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Batman '66 Pinball Review

Pinball Pursuit·video·19m 8s·analyzed·Jan 30, 2026
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Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.025

TL;DR

Dr. C & Mrs. J rate Batman '66 their top machine (23.75/25), praising theme, design, and accessibility.

Summary

Dr. C and Mrs. J from Pinball Pursuit deliver an enthusiastic review of Batman '66 pinball, rating it 23.75/25—their highest-rated machine ever. They praise its exceptional theme integration, colorful art direction by Christopher Franchi, accessible yet deep ruleset designed by Lyman Sheets, and innovative mechanical features like the Penguin crane. Both reviewers give the game near-perfect scores across theme, look, sound, design, and rules, with Mrs. J expressing strong interest in purchasing one if Stern releases a new run.

Key Claims

  • Batman '66 was Stern Pinball's first LCD screen machine

    high confidence · Direct statement by host confirming technical fact about the game's platform debut

  • The game was released in 2016, coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the Batman TV show

    high confidence · Stated as historical fact by hosts

  • George Gomez designed Batman '66

    high confidence · Direct attribution; hosts also mention loving Gomez's other work (Deadpool Pinball)

  • Christopher Franchi created the art package and won an award for his work

    high confidence · Mrs. J identifies Franchi as artist and notes award recognition; also mentions his Evil Dead art package

  • Mrs. J achieved a billion-point score from Egghead mode and half a billion from Joker mode

    high confidence · Personal gameplay anecdote provided by Mrs. J during rules discussion

  • Batman '66 has a turntable feature that sometimes rotates slowly, creating timing challenges

    high confidence · Mrs. J cites this as design complaint; references 'Batphone curse' where turntable timing causes drains

  • Mrs. J is considering purchasing Batman '66 if Stern releases a new production run

    high confidence · Explicit statement near end of review expressing interest in owning one

  • Batman '66 is more approachable for beginner players than many other modern pinball machines

    high confidence · Mrs. J emphasizes clear shot layout and rule clarity for new players throughout review

Notable Quotes

  • “I'm begging you, please, please, please do another run of this for the 60th anniversary of the show and the 10th anniversary of the machine.”

    Mrs. J@ 17:15 — Expresses strong collector desire for re-release; indicates game scarcity/availability concerns in secondary market

  • “This is now the highest rated machine. Takes it to the top of the list. Above Godzilla. Yeah. Above Jurassic Park. This is now our highest rated machine.”

    Dr. C@ 16:10 — Establishes Batman '66 as pinnacle achievement in reviewers' machine rankings; indicates exceptional reception

  • “I think this is the most underrated game out there. People are sleeping on Batman, man. It's so good.”

    Dr. C@ 17:53 — Suggests community perception of game quality does not match actual gameplay experience; potential market disconnect

  • “The glory of renting. Being able to explore the machine completely, this is my new favorite machine.”

    Mrs. J@ 16:44 — Indicates extended play time and familiarity changed perception from initial casual encounters

  • “I really like the sound. I don't get sick of it. I will be sitting at my puzzle table while Cameron will be playing because he plays a lot longer than I do... and I'm not sick of it.”

    Dr. C@ 7:25 — Demonstrates strong audio design longevity and repeated playability appeal

  • “I love that it is approachable to a person like me and that you also love it. I know. You said it would never happen.”

    Mrs. J@ 10:59 — Highlights achievement of designing for both casual and advanced players simultaneously

Entities

Batman '66 PinballgameDr. CpersonMrs. JpersonGeorge GomezpersonChristopher FranchipersonLyman SheetspersonStern PinballcompanyDeadpool PinballgameJurassic Park Pinballgame

Signals

  • ~

    sentiment_shift: Reviewers believe Batman '66 is underrated in community perception relative to actual quality

    high · Dr. C: 'I think this is the most underrated game out there. People are sleeping on Batman, man.'

