Stern’s The Beatles, released in 2018, is a love letter to the most famous band in history — and a deliberate throwback in design. Conceived by Joe Kaminkow with design by Stern’s chief creative officer George Gomez, this Gold edition (one of several luxury tiers) was built as a compact, approachable celebration rather than a sprawling rules monster, pairing a classic four-flipper layout with a spinning disc, twin drop-target banks, and the unmistakable soundtrack of the Fab Four themselves.

The game leans into nostalgia and accessibility. A skill-shot menu rewards a precise plunge — a short plunge to the star rollover, a medium plunge looped with the upper flipper, or a daring shot through the gap at the top of the loop for the big award. The heart of the scoring is in the three sets of drop targets, spelling FAB, FOUR, and 1964 (the year of Beatlemania’s American explosion); clear all three on a single ball and you light an extra ball that then dances around the inlanes via the slingshots. There’s even a friendly bit of strategy for the last ball, where you can dial up “All My Loving” before plunging to launch straight into a two-ball multiball.

Bright, melodic, and unpretentious, The Beatles is a machine designed to put a smile on a casual player’s face while still giving a regular reasons to chase those drop-target completions. For fans of the band and collectors who appreciate a clean, music-forward Stern, it’s a joyful tribute that lets the songs do the heavy lifting.