# King Kong Pinball Machine Breakdown! Gonzo & Neil McRae Dive Into Stern’s Myth of Terror Island

**Source:** Gonzo's Pinball Flipperama  
**Type:** video  
**Published:** 2025-07-12  
**Duration:** 30m 18s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iE7shFxO66A

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## Analysis

Gonzo and Neil McRae conduct an extended hands-on breakdown of Stern's King Kong: Myth of Terror Island Limited Edition at Domino Arcade. McRae, who has owned the game for 2-3 weeks, makes a bold prediction that King Kong will eventually surpass Godzilla as Stern's best-selling game due to superior playability and challenging design. They discuss playfield layout, multiball mechanics, code quality, creative IP ownership strategy, and Keith Elwin's design philosophy, while demonstrating gameplay and highlighting design references to classic games like Quicksilver and Indiana Jones.

### Key Claims

- [MEDIUM] King Kong will be bigger than Godzilla in five years — _Neil McRae, expressing personal prediction based on playability and game design philosophy_
- [HIGH] Godzilla is the best-selling Stern game of all time — _Neil McRae states this with confidence and cites anecdotal evidence from glass sales (800+ sheets of Legends of Wrestlemania reflective glass sold, buyers consistently request Godzilla)_
- [HIGH] Code was just updated in the last couple of days — _Gonzo observes code update occurred when powering on the machine; suggests Stern actively patching game post-launch_
- [HIGH] King Kong playfield is offset due to extra layout area — _Neil McRae points out asymmetrical playfield design, compares to Uncanny X-Men's Jack Danger room offset_
- [HIGH] Stern created original Kong IP rather than licensing existing IP — _Gonzo describes Stern's strategy as owning all creative assets (story, graphics) versus licensing established IP like Bond_
- [HIGH] Keith Elwin's code typically releases with substantial content and is expanded post-launch — _Neil McRae cites this as Elwin's pattern across games (Godzilla referenced as having content players never reach)_
- [HIGH] King Kong has a skill shot attempting to plunge directly to the out lane as a mode — _Neil McRae describes playing and praising this mechanic as surprisingly well-designed despite seeming simple_
- [HIGH] Gonzo has played King Kong approximately 50 times prior; Neil has played ~20 times — _Both speakers state their playtime explicitly when discussing game familiarity_

### Notable Quotes

> "I think I'm going to make a massively bold statement that people will probably beat me up on. I think it's going to be bigger than Godzilla."
> — **Neil McRae**, ~2:30
> _Core prediction that structures much of the interview; McRae positions King Kong above Stern's most successful recent title_

> "I think the playability of this is slightly better. I think it's a bit more challenging than Godzilla. And I think some of the ideas that I think they might be putting into this, I think might make it a slightly better game than Godzilla."
> — **Neil McRae**, ~2:45
> _Rationale for the bold prediction; emphasizes mechanical and strategic depth over raw popularity_

> "Godzilla is like... I think they're probably I'm confident without anyone telling me numbers I think Godzilla is the best-selling game of all time"
> — **Neil McRae**, ~3:30
> _Establishes market context; McRae positions himself as knowledgeable about aftermarket sales trends via glass sales data_

> "The thing about this playfield, Chris, is... I kind of call it the playfield of two halves. You've got this upper half where this flipper and this flipper, you're kind of comboing left and right"
> — **Neil McRae**, ~12:00
> _Technical playfield design analysis; highlights Elwin's dual-playfield strategy as deliberate design choice_

> "they've made that themselves. They've made all this themselves, which is a lot of effort. Well, at least we know we're not wearing a copyright strike."
> — **Gonzo & Neil McRae**, ~18:30
> _Underscores Stern's decision to create original Kong content rather than licensing; acknowledges creative and legal implications_

> "I think Keith's games, the code comes out with a decent amount to do. And then he adds to it. You know, you kind of think, there's already a lot of game here."
> — **Neil McRae**, ~32:00
> _Characterizes Elwin's design and update philosophy; suggests intentional content roadmap structure_