  • ?

    design_philosophy: Batman '66 successfully bridges casual/beginner accessibility and advanced competitive depth through clear visual/audio feedback and nested rule complexity

    high · Mrs. J: 'I know what I need to do... And it's the same every time, but it's not the same every time'; Dr. C notes advanced players find deep code and stacking mechanics

  • ?

    licensing_signal: Batman '66 licensed accurately to 1960s TV show tone/aesthetic; original clips used; maintained camp rather than modernizing

    high · Mrs. J: 'They made the clips look like they were from the show... kept that campiness'; praise for not over-polishing Batcomputer animation

  • $

    market_signal: Secondary market scarcity/availability creating collector demand; Mrs. J explicitly appeals for Stern to produce new run

    medium · Mrs. J's request for 60th/10th anniversary re-release; statement 'If you make more, guess what? I'll buy one'

  • ?

    personnel_signal: George Gomez established as consistently excellent designer (Deadpool and Batman '66 both highly praised); indicates design talent selection quality at Stern

    high · Reviewers mention loving Gomez's Deadpool work, then praise Batman '66 design equally; used as positive comparison point

Transcript

youtube_groq_whisper · $0.057

0:00
Hello and welcome to Pinball Pursuit. I'm Dr. C. I'm Mrs. J. Today we're going to be reviewing Batman 66. Batman 66, the old Adam West one. Yes, which you are very excited about. Very. You know, is a whole childhood thing for you, right? My dad would tape off of TV on those old VHS episodes of the show. The good old days. And we would watch it until, I think we literally wore those tapes out. I love it. Yeah, yeah. Love the show. A few fun facts.
0:43
Batman 66 was Stern's first LCD screen. That's correct, yes. It was designed by George Gomez. Which, we loved his other game that we had, which was Deadpool. Yes, we did. And this was released in 2016, which was the 50th anniversary of the show. So cool. So many cool facts about this game. And it is, oh my gosh, one of, spoiler alert, one of my dream themes. Dream themes. For Machine. So, as usual, we are going to go over the theme, the look, the sound, the design, and the rules of this game. Everything gets a 1 to 5 score. someone has historically been stingy with her points but I I'm hoping that this is not the case you may eat your words Dr. C don't look at my notes I can just barely see them anyway cheater uh let's get into it take us off with the theme okay the theme um first and foremost I did not grow up watching Batman I've never seen an Adam West Batman so I was kind of like me Batman And whatever.
1:48
I really like this machine. I feel like the thing that they did really well. Yeah. We all know that I don't love the clips on the screen, but the clips on the screen you could watch. You don't have to watch, but it goes along with things very well. Like it's really fun to see the bits and pieces and like the cringy Batman moment. Yes, all the campiness. I feel like they did the theme really well. Yeah, they did. I love that they have the villains. I love that they have the minor villains. I love that they are all present. At least all the villains are present on the board. The minor villains come up a little bit later.

  • “One billion points I got from Egghead. Maybe I could benefit from an Egghead.”

    Mrs. J / Dr. C (responding)@ 12:58 — Demonstrates high-skill gameplay depth and competitive point potential

  • “There's the Batphone curse. I die every time. I want that Batphone so bad, but 50% of the time automatic drain.”

    Mrs. J@ 8:55 — Identifies specific mechanical frustration point in otherwise well-received design

    • Godzilla Pinball
    game
    Adam Westperson
    Pinball Pursuitorganization
    Cameron Gentryperson
    ?

    product_strategy: Batman '66 achieves rare quality balance between theme authenticity (campy tone, villain variety, original clips) and gameplay mechanics that reinforce theme

    high · Reviewers note each villain has unique shots/music/modes; turntable relates to Batmobile; crane to Penguin; overall cohesion rated 4.5-5.0 across categories

  • ?

    product_concern: Turntable rotates too slowly, creating timing challenges with Batphone shot; referenced as 'Batphone curse' causing automatic drains

    high · Mrs. J explicitly identifies turntable speed as design complaint; docks design score for this issue

  • ~

    sentiment_shift: Mrs. J's perception shifted dramatically from casual arcade play ('okay, we would play once and carry on') to highest-rated machine after extended home rental exploration

    high · Direct statement: 'We played this in the arcade and it was okay... But being able to explore the machine completely, this is my new favorite machine'

