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Rob Zombie Spookshow International gameplay

Straight Down the Middle·video·27m 47s·analyzed·May 18, 2017
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Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.023

TL;DR

Gameplay demo of Rob Zombie Spookshow International highlighting modes, difficulty, and mechanics.

Summary

Zach Sharpe plays Rob Zombie's Spookshow International (Standard Edition) on Straight Down the Middle, demonstrating gameplay across multiple modes while providing candid commentary on the game's difficulty, design, and mechanics. The video showcases skill shots, mode progression including Dracula and Living Dead Girl, multiball sequences, and various ramps and shots, with Sharpe expressing frustration at the game's challenging outlane management and shot accuracy requirements while acknowledging the quality of music and mode design.

Key Claims

  • Hellbound wizard mode requires completing all 10 modes in Rob Zombie Spookshow International

    high confidence · Zach Sharpe describing the wizard mode requirement at the beginning of the video

  • The outlanes on Rob Zombie are very hungry and a flasher shines directly in the player's eye during play

    high confidence · Zach Sharpe commenting on game design and ergonomics during gameplay

  • The skill shot involves hitting three consecutive slingshots followed by the bumpers

    high confidence · Zach Sharpe describing the skill shot mechanics

  • Spelling CHOP on the outlanes gives a ball save

    medium confidence · Zach Sharpe describing a mode strategy but expressing uncertainty about the exact effect

  • The Dracula mode video requires hitting the left orbit after spelling out Dracula via ramps

    high confidence · Zach Sharpe demonstrating the Dracula mode progression during gameplay

  • The video mode gameplay involves running over living things to accumulate points

    high confidence · Zach Sharpe describing what happens during the video mode sequence

  • Living Dead Girl mode is a multiball mode

    high confidence · Zach Sharpe describing mode transitions and multiball activation

  • The ball lock is a drop target at the top of the playfield that is a tight, difficult shot

    high confidence · Zach Sharpe describing the ball lock mechanics and difficulty

  • Dead City Radio mode requires hitting three lit targets on the playfield

    high confidence · Zach Sharpe demonstrating Dead City Radio mode progression

  • Super Beast mode involves hitting ramps to find the girl character

    high confidence · Zach Sharpe demonstrating Super Beast mode gameplay

Notable Quotes

  • “You're gonna see a stupid son of a bitch bastard of a game.”

    Zach Sharpe@ 27:11 — Sets the overall tone for his review—emphasizing the game's extreme difficulty and frustrating design

  • “If you like getting your ass kicked, being tortured, and having a lit cigarette put out in your eyeball, then International is the machine for you.”

    Zach Sharpe@ 9:19 — Summary assessment of the game's difficulty and design philosophy; colorful metaphor for punishing gameplay

  • “I just want Tee'd Off control it. That's all I want Tee'd Off do.”

    Zach Sharpe@ 5:31 — Expresses frustration with ball control and playfield ergonomics during gameplay

  • “The music rocks. It's fun.”

    Zach Sharpe@ 5:08 — Positive acknowledgment of the game's soundtrack quality despite gameplay difficulties

  • “I'm not going Tee'd Off lie. I'm ecstatic right now Tee'd Off complete two modes on ball one.”

    Zach Sharpe@ 20:02 — Shows genuine satisfaction at achieving progression milestones, indicating the game's challenge makes success rewarding

  • “It's a nice change of pace pin.”

    Zach Sharpe@ 9:32 — Acknowledges the game's unique position in the market despite criticisms

  • “You don't want a lot of bullshit. If you're going Tee'd Off watch this video, you want the truth.”

Entities

Zach SharpepersonRob Zombie's Spookshow InternationalgameSpooky PinballcompanyStraight Down the MiddleorganizationRob ZombiepersonHellboundproductDraculaproductLiving Dead Girlproduct

Signals

  • ?

    community_signal: Straight Down the Middle positions itself as an honest feedback channel for the pinball community, explicitly inviting critique and suggestions

    high · Zach Sharpe: 'Send us your suggestions, your comments, what you hate about our show so that either we can ignore you or we can listen Tee'd Off you.'

