Tag: Aerobatics Pinball

Aerobatics Retro (Zaccaria Pinball Table Review)

This is our first time using Matt’s +/- idea for ratings. They don’t affect scores at all but rather let readers know if it’s closer to the next rating or the rating under it. Originally I was going to post a massive Zaccaria Retro feature but instead, we’re going to release these in a trickle.

And, because the full eight-person team is here, we’re using Olympic style scoring. The highest rating and lowest rating are not factored into the Final Rating.

AEROBATICS RETRO

Dave the Designer on Aerobatics Retro: Shame about the saucers. Aside from those targets and the top pops being a little far down, everything about Aerobatics Retro is in an appropriate place for the time period. It’s a proper ‘retro’ that’s done its homework and deserves props for it. If they adjusted the eject angles, this might be a winner.

We’ve already reviewed the AtGames Legend build of Aerobatics Retro. The updated Steam build benefits from having a variety of physics options (not to mention tables like this were meant to be played with five balls, not three. Someone please get that memo to MagicPixel and AtGames). Also, we all seem to agree that the saucers don’t seem to dump the ball between the flippers as often. Actually, the right saucer never did it once. Oh, the left saucer still did it enough to Angela that she’s still dumping it in THE PITS. (Dave to Angela: “wait a second, aren’t you the one who defends Jack*Bot?”) Actually, it was pretty funny. In four separate first-to-three duels, Angela only won a single game the entire time, but that one game she won, she set the world record for Aerobatics Retro on 5 Ball Arcade. She basically did it the same way Matt got #2 in 3 Ball Arcade, IE the ball fell into the saucers. So they fell ass-backwards into records. The lack of shooting angles and nearly impossible to defend-against slingshots still shoot down this plane, though Oscar and Jordi felt that there’s SOME satisfaction to be had in the chaotic rebounding. “I think three jet shapes and a slightly wider lane on each side to get back to the top would have been a better layout” said Matt. Hard to disagree.
Set: Zaccaria – 40 Retro Tables
Model: Zaccaria EM
Table Type: Woodrail
Cathy: THE PITS (1 out of 5)
Sasha The Kid: THE PITS
Angela: THE PITS
Oscar: BAD+ (2 out of 5)
Jordi: BAD
Dave: BAD
Matt: BAD+
Dash: BAD +
Scoring Average: 1.65 – BAD
Final Average: 1.6 – BAD
🏆Angela ranks #1 in 5 Ball Arcade – Undisputed World Champion
🏆Matt ranks #2 in 3 Ball Arcade – Post Update Highest Score
🏆Cathy ranks #4 in 90 Second Mode – Post Update Highest Score
🏆Jordi ranks #1 in Time Loop Mode – Undisputed World Champion

Aerobatics (AtGames Legends Pinball Table Review)

AEROBATICS

We LOVE Aerobatics in the Vice Household. Don’t think of this as a typical EM. It’s more like a high-concept early Solid State. This has some very unusual game flow, with two spinners that feed a saucer (so does the plunger), which in turn lights targets on the playfield or advances the bonus. The inlanes are semi-open and a ball is capable of rolling up them and out of play. “Cringe-Lanes” we named them, especially when YOU slap them up and out of play. To make up for these beasts, both outlanes are easily lit, and if the ball falls down a lit outlane, you get an extra ball. Not only that, but every outlaned ball has a puncher’s chance of bouncing back into play, something you can affect directly with a well-timed nudge. No table has earned more TILTS for the right reason than Aerobatics. Yes, it can get repetitive. No doubt about it, and Jordi’s “low” rating of GOOD is absolutely fair. We admit that our family duels with Aerobatics elevated our ratings, as this is one of the great competitive tables in the Zaccaria lineup. But, we also concede those duels usually devolve into who can get the most extra balls. Those matches are every bit as exciting as they are strange. This is one of the few EM/Solid State Zaccaria tables that earned multiple MASTERPIECE votes from The Pinball Chick squad for a reason. Cathy takes it a step further and cites this as Zaccaria’s finest table. Aerobatics is a one-off, and one of the most underrated tables in the history of the sport.
Set: Zaccaria Pinball Pack 1
Type: Electro-Mechanical – Real Table
Based on “Aerobatics” by Zaccaria (1977)
Part of Zaccaria Pinball (Console/PC)
Vice Family High: Oscar “OEV” 9,169,100
Cathy: MASTERPIECE (5 out of 5)
Angela: GREAT (4 out of 5)
Oscar: GREAT
Sasha: GREAT
Jordi: GOOD* (3 out of 5)
Dave: MASTERPIECE*
Scoring Average: 4.16 – Awarded a CERTIFICATE OF EXCELLENCE
*Played on Zaccaria Pinball for Consoles/PC