HOUSE OF TARG TRIP REPORT PART II

Part 2 of Bumper City's House of TARG trip report is up next! This time around, we are going to take a look at some 90's pinball goodness in the form of Williams' Fish Tales!

Unlike Part 1 where we had two tables from Sega, Independence Day and Baywatch, this time it is just going to be about Fish Tales. The other Bally/Williams tables at House of TARG were Dracula, The Addams Family, and Doctor Who, all of which I have look at one way or another... click the links and read their reviews!

Fish Tales is an underrated table of the 90's but when its name comes up, it is often considered a solid and challenging title. The fishing theme is a bit of an odd choice, especially when released around the same time as tables based on big licenses like The Addams Family and Doctor Who. The designer, Mark Ritchie, seemed to have been saddled with quite a few strange original themes, having designed Taxi, Police Force, and Diner, but always managed to make the most out of them. Fish Tales is no exception and is arguably considered one of Ritchie's best tables, though it is tough to say, seeing as he also designed Top-10 table, Indiana Jones: The Pinball Adventure.

THE HOUSE OF TARG TRIP REPORT PART I

Time for some HOUSE OF TARG trip reports! I'm super excited to talk about the machines that were on hand at this wicked cool venue. There was quite the eclectic line-up and a few machines that you don't often see at barcades. You know that here on Bright Lights Bumper City, I like to look at some of the lesser-known tables, like Bone Busters Inc. at The Pinball Gallery in Downington, PA., Wipe Out! at the Guelph Pinball Club, and The X-Files at Michigan Pinball Expo!

I mention The X-Files specifically as it is a SEGA table and the House of TARG had quite a few Sega tables there! There was also a good representation of DATA EAST tables which complimented the Sega tables well. The reason being that Sega acquired Data East's pinball division 1994 when the latter exited the pinball market due to sales numbers dropping. Although neither Sega nor DATA EAST could compare to the Bally/Williams tables of the 90's and often played second fiddle to the main players in pinball, they did make some cool tables which aren't very well represented in today's pinball communities. There were a couple of Bally and Williams tables at the House of TARG but why talk about those when we have THESE?

Not often do you get a chance to play Independence Day... and play I did! Played the heck out of it. I always heard that Independence Day was one of Sega's stronger tables and after getting a few games on it, I would agree.

It's not a very in-depth table, only having two multiball modes but ruleset depth doesn't make or break a table for me. Instead, Independence Day really shines in it's layout. The table is tough but not unforgiving. The ramp shots are tight but feel real smooth to hit; rarely does the ball lose momentum on the ramps and fly back down towards the middle drain. The ramps are steep but certain measures have been taken to make the ramp shots slightly less dangerous. There's a return hole on the left ramp located just behind the Alien Head which the ball will drop down through if it doesn't make it all the way.

THE HOUSE OF TARG... PREVIEW REPORT!

Earlier in the year, I heard some rumblings of a pinball resurgence in Ottawa. I made my first venture up north to our Nation's Great Capital back in September 2013 for the Ottawa Pinball Expo and although I did not see many pinball machines out in the wild while I was in Ottawa, I got to see firsthand the strong following of pinball in the area. Several months later, I started hearing that a bar was opening up in Ottawa that would have not one, not two, not even three pinball machines...

but a whole bunch of pinball machines!! This mecca of pinball was to be named The House of TARG after the classic arcade game, TARG.

The House of TARG has been open for a couple of months now and my buddy Penstone, who lives in the Ottawa-Gatineau area, checked it out back in May. Here is what he had to say "OK... Come to Ottawa is all I have to say... goddamn." So my brother Shane and I planned a trip to Ottawa in July in order to hunt down this amazing bar. Lemme tell you... The House of TARG is amazing. Wall-to-wall lineups of pinball and arcade games, lotsa beer, live music, and perogies! The two main features of The House of TARG are pinball and perogies, with a large variety of pinball, everything from classic Bally/Williams tables...