  • ?

    design_philosophy: Ball lock shot (drop target at top of playfield) described as 'tight, nasty little shot' that frequently drains immediately after being hit

    high · Zach Sharpe: 'The ball lock on this is really cool. The ball lock is up top there. It's a drop target. Then you hit past it. It's a tight, nasty little shot, though. And then oftentimes it'll come right down the drain like that.'

  • ?

    design_philosophy: Outlane management and flasher ergonomics criticized as punishing and visually obstructive; player expresses that outlanes are 'very hungry' and flashers shine directly in eyes during play

    high · Zach Sharpe: 'outlanes are very hungry, and they shine a flasher right in your eye so that you can't see when you're playing'

  • ?

    design_philosophy: Game designed with extreme difficulty and punishing mechanics that reward persistence and successful mode completion despite frequent failures

    high · Zach Sharpe: 'I'm not going Tee'd Off lie. I'm ecstatic right now Tee'd Off complete two modes on ball one. I'm feeling it.' Shows completion is rare enough to be celebratory despite modest achievement

  • ?

    product_concern: Video mode gameplay described as weak with minimal interactive depth—just running over targets for points

Transcript

youtube_groq_whisper · $0.083

0:00
Welcome to Straight Down the Middle of Pinball Show. This is Zach. Thanks for tuning in. I really appreciate you clicking on it. Now let's hope you don't turn off within 20 seconds. If you stick around what you're gonna see, a little coming attraction here, a little foreshadowing, you're gonna see a stupid son of a bitch bastard of a game. Yeah sorry not the most family-friendly show here but it's really fitting like I guess if your kids are watching at this point they've heard it so teach them what the stupid son of a bitch bastard is it's this game all right so the point of Rob Zombie so the the actual point of Rob Zombie is to get to hellbound to get to hellbound you have to complete 10 of the modes the music modes different songs what are you waiting for That's right, yeah. You have to complete the damn modes. Starting the modes and just timing out, that would be difficult enough, but no, no, you've got to complete all ten modes. To start a mode, you hit the left orbit when it's lit. If you're dead or my watch is stopped. That is nearly impossible as well. To make it even more gruesome, outlanes are very hungry, and they shine a flasher right in your eye so that you can't see when you're playing. Is this your first time playing pinball? So my basic strategy is to plunge the ball and try to keep it alive. And that's it. Get pissed off in the meantime. So the skill shot on this game is really freaking cool. You try to plunge it up, hit this sling, then for it to hit that sling, and then for that sling to hit the pop bumpers. A one, two, three combo.
1:44
I rarely get it. Okay, so that was already the first ball here. So another strategy that I like to start with is to hit this ramp enough where you spell out chop on the out and in lanes. That gives you, I think, a ball save. That does something. All right, we'll try to get the ball under control a little bit here. I don't think I can post-pitch through on this. Nope. Of course not. Let's try to start a mode by going up that left orbit. Which... I can't hit the thing. Watch this. Oh, I hit it. I hit it. Let's start some... So there's different songs. Each mode is actually kind of cool. I like the modes on this game. So in this mode, Dragula, you have to spell out Dragula by hitting the ramp.

Zach Sharpe@ 13:05 — States his philosophy for the channel—honest, direct feedback without sugarcoating

Super Beast
product
Dead City Radioproduct
Barnyardproduct
Demonoid Phenomenonproduct
House of a Thousand Corpsesproduct

medium · Zach Sharpe: 'I think it's kind of weak, but it's okay' and 'You just try Tee'd Off hit as much shit as you can with the flippers... I mean, it's fine. Whatever.'

