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Don't Panic Flip Episode 11 - Ghostbusters: We Came, We Saw Mini Wizard

Don't Panic Flip·video·37m 20s·analyzed·Apr 11, 2018
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Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.022

TL;DR

Ghostbusters Premium gameplay showcase highlighting Pro/Premium differences and mode progression.

Summary

George Fisher from Don't Panic Flip provides extended gameplay commentary on a Stern Ghostbusters Premium Edition machine he owns, highlighting design differences between Pro and Premium versions (flipper gap, ramp layouts, Slimer behavior, ecto-goggles hologram), customizations he's added (lane protectors, airball deflector, book stacking), and gameplay mechanics across multiple modes. He plays through several games demonstrating mode chains, multiball sequences, and reaching a mini wizard mode ('We Came, We Saw, We Kicked Its Ass'), ultimately scoring around 523 million on his best attempt.

Key Claims

  • Ghostbusters Premium Edition is 'the most beautiful game Stern has ever put out'

    high confidence · George Fisher, personal opinion based on ownership and extended gameplay

  • Jeremy Packer did the artwork for Ghostbusters

    high confidence · George Fisher, stated as fact

  • The Premium Edition has a larger-than-standard flipper gap compared to Pro version

    high confidence · George Fisher, observed gameplay difference between versions

  • Premium Edition includes a left ramp across the subway that drops below playfield and returns near ecto containment facility, absent in Pro version

    high confidence · George Fisher, visual gameplay demonstration

  • Slimer behavior differs: Premium has angled exit and increased difficulty vs Pro version's straight drop

    high confidence · George Fisher, observed gameplay difference

  • The game creates 'so many airballs' even with lane protector customization added

    medium confidence · George Fisher, personal gameplay observation and frustration

  • High-level players have scored 10-12 billion on Ghostbusters

    medium confidence · George Fisher, claimed observation from seeing others play

  • Fisher has cracked a billion on this machine 'a few times'

    high confidence · George Fisher, personal gameplay history

Notable Quotes

  • “This is, in my opinion, the most beautiful game Stern has ever put out.”

    George Fisher@ 1:15 — Overall aesthetic assessment of Ghostbusters; establishes context for his extended coverage

  • “There's a larger than standard flipper gap which is very frustrating”

    George Fisher@ 1:39 — Identifies specific Pro/Premium design difference affecting gameplay difficulty

  • “This game creates so many airballs with the 2x and 3x multiplier.”

    George Fisher@ 3:13 — Design criticism regarding playfield ergonomics/ball control

  • “We came, we saw, we kicked its ass. I'm in a mini Wizard mode right now.”

    George Fisher@ 27:26 — Discovery/confirmation of mini wizard mode mechanic in Ghostbusters

  • “I have no idea how we initiated that.”

    George Fisher@ 29:04 — Confusion about wizard mode trigger; suggests mode progression system complexity

  • “The callouts in this game are amazing.”

    George Fisher@ 12:46 — Positive feedback on audio/voice design during containment facility multiball

  • “It's really hard to backflip without actually performing a real backflip.”

    George Fisher@ 5:11 — Observation about skill shot difficulty and flipper mechanics

Entities

George FisherpersonJeremy PackerpersonJack DangerpersonZach SharpepersonGhostbustersgameStar WarsgameStern PinballcompanyDon't Panic Fliporganization

Signals

  • ?

    community_signal: Content creator providing extended gameplay footage and educational commentary on Ghostbusters mechanics, targeting pinball enthusiast audience via video platform

    high · 40+ minute dedicated gameplay video with mode explanations, shot demonstrations, strategy discussion; references to competitive players and show format

  • ?

    design_philosophy: Flipper gap design (larger than standard in Premium) and frequent airball generation identified as frustrating design elements affecting gameplay control; Fisher added aftermarket lane protectors and airball deflector to mitigate

    high · Fisher explicitly states flipper gap is 'very frustrating'; demonstrates airball frequency in gameplay; mentions adding protectors/deflector to compensate

  • ?

    design_philosophy: Ghostbusters Premium Edition design philosophy emphasizes mechanical complexity and cosmetic differentiation from Pro tier; Premium adds skill shots (difficult left ramp angle) and visual elements (hologram) that may reduce casual accessibility

    medium · Fisher notes left ramp 'is difficult as hell, it's actually really hard to make'; Premium-exclusive shots designed for skill differentiation; hologram visual effect for premium customers

  • ?

    product_strategy: Ghostbusters Premium Edition includes exclusive mechanical features vs Pro: left subway ramp, ecto-goggles hologram effect, angled Slimer exit behavior, larger flipper gap. Cosmetic differentiators also noted (Jeremy Packer side art).

    high · George Fisher detailed point-by-point comparison of Premium vs Pro during gameplay; visual demonstration of left ramp, Slimer behavior, hologram effect

  • ?