    • 2:23
    I learned a lot more about that, man. And I feel like that means that it did the theme justice. Yeah. I would say this is one of the best integrations I think Stern's ever done. It is so colorful. It feels campy while you're playing it. I love that the pop bumpers have the cow-bomb-boom-boom-boom sounds while you're hitting them. Same with the multiball. there's all that stuff um i love that each villain has like its own shot and yeah it feels very unique from one another and it pulls you in with all the clips the call outs are really good though i wish there were more um the art is amazing it this is the whole package and i feel like battling villains is perfect for motes yeah if you're if you're gonna have a pinball game you want something that's quick snappy has some objectives and fighting villains is like the best way to do it and fighting these villains is super fun the whole time um again this is a dream thing batman's like this and the animated series if i could have together as like two machines next to each other amazing dream dream come true this is half of the dream for me the theme gets a five it's a perfect theme. I put 4.5. 4.5! That is high. I don't know if that's the highest score. There may have been other 4.5s, but that's unusual for me. That is unusual for you. You do not give things the highest score normally.
    3:52
    Okay, look. Give it to us. The look. Again, I love that it incorporates the villains on the playfield. I love that each villain has its own little nook, I want to say. I love the crane. Yes, the penguin crane. So cool. I love the art package around the machine. Yes. It is so stereo. I don't want to say stereotypical, but just so true to Batman. Yes, to the campiness of the show. They both like the tights and that along with the- Christopher Franchi is the guy that did the art for this package. Oh, really? I think he got an award this last year from a couple of people. He did the Evil Dead art package that everyone loved. Yeah. Such a good art package. It's just so bright and fun. And I just keep on thinking about the one clip. I know that the look doesn't necessarily do with the clips, but the clips Yeah the clips mean something The clips where he riding on the surfboard Against Joker Yes And he wearing the swim trunks The swim trunks over his batsuit Yes and I love that he normally wears like a Speedo anyway But now suddenly he's wearing swimsuits. More coverage of swimsuits. Hilarious. I feel like there are so many iconic pieces that you just remember. And it's bright, it's fun, it's engaging. It makes you want to play it. I really like the look. Yeah, the look is incredible. Like I said, the art, Christopher Hinch did so good. and the animations on the screen are really well done. I mean, obviously they have all the clips from the show. Yeah. They chose amazingly campy, great clips. It is so good. I love that the Batcomputer, like when they do the animation for what your award is, which is the Mystery Award, that they didn't make it look super cool. They made it look like a piece of paper on a screen. A little map. Yeah, which is basically what the Batcomputer was in the show. They didn't make it look any cooler. They kept that campiness. to it.
    5:44
    It's so good. Guys, for me, this is another perfection. It's a 5. I gave it a 4.5. You gave it a 4.5. Okay. Okay.
    5:53
    Fair. Fair. Fair. Okay. Next is the sound. The sound. I'll hit it off with the sound. Yeah, go with the sound.
    6:02
    Guys, the sound is so good. They've got the original Batman theme. I love that Before You Plunge, it has the peaceful Gotham City music playing. You don't hear it for very long because it's only when before you plunge but they put that detail in and it's so memorable i swear i'm just like humming that all the time now i love that each villain uh each minor and major villain have their own music that plays during the most yeah and the major villains have two one for each of the different modes that they that they do um i love that about the sound yeah they have some custom call outs which are great to hear they're very fun but I wish there were more of them the one complaint I have with the sound of this machine is that the call outs sometimes don't quite tell you what to do the light show is great at that you know yeah to the look yeah the light show is really good the inserts and everything it's very clean at telling you what you're supposed to do and I appreciate that I wish there was a little bit more call-outs. Call-outs. So that's my only bang for that. That's my one thing. What about you on the sound? To me, I just love good music while I play. Yeah. You can also attest to this. I've been singing the Batman theme. Everywhere. For everything. And I'm not sick of it. You may be sick of it, but I'm not. And I just, I love the sound. I don't get sick of it. I will be sitting at my puzzle table while Cameron will be playing because he plays a lot longer than I do. My games last longer. Yes, his scores are a lot higher than mine. so uh and i don't get sick of it there are a lot of times where i'm like okay if i have to hear this so i i really enjoyed the sound i love the songs i love again that there are different songs for different villains yeah i love that it's different i love that they're all good i just i really like the sound i think it's yeah i gave it a