Medieval Madness

http://www.pinballdiaries.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/img_2605.jpg
(this picture does is of a partially disassembled playing field, but the major points are there)
2 plays for $1.00 | 5 for $2.00
High 365,393,330
Replay 42,000,000

This is one of my favorite machines, and Rebecca's too. The Quest to beat all of the machines at Pinball Pete's actually began with this one, which both Rebecca and I love to play. According to the Internet Pinball Machine Database, it is the 5th most-popular solid-state game (i.e. post-1977). ST:TNG, which I gave a lukewarm review last week, is number four. When this quest is over, I'll have to revisit ST:TNG and see if it really is better than MM. I doubt it, but name-recognition with ST probably swings the internet's opinion. Finding the list of the top-ten SS pinball machines was pretty nice; six of the top-10 are just chillin' at Pete's waiting for me. Like venus flytraps for my quarters.

The goal of Medieval Madness is to destroy the castle. Hitting the drawbridge to the castle enough times will cause it to lower, revealing a portcullis inside. Hit that enough, and it will open your way to victory. A great feature of this game is that after destroying the castle, it resets and you are battling a new minion of the King of Payne. They came up with six different characters to taunt you, and it really feels like you're progressing through the game in a way that Star Trek doesn't.
Rebecca's favorite feature is the trolls that pop up from little trap doors. There aren't very many machines that are able to add features to the playfield during play, and it adds quite a bit to the experience. If only the ball didn't occasionally get caught behind the right-hand troll's head, it makes me extra-cautious during "Trolls!" mode.

Since I played this machine quite a few times prior to The Quest, I got a quick and respectable score of 54.1 million, and will be moving on to South Park. The Troll Multiball mode is broken, but because this post is a little delayed, it has since been fixed. Having played and paid attention to these games, I've noticed that Pinball Pete is pretty timely about repairing the machines.