> "I just think you know the guy's been playing pinball I don't know what 30 years so you know and he's a great player so you know he picked up stuff"
> — **Neil McRae**, ~37:00
> _Explains Elwin's design success through player expertise and decades of game familiarity; suggests design philosophy roots in competitive play_

> "the drop targets here I'm a massive Quicksilver fan so when I saw that it's like Quicksilver and then on one of the I think it was on your interview he talked about it"
> — **Neil McRae**, ~38:30
> _McRae identifies design homages to classic games; suggests Elwin intentionally references pinball history_

> "Every now and again it plays a special message from Gary Stern or Sam Stern. The special message is, buy a topper."
> — **Gonzo**, ~20:00
> _Humorous aside about Stern family messaging embedded in game; indicates attention to comedic detail in code/content_

> "Metallica remake... I was just so... Played that a lot? Probably my most played game this year, I would say."
> — **Neil McRae**, ~45:00
> _McRae's enthusiasm for Metallica Remake demonstrates strong recent title reception; positions it as benchmark for game quality_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| King Kong: Myth of Terror Island | game | Stern Pinball Limited Edition machine; recently released with early code; focus of this video breakdown |
| Neil McRae | person | Pinball collector, arcade operator (Domino Arcade), content creator; owns King Kong LE and multiple other recent Stern titles; credible industry observer with strong secondary market knowledge |
| Gonzo | person | Pinball content creator (Gonzo's Pinball Flipperama); has played King Kong ~50 times; conducted interview with Elwin; primary video host |
| Keith Elwin | person | Legendary pinball designer at Stern; designer of King Kong and Godzilla; known for playable code releases and iterative updates; >30 years pinball experience as competitive player and designer |
| Godzilla | game | Recent Stern pinball title; currently positioned as best-selling Stern game of all time; strong aftermarket mod community (Davey Stumbler, Paul Jazzboosh); benchmark for comparison against King Kong |
| Domino Arcade | organization | Arcade venue operated by Neil McRae in UK; hosts pinball collection including King Kong LE, James Bond 007, Metallica Remake, Iron Maiden (with custom disco mod) |
| Stern Pinball | company | Pinball manufacturer; produces King Kong, Godzilla, Metallica Remake, and other recent titles; Gary Stern and Sam Stern mentioned as company leaders involved in game messaging |
| Metallica Remake | game | Recent Stern Pinball release; Oscar H. Ray and John Borg involved in code/design; McRae's most-played game of the year; takes original Lyman layout and improves it |
| James Bond 007 | game | Stern pinball title at Domino Arcade; features spinner achievement mechanic; Gonzo played single game and praised it highly |
| UK Open | event | Pinball tournament organized by Neil McRae; 26-28 September; Hilton Jones Croydon Hotel; prizes include £5,000 (main), £3,500 (classics), £1,500 (ladies), Nintendo Switch 2 (juniors); 175 places; major WPPR event |
| Oscar H. Ray | person | Code designer/team lead on Metallica Remake; collaborated with John Borg on Metallica iteration |
| John Borg | person | Designer involved in Metallica Remake; worked with Oscar H. Ray |
| John Craig Pullen | person | Competitive pinball player; competing at world championships in Austria; mentioned as tournament representative |
| Davey Stumbler | person | Aftermarket mod designer for Godzilla; created Tokyo Neon mods and multiple custom playfield modifications; top-tier artist in mod community |
| Paul Jazzboosh | person | Aftermarket mod designer for Godzilla; creates top-tier artwork mods; part of strong Godzilla mod ecosystem |
| Quicksilver | game | Classic pinball game; referenced as design inspiration for King Kong's drop target mechanics; Neil McRae identifies himself as fan |
| Iron Maiden | game | Pinball machine at Domino Arcade; McRae's standard version; customized variant with Gloria Gaynor songs called 'Disco Iron Maiden' also present |
| Pinball Heaven | organization | Sponsor of UK Open tournament; mentioned as supporting infrastructure for event |
| Indiana Jones | game | Classic pinball reference; Neil McRae identifies plane ramp on King Kong as homage to Indiana Jones design |
| Uncanny X-Men | game | Recent Stern title; referenced as precedent for offset playfield design (Jack Danger room offset); comparison point for King Kong layout asymmetry |
| Avatar | game | Avatar Limited Edition mentioned briefly; present in Domino Arcade collection; Andy (likely operator/collector) cited as owner who loves the game |
| Gary Stern | person | Stern Pinball company leader; appears in King Kong code messages encouraging topper purchases |
| Sam Stern | person | Stern Pinball company member; provides support/sponsorship to UK Open tournament |
| Jack Danger | person | Pinball designer referenced in Uncanny X-Men playfield offset context; associated with Stern playfield design |
| Legends of Wrestlemania | game | Pinball title; reflective glass variant sold in 800+ units; used by McRae as market signal proxy for Godzilla sales dominance |

