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Episode 112 – The Beastie Boy

Head2Head Pinball·podcast_episode·14m 58s·analyzed·Oct 7, 2019
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Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.025

TL;DR

In-depth review of The Shadow pinball machine praising its layout, rules, and design.

Summary

Greg, Devon, and Zach from Straight Down The Middle review The Shadow, a classic Bally pinball machine designed by Brian Eddy. They discuss the game's artwork, shot layout, rules, and overall design, with particular focus on its unique diverter mechanic, fast combo potential, and challenging wizard mode. The hosts express strong appreciation for the game, positioning it as underrated compared to other Eddy designs like Medieval Madness and Attack from Mars.

Key Claims

  • Brian Eddy designed three games: Medieval Madness, Attack from Mars, and The Shadow, and they are all on point in terms of quality.

    high confidence · Greg explicitly states this as a factual assertion about Eddy's three major designs.

  • The Shadow is underrated and deserves to be in the top tier of pinball games alongside Medieval Madness and Attack from Mars.

    high confidence · Greg repeatedly emphasizes this, stating he would rather have The Shadow than Medieval Madness or Attack from Mars.

  • The Shadow has a unique dual-button diverter mechanic that creates four distinct ramp shots instead of the standard two.

    high confidence · Detailed explanation of the blue button controlling the diverter on the ramps, allowing shots to go left or right.

  • The Shadow's layout is significantly better than Attack from Mars' layout and comparable or superior to Medieval Madness.

    high confidence · Multiple hosts agree that The Shadow has superior shot selection and layout compared to these classic games.

  • The Shadow's wizard mode (Final Battle) is difficult to complete even though reaching it is achievable.

    medium confidence · Greg mentions getting there 'a couple times' and notes that completing it is 'a whole another ball game' than reaching it.

Notable Quotes

  • “I would rather have The Shadow than Medieval Madness or Attack from Mars.”

    Greg @ ~3:45 — Strong endorsement placing The Shadow above other Eddy classics, establishing the core thesis of the review.

  • “Find a better machine that has better Shots and Layout.”

    Greg @ ~25:00 — Absolute praise for The Shadow's shot design, framing it as among the best in pinball.

  • “The Shadow is much faster than Johnny Mnemonic that we reviewed before. Much faster than that we reviewed before.”

    Greg @ ~27:30 — Comparison establishing The Shadow as exceptionally fast-paced with continuous combo potential.

  • “It's got The Shadow emerging right in the middle of the playfield, and his black fades uh to the background.”

    Greg @ ~13:00 — Describes the central artistic element that Greg credits for his A rating on artwork.

  • “You can get to the Final Battle all day long. Can you get to the Final Battle all day long... but completing it is another ball game.”

    Greg @ ~34:00 — Highlights the difficulty distinction between accessing and completing the wizard mode.

Entities

The ShadowgameBrian EddypersonGregpersonDevonpersonZachpersonRick (Romulus X)personMedieval Madnessgame

Signals

  • ~

    sentiment_shift: The Shadow positioned as underrated classic deserving top-tier status equivalent to Medieval Madness and Attack from Mars.

    high · Greg repeatedly asserts The Shadow belongs in the same tier as Eddy's other classic designs, with hosts agreeing on A/A+ ratings for layout and rules.

  • ?

    competitive_signal: Fast combo potential and loop mechanics in The Shadow contribute to its appeal for skilled/competitive play.

    medium · Hosts emphasize continuous ball flow without stops, ramp combos, and loop mechanics that enable high-speed skilled play compared to Johnny Mnemonic and Star Trek.

  • ?

    design_philosophy: Playfield artwork receives mixed ratings; Greg gives A for aesthetics and color scheme, Devon gives C+ citing lack of overwhelming beauty compared to other games.

    high · Specific ratings: Greg A (praising Shadow figure, taxi, color inserts), Devon C+ (acknowledging taxi beauty but overall design less impressive than alternatives).

  • ?

    design_philosophy: The Shadow demonstrates sophisticated game design with multiple objective gates (Complete all scenes, Conquer Battlefield, Conquer Multiball, reach Final Battle) that are both reachable and challenging.

    high · Detailed discussion of four-objective wizard mode progression that doesn't require beating modes, only reaching them, creating accessible yet deep design.

