Stern James Bond Pinball Machine
I wasn’t expecting too much when I first played James Bond.
The game had been beset by licensing issues and the reveal had been delayed for numerous reasons. James Bond was a title that appealed to me largely due to me being familiar with the film franchise growing up.
Despite the playfield boasting an Aston Martin DB5 mechanism in all models that Stern Pinball produced (including the pro), there had been a lukewarm reception to the game from the pinball community.
The game was designed by George Gomez who also produced the iconic Williams pinball machine Monster Bash, and more recently my personal favourite Deadpool. Gomez has a reputation for producing games with good ramps but also for clunky or bricky shots which don’t score or progress the game.
The issues seemed to be less with the game play itself with Bond though and more with the licencing, movie integration and game code which were reported to be lacking.
With all of the above in mind my expectations for James Bond 007 pinball machine were quite low. However, I’m delighted to report that I was pleasantly surprised. The cabinet and backbox were more colourful and vibrant than I’d expected, with the decals depicting various scenes from the movies.
The pro version which I played was based on the film Dr No and had a yellow colour scheme and can be seen in the video below.
The playfield was vibrant and contained all of the Bond Girls and villains one would expect. The shots were varied and rewarding with Gomez using metal ramps and wireforms as well as ever.
As you will see in the video I was pleasantly surprised and I would certainly advise anyone to give the game a try before making up their minds.