### Topics

- **Primary:** King Kong playfield design and mechanics, Keith Elwin's design philosophy and career, King Kong vs. Godzilla market performance comparison, Stern's unlicensed IP strategy for King Kong, King Kong code quality and post-launch updates
- **Secondary:** Aftermarket mods and community support (Godzilla example), Metallica Remake as benchmark title, UK Open tournament and competitive pinball landscape

### Sentiment

**Positive** (0.82) — McRae and Gonzo are enthusiastic about King Kong, with McRae making bold positive prediction. Both praise Keith Elwin's design and playability. Metallica Remake also receives strong praise. Tone is collegial and appreciative of design complexity. No significant criticism beyond minor mechanical alignment issues. Tournament announcement adds positive community-building energy. Some light self-deprecating humor about gameplay skill but no negativity toward game design itself.

### Signals

- **[business_signal]** Godzilla positioned as Stern's best-selling game of all time based on secondary market data (reflective glass sales proxy); sets high bar for King Kong successor positioning (confidence: high) — Neil McRae: 'I think Godzilla is the best-selling game of all time' supported by 800+ reflective glass sales consistently requested for Godzilla installations
- **[community_signal]** Stern embedding comedy/branding messages in game code (Gary/Sam Stern 'buy a topper' messages); indicates developer attention to player experience beyond core gameplay (confidence: high) — Gonzo observation: 'Every now and again it plays a special message from Gary Stern or Sam Stern. The special message is, buy a topper'
- **[competitive_signal]** King Kong features skill-based mechanics (plunge-to-outlane mode, drop target sequences, upper flipper combos) positioned to reward advanced tournament play; designed to support competitive depth similar to Godzilla (confidence: medium) — Neil McRae praising 'plunge to the out lane is the mode' mechanic as 'so well done' and difficult; extensive discussion of upper flipper comboing 'you'll see these players just weaving the ball in and out of here' at tournaments
- **[design_philosophy]** Kong mechanical alignment issues requiring manual calibration noted; minor quality control concern on review unit (confidence: medium) — Neil McRae: 'I actually think I need to align my Kong. So I took it out of the box and just put it on. I think it needs a bit of alignment'; later: 'There's a little process you take the game through to align them, which I haven't because I'm one of those guys that doesn't read the manual'
- **[design_philosophy]** Keith Elwin intentionally designs games with references and homages to classic pinball (Quicksilver drop targets, Indiana Jones plane ramp, upper flipper combos) while creating entirely new playfield layouts; demonstrates deep pinball history knowledge applied to modern design (confidence: high) — Neil McRae identifies multiple references ('I'm a massive Quicksilver fan so when I saw that it's like Quicksilver'; 'this ramp here is it's kind of a nod to indiana jones with the plane'); notes Elwin confirmed these in previous interview
- **[market_signal]** Aftermarket mod community (Godzilla Tokyo Neon, custom artwork) identified as significant factor in game's long-term appeal and collector value; Stern games with strong mod ecosystems sustain collector interest (confidence: high) — Neil McRae discussing Godzilla mods: 'the mod guys have gone mad on it. You know, people like Davey Stumbler, all those guys have totally nailed the mods' with specific praise for Tokyo Neon mod quality; notes 4+ unreleased mods pending installation
- **[personnel_signal]** Keith Elwin's design success attributed to 30+ years of pinball experience as both competitive player and designer; deep domain knowledge of historical game mechanics informing modern designs (confidence: high) — Neil McRae: 'I just think you know the guy's been playing pinball I don't know what 30 years so you know and he's a great player so you know he picked up stuff' combined with analysis of historical reference integration
- **[product_strategy]** King Kong playfield features asymmetrical layout ('playfield of two halves') with distinct upper and lower play zones requiring different shot sequences and flipper combos; deliberate ergonomic design choice following Uncanny X-Men precedent (confidence: high) — Neil McRae's detailed playfield analysis: 'upper half where this flipper and this flipper, you're kind of comboing left and right' vs lower playfield focusing on Kong ramp and multiball shots
- **[product_concern]** King Kong's unlicensed IP strategy requiring Stern to create all original Kong assets (story, graphics, animations) represents significant production overhead but mitigates licensing restrictions and copyright exposure (confidence: high) — Gonzo: 'they've made that themselves. They've made all this themselves, which is a lot of effort'; reasoning: 'you've got to create the story you've got to create the the graphics' vs licensed IP where 'you just grab all the bonds, stick them on a play field'
- **[product_strategy]** King Kong shipped with early code that was updated within days of review unit powering on; indicates active post-launch development and content expansion planned (consistent with Elwin's Godzilla pattern) (confidence: high) — Gonzo: 'this literally, when I turned this on, it did a code update. So they must have put new code out in the last couple of days. So there'll probably be a few nice surprises as we play it'
- **[sentiment_shift]** Strong positive market sentiment for King Kong early-stage reception; McRae's bold prediction frames game as potential franchise-changing title; contrasts with any anticipated skepticism from 'people [who] will probably beat me up on' the comparison (confidence: high) — Neil McRae: 'I think I'm going to make a massively bold statement that people will probably beat me up on. I think it's going to be bigger than Godzilla' coupled with extended technical praise throughout gameplay

