The Uncanny X-Men

The Uncanny X-Men is a physical pinball table by Stern Pinball, unsurprisingly based on the X-Men. Designed by Jack Danger, with artwork by Jeremy "Zombie Yeti" Packer and music by Anthrax's Charlie Benante, the machine was revealed in early September 2024 and began releasing later that year.

The plot, adapting Days of Future Past (1981), starts off in the 1980s. The player must help the X-Men battle various enemies and combat anti-mutant hatred — including the Sentinels, which count as both simultaneously. However, a more severe threat brews in the distance — Kitty Pryde is sent to the 21st century and finds that the future is quite dismal, with Sentinels having ruined the city and apprehended most other members of the team. The overarching goal is to set right what once went wrong, both by taking measures in the past and by saving the X-Men in the future, all while dealing with the team's usual problems as well.

Gameplay primarily consists of a variety of modes that must be completed, each one correlating to a specific incident the X-Men must resolve (ranging from fending off the Juggernaut to protecting a Morlock from bigoted zealots). Multiball modes can stack on top of these, ranging from attracting Sentinels' attention (adding another problem to deal with) to summoning the rest of the team to help out in "To Me, My X-Men." By contrast, in the future no modes can be activated — activating Cerebro and time-traveling forces the player to make a series of shots to ward off Sentinels and eventually head back, though they can delay leaving for a bigger point payout.

The playfield's layout features a number of unconventional aspects, the most immediately apparent of which is the "Danger Room" in the bottom-left. A small area with an extra flipper, it consumes an unusual amount of space (to the point where the actual flippers are moved aside to accommodate it) and adds a risk-reward element — balls sent into the Danger Room are likely to drain if you can't keep control of them.

In addition, the game's integration with Stern's Insider Connected system runs deeper than most: players who log into the game are given a mutant power and can find other mutants to use their abilities in-game. Aside from the other unusual shots and ramps, more standardized features include the Sentinel bash toy (a mech that rises from the playfield and acts as a massive target) and an area with a magnet meant to represent Magneto's powers.

Finally, higher-tier versions add Sentinel hands that can interfere with the ball and a captive ball in a mechanism representing Beast's laboratory, along with other cosmetic extras.