Episode 75 - Die on this Hill: Raven w/ Scott Danesi
Wedgehead Pinball Podcast
43 min
Summary
Scott Danesi defends Raven as underrated, countering Pinside hate with mechanical cleverness and thematic charm.
Scott Danesi defends Raven, a 1986 Gottlieb game ranked #301 on Pinside (lowest-rated game featured on the show), by systematically responding to harsh community reviews. He argues the game features clever mechanics (sniper targets, drop targets, innovative ramp design), excellent thematic artwork and cabinet design despite photo-realistic backlash, and underrated 8-bit audio. Hosts and guest emphasize that negative reviews often conflate aesthetic preferences (faded backglass, unlicensed Rambo theme) with actual gameplay quality, and that operator enthusiasm significantly influences casual player perception.
Highlights
- Raven was a very big seller for D. Gottlieb & Co. with 3,500 units made
- Raven is currently ranked #301 on the all-time Pinside list, making it the lowest rated game ever featured on the Wedgehead show
- The game lacks a multiball, which contributes to its poor reputation
- Raven was supposed to be Rambo but used an unlicensed female character instead (similar to how Bone Busters was an unlicensed Ghostbusters knockoff)
- The backglass was created using photorealistic photography with a model, requiring the model to return for multiple photo sessions
- The cabinet came with black armor on it from the factory
- The ramp mechanic nudges left or right unpredictably, but can be controlled with skill via star post nudging
- The sniper popup targets with scanning lights are skill-based, not luck-based as one reviewer claimed
- The 8-bit audio quality is deliberately stylized and 'sounds like it was made on a Nintendo,' not drab as one reviewer claimed
- The OneTaste review was actually a positive endorsement, not a negative one, despite using backhanded phrasing
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