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The Walking Dead Remastered Pinball Machine | A Missed Opportunity From Stern?

Gonzo's Pinball Flipperama·video·21m 57s·held·Nov 4, 2025
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Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.027

TL;DR

Gonzo critiques Walking Dead Remastered for oversaturation, missed screen potential, and misguided design choices.

Summary

Gonzo (YouTuber/collector) reviews Stern's Walking Dead Remastered pinball machine, expressing disappointment with key design choices despite acknowledging artistic improvements. He criticizes the oversaturated color palette as misaligned with the zombie theme, the underutilization of Spike 3 3's screen capability (animations instead of TV clips), and new voice callouts he finds uninspiring. While admitting his pre-existing bias against the original The Walking Dead (Pro) brutality, Gonzo concludes the remaster is a missed opportunity and decides not to purchase it.

Key Claims

  • Walking Dead Remastered features oversaturated colors on playfield, inserts, and cabinet that clash with the zombie theme's intended darkness

    high confidence · Gonzo, video analysis of remaster trailer, directly critiques color palette choices repeatedly

  • Spike 3 3 screen uses animations rather than TV show clips, which Gonzo views as underutilizing the platform's capability

    high confidence · Gonzo compares to Star Wars remaster which has movie clips; explicitly states 'don't just have animations on there'

  • The new voice callouts from TV cast members are uninspiring upon hearing them

    medium confidence · Gonzo states 'I didn't feel upon hearing them that I particularly liked it' but doesn't detail specific problems

  • The original The Walking Dead (Pro) red dot-matrix display was superior to the new LCD animation-based screen

    medium confidence · Gonzo personal preference: 'I prefer the red display. I preferred the original red display. I just like it.'

  • Walking Dead Remastered represents a missed opportunity because it doesn't use Spike 3 3's full potential like Star Wars does

    high confidence · Gonzo's core thesis: 'it's an underuse of the platform' and comparison to Ferrari analogy

Notable Quotes

  • “I didn't think that The Walking Dead had that one More Brewing Company game factor. I thought it had that one game less factor.”

    Gonzo@ 1:15 — Establishes Gonzo's pre-existing negative bias toward original Walking Dead; sets frame for review credibility

  • “What instantly strikes me about this for me is this is far too colorful. This is far too bright. I don't want a Walking Dead to look like this. I want it to be mostly red.”

    Gonzo@ 9:58 — Core criticism of remaster's aesthetic direction; suggests alternative design philosophy

  • “It's a bit like having a Ferrari and just driving it to the shop to get some milk. You get what I'm saying? I think it's an underuse of the platform.”

    Gonzo@ 15:26 — Encapsulates frustration with Spike 3 capability mismatch; memorable analogy for design waste

  • “If you're going to remaster something that's a favorite for people... there's nothing in here that would have tempted me, having seen the trailer.”

    Gonzo@ 8:29 — Concludes he would not purchase despite openness to transitional machine concept

  • “I don't feel so entitled that I feel I've got to like or love every single game... Winchester Mystery House might be the best overall package I've ever seen in pinball yet.”

    Gonzo@ 17:03 — Establishes credibility by showing he does appreciate high-quality remasters/packages; justifies selective criticism

Entities

GonzopersonJohn BorgpersonLyman F. Sheats Jr.personGeorge GomezpersonStern PinballcompanyThe Walking Dead RemasteredgameThe Walking Deadgame

Signals

  • ?

    product_concern: Walking Dead Remastered uses oversaturated, overly bright color palette that contradicts the zombie theme's intended darkness and grittiness; Gonzo argues this undermines thematic coherence

    high · Repeated critiques of color saturation; suggestion to use 'Elvira Blood Red Edition' approach instead; assertion that zombies require darker, grittier presentation

  • ?

    design_innovation: Spike 3 platform's capability (large screen, movie clip playback) is underutilized by Walking Dead Remastered, which uses only animations rather than TV show footage; Star Wars remaster demonstrates proper utilization

    high · Gonzo's Ferrari analogy; explicit comparison between Walking Dead Remastered (animations only) and Star Wars Remastered (movie clips); criticism of 'underuse of platform'