2:41
So now I'm trying to get the jackpot on. All right, ramp ramp ramp that's not the ring There's a ramp that's a deep
2:56
That's an arm That's a neck Give me a cheat. Oh I wanted to you In the most about the time now you. I wanted an arrow. Give me an A. Now give me an A. Give me an A. You son of a bitch, give me an A. Okay, I need an A. Bad. Come on, don't do anything wrong. Rob, I mean you're We're bros. We're bros, man. Ah.
3:39
I need to hit that ramp. Come on, baby. Oh, you're a bitch, man. God, it seems so mean. I hit it at the last second, and it didn't give me anything.
3:55
Wow. Sorry, guys. It's getting a little late in here because it's nasty. Like where are my line and sheets of grace period here? Okay, so consider me not doing a damn thing on that ball because Dragula is still not lit up. You have to complete that. Let's try it again. Oh, I missed the mode shot. So it's gonna I tried to tell you at the beginning of the video That uh It was so mean Makes me feel like a little school kid Getting bullied Like I just wanna go home I just wanna go home That's all I just wanna go home Alright here we go Alright, let's see if we can't drain. Come on baby. Big drain, big drain, big drain. Alright, calm it down. Left orbit. No. Oh, isn't that... Get a ball search on me. Come on now. But boy oh boy, the music rocks. It's fun. Okay. Let me get our rainstone again. Spell out a little chant. Oh, that's a good one. That's a good one. Spell out a little choppy choppy. Come on, choppy. All right.
5:28
Calm, calm thyself. Damn it, I just want to control it. That's all I want to do. All right. Left orbit. Here we go. You guys ready? What's up?
5:42
Pick a move. What should we do? Should we do dragula again? I'd really like to see that video mode. Um, yeah. Let's do Dragula again.
5:58
All right. Ramps, ramps, ramps. That's not a ramp. That's the easiest shot. Oh, okay. So we did make progress towards it. That's good. All right now we just have to hit that left orbit for the video mode all right so that mode I did at least Keep the progress that I did make that's good
6:34
Because I didn't think it did that oh my god did it not register up there? What a biatch! Biatch! Get up there! Did he not? Still didn't All right so I need the orbit And you see this all because it goes up like a little ramp Alright Come on.
7:07
Oh my. You son of a bitch. I hate you. Nice bonus, buddy. Nice bonus, booty. God, I hate that. Alright, so I blew the video mode. I did complete the mode, but the video mode is... I mean, it's alright.
7:26
You don't do anything, really. You just run over living things and you get points. But I blew it, so you're not going to see it.
7:37
Maybe I am. Rob? Maybe? I am waiting for Halloween. Alright. Let's see. Let's try to get them over going again. Alright, so I got Living Dead Grow going.
7:54
Just a little edgy ball. Gotta hit the stand up targets, the purple ones up there now. And then you can play jackpots with the ramp and everything else.
8:17
Great, great, great, great. So again for me, oh my, that was it. That was it. All right, so. Ball three. No extra balls.
8:55
Finished. Done. Sweating. And a score of eight million socks. So there it is, you guys. Rob Zombie Spook Show International.
9:09
I would apologize for not getting through more of the modes, but honestly, you freaking try it. It's hard. It sucks. But it makes me want to play another game. So if you like getting your ass kicked, being tortured, and having a lit cigarette put out in your eyeball, then Rob Zombie Spook Show International is the machine for you.
9:32
It's a nice change of pace pin. We'll review it here soon on SDTM. But until then, let's try to play another game. Shall we? Alright. So hopefully I don't blow chunks on this game. Hopefully we can see something. Let's see some more modes or something. Oh sweet baby Jesus. Not hard enough to get up to the mode? Nope. Oh it was. That was all wrong. That was such a bad shot on that one.
10:23
Not hard enough. What do you guys think about the layout of this game? It is different. I think the Ghostbusters is a tight order.
10:37
Damn. Damn! Alright, okay. Calm it down baby. Nope, you don't want to? Okay. There we go. What do you guys want to see? A little Super Beast? Let's do it! Hit the ramp to catch the girl. We're trying to hit the rim.