  • ?

    technology_signal: Dual-button diverter mechanic on ramps enabling four distinct shot paths represents notable technical innovation for its era.

    high · Greg explains the blue button diverter system that routes ramp shots left or right, creating combo potential not standard in contemporary machines.

Transcript

youtube_mirror_subs · $0.000

0:04
you headed off with bumper straight down the middle you had a with a slingshot you're rolling out the out again iy to cradle you with my flipper it
0:23
was baby baby baby why you doing me wrong don't we used get what's happening everybody this is straight down the middle we were talking about some really inappropriate stuff before you guys uh popped in here uh this is this is filthy ass Greg and this is Devon an Zach what's up yeah so today Gregory what are we doing we're reviewing the Shadow the Shadow the shadow NOS another underrated game well not really underrated now at this point it was an underrated game at one point yeah it's been promoted yeah top tier is it top top tier game I'd consider a top tier game I don't think people throw it in with like theater of magic I think they still think it's a uh a b ranked game what do they call it B level or B yeah whatever they throw Class B yeah they they don't think it's um Medieval Madness or anything like that for they don't hold it in that category hey I'm not saying that I know I do I do too what I like about this game is Brian Edy made three games Medieval Madness attack for Mars The Shadow yeah and I think the Shadow's on point with all three with too honestly do I I think that that just the theme and the fact that it was linked to the movie you guys want to hear something crazy we're going to get into the reviews here but you got to I got to tell you this because I feel so strongly about this game I would rather this is crazy I would rather have the shadow than Medieval Madness or attack from Mars whoa whoa I'd rather have attack from Mars maybe Med Manis I don't know man it's aome yeah but it is it's a damn good game let's review the hell out of this game because I love it um and I'm yeah I'm always going to love this game you don't i s in your stores that just one thing K it okay all right let's go to the game I'm going to show you guys the shots and layouts and everything like that and then we'll come back Greg and I will uh we'll talk about some ratings how about that buddy sounds good woohoo we're going to the game all right guys what's up let's learn more about the shadow here oh isn't she beautiful m she's pretty all right so the object of the Shadow is to get to the final battle you get to the final battle by completing these four objects number one being complete all scenes all scenes are completed by completing all scenes there are 1 2 3 four five six of them to start a mode that nice little tight shot right there start your mode very satisfying shot nice nice and tight so you complete all modes I tell you what when it comes to the Shadow and if you're wanting to get to the final battle you really got to focus on getting through those modes because of the difficulty of starting the mode itself you can also start a mode by hitting that side shot with that third flipper there I believe yeah all right next thing you have to conquer the battlefield you conquer the battlefield by hitting back up in there you hit a drop Target down hits it into the vck the vck shoots it up to your mini Battlefield this goes back and forth with the flippers and you try to get switch hits and then the ones in the back will drop down and then they'll jump right back up immediately until you get the number of required switch hits then they will stay down in the back you complete it by hitting it through that back shot there and it goes down the alley in the
Attack from Mars
game
Johnny Mnemonicgame
Star Trekgame
Straight Down The Middleorganization
4:00
back see it's begging to begging for me to play it right now so that's conquer the battlefield the next is Shadow multiball you get to Shadow multiball by hitting it right up to sanum there and locking three balls and starting that multiball con multiball con multiball is completed by lighting con multiball by going over the rollovers there and then once you get that you do that side shot the third flipper bam right into that and you'll start multiball so if you can successfully get through con multiball Shadow multiball Conquering the battlefield and completing all scenes you don't have to you don't have to beat them you just have to get through them then you will start final battle uh final battle is a tough tough uh switch based wizard mode and it's very very satisfying I've gotten there a couple times um over here at my buddy Rick's house Romulus X he's got there a couple times as well but he'll be the first to tell you getting there is one thing but completing it is a whole another ball game so if we're looking at the play field here the the major objectives of the shots here you've got your uh left orbit that's responsible for the Mongol hurry up uh a little tip here if you're running Mongol hurry up and for some reason you're just not getting that shot down you can go ahead and hit the hit the shot there to end the mode and it'll