Every once in a while a machine comes along that truly sings.
From Stern's AC/DC to Jersey Jack's Elton John, and now to the Pinball Brothers' Queen. The legendary band, fronted by the immeasurably talented Freddie Mercury, dominated the music scene in the 1970s and 1980s. Mercury wrote many of the band's most popular songs, which have remained culturally relevant through the decades. Queen is one of those bands that deserves every ounce of praise, and it is surprising that an official game had not been made before now. However, a homebrew edition does exist whcich uses the Flash Gordon playfield as its base, and it is an impressive re-skin!
This year Pinball Brothers released their sophomore machine of the famed band. Prior to Queen, Pinball Brothers entered the pinball scene ready to rumble with their impressive and larger-than-life Alien machine. In my opinion, the only thing that can follow that would be an electrifying band (such as Queen)!
This homage to the band - as the company puts it - is meticulously beautiful and daringly over the top. The game's Hi-Fi sound hugs you while you play the game, which features callouts from the living band members. The game features 14 Queen songs, which will keep players engaged for hours.
My favorite feature is the game's upper playfield, inspired by Brian May's guitar. Queen is engaging, exciting, and over the top. I found myself missing balls so I could watch the live footage on the backglass LCD screen. If you're prone to being distracted by a game, this machine will test you. This game contains two ramps, 3 drop targets, 3 standup targets, and more.
If I'm being honest I played this machine for 3 hours when my dad added it to his collection just so I could try and learn the ins and outs. I grew up listening to Queen (truly, my parents have good taste in music), and being able to experience the music this way is an absolute delight. If you collect music-themed pinball machines or want a machine that will rock you, Queen is the way to go.
Queen can be bought as either a Champion Edition or Limited Rhapsody Edition -- which has 1,000 units. There are a few more bells and whistles added to the Rhapsody version, but fundamentally they are the same game. Pinball Brothers have followed up this impressive game with a new pinball for the band Abba. While I have not seen that machine yet, I'm hopeful it's as good as both Alien and Queen. Currently, you can buy this game from most pinball distributors, but they have started appearing on the second-hand market as well. The current median value for a used machine is a smidge over $9K, which is less than the cost of a brand-new machine from their competitors.
This company truly puts passion and love into their machines, and I hope they stick around for years to come. Queen has once again made the rockin' pinball world go round!
