Zach Sharpe is Really good at the Flipper.
I am standing with Sharpe, director of marketing at the Stern Pinball, in the top-secret, assembly of badge of the company, located inside its head office in Elk Grove Village, Illinois (a suburbs 20 miles northwest of Chicago, the capital of the Flipper world). And the game we play is none other than the last title of Stern, King Kong: myth of the terrorist island. Games are available in Pro, Premium and 932 Limited Edition models (LE), with prices from $ 6,999.
This title was guessed by Sleuths Reddit And Arcade bloggers With a penchant to monitor the brand’s deposits, tanned by Stern on social networks, and after having obtained exclusive practical early access, I am happy to announce that the new machine is my favorite Stern version since 2021.
I first embarked on the Flipper at CES in 2020. I was playing the newly launched Foreign thingsAnd while I turned frantically and hoped the best, this nice gentleman with long white hair kept telling me to “be patient” and “slow down”. (I discovered later that the man was literally Gary Stern, the founder of Stern Pinball, with whom I also spoke during my turn Midwest Gaming ClassicAnd I was addicted. I have googled “how to prevent a drainage pinball machine”. I learned about slap backups. I joined a league and played tournaments. I broke a billion points (on Star WarsIf you are wondering). I haven’t known it for a long time, but I love the freak.
Photography: Louryn Stramp
Monkey
When I arrived at the factory for the first time, I asked Sharpe what his favorite pinball game had ever done. He mentioned two: Cyclopesa rare machine his father, Flipper Historian Roger Sharpedesigned and GodzillaWhich is also to be my favorite machine. It’s also the favorite game to play Keith Elwin And Jeremy Packer (also known as Yeti zombie), respectively the main game designer and main artist director of King Kong: myth of the terrorist island. (Rick Naegelemain software engineer, was an aberrant value, citing Iron Maiden Like his favorite to play. But I won’t blame him for that – I’m just bad at Iron Maiden.)
If you’ve already played a severe freak (and you probably have it, since Stern is one of the the oldest and lightest Flipper manufacturers in history), you will immediately recognize the team’s work brand. King Kong feels like fun to play as Godzilla,, Iron Maiden,, JurassicAnd Avengers: Infinity Quest. I love all these machines, and I immediately fell in love with King Kong Also. The field of candy -colored games makes it difficult to decide where to look first, especially on the premium edition, which has all kinds of toys and gizmos. There are four fins, a secret path, a diverting, a scary Tarantula magnet (I affectionately nicknamed the “Jeff” spider), and a network of rails that go up, go up and below (including a propeller -shaped ramp with a biplane). There is also a target Gong Bash near the middle of the right of the playing field. I deplored the fact that I would undoubtedly drain some bullets while trying to put my freak behind, to which Elwin usefully stressed that I could simply avoid hitting him.
Photography: Severe