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## Transcript

 Can you guess where we are? We're in Domino Arcade. We are in Mr. Neil McRae's Palace of Love, basically. The Room of Plenty. Let's call it the Room of Plenty. Not of space, that's for sure. um we've just actually this magnificent screen has just um has just gone off because we were watching um the world championships in austria actually on there and um we just on this this this is like a hundred inch screen right and we just managed to spot craig pullen um on the on the TV somewhere. So by the time you've watched this, we'll know how Craig has done. So he's over there representing him. I'm just teasing you with a few games here. So it looks like they've got a problem because they've gone offline and it's playing a recording. So I don't know what's happened. Maybe they've had a power cut or something weird. I don't know. But so there's a couple of guys that are watching. You know, you get these guys we watch yeah yeah yeah yeah his has gone off um so something weird's happened uh so we'll put it back on um it's just a twitch app but yeah so yeah so um well the reason we're here is to have a look at king kong this is the limited edition how long you had it neil three weeks I want to say maybe not even that, maybe two weeks enjoying it? it is a phenomenal game I don't know how Keith does it I own all these games, I'm very lucky to own all of them but every game just feels like a new thing and you know if I was to try and draw two things the second one would look like the first one how he just does something entirely new for every game And yeah, there's little nods to stuff, but this is phenomenal. He's nailed it. And it's very playable. Still early code, of course, but I think I'm going to make a massively bold statement that people will probably beat me up on. I think it's going to be bigger than Godzilla. Really? Yeah, so I think if we fast forward five years from now. Speaking of which, there's one there. Yeah, fast forward five years from now and look back. Yeah. I think this will be bigger than Godzilla. That's my take. Why do you think that? I just think that the playability of this is slightly better. I think it's a bit more challenging than Godzilla. And I think some of the ideas that I think they might be putting into this, I think might make it a slightly better game than Godzilla. but look let's be realistic right Godzilla is like um it's I think they're probably I'm pretty confident without anyone telling me numbers I've I think Godzilla is the best-selling game of all time and I've got one kind of you think more than Adams more than I think it's been Adams by a mile already and I'll tell you why right I sell this glass the um low reflective glass right so people I've sold, I don't know, maybe 800 sheets of it now. I always ask people what they're sticking it into. Every time someone says Godzilla. Every time. Godzilla. Godzilla. Actually, Jaws. This time, a lot of Jawsies. Always Godzilla. I'm putting my Godzilla. I'm putting my Godzilla. And I think Godzilla is a big game for a couple of reasons. One, it's a great game. Really well designed. but also the mod guys have gone mad on it. You know, people like Davey Stumbler, all those guys have totally nailed the mods on it. I've got his mods, Mojo Mods and... Paul Jazzboosh. Paul Jazzboosh, his top mods. You said that's his top there. All these guys, yeah, that's his top art. It's just nuts, basically. And the Godzilla in the back. Yeah. And... Tokyo Knee on there, Davey's Tokyo Knee. Yeah, I mean, just so well done. I mean, you look at that and you think, there's no mod there, it's part of the game. I've got these other mods to go in, I just haven't had time to install them. There's like four mods under there that Davey's released. I would love to just find the time to put them in. That's my biggest challenge. So, you think this is going to be a winner? I've deliberately not looked at it since we've been in. I've had a cheeky go on James Bond 007, yeah which I really enjoyed I've never played that before so I thought we'd have a quick look at this here let's just take a look take a look at the playfield basically right very busy playfield got the this out lane this in lane out lane here which was quite interesting watching some of the streams on that watching how that how that works and quite interested they had this offset playfield. Hopefully you can see this. I'm sure loads of people would have played it, but it's over to one side