Earth Wind Fire Retro (Zaccaria Table Review)

EARTH WIND FIRE RETRO

Matt on Earth Wind Fire Retro: The line of very deep saucers up the center is a welcome feature. The saucers often grab the ball or change its trajectory (you know, pinball randomness). However, trying to intentionally get into the lit saucer seems to depend on luck and persistence. Some kind of rule that lights multiple saucers would be welcome. There’s not much else interesting on this playfield, but the rollover lanes might suffice. The original Earth Wind Fire has plenty of top lanes, rollover targets, and other targets. Where are any of those?

A distant cousin to 70s hits like Centigrade or Sheriff, only without much in the way of dynamic scoring. Besides a pair of high-yielding bumpers, the targets are four roll-over targets that have to be hit twice in a single ball to score their maximum value. That’s nothing compared to the five saucers that only are worth shooting if they’re lit. Although each saucer is numbered, their number isn’t relevant. Only one is lit at a time, and sinking the ball in a lit one provides 500 points. That’s five times the value of a lit roll-over. The good news is that none of the saucers are risky. The bad news is I’ve pretty much explained the table in its entirety. It left Matt wondering where the relationship to the original EWF is at all? Cathy and Angela can’t believe everyone else is giving such a nothing table a positive mark, but Sasha and Oscar note that there is a method to the madness. Saucer #1 and especially Saucer #2 has a puncher’s chance of being released, banging off a bumper and going right back into the saucer, and since you can aim at those, this is technically a shooter’s table. Nobody is going to find Earth Wind Fire Retro to be exciting, but they might find some of it satisfying. Sasha actually changed her score a few days ago, saying she thinks it does just cross the line into borderline greatness. Needless to say, she stands alone there.
Set: Zaccaria – 40 Retro Tables
Model: Zaccaria EM
Table Type: Pick ‘n Flick
Cathy: BAD (2 out of 5)
Sasha The Kid: GREAT– (4 out of 5)
Angela: BAD
Oscar: GOOD–
Jordi: GOOD
Dave: GOOD
Matt: BAD+
Dash: BAD
Scoring Average: 2.625 – Okay
Final Average: 2.5 – Okay at Best
A Pinball Chick Team 🥶Polarizing Table🥶
Cathy ranks #11 in 3 Ball Arcade – Post Update Highest Score
Sasha the Kid ranks #9 in 5 Ball Arcade – Post Update Highest Score
Cathy ranks #2 in Time Loop Mode – Post Update Highest Score

Devil Riders Retro (Zaccaria Retro Review)

DEVIL RIDERS RETRO

Sasha on Devil Riders: I think that a rating of THE PITS should be reserved for a table that’s either unplayable due to poor mechanical design or one where no amount of skill can overcome luck. Everyone might not like Devil Riders’ scoring system, but you can rebound on it, and you can defend against the gobble holes with the nudge. Both those facts are true whether you’re playing with Zaccaria’s arcade or simulation engines. I don’t happen to like Devil Riders and I’m guessing I won’t like gobble holes going forward, but THIS as one of the worst tables ever? Please. Readers should refer to Clown Retro for what a worst table ever contender should play like. This is just an ordinary 1950s bad table.

Fun fact: This was Sasha the Kid’s first table with gobble holes. These days, Visual Pinball’s EM selection is her jam, but when she first played this on her AtGames Legend, she was not a happy camper. Now in the old days, gobble holes could be tied to specials and extra balls. As a reminder, for whatever reason, Magic Pixel put out a collection of old-timey pins without old-timey scoresheets. As a result, there’s essentially seven tiny drains that score if lit. Lighting the gobble holes only requires a single bounce off the corresponding bumper. We think Sasha’s wrong about the amount of skill that can go into games of Devil Riders. Yes, you can grab rebounds and aim. You mostly won’t be able to since the rails leading to the flippers are bouncy as all hell. But assuming you do grab a rebound, all that does is get you above the bumpers. The gobble holes and the bumpers block anything to actually shoot at. It’s not the scoresheet that’s wrong. It’s the layout. The Kid got this one wrong. It IS Plinko, but Plinko that walks like a shooter’s table. Sasha’s counter argument is that the shots to get above the bumpers are tight enough that they’re “ghost targets” and satisfying in their own right. Agree to disagree.
Set: Zaccaria – 40 Retro Tables
Model: Zaccaria EM
Table Type: Woodrail
Cathy: THE PITS (1 out of 5)
Sasha The Kid: BAD (2 out of 5)
Angela: THE PITS
Oscar: THE PITS
Jordi: THE PITS
Dave: THE PITS
Matt: THE PITS+
Dash: BAD
Scoring Average: 1.25
Final Average: 1.16
💩Certified a Turd💩 by The Pinball Chick Team
Cathy ranks #1 in Time Loop Mode – Undisputed World Champion

Cine Star Retro (Zaccaria Pinball Table Review)

CINE STAR RETRO

A NEW TABLE ADDED TO THE RETRO PACK IN 2025

Matt on Cine Star Retro: The closed-off layout is too easy. It doesn’t use all of the space, the drop targets inexplicably don’t stay down and are worth an increasingly inflated value, and the saucer drops the ball into the drain in simulation. But, this table is actually controllable and fun to shoot. Why not open up the top with another bumper and two more lanes? Then switch the spot targets with the drop targets.

The first of thirteen tables added to the infamous Retro pack in the year 2025 is, for all intents and purposes, shooting school. There’s no outlanes or slingshots, and besides a slightly enlarged drain, no antagonistic elements or angles. The only defensive aspect of the table is that the rails have a tendency to run fast. Hey, schools make kids run, right? But grabbing rebounds in Cine Star Retro is a cinch since you get to set the terms with minimum chaos. So what’s the point of the table? The five drop targets and eight spot targets are set along common angles that makes this an ideal table to quickly teach players both a shooter’s stroke AND conversion shots. Angela, Oscar, and Dash couldn’t get over the lack of stakes, but Cathy and Sasha enjoyed the scoring system’s progressive values of the drop targets and Jordi loved the lack of vacuum outlanes and the uncluttered, wide-open playfield. “What’s not to love?” Jordi said, though Oscar especially was annoyed by the lack of risk/reward. Our biggest knock is an undervalued kickhole that’s not worth the risk, but this wasn’t the disaster Dave predicted when he first saw it.
Set: Zaccaria – 40 Retro Tables
Table Type: Sharpshooter
Cathy: GOOD (3 out of 5)
Sasha The Kid: GOOD –
Angela: BAD (2 out of 5)
Oscar: BAD
Jordi: GREAT – (4 out of 5)
Dave: GOOD
Matt: GOOD –
Dash: BAD
Scoring Average: 2.75 – GOOD
Final Average: 2.66 – OKAY
A Pinball Chick Team 🥶POLARIZING TABLE🥶
Jordi ranks #3 in 3 Ball Simulation – Post Update Highest Score
Matt ranks #4 in 5 Ball Arcade – Post Update Highest Score
Sasha the Kid Ranks #5 in 5 Ball Arcade
Cathy ranks #2 in 5 Ball Simulation (Former Record Holder)
Jordi ranks #8 in Time Loop – Post Update Highest Score