Retro Replay Review

Gameplay

The first few games make the divide between these tables obvious. Elvira and the Party Monsters invites you into a dense, playful mess of ramps, targets, and monster imagery, with the Monster Slide providing a clear shot to chase. It feels like a table made to keep you batting the ball around its central attractions rather than quietly studying a golf-card objective.

No Good Gofers asks for more patience. Its goal of clearing nine holes in as few strokes as possible gives your scoring runs a structure beyond simply surviving, and that starts to click once you understand that each hole matters. The Slam Ramp’s Hole In One skill shot is an especially tempting opening challenge, while the spinning Whirlwheel adds another worthwhile target when you need a reward.

Both tables lean hard into physical toys and targets, which is exactly why this pairing works. Elvira’s dancing Boogie Men and Party Monsters make its layout feel busy and theatrical; Gofers has Bud and Buzz popping up from their holes to heckle the action. If you want a pair of tables that reward repeated attempts and slowly improving shot selection, this is a stronger pack than its two-table count first suggests.

Graphics

The tables have sharply different looks. Elvira covers its playfield in colorful party-monster art and puts the horror hostess front and center, while No Good Gofers resembles a cartoon golf course crowded with its two gopher rivals. The moving Boogie Men, pop-up gophers, Slam Ramp, and spinning Whirlwheel give both tables plenty to watch between shots.

Story

There is no plot to follow in the usual sense, but each table commits to a simple premise. Elvira turns a monster party into pinball-pageantry, drawing on the voice and likeness of Elvira, Mistress of the Dark. That theme is broad, silly, and suited to a table built around visual clutter and novelty toys.

No Good Gofers has the cleaner hook: you are effectively playing a pinball round of golf. Bud and Buzz act as commentators and troublemakers, and the nine-hole framing gives their interruptions a reason to exist beyond random chatter. It is a more coherent game-show-like setup than Elvira’s freewheeling party.

Fans of Elvira may also appreciate that this is the earlier Dennis Nordman table with a later spiritual successor in Scared Stiff. For more pinball in the wider catalog, see Pinball Arcade.

Overall Experience

This pack earns its place through contrast. Elvira is the one to load up when you want immediate themed nonsense and a packed playfield; No Good Gofers is the table to return to when you want a more deliberate objective and the satisfaction of lowering your strokes across nine holes.

There can be a learning hump with Gofers, because its golf structure asks you to care about more than a single high-score chase. Stick with it. Once the hole progression becomes part of your decision-making, it has a purposeful rhythm that complements Elvira rather than duplicating it.

Buy in if two classic tables with loud personalities sound more enticing than a matched set of similar layouts. This is not just an Elvira curiosity or a golf-theme novelty: it is a compact, well-chosen double bill where one table supplies the party and the other supplies the long-game challenge.

Retro Replay Score

8.1/10