slightly, isn't it, because of this extra area here. Yeah. Which is quite funny, considering they did Uncanny X-Men, which was slightly offset because of the danger room. Yeah, so you've got the, where you lose the ball is in the middle, the kind of in-lane, out-lane, as opposed to the out-lane, in-lane. Yes, so this one here takes it back that way. Yeah, and it goes, and what's cool about it is that goes from all the kind of, the top of the game all the way down. Although typically it doesn't always come that way. But when it does come down there, it's pretty fast. And then the ball comes on and you're kind of probably trying to hit the gong shot or the ramp up to Kong. So how's this spider shot been then? Because I've just noticed you've got two targets behind it there. Yeah, so you've got kind of a skill shot there. It's quite cool. and then you've got a bunch of different multi-balls. I think the middle one, I think the second one is the one to kind of go for because it's switch-related. So you like that and then you want to hit the spinner and it drives a whole load of points if you do that. I've seen this game, I've had it, I don't know, maybe two, three weeks, but I've probably played it about 20 times. Oh, really? Yeah, I was lucky to play it. There was a guy in California, I was out there working, I said, has anyone got one of the plagues when it came out? And I went down to this guy's house, Gene. They had a great little collection and played it there as well. So I played it, I don't know, maybe 50 times-ish. And the code, like this literally, when I turned this on, it did a code update. So they must have put new code out in the last couple of days. So there'll probably be a few nice surprises as we play it. Okay, okay. That's good. That's good. Well, I've not had a game. It's obviously just seen this. This is the limited edition signed by Keith Elwin there. I just interested you say you think this is gonna be his best game This looks a good shot I just noticed this So this is very much first eyes on this game for me Just this shot up the middle Yeah it looks like Avengers Infinity Quest Yeah, so it's very similar to that. It's a great shot. And actually, the thing about this playfield, Chris, is... I kind of call it the playfield of two halves. You've got this upper half where this flipper and this flipper, you're kind of comboing left and right and when you do that a few times it's like wow I don't know if that was intended but you kind of hit it up there it comes around here you hit it around there it comes back down they've just totally done a phenomenal job of kind of making this almost like two playfields in one and then you've obviously got the lower playfield where you're kind of trying to hit it up here you hit it up there towards Kong and then the lock shot for the train the Kong multiball is up that ramp and where does the ball lock? the ball locks in the train so it comes round and you lock three balls and then Kong goes angry and tips the train up and the balls come out, it's quite a cool pinball moment yeah yeah and Kong I think it's pretty well animated it's quite funny the game of this is kind of set kind of pre-war ish where you've got that kind of black and white funny video you know with the newscasters and i that i kind of appreciate i know a lot of folks have said ah it's not really an ip but i think actually it is and i think stern have done a pretty decent job of creating their own kong within kong which which you know isn't everyone says oh it's a cheap way out i'm not sure it is because you've got to create the story you've got to create the the graphics the you know you're You own everything as opposed to if you just use someone else's IP, you can just like bond there. It's dead easy. You just grab all the bonds, stick them on a play field, and boom, you're good to go. Yeah, I think they do enough themed stuff anyway that they can get away with doing this, certainly. Right, Neil, go on. I think I'm going to stand that side of you. Okay. And I think if you play it rather than me. Okay, logging in with his insider connectors. Yeah, I mean, I didn't notice it had this footage on it. So they've made that themselves. They've made all this themselves, which is a lot of effort. Well, at least we know we're not wearing a copyright strike. Yeah. It's actually quite funny. Every now and again it plays a special message from Gary Stern. Sure. The special message is, buy a topper. Right, so there's a skill shot here. I'm actually pretty