Venom Pinball is the latest release from Stern Pinball, following some great releases like Godzilla Pinball and Foo Fighters Pinball. While not rated as highly as those two, the theme might be better for those who like comic book games. I have a feeling that this is going to be a low production game where sales are initially underwhelming but the game picks up in popularity later.
Venom Premium Pinball Advantages
There are two major advantages of the premium on Venom. The first is the Spider-Man Doppelganger 3-bank of roll-under targets. This is basically a bank of hanging targets that swing out on the right side where the ball passes under them, kind of like a one way gate. This is something that’s never been done before, so it’s a very unique. The video below shows it in action.
The other thing that’s unique to Venom is the rotating ramp in the middle of the playfield that rotates to make it return to different places or to lock balls. This also hasn’t been done before, though the concept of returning the ball to different places is not new. It is usually done via divertors. So while cool, it’s also a little overengineered to a degree.
What’s crazy is that the premium is so much cheaper than the LE. The LE version is $13k now, which is ridiculous to have it be $3500 more expensive than the premium.
Venon Pro Pinball Advantages
The biggest advantage the pro has is that it features the same ball locking mechanisms that the premium and LE feature. By far the biggest feature on the machine, it’s a cool feature that returns the ball very quickly and stores them for multiball. It’s called the Symbiote containment system, and each side holds 3 balls.
It’s also significantly cheaper at $2500 less than the premium.
Should you buy Venon Pro or Premium pinball?
With Venom, I think that the clear answer is to lean towards the pro. With the premium features not being that overwhelmingly good like some other premiums, you might as well save the money towards other things.
Plus with pinball prices falling currently, the less money you have into the game the better. You can always upgrade to the premium later if you decide you really like the game, and chances are the difference will be less than $2500 considering the initial reception of the game.