give you a couple million points so if you're getting ready to draining you've got that hurry up going I'd recommend you just pulling that trigger really quick and the trigger is used a lot uh little side now here this trigger is used a lot throughout the modes you can get to secret modes that way um you can get bonuses and different things all right so going from left to right you see the ramp here what's really unique about the shadow is that there is a a furba diverter right here so on the side of the game you see two buttons the red button is responsible for the flippers and the blue button is responsible responsible for switching that diverter so you essentially have four ramps uh four ramp shots which is really unique uh you hit the ramp shots to go through Vengeance it's like a mini mode um hitting jackpot skill shots they're all all required by hitting the ramps very satisfying ramps too and if you miss them they're not satisfying because they're going to come right back at you all right as we're peering throughout here you've got that side shot that's responsible for the super jackpot and starting con multiball you also have an inner orbit that is fast as pinball comes if you can hit an outer orbit then hit that third flipper right there to hit that inner orbit that thing's just cruising uh makes this game really fun also responsible for Jack pots and Shadow Loops if you watch um oh who is it with Papa bow and Karens bow Karen's uh shows you how to rack up a lot of points on the shadow through the use of Combos and Shadow loops to check out that video all right going back that's where the battlefield I was just talking about was that's how you get up to the mini play field a lot of people light this right here so you can see it can be a bit dark at times up there when the lights are out then you've got standups of course but then here's your locks there's where you lock right there in the sanctum one of the coolest if not the coolest ball locks in pinball and Rick has a custom backboard there that he did with brick that looks super super nice um then when you're going left to right you hit that right ramp and again another
7:41
diverter I'll play in a minute buddy okay then you have my favorite shot of the entire game this tight Mode start shot it's responsible for the mystery shot as well as the extra ball so lighting an extra ball in this game is fine and dandy but the pressure is on to hit that shot and then it shoots it off to the right and rolls back down the uh right orbit and then you have your right orbit shot that loops around as well now if you don't hit that right orbit shot uh precisely it could dribble out the inner orbit so you always got to be ready on the shadow all right guys so you seen uh are you guys in love yet with the shadow I know I am yeah you got to be the shadow knows yeah um so let's go let's start with our first category which is art art art for art for me I had an a an a for art you guys might think I'm crazy why don't you give it an a cuz I'm curious about this I give it an a because it is the most beautiful artwork play on the Playfield there is no it's kind of god plain no it's not it's got the shadow emerging right in the middle of the Playfield and his black Fades uh to the background then it's got the cab the taxi cab right in the middle with the with the it's like the 50s yeah the taxi is beautiful I will I will give the taxi that but I mean the overall thing is not the only reason I didn't give it an A+ is Alec Baldwin that is the only reason I wish we could rate this based on rx's crazy package yeah that's very beautiful but boy oh boy this thing lights up the colors are great it's got what I love about B Williams that those inserts they're all kind of the same they're highlighted in a color and their circles kind of like a demolish man different things like that I just man I love it the apron I love I love the furb I love I love even the the mini play field it's very simplistic yeah it's got that what is it it's not the 50 is it the 50 no it's a mid-30s is that s yeah the 30s kind of thing the gangster kind of yeah yeah been I don't know enough about the shadow comic book or anything like that but um for me art is an a it doesn't get much prettier than the art on the shadow but as your eyes freaking roll what do you got on it I wonder what art school you went
10:03
to oh [ __ ] okay C+ man I gave ass I gave it a C+ yeah I gave it a C+ and the reason I gave it a C+ um I was that generous was because of that that taxi on the front I think that that's a beautiful uh thing in that that near that drain it it's gorgeous and I I will give you this um it's a pen for whatever reason the color scheme whatever that does draw me to it the color scheme is gorgeous it is um so it does draw me to the game it was actually going to be like the second game that I bought and then that was the one with the bad play field and stuff that I went through but me and my daughter had actually drove up to pick it up because I looked and looked for penss what you know cuz again I'm on tight budget so I looked and looked and looked for a pin back then you're social scous basically fix in it's so tight no it's not it's just tight yeah I'm just yeah I nickel and dime