  • ?

    product_concern: New voice callouts from TV cast members added to Walking Dead Remastered do not resonate well; Gonzo states he didn't particularly like them upon hearing

    medium · Direct quote: 'I didn't feel upon hearing them that I particularly liked it'; vague criticism without specific details

  • ~

    sentiment_shift: Gonzo was genuinely intrigued by remaster possibility but becomes unambiguously negative after reviewing trailer; shifts from considering transitional machine purchase to firmly declining

    high · Opening statement of intrigue; declaration at end that he won't purchase; explicit statement of relief at not being tempted

  • ?

    collector_signal: Gonzo experiencing FOMO about Beetlejuice pinball despite not liking the film, contrasting with Walking Dead Remastered where FOMO is absent; signals selective FOMO based on game quality perception

Transcript

youtube_auto_sub · $0.000

0:12
Good morning, good afternoon, and of course, good evening. An evening when probably the original owners of The Walking Dead, that dot matrix John Bore lime and sheets masterpiece of a very very difficult pinball machine are breathing a heavy sigh of relief I would imagine. Before I I start what is an initial reaction to Stern Pinball's review of The Walking Dead Remastered, I've just got to hold my hands up here. For those of you that that maybe have not watched the channel before and have not seen my my car crash video of The Walking Dead when I I got I think it's fair to say angry. Uh the first time I've ever really got angry with the pinball machine was on The Walking Dead. I've I've owned The Walking Dead twice, so I've given it a go. I've tried. I think I've owned it twice and borrowed it once. I feel like I've given it a good go. I famously said, well, not so famously, a few few hundred people would have noticed me saying, I didn't think that The Walking Dead had that one more game factor. I thought it had that one game less factor. That one game less factor. Uh, I said there's probably anything you could do with your time which would be better than playing The Walking Dead. Read a book, go for a walk, take the dog out, take your wife out, um, watch Netflix, do anything aside from The Walking Dead. I don't like The Walking Dead as a game. It's too hard for me. It's brutal. Some people say, "Yeah, but when you get it right, when you get to hoarde mode, when you get to hoorde, it's so satisfying." Never mind the 19 games where the ball's just drained. When you get to hoorde mode, nothing feels quite like it. Uh, having got to hoorde mode, I can name quite a number of things that feel better in life than getting to horde mode on The Walking Dead, but we won't discuss those now. Suffice to say, it's it's not a I I didn't find it an enjoyable game. Far too tough. Um, but I do appreciate the code on it, and I would certainly admit that there's a couple of the shots in there which certainly give you a lot of satisfaction when you hit them. But as a game, it's a miss. What I should say is I quite enjoy playing it when when it's somebody else's game. I think when I've not had to pay for it, and I mean in any way, shape, or form, when I haven't had to pay, not only to own it, but I haven't even had to put two pounds in the co in a coin slot. Speaking of which, little coin slot there. When I haven't had to put any money in a coin slot, it's it's fine. If I'm play if I'm playing it at somebody else's expense, I'm not offended by the game. I only bring you this information to demonstrate that I am not unbiased. This is not going to be an unbiased review of The Walking Dead because I didn't like the game to start with, but I love the TV show. Well, I loved the TV show up until the point they brought Negan. And is that a spoiler? If you haven't watched The Walking Dead yet, you're very, very late. I don't know. I think I thought the first the first couple of Walking Deads were good. Then they had a crap one and then there were three or four which two or three I quite enjoyed. Anyway, it was good. I liked it. I like the premise of it. Quite like apocalyp post-apocalyptic zombie stuff. 