Episode 32: Spooky Surges, Potter Vanishes, and Kong Gets an Upgrade!
I finally got my hands on Evil Dead pinball by Spooky—and holy hell, it’s GOOD. In this episode, I share my first impressions, what makes it click, and why this might be Spooky’s best machine yet! But… where’s Harry Potter from Jersey Jack Pinball? The hype is real, but the silence is deafening. Plus, we cover new updates to King Kong by Stern Pinball and Dungeons & Dragons... Looking to Buy a New or Used Pinball Machine? LEAVE ME A VOICEMAIL and I might play it on the show! Looking for more Pinball Content? Check out my pinball podcast “The Flipside Podcast” Video Version of the Podcast can be found here: Want to listen to the podcast instead? Here are links to Spotify and Apple Podcasts! [RETRO RALPH MERCHANDISE AND CONTACT INFO] If you would like me to do a video review of your product or for other business inquiries, send me an email: retroralph1980@gmail.com
Kineticist’s take
Ralph praises Evil Dead, discusses arcade trades, notes Spooky's design ambition.
Synopsis
Retro Ralph discusses recent changes to his home pinball collection, trading away Black Knight: Sword of Rage, Labyrinth, Pulp Fiction, and T2, while acquiring a mysterious unrevealed game. The primary focus is enthusiastic praise for Spooky Pinball's Evil Dead machine, which Ralph credits with exceptional theme integration, innovative mechanics (motorized hand, pop-up bashers, rotating character states), and overall design quality that has caused him to neglect other games in his collection.
Highlights
- Barrels of Fun's Labyrinth early production unit (unit #8) required significant pitch adjustment to play correctly, needing 7+ degrees instead of the default 6-5 degrees Ralph initially set
- Spooky Pinball deliberately packed comprehensive features into Evil Dead as a statement game after lessons learned from previous releases
- Evil Dead's lower playfield (cellar) is well-balanced and avoids the common pitfall of being either boring or tedious
- Ralph traded Black Knight: Sword of Rage for Labyrinth, then Labyrinth for James Bond Premium Edition, then Pulp Fiction and T2 for an unnamed game to reduce collection from 9 to 8 machines
- Kong received a code update yesterday that prompted Ralph to play it, but he has primarily been playing Evil Dead since acquiring it
- Evil Dead features a motorized stepper motor mechanism controlling Ash's severed hand that players can bash, pop-up deadite characters (Evil Scotty and Evil Ed), and a rotating Annie character that changes appearance based on game modes
- The hidden flipper on Evil Dead initially felt hokey and uncomfortable to Ralph but he has grown to love it after extended play
- Ralph prefers playing pinball at home in a controlled environment where he can hear call-outs better than in noisy arcade locations like Electric Bat Arcade on tournament nights
Entities
- Barrels of Fun· company
- Spooky Pinball· company
- Black Knight: Sword of Rage· game
- Dungeons & Dragons· game
- Evil Dead· game
- James Bond Premium Edition· game
- James Cameron's Avatar Limited Edition· game
- King Kong· game
- Labyrinth· game
- Pulp Fiction· game
- Terminator 2· game
- Electric Bat Arcade· location
- Don Garrison· person
- Jamie· person
- Joel· person
- Kale Hernandez· person
- Retro Ralph· person
- Scott Ian· person