Transcript

youtube_groq_whisper · $0.112

0:00
We built this city. We built this city on rock and roll. We built this city. All right. Hey, everybody. This is George with Don't Panic Flip.
0:48
We have been kicking ass on Star Wars now for I don't know how many episodes. and I have a Ghostbusters Premium that is on its way out. We'll be trading or selling it here shortly. And, you know, I thought, why not get some games recorded on this one? Played the hell out of it. Got it almost five months ago. And it's been awesome. This is, in my opinion, the most beautiful game Stern has ever put out. This was Zombie Yeti who did the artwork. lots of fun couple of unique things about Ghostbusters is the flipper gap I'm going to switch screens so you guys can see what I'm talking about and I'll point it out here over here you can follow my finger there's a larger than standard flipper gap which is very frustrating there's several big differences between the pro and premium versions I'm going to point out a few of them right now there is this left ramp here that goes across the subway it actually drops down below the playfield and comes back up just in front of the ecto can storage facility there's also this entire shot which is just not even in the pro version here and it's difficult as hell it's actually really hard to make there is the ecto goggles here which creates kind of a hologram effect i'm not sure you really can't see it from the uh from any of the camera angles that i have here uh that kind of sucks i wonder i might be able to well maybe another one i'll i'll see if i can actually get the ecto goggles hologram to show up and lastly for big items the uh and you'll probably see this at some point but uh uh slimer uh instead of just dropping straight down will uh will come in at an angle and go back and forth. He's a lot harder to hit in the Premium version than the Pro version.
2:58

  • “I've been playing so much Star Wars recently.”

    George Fisher@ 5:53 — Indicates recent focus on Star Wars machine; explains gameplay rust on Ghostbusters

  • “Okay, the ballroom. What do we do? Shoot blue shots to capture Slimer.”

    George Fisher@ 26:07 — Mode mechanic explanation during gameplay

  • “523 million? That's okay. that's for me that's okay i'm not a good player but that would be embarrassing if i was Jack Danger or uh Zach Sharpe from Straight Down the Middle: a pinball show”

    George Fisher@ 36:27 — Self-assessment of skill level; references competitive players by name

    • Straight Down the Middle
    organization

    product_concern: Airball frequency even with aftermarket mitigation suggests potential playfield design ergonomics issue affecting game feel and reliability

    medium · Fisher reports 'so many airballs with the 2x and 3x multiplier' despite having added lane protectors; multiple airball occurrences during gameplay footage