naff at it, but the skill shot, the one that I've got, is the one that actually is straight out of the airplane. So I'm going to try and completely biff it. Yeah, okay, I've biffed the skill shot. So one of the things you've got to do in comm is climb. You'll see these yellow shots. on the play field where you're trying to you're trying to hit the yellow shots as much as you can because that's what brings modes and other things into the game so I totally biffed that shot there and there you go, lost it Actually quite often I don't often lose the ball that way, it's kind of funny. Well I'm going to stand on the other side now to try because just to get a couple of other angles on it. So you're trying to hit these yellow shots to climb and then also hit the gong shot which I'm going to keep missing. There we go. I would like to say Neil was playing tremendously well earlier on James Budd. Yeah you only play You only play well when you don't have to. Yeah. Oh, right, there we go. Right, here we go. Let's see if I can get the skill shot. Okay. Secret skill shot. Yeah, and then... Yeah, so you got... you're trying to do is collect all the letters. By doing it by like finishing modes or getting the jackpot you collect these King Kong letters. I haven't quite figured out. So to get the lock clip for Kong multiball I've got to hit these sweeping drops. Okay. Basically you've got to hit them two times and actually I really like this part of the game because it's like an old game that we were actually talking about earlier, Quicksilver. It has a set of drops just like that. I'm a big drop target fan. I am like King Brick. Was that that kickback one? Yeah, so it goes all the way around and then gets kicked back. There we go. Right, okay. So I've lit the lock now. And then you've got the spider which gives you multiball as well. So I've got the first multiball. So it's two-legged lizard multiball. So I'm trying to hit the spider pit. Oops. Thank God for ball save. Okay, got it there. Oh, I might get an adder ball here. Yeah so I lost that ball but luckily I got the adder ball. This is a mystery. It comes out of mystery so one of the mystery options is an adder ball. So I got very lucky on that. and then I've lost it again but ball save is saving me. The pitch shot's actually quite difficult to hit. I find it really challenging. Here we go. Hit it again. So I've got the jackpot. Close up Okay so now I going to go for the Kong Okay that big gong dong whatever it is Yeah, so you've got this big ramp. So I'm going to head up the big ramp and and then it'll go into the train. Okay. So it's actually up there now. Yeah, so I actually think I need to align my Kong. So I took it out of the box and just put it on. I think it needs a bit of alignment. Okay. Sure, sure. But it'll fix itself. There's a little process you take the game through to align them, which I haven't because I'm one of those guys that doesn't read the manual. Nobody reads the manual. There we go. Right. So let's do that again. So this allows me to start a mode now, so you've got different modes, they've got different stuff. I kind of like the cross the chasm one. So you hit that gong shot to start the mode? Yeah, it lights up. Once you've collected... Once you've got enough height, so you're kind of climbing up this tree, and once you've got enough height, things start to come alive in the game. There we go. That's the shot. So if you hit it up there again, oh, no, you haven't got full lock. No, it's lit now. Okay. So I think if you make it... You can turn it harder, so you have to relight it every time. I just need to not lose the ball. Those two. Two balls locked in the train there. Right, can we get three? Okay. Oh, no. Quite right, sir. We need to see the multiple for the video. There we go, right. So I'm making this game look at harder. This game is, it's not. There we go. Now that's a really good shot off that. Yeah, that was lucky. Oh, he's angry. This is what we've won. Oh, well, okay. Okay. Okay. You're trying to hit the... the drop targets again to light the jackpot. Oh those are pretty good animations up there. Yeah, I mean that's the thing, all those animations they've had to create them. And you don't, like I'm too busy playing the game to even notice them. No you don't. Otherwise the screens are for the other person watching. Yeah no absolutely. Never for your person playing. Absolutely. I didn't really demo this combo, but I'll try and do that in the next game. But you get this... When you get