20 28 Weeks Later. It was good. Enjoyed that. Anyway, you get the idea. One thing I never had a problem with was the artwork on it. When people said it was too grim, it was too gory. I think at the point where you're going to purchase a zombie based pinball machine, I think you should embrace that. I I I I'm fine. But blood and guts and make it red and and do all that stuff. Not a problem at all. I actually thought the one of them was was it might have been the Ellie, I don't know, but it was very nice. It was sort of done in the cabinet. artwork was done as a crate. Um, I actually like the back glass on the Pro. I thought that was pretty good. I didn't mind. It was zombies and people with ripped heads and limbs limbs hanging off. That was a zombie impression. No problem. No, no problem. I embrace it. Brilliant. I have no problem with the artwork, with the look. That's great. I If I'm playing a zombie pinball game, right? No problem. So actually what it would appear to be in the new version, the one thing they appear to have think they fixed is probably the one thing that I liked about the game. So, let me just [clears throat] say from this point of view, from this point onwards in this video, this is possibly not going to be [snorts] [snorts] uh the most flattering video, but I I am uh the most flattering video, but I I am going to try and make it as balanced as I can without betraying my own feelings of it, which is I mean I I can I thought I could I was 90% certain I should give this one a miss. And I'd like to always try and be as honest as I can with you when I make this statement. If I really like a game on this channel, you'll know I really like a game because I'll go and get it. I'll sacrifice something from my collection to go and get a pinball machine that I really, really want. Um, June would be a great example. Big Labowski had to go for me to bring June in. June was so good. So good. I thought I've got to have it. I've got to have June. So, if I really like a game, I will get it in. Same with Jaws. The same with Pulp Fiction. I've got to have them. So, that's that's how you know if I really really like one. So, I I don't want to sit here and pretend I'm going to buy games that I'm not going to buy, which is why when I did my Dungeons and Dragons review, I said, "Yeah, I can appreciate the game. Happy to have it for a little while, but I'll never buy one. I'll never get one." I'm certainly feel that way with most most pinball machines. So, I I don't ever feel that I was on the cusp of getting The Walking Dead, but had this as a remastered been really good, I might have been tempted to get it for a while and then move it on as my transitional pinball machine, if you like. I was um watched uh one of Car's videos uh I think I think he might have been talking about when he sold Kong and he spoke about getting a a transitional pinball machine one that he he turns over and he keeps going. He keeps the majority. He's got some beautiful games behind him, hasn't he? And he's going to keep those and then it'll swap one game in and out. So maybe maybe I might have been convinced. I I needn't worry. I won't be uh I won't be getting this um walking dead pinball machine. So I I I feel I've been saved. I've got the jo the joy of missing out. So that's that's absolutely fine. I don't mind missing out at all. Um I mean remastered a funny term, isn't it really? Because if you remastered you think improves improves and I'm sure in some aspects they may well have improved on this game st. Uh, I've got a um it might be a Blu-ray. I've got a a Blu-ray. I've got a 4K DVD thing of Alien. When did Alien come out? 1979.
Winchester Mystery House
game
Star Wars Remasteredgame
Barrels of Funcompany
Dutch Pinballcompany
Jawsgame
Pulp Fictiongame
Deadpoolgame
Beetlejuicegame
Star Trek Next Generationgame
Lord of the Ringsgame
Dungeons and Dragonsgame
McCraeperson
New England Pinball Leagueorganization
[name withheld pending review]product