    Beyond that, I think most everything else is the same. I've got a few customizations here with the lane protectors here. I've also got an airball deflector up here that has been used a lot. This game creates so many airballs with the 2x and 3x multiplier. I've also got some actual stacked books for symmetrical book stacking.
    3:24
    You can kind of see it here, but we've got the Zombie Yeti side art. Absolutely gorgeous. Really brings this pin together. And a couple of add-ons I haven't added yet are... I've got a trough light, two scoop lights, and I've got the kit to make Stay Puft rock back and forth when storage facility gets lit for like 10 or 15 seconds. It's awesome. Anyway, why don't we get this started? We'll play a couple of games, see how things go. I've got roughly about 45 minutes, I think, before I've got to get ready. Tonight is pinball league night. So without further ado, let's get this going.
    4:07
    So there is a cool shot you can do. I think it's the dead flip. I think Deadflip maybe talked about this, but it's partial.
    4:20
    And if you can hit it on the way back down, it initiates the first mode right away, or it hits whatever it is you have selected. So I went ahead and initiated right away, okay, who brought the dog? So I'm going to hit the first shot.
    4:38
    First shot complete. We're in the pop bumpers. uh super wide flipper gap i did get the shoot again which is great uh yep not this game needs to be pushed a lot nudging is just such a huge part of this uh okay so we got one shot done on okay who brought the dog two shots left It's really hard to backflip without actually performing a real backflip. I'm going to go ahead and do this flipper thing, or this plunge again. So I automatically got the 10%. Ooh, and luck would have it that the extra ball just got lit.
    5:36
    All right, so that's two shots. I got a 2x score multiplier at the end. That's always good. Kind of just want to get control of it. It's been a while since I've played this. I've been playing so much Star Wars recently.
    5:55
    Nice. 10 seconds added. Alright. So we're going to do a little post-transfer there. Damn it Alright, so we completed The first mode of the game Which was okay, who brought the dog And initiated, we got one And these are scene or mode Chains, so four there, three here Two here, I've lit extra balls So as soon as I can catch it on my right Flipper, I think I'm going to go for the extra ball That's what I mean by see if we can get it back around let it dead flip man a little bit too much sauce on it all right so we've also got storage facility lit oops
    7:05
    Wow. I was thinking maybe we could backflip that. Ooh, hey, made the crazy shot. Come on. Wow. I can't believe I got a ball save out of that.
    7:31
    Oh, you know, when it comes out of the scoop, you get a certain amount of time where the ball save is active again because they realize that sometimes it hits hard and goes right in.
    7:45
    Alright, so we timed out on that mode, but we got it. Typically when you finish a mode, it automatically starts a next one. The next one, but we lost that, so now we have to either luck out and get one from the pop bumpers, or we have to hit ghost and hit Slimer before they get reinitiated.
    8:12
    Man. Alright. It's pretty awful. Cannot hit that extra ball shot. Just make it a little rusty is all.
    8:27
    Nice. Okay, so by doing that weird plunge, I automatically initiated Spook Central, which is the second mode in the far right chain. I've got to make a couple shots. I've got to make one shot to start the mode.
    8:45
    Wow, that's going right down the middle. Not even going to try it. Just get the chute again. And also light storage facility.
    9:00
    Man. Yeah, it's been a while. All right Man There we go All right, got the shot. So if you remember from the movie, that's where the street opens up and everybody falls in. Now I have to make four shots to save each of the Ghostbusters. And I also stored my first ball towards storage facility multiball.
    9:44
    all right let's even get that extra ball there it is whoo all right we got extra ball that's good this is my third ball uh we're on our second mode we've got to make these four shots and storage facility is lit played better played better
    10:14
    Wow. Extra ball is lit again. I'm going to go ahead and target that a second time. I feel like maybe I need it.
    10:34
    Alright, there's one of the shots, so I rescued one of the guys. Let's go. Oh, too much. missed it here we go man whoo air ball see what i mean even with the protectors i still get air balls i don't know what i just did there that was silly whoa i got an extra ball
    11:14
    There it is. Got the extra ball. Alright, after this I'm going to go for the left ramp. That's both a mode hit, sorry, a scene mode, whatever they want to call it.
    11:39
    Oh! Oh, crap. We timed out. But we did relight extra ball. Okay, so we've got all three of our extra balls. I'm fairly certain that's the max. And we also lit Tobin's Spirit Guide, which is essentially the mystery shot for Ghostbusters. So we've got a bonus multiplier. We lit one ghost. We relit Tobin's Spirit Guide and big points. I have no idea what big points does. But right up the middle here, you track how many ghosts you kill. and as you hit 20, 40, 60, 80, and 100, they initiate different things.
    12:16
    Yeah, that's... Could have been better. Sure again! Alright, so what do we need? We can hit Ghost. I'm going to go for Storage Facility or Tobin's Spirit Guide. There's Storage Facility. Alright, so we've got two balls locked. One more ball, and we initiate storage facility multiball, which is a lot of fun. The callouts in this game are amazing.