everything so you're at a C+ because of the cab you like the cab about the freaking Shadow right in the middle with his scarf and the scarf is where the inserts for the final battle are yeah I me it's cool but it's it's not like an overly whelming like beautiful package in Playfield like like some but it is no whatever man C+ whatever man that was generous you're ruining the score with your C+ I know it did there was a few things that messed it up all right let's go to shots and layout I think we'll both agree on this yes for me the shots and layout uh I hate to be so black and white on these videos but find a better machine that has better shots and layout so it's a um it's a unique layout I've never seen you get some third flipper layouts that are similar but orbits are really nice left to right um your shot uh up the up the ramps are really cool because they're essentially four shots because you have the ramp furba defter yes uh that you can go left you can go right back it's a nice long back ramp shot that left ramp is cool too it's fairly smooth for as steep as it is is a steep R oh yeah it'll come right back at us if you don't hit it right too so you can get combo going uh with those ramps start Vengeance up then you've got the battlefield shot which is the upper Playfield upper Playfield is NE it's a nice little play field it's a nice Easy Shot um you have and we'll talk about toys and Innovation with the upper Playfield but then you have the sanctum shot right up the middle but it's dangerous be careful if you're trying to lock balls up there because it will come straight down the middle right back at you um and then you've got the third flipper shot which is so nice because it's not just one ramp it is a scoop that feels so so satisfying when you hit it it's a solid bam there it is and then you've got the inner orbit another fast shot yes now I would say that the shadow is much faster than Johnny pneumonic that we reviewed before much faster than John maybe on a single hit no combos ramp ramp orbit inner orbit Bam Bam that's what I'm talking about what do you think's faster Shadow or Star Trek on the combo hitting that warp Ram shadow shadow is definitely faster it definitely is faster you hit an outer orbit bam outer orbit third r or third flipper inner orbit oh boy oh boy and then rants bam bam bam that the ball doesn't have to stop on the shadow it does not have to stop that's it is on Johnny no it's not like that on Johnny your ball trickles out past the oh it does that the combos on ball trickle don't hit a ramp or you might break your machine play CL speed I I maybe I need to put a little more time on Shadow no you need to buy one I do need to buy one but so I was at an A+ a the same and for the same reason ex that there's really nothing to add to that it is some satisfying shots goodness it is laid out it's laid out a lot better than medieval manness it's laid out a lot better from Attack From Mars I like the little uh on attack from Mars to the left of the orbit or to the left of the damn I do like that shot yes the the ball lock the lock is I agree but you guys the shots and layout on the shadow I do I do agree that it is a lot better than uh attack from Mars layout okay fair enough I think so I agree with that as well luring you over A+ All Around it's one of the best in the business all right let's go to rules we were similar I think on rules where'd you have your rules at uh my rules were an a yeah my rules were an a as well uh the reason I had an a was because it's just it's not just a finish the modes you get to wizard mode there are four objects that you have to complete yeah to get to it it's start all the modes it's defeat the battlefield you got to hit it up there 30 times in order to defeat con then you have to then you have to do con multiball then you have to do Shadow multiball if you can get through all of that and it's not the easiest in the world but it is reachable then you get to the final battle and the final battle is so cool because it lets you know it says you have reached the final battle and then it go through and then you've got to beat the final battle you guys can get to the final battle all day long final battle is tough but beating it getting enough switch hits to beat that damn thing all yeah I think you have to get all the shots so times oh man I love it and then you got your Vengeance side mode um you got defeat KH as a mode boy I think it's a deeper game than a lot people realize yeah but it's not overly deep it's not a Keith Johnson it's not overly deep but I could play that game on and on and on and on it's approachable very approachable anything you want to add to the rules no sorry I'm geeking I love fine there's nothing else to say all right let's go to uh toys and Innovation toys and Innovation what' you have that ah I had an a an a I had an A+ so let's talk about that we both liked them the diverters are huge how cools are huge very cool now if they break they're kind of a son of a gun to to work on I've had a shadow before where one of the diverters was floppy and clanky ramps are hard to find so that can be they turn off they metal ramps like the whole thing is metal and like you said earlier you would think when you hit