| | I'm not a Family Guy guy, and didn't expect to like this 2006 licensed Stern table based on the animated TV show; as you *would* expect, themed plastic figures, gew-gaws, colors, and voice clips burst at you from every possible crevice.
And I didn't particularly like it; I also didn't particularly dislike it, but I suspect that's largely because it turned out that someone had left me half of a three-player game to finish off for free. During that session, I had a multi-ball episode that really seemed to last for an eternity--like maybe not too far short of five minutes or so? For me, it was *long.*
And that's not because I'm a wizard at all, but rather because a) the game just keeps giving you replacement balls when you lose them, and b) unusually, especially for non-ancient tables, it pops up a large round knob that covers the center drain throughout the multi-ball session; this is *really* generous.
So that part is okay, because whacking multiple balls at once can hardly fail to keep you riveted to the table, even if the rest of the table's layout lacks excitement--and oh, does it!
There's little to do in the center of the table aside from hitting a big, dumb post sticking up at middle top--not at all an inspiring target. The left side features a side flipper, and as much as I don't like side flippers, I like this one even less, because it's a bizarrely short, weak, stubby plastic thing that feels almost entirely useless, and probably is, because there doesn't seem to be much at all for it to shoot at.
And then on the right, we have a short-range chute/hole, which is okay, flanking a ramp of some sort that is completely covered and obscured by the most elaborate elevated mini-table I can recall seeing in a pinball game: it pretty much is an entire--albeit simple--table within a table, complete with its own toothpick-sized, flimsy plastic flippers, and ball-bearing-sized miniature balls; the problem is that when play moves to it, you're suddenly moved from playing on a multi-thousand-dollar pinball arcade machine to something that feels, looks, and pretty much *is* a cheap plastic thing you might find tempting desperate parents of small children in the local mall's mega toy store. The tiny, light ball hopping right *over* the flimsy flippers seemed like an appropriate ending for that unimpressive section of play.
And that's what you've got to work with. |
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