In a friendly neighborhood comparison war, Jon struck first with a Shadow vs. BSD poll, and the votes were pretty much split.
Well, now its time for his to be judged...
Opinions.....which is a better pin, The Shadow or Judge Dredd?

Or as Jon would put it:
-Both machines were made by Williams in the mid 90s. Both are considered great games despite their relatively cheap price. Both are drainers.
-Which is the better game? Which keeps you coming back? Which would you take to a deserted island (that was level and had an outlet)?

My vote...is difficult, because both games are so different...but theme, artwork, music, size , and rule depth all go to JD in my opinion.
AND its both Alec Baldwin and Sly Stalone free!

2 years for flatulence  

Shadow, by far.

But JD is enjoyable (but did not stick around my collection in the end).

Quoted from Monkeybug

Shadow, by far.

But JD is enjoyable (but did not stick around my collection in the end).

Agree with Monkeybug on both accounts. Had a JD and it didn't stay long. Fun game, just not a keeper for me.

You may like JD more now, but give it 6 weeks  

As long as you enjoy it, that's what's important.

Duane

Shadow, all the way!

I admit though that JD has a better theme. But the music and voices aren't as good as Shadow's. I love JD's artwork though. I can't wait till ya get the deadworld mod.

Quoted from jonny_eh

...I can't wait till ya get the deadworld mod.

DON'T DO IT!!!! I had a JD with the deadworld mod and it's a pain in the a$$. Cann't remember the exact details, but occasionally it would get in a mode where it would continually fire the balls making it impossible to end MB. Basically it would lose track of the balls in play. There are no switches for the deadworld and the game loses track of the number of balls out. I verified this with other owners of the mod. The error doesn't happen often, but it was enough to be frickin annoying.

Duane

Do you think it was an error with the software? It was version L-1 after all. Or maybe you had an undiagnosed opto switch problem somewhere?

Quoted from TwilightZone

DON'T DO IT!!!! I had a JD with the deadworld mod and it's a pain in the a$$. Cann't remember the exact details, but occasionally it would get in a mode where it would continually fire the balls making it impossible to end MB. Basically it would lose track of the balls in play. There are no switches for the deadworld and the game loses track of the number of balls out. I verified this with other owners of the mod. The error doesn't happen often, but it was enough to be frickin annoying.

Duane

Dang!
I did hear that the mod is very sensitive to errors....I guess as long as the pin is working 100% its all good, but how long does a pin stay that way, eh?

While poking around I found this:

Quoted Text

This is slightly off topic, but I see one thing when running L-6. If a
ball gets hung up in the playfield, when the pin times out it
automatically launches another ball. And when that ball drains, it auto
launches another ball, again and again until the first ball that is
hung up finally enters the drain.

So it sounds like that the earlier L-1 ROM doesn't handle stuck balls well. Just don't get balls stuck! Or if you do, open the coin door to prevent a replacement ball from firiing.

Update: I also found this:

Quoted Text

Game keeps shooting extra balls in multiball, and ends ball with balls still on the playfield
- Check crane exit opto
- Check that the ball exits through the crane exit opto

Right now I would prefer to have a JD back over a an S. Take that statement for what it's worth I guess.

I liked the theme, frantic widebody multi-ball, pf flashers and music on JD. S although rules are deep I didn't find it to be anything special. Too much MONGOL hurry up.

Hell I've said this before I would take JM over S any day of the week so you get the idea S isn't too special to me.

Buy whatever comes up first that's the better deal would be my recommendation.

Quoted from Hippochrome

-Both machines were made by Williams in the mid 90s. Both are considered great games despite their relatively cheap price. Both are drainers.

Who said JD was a great game??

I think it's ok, but much prefer Shadow.

Jd has a great layout with lots of varied shots but I find it lacks every where else, the modes are ok, and the mutliball is ok.

It's tough right now to formulate an opinion, 3 months ago I would have said Shadow hands down, but I'm getting kida of sick of Shadow so the prospect of owning a JD for me for a while seems apealing.