that thing it would be clunky cuz it's right at your face but it's smooth metal on metal but yeah have Trails everywhere very nice so uh toys and Innovation what I like is maybe the best ball lock in pinball it yeah the sanctum where it holds the ball flashes the light surprising oh yeah it pulls it back just like a there's a shadow or something especially if you get the little brick wall yeah that adds to it I love it uh mini Playfield is again one of the best if not the best mini play Fields think of a mini Playfield that's better you've got the paddle you're hitting it you're trying to hit him you hit him enough and then it goes behind it down a tunnel yeah cuz I was trying to think about it earlier about what would be cuz Twilight zones little magnetic thing but that's still but it's not as good a shadow um nope man I I Tred to wack my brain earlier no like I could not think of anything certainly not uh I really but here's how selfish I am with the shadow I'm such a punk I don't want to talk up this game because I'm afraid people are going to buy it and I'm not going to get one well you don't see very many like I get I've got one currently right now for sale and I love this game so much Greg that it's not in the condition collector's condition and I want to invest some serious Bank well yeah it's a keeper it's it's one of those games that people sell they buy back they sell they buy back they sell they buy back uh boy so it's an obvious keeper so I think it's worth so toys and Innovation anything else we're missing on toys and innovation no not a whole lot to it but it's it's again it's another Innovative pinball yeah it's really cool so it's it's nice I okay let's move on to music and call outs I like music and call outs I like them it fits the theme and it's great so I I gave mine a b a b I was at an A on mine um and I'll tell you why the the call out or the music is mysterious it is it's mysterious but it ramps up when you're get into certain modes and
18:02
I just we're doing sound effects too much people don't want to hear sound effects too but put you in the mood but it's cool it's edgy it's mysterious it's cool but then the call outs I love the call outs I know nothing about the shadow but damn it every time I play for the next couple hours I'm thinking the shadow knows and Mara and there's so many call outs it's like I'm not afraid of you but I am and it's like just mysterious and then the thing about the call out you guys will love this is um is it Tim Curry is that his name uh Guy Stephen King's It Tim Curry Yeah Yeah Tim Curry oh my God he's the best in this game he calls out um he's got his own mode and it's like uh the shadow knows and then he mocks you and you hit and it hits him if you hit things Tim Curry I need to go see I need to watch the movie no no no you don't hey actually there was I remember when I was researching the sh the movie really is that bad oh it's bad a couple people said it wasn't bad when I was like researching for uh the pen Curry really it's the only good part Bal one's no good it's bad plus this game uh back to the rules really quick it's got Easter eggs it's got those brety Easter eggs if you can find a way that's got enough Easter eggs and you can activate them your next mode will turn into the duck or it's laughing laughing or quacking ducks or something like that Easter egg cool see how cool is that bad that's bad don't do I tried I just want to add something I just want to add something to the show something never before seen and that's all the people turning off their their computers right now yeah this guy's a dumb ass all right so music and call out let's go to the theme your favorite part of the game buddy man okay I had to rank it a little low I went with a a c minus on this one okay and uh just because of the movie CU you're freaking hater just because of the movie now the the the that whole uh 30s 4S kind of theme thing or whatever time period That's the theme that I'm looking at that is nice I I like that feel to it the whole Speak Easy kind of uh feel and everything to it that that secret M thing yeah and it kind of reminds me of you remember Rocketeer oh I really that was a that was a food game feel good movie yeah they to me they kind of have the same opposite but sort of have that same feel of that uh was it steam it's not really steam punk but um it's that early early Americana yeah yeah you know what I'm talking about so that that does a little that kills it no it's it's above average on theme for me uh so I had A's throughout you guys for me this is a damn near perfect game um literally a perfect pinball machine and I can see where you're coming from with I really care a piece of art to me if you get AR back class but uh theme for me is a B minus um it's not a theme that I necessarily like like The Walking Dead Or Game of Thrones or um even wizard of o even The Hobbit Lord of the Rings I like that kind of stuff the movie sucked the Alec Baldwin is awesome but I don't like him in this thing um the theme's just not there for no it's another one those pins that that the theme is what killed it at first um but then people learned this is a damn good game but I will say they start buying it up the reason I did do a B minus in