four a four a four okay um because i would love more call outs I gave it a four and a half okay four point five four point actually you know what for the sake of easiness I'm gonna go four point seven five oh my you're throwing up my scale it's fine I'm doing it it's fine fair fair fine okay next step are you ready for the design all right uh I'll start us off with the design go the design okay so for the design this game is so good i love that the shots are clear you've got um the gadget stand-ups on the left you know what they're supposed to do you've got the tv seasons on the right you know what they're supposed to do they're easy enough to hit but some of the bottom ones are kind of hard they're really far on the flipper i love that the orbits are there the turntable is a really cool idea. Yeah. Except that I swear I hit that Batphone sometimes and it... We have a name for this. I know where you're going. It's the curse of the Batphone. It's the Batphone curse. I die every time. I want that Batphone so bad, but 50% of the time automatic drain. Yeah, you just It's tragic.
    9:04
    I love the crane. Yes. It's so cool. I wish it was used in more than just the Penguin mode, but it's so much fun. Yep.
    9:12
    The layout is so approachable. Like, I feel like it's a little bit of a simpler game than other ones that we've had in the past. And I kind of love that about it. I think that's why I love this one too. Because the rules are not to you know spoil the rules or anything but the rules are really really engaging And so it makes it so that the whole experience is just so good It so good and so fun I mean I think you were touching on this before but they have so many different aspects of a pinball machine all in one. They've got the pop bumpers. You've got the orbits. You've got the locks. You've got the sides. You've got the ramps. You've got everything. And I think that that's so fun. I love it. It's very, very good. I love the lock with the bat cave and how it rotates to then shoot it all out at you. Yep, that whole spinner because you've got the Batcave, you've got the phone, and then you've got the computer. Yeah, yeah. And it's just, there are so many things. Yeah. It is designed so well where we've had people over. Yeah. And they've been able to, like, oh, okay, cool. I know what to do. Or I know how to shoot this, right? It's been so approachable. Yeah. But for some of the more advanced people that we've had over, still amazingly fun. my one complaint is I wish sometimes the turntable would turn faster yes because I swear sometimes you start that phone and then it's like still coming around and then I'm like I could have hit that by now so for that I think I dock it just a little so I give it a 4.75 again are you ready? what is yours? I gave it a 5 you gave it a 5? I said it would never happen Oh my gosh. I love it. Like I said, I love that there are so many things in it. I love that it is approachable to a person like me and that you also love it. I know. You said it would never happen. I did. Because I never thought it would. I told you you would eat your words. Cameron Gentry.
    11:12
    Well, that's going to make the math really hard. But we're good. It's fine. Did you get a 7.5? 4.75 is what I get. 7.5s are not in our scale. But you can have it. But you're throwing off my HR math. It's fine. You have to do the math, not me. Fine. I'll give it a 4.5, because like I said, the turntable was a... Okay, fine. Deal. We're fudging the numbers. That's fine. Okay.
    11:35
    You went rogue. I went rogue, but it's okay. It's fine. It's fine. Last, rules. Rules. Can I go first? Yes. I really like this machine. Because, as a somewhat beginner newbie, with relative ease, I knew what to do. Yes. And that does not happen in very, and I shouldn't say not in very many, but there are definitely some where I walk up and I'm like, I don't know. And you're never going to hit a shot. And he'll explain it to me. And I still don't understand because it's not very apparent. Here is very apparent. There are the different sections where villains are. You know how to start a villain mode. They each have their own ways of doing it. You've got the gadgets off to the side. You've got the seasons off to the other side. You've got the very simple, straightforward way of how to start your minor villains. and they're all different. Catwoman, not Batwoman, Catwoman. Yes. I get the two mixed up. I know it's a woman. The ramps. You've got the penguin crane. Yep, you've got to hit it twice. Yep, exactly. And you know that you have to hit them twice and you know how exactly to get the... Through the mode. The minor villains. Yeah. The minor villains going and those are always fun. I like that you know exactly what comes from the minor villains. Shane is always the multi-ball. Yep, and that's always the one she picks. You always tell me to go to Egghead. He is the best game. Spoiler alert. If you want the best score, Egghead. But if you want the multi-ball, go for Shane. I love the multi-ball. One billion points I got from Egghead.
    13:03