11:09
Ah. Get up. All right, got to hit her a couple times. There we go. And there we go. And there we don't go.
11:27
Oh, you. Back off. I think I got a safe ball in there. We'll take it. Ha ha ha ha ha! Oh my God! Failed. Suck it man. Failed. Alright so we uh, we started, what mode did we start? Ah!
11:55
Ah go down the drain! I don't give a shit. Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy. All right, this ball too. Wowzers, wowzers. Here we go. Doesn't this look like fun, guys? That's the game right there.
12:35
Alright, let's play again. That sucked. What a waste. Let's go here. We got this baby. Here we go. I'll show you guys in video mode here. How about that? Let's get through Dragula.
12:50
Let's get through the video mode. I think it's kind of weak, but it's okay. I'm just being honest. That's what you guys want, right? You don't want a lot of bullshit. If you're going to watch this video, you want the truth.
13:13
Nothing. Absolutely nothing on ball one. You got a ball save, but... Balls are in my ass. Alright. Oh my god, I controlled the ball! Unbelievable!
13:36
I not read it. I need like something to the side of me to kick whenever I play this game I do I do It true
14:01
Alright. Let's play some drag though. I'll show you guys that video in a moment. Damn. Alright. Ramp. Ramp. Ramp.
14:18
Tear it up. So that's A. All right. Ramp. You, give me an L. Give me an L. No. Give me an L. No. What? Dragula. F and failed. Okay. Valfry? Valfry and that one mode is complete. It's true. Both free and not one mode is complete.
15:09
It's true. Alright. Right. Let's go American way. Left orbit. All right, here we go.
15:36
Left over, left over, left over. That's not the left over. That's the left over, right? Avoid the pops and slings. That's a cool thing. That's not a cool thing.
15:50
Oh, my God. Hey, piss off. All right. Man, I'm probably like, what, 10 minutes into the video and I've played 7 games or so?
16:09
Alright, you guys want to play again? I know I do. Love to get this damn thing lit up. Look at that. Man, I'm not even doing anything in this game.
16:21
Alright. I'm feeling good about this game. I'm feeling. Alright, feeling good. Here we go. Feeling good. Not really.
16:35
Alright, we're going to start dragging. We're going to beat this damn thing. We're going to go to the video mode. I'm sick and tired of this shit.
16:41
It's going to happen right now. Here we go. Ready? Give me a D. No. Okay. We need a D. There's one. Give me another one. Okay. I'm going to just fall.
17:05
Right up the middle. Nice drive. Alright. So we spoke regular. Now we're going to get that left orbit.
17:22
Oh. See it's sling factory up in here. There we go. Get up there. Didn't get up there. Yeah. You have to hit it hard. Gotta get it
17:37
up there. Is that enough? That wasn't enough. Yeah it was. Alright, here we go. Video mode, you just try to hit as much shit as you can with the flippers. See? This is, I mean, it Hey there's people. Trade 8 clowns. I guess certain figures are worth more than others. Some are moving.
18:05
And that's it. It's fine. Whatever. Mode complete. That's it. Now we're going back to the game. Oh my god I completed a mode! I just like saying it. Alright, collect the gas and shit. That's done by hitting homeboy up top there. And getting the rollover targets too, so I did that. So that mode, you leave the mode, and it takes you to a multi-ball. Oh, did you see that?
18:59
My air ball, or my Ghostbusters has air balls. Yeah. Air ball, man. All right, so we started Living Dead Girl.
19:09
It's a multi-ball. Dang it, that's tough. Try to hit the targets up top here, the purple targets. You hit them enough, they'll start to... You'll enable your jackpot. And a blue.
19:27
Wow. There we go. Back in the saddle now. The ball lock on this is pretty cool. The ball lock is up top there. It's got a drop target. Then you hit past it. It's a tight, nasty little shot, though.
19:43
And then oftentimes it'll come right down the effing train like that. Need to make an adjustment there. Okay.
19:57
Okay. So ball one, two modes. I'm not going to lie. I'm ecstatic right now to complete two modes on ball one. I'm feeling it. I am feeling it.