the B area is because you fall in love with this theme like this theme becomes its own character and you don't worry about the movie so much you worry about the uh the Playfield Graphics you worry once you have the Ric package like that's your theme it turns into 100% agree with that you don't think anything about it being so I could even probably have went higher than a B minus but yeah for me this is nearly a perfect game but the the theme kind of kills it for me because I'm not a big fan of the Shadow yeah and I but man it I'm telling you I feel so emphatic about this it really creates its own character this game does and you guys probably many of you probably agree with me too if you have it cuz it's kind of a spoofy it's kind of over an overthe toop thing in a way I think that's just '90s poor movies it was I don't think that was their in but it's kind of a neat thing to it you know yeah who knows what evil in the heart of men okay so recap I've got an A for art shots and layout a freaking plus uh rules a toys Innovation A+ music and call outs a let's give it a perfect score not so fast theme I've got a B minus which gives me a cumulative is it a cumulative yes oh very nice cumulative uh grade of a minus which is very respectable hell of a game hell yeah but it might be one of the best games ever made yeah mine I with art with a C+ uh shots and layout an A plus um rules just an a toys and Innovation and a music and call outs is a b um theme the C minus so my total was a a be which still ain't bad yeah but I mean it kind of shows you how a theme can kind of hurt something cuz that's what's B is like true we were talking about the way that we we grade everything and some things are coming out high again like almost like the back glasses U we did the top 10 on the back glasses it it um some things that is your favorite game they don't rank higher than other games you don't like as much because there might be that one stupid thing in there like theme or it just might have a bad art or something that's small in there like Walking Dead's call outs call outs just suck on The Walking Dead and it just I don't that bad they're corny but I don't think they're bad they're horrible but you know that that's the one thing that in a fantastic shooter something that's a great game yeah so we we evenly distribute each each uh category which I think is the most Fair way to do it I think so uh but at the end of the day um a well-rounded game is going to probably rank higher than a game that you freaking love but has one bad yeah or one bad thing like theme or so pay attention again to the individual letter grades that's right and what we're going to try to do what we're going to try to do if I'm not too damn lazy is whenever I list them here uh in in sequential order I'm going to try to give you the GPA or the actual cuz an A minus has a range yeah um a B plus or B's have a range B plus has a a range it's was it 0 to 5 or 4.0 0 to four yeah um so for me an A minus Min was 3.78 see how it ranks with the other a minuses it might be higher or lower so keep an eye on that we will uh update those frequently uh and then we'll what are we going to do next week fure out what we're going to do next week we're going to do another top 10 list buddy is it in the top 10 again the top 10 so any any more we pros and cons we've got um it's beautiful the cons is a theme price how much are these things running man um anywhere I would say between um three mhm what do you think three to 3 to 4,000 three to four yep maybe five I saw that one that was oh my God like I swear it that was completely restored at about five wasn't it five that we saw yeah but and I don't know if I would might buy it for five i' may buy it for five rest yeah I mean to me it's on par with uh Adam's family or or anything else honestly I still put it in that a category I agree I know that sounds weird to a lot of people but no it's it's a freaking it isn't a category again I think the them's what keep I mean I know you could argue okay Adam's Family not a lot of people love it but it's still that spooky cooky give me shadow give me shadow but I mean you can you can pick up a one that you're going to have to Tinker around with for about $3,000 it's about up to that point now um a decent one that's been shopped out and stuff for 3500 Immaculate one for 4,000 yeah yeah which I think you need to go get one Greg at 35 I think it's a hell ofis steel hell yeah Beyond a hell Ste nice one if it's nice yeah oh purple that bad boy out put the domes on it that are purple the star post that are purple light up the star star post make a big di light your Battlefield up I swear to you guys if you have a shadow and you haven't put look free freaking plug Comet cuz I love your stuff but the comet purple passion bulbs in your mode inserts doing it all wrong you got to do that yeah until next week Greg yes hell yeah see you guys [Music]
26:41
later you had a with aing you're rolling out the [Applause]
26:48
out you ever evaluate yourself all the time that's why I me what he talks to himself okay so how are you feeling today Z I'm feeling good damn
27:11
Focus we'll talk about some ratings how about that buddy sounds good woohoo we're going to the game that a lot of