In 1992-1993, Data East put out 10,400 of these Star Wars pinball machines. As a Star Wars fan and arcade geek, I was instantly hooked. It was the first solid state pinball machine that I ever played and the first pinball machine that I ever played that featured a Multi-ball mode. I recall feeding many quarters into one of these at the Movie theater in our town.
The artwork is agreeable, borrowing from the appropriate elements from the movies while adding a cartoon-y flare that gives the machine a nice style.
The translite - backglass artwork blends well with the theme of the playfield design and looks great when properly backlit. (This one is lit with LEDs)
I came into this machine while lunch-time cruising Craigslist. I bought it, sight unseen but was pleasantly surprised by the condition when we arrived at the storage unit where it had been stored. The machine had been in storage for a couple of years, had been in a home unit for a decade and had likely spent a little time on a route prior to that before being refurbished and sold by TNT Amusements.
It has been in our collection for 2 1/2 years.
So, how does it hold up as a Rec Room game?
Honestly, it gets very little play when presented beside newer pinball machines. At first, when this was our only machine, we all played it nearly every day. As the collection of games has grown and there are other options, this game gets played less.
For the younger crowds I think it is a factor of it being less bling-y than some of our other games. For the older, more experienced pinball players I think the problem is that the ruleset is somewhat shallow.
Myself, though with a good deal of personal nostalgia I still enjoy hours of play on this game. We've considered selling it to make room for another game but when it comes down to it, I think I would hate to see this machine go anywhere.
Maybe if Stern comes out with a new Star Wars I'll change my mind. :)
Here is some video and gameplay of our machine, enjoy!