    Maybe I could benefit from an Egghead. My second highest score ever got me a billion with a B point just from the Egghead mode. It's only a two-ball multi-ball, so it's not super crazy, but it's still fun. It's still fun. So I just like that I know what's happening. I know how to get it. and it's the same every time, but it's not the same every time. Yeah, for sure. If that makes any sense. It does, it does. And like you mentioned, you've got the gadget to the side and I just love how it's all laid out. I love how you know exactly what to do, how to get the points. This has just been a really fun game. It really has been great for people that have come over and played the game because it's so easy to tell them what to do. Yeah. Like, oh, shoot that twice and you'll be able to start Penguin. shoot the orbits you'll be able to fight the riddler um shoot the bat phone when it comes up and it's making the noise and you'll be able to do that it's so easy to tell somebody but for someone who's more advanced like myself i love how deep the code can be yeah i love that the minor villains all have a different bonus and you can stack them different ways if you're able to complete them they really hard to complete um i love that each minor villain is a little different in terms of how it plays out I love that you can switch the TV channel to switch which mode is the active mode so if you have a 2x multiplier you getting that multiplier and if you have a gadget you can use the gadget in the mode you want to use it on yeah i love that you know you still have the lights you have to light to get your bonus multiplier at the top or to get mystery rewards in the bottom there's so much stretch i love the risk reward i love that you can continue to try and play a major villain to get more points, or just take the super jackpot and reach. And I always take the super jackpot. And I try to go for the bonus points.
    14:50
    Again, if you want high scores, I got half a billion on Joker. Which is crazy. I love it. Because I had... Choose your own adventure. It's so fun. There's so many things that you can do. And for that reason, I give the rules of this game a five. I do too. Oh my gosh. I know. Two fives. You thought it would never happen. You gave two fives to this one? That is how much I like this machine.
    15:17
    Wow. It has been, I think, the most fun that I've had with a machine. Period. In a long time. Wow. I mean, I really like Jurassic Park, but I think I would rate this over Jurassic Park. Well, I think your scores say that. I think they do. All right. Well, we're going to pause for a second because I don't want to mess up like I do every time. He thinks he's good at math and he actually is. It's just the pressure that gets to him. pause and untie now all right so if we round up to the nearest point to five 0.25. I will allow 0.25. That's fine. We're going to round up. This gets 23.75. Fireworks. This is now the highest rated machine. Takes it to the top of the list. Yeah. Above Godzilla. Yeah. Above Jurassic Park. This is now our highest rated machine. Would you agree with that assessment? I would agree with that. This has been, this is my number one.
    16:25
    Did you see this coming? No. From me or from you? No, I didn't. From either of us. We played this in the arcade and it was okay. And it's okay. We never spent much time there. No. Like we would play it once and then we would carry on and do whatever we did. I remember thinking, this is really fun. Yeah. Every time I played it. But we had never stayed there. But like I never stayed to play it more. But being able to explore the machine completely, this is my new favorite machine. The glory of renting. The glory of the rentals, guys. This is to the point where I don't know that we were really super planning on buying a machine this year. But we may consider. May consider. this is not a hard yes or no but may consider purchasing this. What?
    17:08
    I really hope that Stern if you're watching I'm begging you Please, please, please Do another run of this for the 60th anniversary of the show and the 10th anniversary of the machine. I'm a little worried because then we're going to have to Just make more And if you make more, guess what? I'll buy one.
    17:32
    He'll buy one. No, we'll probably get one. This goes to the top of the list of machines I want to own. Yeah. I mean, I still want to own other ones that we rented. Totally, totally, totally. But this is number one. This is number one. And I really like it too, which helps you in your pursuit of buying one this year. It is so good. I think this is the most underrated game out there. I think so too. I think people are sleeping on this. People are sleeping on Batman, man.
    18:01
    It's so good. If you can find it, go play it. Go explore it. Egghead. Do Egghead. If you want the points or if you want the multiball. If you want the multiball, play Shame. I guess you want the points, go Egghead. Here's the thing. I will say, strategy-wise, and we'll say this in our tutorial. If you're in the penguin crane, it's easier to have a multiball to hit the crane and do all this stuff. Yes, yes, yes. So do Shame then. Otherwise, do Egghead. Strategy is real. It's real. I just like multi-balls. There's so much. Guys, go play this machine. And stay tuned for the tutorial on this machine. We're going to have that one coming up soon. And so many other things we're going to plan to do at the show, guys. We're really excited. Crazy. Happy 2026, man. Happy 2026. And until next time. Keep flipping.
    18:57
    Are you ready? Yes. Okay. Hi, Mom. Let me scratch your head. Pet, pet, pet, pet, pet. And go away.