into the game on some of the modes, you kind of get this comboing going up here. It's so cool. Right. Right, I'm going to swap sides again. I just want to give everybody a good view of both parts of it. Right. There you go, it's the side of the cabinet, just in case. That looks pretty cool, actually. Yeah. It's kind of funny, all these three games are the black, just black armor. There's Metallica on. Yeah, Metallica remake. Great game. Absolutely smashed it. I was just so... Played that a lot? Probably my most played game this year, I would say. I mean, I've got the original Metallica. It's in the club. And Ray and the team just... It's hard to think that game's perfect. When I heard it was coming out, I was like, what are they going to do with it? And they just smashed it. They've taken Lyman's original code, they've added a few things to it, and made some bits that weren't so great play a bit better. The expression lighting's awesome. Maybe I'll have a game of that in video. just maybe get the multiball because when you see the light show it's just absolutely amazing but I think Ray and John Borg to want to spend I've got the original LE to then buy another one you've got to have done something special and I think they totally nailed it I think Andy got one of these and I think he really loves it as well he was mad for Metallica it started with a great layout in the first place and a fun game. I'm not a big Metallica fan, but I can get into it. It's good pinball music. I'm going to get into it when I'm playing. So you won't be swapping this out for disco music? No. No, so just in case you didn't know, Mr. McRae swapped his Iron Maiden, and this is known locally as Disco Maiden, because it has Gloria Gaynor on it instead. Yeah, I'm not a big Iron Maiden fan. Because they're a British band, I guess it's sacrilege. Well, to be fair, It's not. You're right. There's one song I can listen to, but I was like, nah, I've had enough of this. I'm not a huge fan. Okay. Let's have another game. Okay. I'm going to try and get the skill shot. No, didn't get it. It's quite a tricky skill shot. Right. So I climb up there, climb up again. Oh, so you're trapped up on that upper paper? Yeah, so if you hit the button, this thing pops up. Oh, wow, okay. Sorry, I should have pointed that out, yeah. You can trap up there. Sometimes it comes up by itself, or you can press the button. But you can only use it so many times. See, I could have used it there. because what I want to do is hit that yellow shot to climb more. So any time it's in that sort of little in lane there, you can do it, right? Yeah, but you've got to... I can't remember how you light the log. So it's called the log diverter. Yeah. And this thing pops up and then you've got... The ball won't drop down here. And I can't remember how you relight it, but I think it might be sweeping the drop targets. We shall see Okay One more hit to the spider That a really good shot that Yeah. Really nice shot. There we go. So this is the giant spider one. This is the second one. This one you hit... You've got to hit switch shields. So you want to hit the spinners really. Which is, well I hit it, but not very well. There you go. So I cash that in. Because I hit the spinner, I build up the jackpot and I cashed it in by hitting that shot there. So that this code came out at quite a good level then? I think so, yeah. I mean, this is the thing. I think all of Keith's games, the code comes out with a decent amount to do. And then he adds to it. You know, you kind of think, there's already a lot of game here. You think of Godzilla. There's bits of Godzilla I'll never, ever get to. Same here. there's a great mode where you your goal is to plunge to the out lane is the mode and it sounds really stupid but when you're playing it it's so hard and you're in a hurry it's so well done it's just something simple that you know plunge into the out lane is a mode who would have thought of that but it's great fun well Keith would have thought of it yeah well I think he lives and breathes at this stuff doesn't he I just think you know the guy's been playing pinball I don't know what 30 years so you know and he's a great player so you know he's picked up stuff so I kind of like he's not I like how he he kind of you know the drop targets here I'm a massive Quicksilver fan so when I saw that it's like Quicksilver and then on one of the I think it was on your interview he talked about it and I'm like yeah awesome you know it's great to have a nod and even