    12:51
    And it's lit. Luck would have it. So, let's try again. Ugh! One more time. There it is. Storage facility multiball. I mean, this is turning out to be a slightly better than average first game, especially considering I haven't played this in so long. So we've got to recapture ghosts. You get to see there's a bunch of shots.
    13:26
    Lots of shoot-agains here. We've got to hit Tony Scolari soon before his brother Nunzio pops back up. Oh my gosh. We lost a lot there. I don't feel like we hit anything decent. There's a lot going on.
    14:12
    We did get a 76 million bonus, which isn't bad. So if you hold the left flipper, you get instant info. We're on ball three, sort of. We've got 214 million. The super jackpot's up to 12. We never got to looping supers. We never did any of the looping supers. We got there.
    14:31
    I don't want to start PKE frenzy. I want to award video mode. Oh, we've already got that. So let's start the scene. We can do this plunge correctly.
    14:46
    Nope. Come on, we can do this. We did not do it correctly, I think. All right, so after this, we've got a few different things. One, I can show the video mode. I think that's the way to go. So I'm going to shoot for this scoop. Missed it.
    15:10
    Got to save. Alright. Missed it again. Missed it yet again. Hmm. I think that's it. I think that's all the extra balls.
    15:45
    Hmm. 238 million. That's not a great score. We've cracked a billion a few times on this. I've seen some good people hit 10, 12 billion on this.
    16:00
    Let's give it another go. How much time we got? Living on a prayer, Bon Jovi. All right. Nope. So we can still start the scene, because we didn't hit anything, by hitting that blue shot right there.
    16:27
    So we hit the blue shot, and we start the scene. We skip having to bash Slimer. Can't believe I made that shot. That is a really hard shot to make. And I wasn't going for it. Nice. We got the shoot again.
    16:47
    The way at this point, you want to light all three of the lights up top. All right. Here we go. lit all three back there. We got all three of our shots in the mode.
    17:12
    And we initiated Spook Central. So if you remember from the last one, Spook Central requires that you hit one shot up the left ramp, which then requires you make four shots after that. We're going to let this dead... flip, and I'm just going to keep playing. Ah!
    17:30
    playing with it too much so we got that 10 of our score not not a lot all right let's let's make that that shot first great catches it it was not a storage facility it's not a ball lock right there because storage facility wasn't lit so now we've got to make our four shots there's one hmm how's our lineup looking yeah there we go much better alright so we're on ball three um I think if we make this it clears one of our shots for us nope it was just 10% of the score All right, let's go left ramp.
    18:34
    Left orbit All right Left uh orbit Wow. Not a great, not a great round. We can do better. We can do so much better. 67 million, not fun. Alright.
    18:57
    Nope. Give it a sec. Reset. There it is. Automatically start the mode. Okay, who brought the dog? Arguably the easiest mode in the game. All right, so we're going to backhand the right orbit.
    19:17
    Hopefully goes all the way around. It does. We're going to let it dead flip. And now we're going to go left ramp.
    19:26
    And then left orbit. Oh! There it is. All right, so pretty close to three shots. it was four shots, right?
    19:37
    So now we can start any mode we want to. You guys have seen Spook Central. You kind of got to see we got one, although I timed out. So I'm going to go for Spook Librarian. That did not work on the post-transfer there.
    19:53
    Here we go. Missed it. We are going to get the bonus multiplier by lighting all three up top. let's see if we can do it this time spook librarian there we go cool so this one has uh just four purple shots i think you have to make three of them this is maybe this one's actually easier than okay who brought the dog because we're gonna go backhand ooh uh that i was trying to backhand that didn't work really got to move the shit out of this game all right so this is one where i think hitting that Cool. So we just beat Spooked Librarian.
    20:55
    We got a shoot again, thankfully. And initiated Spook Central, so let's make that single shot. All right, I'll take it. Yeah, so we just need to make this one shot up the left ramp. Let's try it again.
    21:12
    There it is. So one shot up the left ramp, and that initiates the four shots afterwards. You can always skip these scenes by pressing both flippers at the same time.
    21:23
    Is it going to give it to us? It did not give it to us. So we can still backhand that. Nice and easy.
    21:34
    And then let it deadflip around. That did... That was not nice and easy. Wow. Hmm. No, there wasn't a delay in the camera there. That was just me being stupid.
    22:00
    That's a 9.6 million skill shot. Oh. So that sound was us crushing a ghost in the... Oh my god, just get in there!
    22:20
    In the ecto-goggles. There it is. And we got storage facility lockball one. And we lit Tobin's Spirit Guide, I think, so we hit 20 ghosts.
    22:32
    So... Huh. Why isn't Tobin's Spirit Guide lit? Here we go. Left orbit. Great. And we've got one shot left.
    22:51
