Few modern machines command the reverence of Stern’s Jurassic Park, the 2019 blockbuster from designer Keith Elwin that fans and critics routinely rank among the greatest playfields ever laid out. Built around the 1993 film, it drops you onto Isla Nublar after the park’s systems fail, and your job is gloriously simple in concept and punishing in practice: rescue the stranded staff and recapture the dinosaurs roaming the island. This Premium/Limited edition adds the showpiece toys, and the layout flows the way only an Elwin design does — three flippers feeding a network of ramps and orbits that reward smooth, confident shooting.
The marquee attraction is the T-Rex. Spelling out T-REX by repeatedly hitting the truck summons the apex predator, and the savviest players line up a T-Rex event or a Control Room mode just before launching a multiball so the scoring stacks sky-high. Inside T-Rex Multiball, the trick is sequence: clear the yellow arrows fast, then chase the red jackpot arrows in order, each one compounding the value of the last. Raptor and Chaos multiballs add their own routes to a six-ball frenzy.
For the skill-shot connoisseur, Jurassic Park is a playground — there’s a whole menu of them, from a tidy short-plunge secret award to the elaborate full-plunge combos that ricochet from the T-Rex ramp through the Pteranodon ramp and beyond, including one named for Stern’s own Mike Vinikour. Rescue enough staff and capture the T-Rex in its paddock and you’ll light extra balls to keep the hunt alive. Deep, fast, and endlessly rewarding to learn, it’s a table that earns its spot on the all-time short list.