medium · Admits spending two weeks exploring Beetlejuice possibility; directly contrasts with relief at missing Walking Dead Remastered

  • ?

    design_philosophy: Gonzo argues that zombie-themed pinball should embrace darkness, grittiness, and horror aesthetic; bright colors and child-friendly presentation contradict the genre and don't attract new audience segments

    high · Multiple statements about embracing zombie ugliness; assertion that game purchasers are already zombie genre fans; claim that color softening doesn't expand appeal

  • ?

    content_signal: Gonzo's channel (Gonzo's Pinball Flipperama) uses game acquisition as visible signal of genuine appreciation; withholds purchases from games he doesn't love; builds credibility through selective ownership

    high · Explicit statement: 'if I really like a Game... you'll know... I'll go and get it'; examples of Winchester Mystery House, Jaws, Pulp Fiction acquisitions; Dungeons and Dragons non-purchase despite appreciation

  • ?

    product_strategy: Walking Dead Remastered takes conservative approach (animations, new art) versus transformative approach (movie clips, full screen integration); Gonzo views as insufficient justification for $12,999+ LE price

    medium · Criticism of 'just upgrading DMD animations' vs. 'using the big screen'; comparison to Alien Remastered (true improvement standard); implicit pricing concern

  • ?

    gameplay_signal: Walking Dead Remastered includes mechanical improvements: Well Walker solenoid enhancement, improved slingshots, additional subwoofer; Gonzo finds these insufficient to overcome design/aesthetic criticisms

    high · Acknowledgment of enhancements but minimal enthusiasm; statement 'It's not doing anything for me' regarding mechanical additions

  • $

    market_signal: Implicit concern that Walking Dead Remastered's $12,999+ LE price lacks sufficient differentiation from original or improvements to justify premium; no explicit mention of pricing but design gaps suggest value mismatch

    medium · Gonzo's strong negative reaction despite acknowledging some improvements; comparison to comprehensive transformations like Winchester Mystery House; discussion of Lord of the Rings remaster as superior concept

  • ?

    industry_signal: Stern's approach to remasters (conservative update vs. full platform utilization) raises questions about remaster philosophy across portfolio; affects future remaster credibility

    medium · Gonzo's concern about potential Lord of the Rings remaster following same pattern; broader critique of 'just upgrading animations' as industry standard weakness