But that being said, if someone offered me a trade for my Shadow for JD, I wouldn't be taking it.

So Shadow for me, while I'm bored with it right now, it is the superior game.  

Greg

You DO realize that to get the deadworld mod, you have to order it and actually keep the game long enough for it to arrive in the mail, right?  



Just teasing
ME

Quoted from jonny_eh

So it sounds like that the earlier L-1 ROM doesn't handle stuck balls well. Just don't get balls stuck! Or if you do, open the coin door to prevent a replacement ball from firiing.

and lose a ball. If you are having a good game, there is nothing more frustrating than an error taking that away from you. Just ask Loafer about the Home Roms for White Water

I read all the stuff and investigated it. In the end, I figured it was a "feature" and I had to live w/ it or take the mod out. Had I kept the JD, the mod would have been sold.

Duane

Quoted from medvet

Greg

You DO realize that to get the deadworld mod, you have to order it and actually keep the game long enough for it to arrive in the mail, right?  



Just teasing
ME

That game was so heavy that I'll never be moving it again....it says put.....that is until I finally cave-in and buy a dolly

Quoted from TwilightZone

I read all the stuff and investigated it. In the end, I figured it was a "feature" and I had to live w/ it or take the mod out. Had I kept the JD, the mod would have been sold.

Duane

Hmmmm... maybe its time for me to post on the "parts wanted" section of MAACA

+1 for the shadow: Does not require a mod with a downgraded ROM to be used to its full potential.

Quoted from jonny_eh

+1 for the shadow: Does not require a mod with a downgraded ROM to be used to its full potential.

Yeah, but Alec Baldwin.....

Quoted from Vengeance

It'3 months ago I would have said Shadow hands down, but I'm getting kida of sick of Shadow so the prospect of owning a JD for me for a while seems apealing.

Sounds like the cycle I went through. JD has been gone longer than S so it may be a matter of variety. I did like the JD theme better. Beating all the judges is just plain tough and rewarding in a way when you do it. I wish the game didn't have the Superpin buy in mode though so you would have to earn the multiball as opposed to going "hey Jack check this out" and pushing the button. Trivial stuff but part of the package. Hate the button choice they made on JD, it looks like crap. Love the gun on S. Really like JD's BG and topper... what can I say about S in this regard?? As disfunctional as it is the deadworld looks cool when it spins. Left kickback is a waste of time on JD. Sanctum is a cool ball trick. S dots are better than JD's and there is probably too much going on on the JD DMD as a whole during the game. What was my score again?

Quoted from necro_nemesis

What was my score again?

Uhhhh...Id say that's a another vote for JD...yup, JD is cleaning up in the votes here

Hey hippo, is JMA still the Grand Champion on your JD?

Quoted from jonny_eh

Hey hippo, is JMA still the Grand Champion on your JD?

No comment

Owned both at the same time, still have Shadow.

JD is fun, but Shadow is more challenging.

Quoted from jonny_eh

Hey hippo, is JMA still the Grand Champion on your JD?

Not anymore
Only crushed your score by 107,000,000

My vote would definitely go to Shadow.  Enjoy the gameplay, playfield layout and associated features, art or more specifically the art deco look on the playfield of Shadow(but not necessarily the translite), and the music /speech on Shadow as compared to Judge Dredd.  Enjoyed JD for about the first two weeks I owned it but soon after it became trade bait.

                                                            flashman

PS Yes Glen I changed my opinion on the playfield art on Shadow and I really like the diversity this has to offer to a gameroom collection.  

IMHO most of S's art is quite good. Nice cab, nice work on the gun, pf is art deco. Had they used the same artwork they used on the cab for the translite it would have been a nice package.

I don't mind the translite, but there is substantial room for improvement. The game suffers from licensing issues the same as many others do. Had the game been modelled less after the movie and more after the radio program it would have been a classic theme vice a dated theme.