this this ramp here is it's kind of a nod to indiana jones with the plane you know um when you get it going yeah i mean you can tell he loves pinball and then the older games that that works well that little upper flipper yeah it's brilliant it's really well done a lot of the ball there but you know I think when you see this like at a top tournament you'll see these players just weaving the ball in and out of here I'm not good enough but you just you probably get a sense of it from what I'm trying to do there but in fact I was still thinking about that thing you said earlier on Bond where you get a bonus for getting all the spinners going at the same time that was a really cool idea I spent no time with that game so apart from that I played one game and you saw it. It's just amazing. Sometimes the best things are the simplest things, you know. Yeah, I agree. There we go. Yeah, I can imagine myself playing that Bond and just trying to do that. Yeah. All the spinners going at the same time. That was one of the first things I tried to do was to get us to do it. Because it's so cool. Yeah, it's just a little addictive side mission. And that's when you've got the achievements, it really works on its own without the achievements. Who cares? But you get this bling and everyone's like, oh yeah, I've done it. I find myself doing it anyway, even on Deadpool. sometimes I just play games to see how many schnicks I can get. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I get easily distracted or focused on one thing, you know? Yeah, the thing I got into was on Avengers, where you had to do so many flips. Yes, yes. And I thought that was awesome. Yeah. And actually, during COVID, I think that kind of kept me sane, basically. Lost it. Neil, it looks excellent. I'm going to stop this video now because I want to play it. Do you want to tell us, before we finish up, tell us about the UK Open? Oh, yeah. Cheers. So, look, we're at the UK Open. It might be, I don't know when this is going out, but tickets go on sale 1st of July. We've got 175 places, and the dates are 26th to the 28th of September. Same place, Hilton Croydon Hotel. I've been buying loads of games. If you're at Pinball Republic you'll see I'm swapping games in and getting ready for it. It's going to be super exciting, lots of hype around it. I'm excited about it. It's the fourth time we've done it, or maybe fifth time. And it's going to be a great weekend. What competitions are you running? We're running the main UK Open. That one's big in terms of Whoppers. The winner wins five grand. Brilliant. So it's juicy. Then we have the classics. We usually get, the winner usually gets about three and a half grand. And again, it's juicy on the World Championship points. And then we run the Pinball Republic Championship. Again, another tournament, much harder tournament. We kind of make it a bit harder. It usually goes on until 3 a.m. Sure. So we have the UK Open Bar. We've got big TVs, everyone watching it. And then we have the ladies. The ladies is, the winner of ladies wins a grand and a half. Fantastic. So it's a juicy competition for the ladies and actually quite a lot of fun. There's a lot of good competition there. And then juniors, the winner this year, a winner on Nintendo Switch 2. So if you bring your kid along, we have a little tournament for them. Oh, you identify as a child. I can. In fact, some people say I am. But no, seriously, you know, the future of this hobby is in the kids, right? and you see some great kids coming out and playing amazing pinball, and it's great to watch. So actually last year I think we had, I want to say maybe 20 kids, which was amazing. Actually more kids than we expected. So yeah, we got a Nintendo Switch 2, whoever wins that, and a few other prizes and stuff to give away. Big shout out to Stern, they do a lot of help for us. And obviously Pinball Heaven, who's one of our sponsors. Thanks to them for sponsoring, because without the help, we just wouldn't be able to run it. That's brilliant, mate. Well, listen, thanks for that and thanks for running that and thanks for inviting me down. I really appreciate it, mate. Eddie Tobad, come down again if you want to cover any other games. Well, we'll do. I'll come down again. We'll do a games room tour. Yeah, cool. Sounds good. That'd be awesome. There you go, everyone. Neil McRae, Domino Arcade. I'm going to play a game on King Kong. Thank you.

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: 8543e13d-2234-4ec7-bb0a-ecf08103c0b2*