    • 7:45
    Ridley Scott's Alien. And it's it's remastered. Alien Remastered, a director's cut. It's better. The picture's better. Pictures in 4K. I think they've meticulously gone and improved every frame. The sound's better. The whole thing is better. as a word remastered. Yeah. Well done. You've done it. [gasps] So, it's a big claim. It's a big name, isn't it? When you say, "I've remastered." So, I've remastered the cyine chapon. That's going to be quite difficult. Now, whilst I don't like The Walking Dead, I would absolutely understand that it's a lot of people's favorite game. And I I know I think if I was a better player, I'd probably really like it as well. So, if you're going to remaster something that's a favorite for people, I think if there was room in my collection for a Walking Dead, I wouldn't have been remotely tempted having seen the trailer, which we're going to have a little look at today. Um, there's George. Nothing against George Gomez. Love George Gomez. Um, uh, it's, and by the way, I should probably say, cuz I'm probably going to say some quite negative things about this game. I think the actual drawing, let me start by playing this uh, video now. The actual drawing or the actual skill of the artist on the back glass and on the cabinet artwork, I think it's really good. I actually think it's a nice change stylistically and artistically from a lot of the Zombie Yeti stuff. I've got no problem with Zombie Yeti artwork, but there's lots of it. And this is this is different. I I like the way they've they've drawn the characters. I think it's good. Um, apparently having watched I've watched this uh this teaser trailer and and I think during that George Gomez mentioned that the person that had done the artwork is is well known for uh depicting horror scenes and drawing sort of horror I it's horror comics or something like that. Um so I think they've done a good job. What instantly strikes me about this for me is this is far too colorful. This is far too bright. I don't want a Walking Dead to look like this. I I I want it to be mostly red. In many respects, I'd have gone, if I was doing this and I'd have made a decision, I'd have gone with you like the Elvivara Blood Red Edition. I think I'd have done something like that with this game, which I know some of it is is very understated like that. Anyway, I sort of liked the understated
    10:30
    lighting on the inserts of the original game. I'm sort of doubting myself now, but I don't remember there being lots and lots of different colors on the inserts. I was fine with that. I I thought it actually suited the theme.
    10:46
    This I I don't know why they've necessarily done this with the color. I I've always thought anybody, as I mentioned at the start of the video, anybody buying this game is probably into the zombie genre anyway. I don't think you're going to attract any new people to the game by making the colors a little bit more child friendly or whatever because you've still Well, you've got the Well Walker there with his [snorts] and and Marlon Brando there on the on the slingshot. Um looking um well, they look like zombies. It's not a pretty game. It's ugly and I have no problem with that. It's meant to be ugly, but I think embrace the ugliness. I like that. I've always liked I've always liked that. Uh the fish tank. Uh I'm glad the fish tank's on it. I guess they're going to do that. There's only a premium and an LE here, I'm guessing. So, yeah, the colors are a bit garish. Um the playfield's too much color on the playfield for me. Too much color on the inserts. Too much color on the cabinets. Too much color. You get what I'm saying? Um, obviously the Insider connected. Of course, they're going to do Insider connected. So, I I think that's the first thing for me. Look at that. That's a nice drawing. That's there. Very nice. They've got these um expression lighting, the the bullets there on the armor. That's cool. Um probably would have gone for a sword, actually. The uh the samurai sword she has, but of course, we've done samurai swords already, haven't we? In um in in pinball. Got a lovely couple of samurai swords on the side of my uh my Deadpool. Um, right. Let's let's uh let's get rid of that. Thank you very much. Uh, George, is that is that it? I think that might be the um the end of it there. You've Anyway, you probably probably seen enough footage there. So, the sound is going to be upgraded on it because it's a Spike 3 and a Spike 3 has better mid-range. It's got some tweeters on it as I understand it. I'm not somebody that knows an awful lot about sound, but I mean, you're going to have to do something with the sound if you're going to remaster it. despite the skill of the artwork. And I and I I appreciate I think this the the same skilled artist could have probably done those same drawings. They didn't need to be as fleshed out, for one of a better phrase, fleshed out with color. Um but I don't look at the game and think, well, that's remastered in terms of an artistic point of view. I think it's gone they've just blasted up the um the hue and the um and the vibrance and the saturation in their color settings on there really.
    13:18
    Um, the sound, well, I'd have to hear it in person. What you do have are call outs from uh two of the cast. I don't want to say too much about them because I haven't heard enough of it, but I didn't feel upon hearing them that I particularly liked it.
    13:42
    the TV show doesn't appear to be on the screen. And that's for me would possibly be the biggest reason to remodel or remaster this game. If you're going to remaster this game, don't just remaster the DMD because the DMD was pretty cool. One of the better DMDs, I would say. In fact, I've got to say probably even though I I the second time I had the Walking Dead only had it for a short period of time. I think I even though I had the color DMD and it was the LED color DMD which I prefer to the LCD because it's got the true dots on it and I love that. I love that screen on pretty much everything. I've actually got one in a box in there which I'm saving for the for the right game. Um it's not Star Trek Next Generation. I'm selling that next week probably. But when I had The Walking Dead, I thought actually I prefer the red display. I preferred the original red display. I just like it. So I think if you're going to remaster it, you got to go to whole hog. So just don't even try and