesn't tell you what to do yeah this goal will be like shoot this ramp for big points or whatever and you're like okay because there's also another commentator but it anyway uh i like the no fear no fun though that's good you could tell that's like he was he was workshopping that he was for a while yeah he probably told us he probably told his wife at home then i left this really good review all right couch fort says i don't see what anyone can see in this game fast and furious Are you kidding me? This Dranomatic table sucks. You suck. Dranomatic. It's just a bunch of ramps at the top and nothing in between. Oh, my bad. Two little drop targets that are barely visible and just about impossible to hit. At least on the table I was playing, the left flipper didn't come all the way down. Okay, so he's talking about malfunctioning here. Either way, boring table where every other game is a free game. so there's really no challenge at all. I could win free game after free game line folded. It's that boring and easy. The only amusing thing is the ridiculous voices spouting out nonsense. Otherwise, this is one of the worst tables I have ever played. Thank God for frequent reshoots, because that ball rolls down the center eight out of ten times. Wow. I think this guy was having some problems with the game set up there. So it sounds like one of the flippers wasn't working very well. And it also said, thank God for frequent reshoots. I wonder if the launch lane wasn't getting it all the way to the skydive and it was feeding back down the middle. Maybe. I've seen that, and that's one thing. A lot of no-fears you see are just beat to hell on location. Yeah, because they got the shit played out on them because it's fun as shit, dude. It's just so cool. It's just because everyone likes it. It's a low-dollar Bally Williams, and I think it always has been. So it's like operators, because operators will route Bally Williams more than anything else, or at least they did back in the day. And it was kind of just one you, like, throw in a bar, forget about. I think nobody was putting money into fixing them up. So I think a lot of people's experiences with the game are tainted by shitty ones. Sure. The first one I played did not launch the ball into the skydive thing. So it was just different. It doesn't deliver it to the right flipper. It was very confusing to me because it would cycle that drop target. The ball wouldn't get all the way up there. And I was just like, what the fuck is going on here? And then, I mean, we've seen some other haggard ones and it just, it makes a difference. I find it weird that he's like, this terrain-o-matic table sucks. it's so easy but it's also so easy i play it blindfolded all over the place with this i don't know what he means by that drain-o-matic but it's also he's getting replay after replay you're like yeah that's why i was just dismissing this one yeah it's whack do better couch yeah right in right into the podcast if you're listening right in and let us know what you meant by all that yeah i'll ridicule you on air if you want just send me an email next time don't come for no fear yeah leave no keep no fear out of your fucking mouth dude and we got the final one my business partner guest on the podcast mr chris ebenezer road says no fear pinball basically an over-aggressive macho adrenaline-fueled gimmick box i see all those flames and all i can think of is that game burning in a dumpster bro you weak pathetic fool that's a good chris reveal i mean i think he's just being rude i think chris knows deep down that the game's good and he's just jealous because he doesn't have one i think that's the feeling of all i used to have one he sold it now he regrets it and he can't play can't admit he was wrong finish him yes it probably sold it to go buy his rolling stones you know a game chris rhodes loves so I'd get it. I'd be salty too and if I used to own one it was gone from me but now I you know it is a little over the top a little bit over the top but uh all good things are. I do know that he I do know that he hates that game. Every time I bring up how much I like it and then when you bought one he's just like that game sucks it's interesting to me that he really feels that strong. I wonder what happened I feel like there still has to be some new story or it was just a theme he just hates because I think that's part of it too is like he likes to be a contrarian anyway yeah he knows that and I'm like I love this game he's like I mean I'm gonna tell you it sucks yep kind of makes sense but I also imagine no fear is probably not a big earner for operators that always biases operators against things yeah it's like if a game's not making you money you better really like it to still like it yes yes if if it's on location and you hate a game it better fucking earn but I'm surprised he likes a lot of other well he likes like getaway and stuff quite a bit and it plays yeah then getaway but it's very much in the same vein yeah dude it's a fun game i think we're gonna end this with like no fear is fun no fear is fun don't judge a book by its cover don't write games off based off of themes and hard games are better than easy ones so it's like yeah dude if people are complaining it's hard play better absolutely says play better like the school will tell you when you have a shitty game, play better. Game's awesome, dude. It's so sick. Anyway, this was another episode of the Wedgehead Pinball Podcast. I want to thank Alex for jumping in the hot seat there and defending No Fear for his Die on the Hill game. When this episode goes live, we'll post a poll like we always do where you can add your own comments on No Fear and I'll repost them on our Instagram stories. So be on the lookout for that. Follow us at WedgeheadPDX on Instagram. That's where we do all that. And if you have anything else you want to say, send us an email to WedgeheadInfo at gmail.com. If you want anything read on the podcast or maybe want to be in a future episode of Die on this Hill and you have a game that you want to defend, send us an email and we'll maybe work it out in the future. Until next time, everyone, go out, play some Pinball Location, find a no fear, play it for yourself, give it another chance, whether you like it or hate it, go out and play it. For everyone else, until next time, good luck. Don't suck. it's an adversary game you play against the skull you know he doesn't talk nice he tells you what to do shoot the tube for more time and pick a voice but if you listen to what he says he'll tell you exactly how to play the game prepare for the ride of your life the accelerator ramp moves the ball to like extreme speeds it's uh it passes by a flipper quickly if you're not paying attention You can go right by it. If you really do achieve the top score, the moment you do, the announcer voice will tell you, and player three is in first place. It's a great feature. It's a good rush. I love the graphics on the game. Playfield's a masterpiece. Every shot is clearly marked. I love his colors. It's a strong graphics package. Okay, when a player looks up at the back glass, he's going to see this set of kind of fierce, but, you know, kind of disturbed, intense eyes. Staring back at him. Right above that is Jeremy McGrath doing this Superman air thing on a Honda CR250. A NASCAR coming across this way. And three or four road race motorcycles skydiving in the background. And a rock climber. It's an awesome, it's just an awesome statement. We have some great video modes. Hey, wait now. I've never done this before. Is my parachute on? Where's my racquet? Shut up and jump. Whoa! I really love the jump shot. It's unforgettable and addictive. You flip that flipper and the ball flies through the air, gets caught on the other side by another catcher ramp, and it continues to feed it back to the flipper so you can keep repeating it over and over and over again. This machine is about competition. It's really fast and intense. It's partly an adrenaline addiction, too. It's good adventure. Thank you. _(Acquisition: groq_whisper, Enrichment: v3)_ --- *Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: 46a83d77-44db-4aff-9d90-9ffb58916f53*