20:13
Alright. Let's get another mode going. There it is. So I hate how you can still go to Dragula even though you've already beaten it. I hate that.
20:31
Dead City Radio. You have to hit three targets on the playfield and they're lit up for you. One is right there. There's one, and there's the drink.
20:47
Ball save baby ball save there it is Two is right up top here by the rim There's two. Get control of it. So we can hit three.
21:14
So now it says, I guess go back to one. I don't know. Straight into this two. Three is over here.
21:40
On the tip of that flipper. Alright, let's see what we can get. There it is. So you complete the mode and I got the multi-ball here. And I drain two shots for three. Three drains, can I get a four? Can I get a four? Yep, I can get a four. Can I get a five? Anybody looking for a five? Five balls drained in five seconds. Anybody?
22:04
Alright, flex your arm, how does that ramp up top? Oh my god! We serve two kinds of cheese, original and extra virgin. That's a bucket. I just blew it.
22:21
Just blew it. Okay, ball three. What do we got here? So we have completed three modes. Let's keep fighting for some more modes. I need to get some of these multi-balls going. Living Dead Girl or House of a Thousand Corpses.
22:40
Extra ball is lit, that'd be nice, but I'm not going to aim for that. I'm just going to hope that it gets hit.
22:48
Maybe I won't. I agree. Careful now. All right. Let's go for Super Beast. Oh, baby. Hit the ramp to find the girl.
23:06
Ramp, ramp, ramp. That wasn't the ramp. Ram, Zach. Ram. Here we go. I got the Ram. It's in my targets. And it's not. Not in my targets.
23:22
There's the Ram. Hit it again, Zach. Zach. Rejected Alright, here we go There it is Hit it again, Zach We need you, baby We need you Way to go Hold it, hold it Here we go Stay down, there's a ramp Hit it again There we go. Move again, Jay. Alright. Completed that mode. I'm going to try to collect by hitting the ramps. I think you build it up or advance it by hitting the purple shots up top there by the lock bolt. Right up there.
24:24
Ah. Super jackpot. I like that. All right, not doing too horribly bad. For me, anyway. I mean, this is me doing good, you guys.
24:48
Honestly. Give me a last chance to pop, man. No, you don't want to? All right, let's try to get a mode going again.
25:09
All right, what are we going for now? So I've got five modes going. Let's go for Demonoid Phenomenon.
25:19
All right, so for that, you're going to light the switches. I don't know if this makes, I don't know if it makes progress or not.
25:27
That's something. It's getting bounced around so much that, oh, here it goes. Drano. Save my ball. Come on. Save it. Save it, Rob. Thank you. Here we go.
25:46
Stay up, Zach. Stay up. I'm going to cheer him. Thank you. I just got an extra ball though. I'll take it.
25:57
I failed her. Like, like a little bitch. Y'all. Play it again, man. Thank you. Oh, silence.
26:09
I'll think of an ad. I'll think of an ad for the sound of that. Try to get more modes going. One out of three. I need to get a multi-ball started. I don't even have a ball block, though.
26:27
All right, be careful. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. No, no, no, no, no. There we go. I'd love to control the ball right now. There we go.
26:43
So I try to hit that drop target down to get the block enabled, I missed it. Son of a biscuit. Alright, well, that's about as decent as I'm going to do you guys on this game.
26:59
You're not going to see any GC from me. That's Rob Zombie. Check out our other videos on our YouTube page at straight down the middle of Pinball Show. We're going to review this son of a bitch, what I call it. I called it a dirty, skanky, son of a bitch, bastard of a game. We're going to review that, Greg and I, here in a bit. So check that out once it comes out. Other exciting stuff from SDTM. Send us your suggestions, your comments, what you hate about our show so that either we can ignore you or we can listen to you. And we're not going to ignore you. You guys are the reason we do this stupid damn pinball show. No, it's not. It's because we talk a lot and we like being on camera. Okay. Enough about me. What do you guys think?