imitate that original dot matrix display. And I've seen the animations and I think they look cool. Whoever's done those animations done a really good job. I just don't think it was necessary. I think it's a I think it's if you're not going to if you're going to have a big LED screen, a big TV screen, which they've got on there, then use it. Get the movie clips in it. There's no point just having animations on there. Just having an updated remastered dot matrix animation. It's a bit like having a Ferrari and just driving it to the shop to get some milk. Isn't it what I'm doing? Hey, you want to drive that at 200 mph, you get arrested. But you know what I'm saying? I think it's an underuse of of the platform. And it's certainly I've not played Star Wars, another John B game, the new the newer Star Wars. Nor am I likely. Oh, no. I am. I am. I've got to give a big shout out to Neil McCrae, who is going to love this game, and he's going to be all over this game because he loves it. He loves The Walking Dead. He's invited me over to do a video on Star Wars. So, we are going to get a Star Wars um game on this channel. So, thank you, Neil. But I think Star Wars has got the movie clips on it. Well, that's great. What a great use of the Spike 3. Brilliant. We're going to get the the better sound. We're going to get the movie clips. Fantastic. No problem. Wonderful.
    16:19
    No, no TV clips on here. I want to see that. I want to see um Oh, I want to see Who doesn't want to see Negan on a screen? Of course you do. The governor, it's Neil, isn't that Neil Moresy? I think that's that's the guy's name. Uh yeah, I think it's Neil Morrisy was the was the actor that played. Andrew Lincoln, of course, played um the main character. There's some Hey, there's some there's some good actors. Uh I think it's a good show. Really really good show. I'd quite like to have seen it, but it doesn't matter because I don't Would that have been enough for me to buy the game? Um I'm not so sure. I'm still not so sure I would have bought it. So, you've basically got a guy sat on a video unimpressed with a game that I wasn't going to get anyway. And I just want to make this point. I I I don't feel so entitled that I feel I've got to like or love every single game. And I certainly don't have to love every single thing about every single game. June might be the best overall package I've ever seen in pinball yet. I I mean, I I love it to such an extent. I've got to have one. But when I saw the alternate back glass, I thought it looked like a bum hole. So I thought, I don't I don't want I don't want that. And I actually asked my girlfriend, I said, "What does now?" She actually No, I did. I took her to watch June 2 in a cinema and she fell asleep. She fell asleep. Each to their own, right? Each to their own. And uh anyway, I showed her this alternate back glass, a picture of it. And obviously it's a sand worm. And I thought, "Oh, that that that just looks like it just looks like an asshole." Um, I said to her, "What does that look like?" And she said, "It looks like a cat's ass." She said, "Something like that. Looks like a cat's bum hole." And I love that game. So listen, you don't have to like love everything about every game. So, I'm not going to get the I'm not going to get the bum hole back glass. Um, so you don't like everything, right? That's fine. I don't expect to like every game. I really don't. Um, but when I looked at this game, when I looked at this, The Walking Dead, I was very intrigued. Very intrigued. And so, I was it wasn't like a massive relief. Phew. I don't have to get that one. And and I I must admit I have spent the last two weeks really looking at the possibility of Beetlejuice, which which ironically is the other way round. I I hadn't watched Beetlejuice until very recently. I didn't I didn't watch it escaped me. I didn't watch Beetlejuice when I probably should have done. And I watched it. I thought, well, that's not a very good film actually. I didn't think it was very good at all. Um but I think there's a bit of FOMO there. So, I've been exploring, you know, possibly, but I must, you know, you've got to see it, right? That's at 10 days. 10 days that's going uh there's going to be um previews. We might get to have a look at that. But yeah, ultimately, what can you say? I'll be I'll be interested to This is the thing, I guess, with the remastered, isn't it? I was just about to say I'd be interested to play one. Well, I have. just haven't played one with the bright colors and the um the animations and the the armor that lights up. But a sound I'm I'm sure in fact one I think one of the games I did have had a big extra subwoofer in there. So yeah, I I don't I don't know. I don't know. There's an extra solenoid in the well walker, so he bounces around a bit more. And the slingshots, as you say, got Yeah, it's okay. It's okay. It's not doing any It's not It's not doing anything for me. I'm I'm far more interested to see what Stern will do next. Um I think if there's one thing that has And I was worried about this anyway. I don't know if they will remaster Lord of the Rings. And if they do, I will get it irrespective. In the same way that if this is your favorite game, The Walking Dead, and you love it and you play Walking Dead all the time, you probably are going to get this remastered one. If you just think, "Yeah, I quite like Walking Dead," you're probably going to be happy with the one you got. But with Lord of the Rings, if they did this with Lord of the Rings, I think the artwork does need to be redone on that on the on the playfield certainly. I've got a nice back glass anyway for that. But then you get to the movie clips. That would be a missed opportunity. I would think that. And I would certainly think if all they did with Lord of the Rings and got the Lord of the Rings license was to take the DMD and the DMD is excellent on that, by the way, really good. That that one is worth having the color version on. And they just upgraded and had animations of Lord of the Rings. I got to say, I do think that would be an opportunity missed.
    21:33
    And I do also think that it would be an opportunity missed if they didn't have all of that extra stuff in there. And if I think it's an opportunity missed on Lord of the Rings, then it probably stands to reason that it's also an opportunity missed not to have the TV show clips put in their remastered version of The Walking Dead.