    And we have to do it from the other side. I have never been able to backhand this. Because you've got to hit it with some serious force.
    22:59
    Nope. Missed it. Is that ball two or ball three? I feel like that was ball two. I really hope that was ball two. Nope, that was ball three. More crap. All right. Let's see if we can get a little bit further this time.
    23:21
    Oh, my gosh. Missed it. Immediately use our ball save, and I just want to start this whole game over. Wish there was a reset get out of it button.
    23:38
    All right, we initiated the mode. We have one last ball to work with, which is a pain in the ass. That's our first shot.
    23:58
    Second shot. Last shot. All right, mode complete. Now we're on to We Got One. Let's actually complete this mode. This is a fairly easy one. You've got to make three shots, and it's one of the two left, then it's one of the two right, then one of the two left.
    24:31
    Here we go, first shot. not gonna get there we go easy backhand and the score multiplier now we got to go one of these two shots on the left we're gonna go ramp and that's our mode now we've initiated he slimed me, which is the second mode in that chain. And off the top of my head, I don't remember what we're supposed to do on this mode, but obviously hit the left ramp. Oh, left ramp, builds, then shoot orbit.
    25:23
    Okay, let's keep hitting it. yeah tonight oh no there's three and hit the orbit all right so now Slimer's active gotta hit and oh and he's the super jackpot all right cool so we completed that mode All right, we lit extra ball, and we can start the ballroom. Let's start the effing ballroom.
    26:07
    Okay, the ballroom. What do we do? Shoot blue shots to capture Slimer. We've got a bunch of blue shots. There's our easy backhand, right?
    26:22
    And we've got... Right, now we can go left ramp. More of that left ramp, not intentional. Let's hit that extra ball. Good. Okay, so we've got the extra ball, and this is going to send... Yeah, anyway, we've got to hit, looks like, two more shots before we can beat the ball room.
    26:50
    Right, so we need to hit this left orbit. Nope. Accidentally hit extra ball again. Oh, let's try the hard shot. Oh!
    27:09
    Wow. That's a... Uh-oh. Did not complete the ballroom, and it starts over. Gotta shoot again. Oh, shit! We came, we saw, we kicked its ass. I'm in a mini wizard mode right now.
    27:32
    So obviously have to shoot that left ramp shot. Come on. Okay. Come on. Don't get cheap on me, Dotson.
    27:55
    Oh get up there There it is Alright looks like we came we saw we kicked its ass Is this a Oh it a multiball Holy shit
    28:20
    Alright, we really need to hit those super jackpots right about now. Thank you. Oh my... Just let all of that shit drain on the mini wizard mode. We came, we saw, we kicked its ass. I have no idea how we initiated that. We did get an extra ball. I also don't know what ball we're on. Oh, it says we completed the ballroom. I have to hit that extra ball shot. Yeah, we're going to start a zine.
    29:20
    Nice, we just started Spook Central, so we've got four modes complete. Uh, if we complete this, I think this will be the most modes I have ever completed.
    29:34
    Nice. Gotta shoot again, because that was awful. Alright, good. Storage facility. there it is that ball one also we hit 40 on light negative reinforcement man we have so much shit lit right now I need to hit that extra ball we've got one ball locked shish kebabs got an 8 times multiplier on score god bless America I can't believe I missed the extra ball nope not letting this one drain extra ball oh all right we're going mode shot
    30:51
    all right come on we can do this nice got one shot let on the one shot left on the mode we still have extra ball we've got two in uh storage facility multi-ball Come on, we got this. Got a big-ass multiplier at the end, so let's get some scoreage, huh?
    31:22
    Here we go. Extra ball. Oh, two times, you jerk! Here we go. Let's go. Storage facility multi-ball. Oh.
    31:44
    Ah! So what ball were we on? Maybe that was three? I have no idea. A laptop just turned off. Start the scene?
    31:59
    That wasn't even an option, I think. There it is Storage facility multiball Alright, with this, hopefully we'll get an extra ball There's gonna be a lot of pinballs flying around Um, and
    32:31
    There it is. Extra ball. Ooh, got that shot. Extra ball. Okay. about to say man 30 million i thought i had an eight times multiplier All right, started Goza the Gozarian. This is mode six.
    34:05
    What do we need to do here? Backhand. All the way around. and the multiplier all right nice and easy backhand come on all the way around let's catch nice easy backhand oh no
    34:41
    start pke frenzy i think we just can't I see the shot we need to make, which is the right crazy shot. Ugh!
    35:29
    Come on, get there. Can we hit that crazy shot? There it is! Ah! Missed it. No idea. Is this ball three? No. I don't know what my score is.
    36:15
    High score four, so it wasn't that great. 523 million? That's okay. that's for me that's okay i'm not a good player but that would be embarrassing if i don't know jack danger or uh zach from straight down the middle walked away with only 500 million so uh i think that's yeah quarter after so that's the stream for today um my name is george fisher i'm from don't panic flip and uh i hope you enjoyed watching some uh watching some ghostbusters we'll do something a little bit different with the cameras next time this is kind of a last second quick yeah I got 45 minutes kind of thing hope you guys have a great day