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John Popodiuk designed this magical game with artwork penned by Linda Deal. 6,600 units were manufactured. This game is always in the top 10 machines in collectibility. The magic trunk is the centerpiece of the playfield. Its multifunctional sides rotate according to the storyline of the machine at the time. Eight illusions are to be collected in a typical game. This is one of four requirements needed to complete the grand finale stage of the game. Advancing the clock to midnight by shooting the right-side lane 12 times or hitting the captive ball completes this feature. Multiball must be made at the trunk to complete the third part of the puzzle. The last issue is completing the word “theater” by certain ramp shots. Grand finale is tough to achieve but a neat show awaits you. Vanish is another feature that makes a ball disappear when shot up the left-side ramp; the ball reappears when the right ramp is made.This four-player machine is almost always considered to be in the top five best solid-state games of its genre. Brian Eddy designed this machine with art by Doug Watson. 3,450 examples of it were made. This fast-paced game is not based on the “Mars Attacks” movie but ironically came out the same time as the movie’s release. A sequel to this game is also in the museum by the name “Revenge From Mars.” The main theme of this amusing game is to complete the five attack waves activated by hitting the three drop targets in front of the saucer. Doing so drops the targets and allows shots to the saucer. After so many saucer hits, the saucer explodes into a flurry of strobe lights (first time used on a pinball machine) and sounds. If you make it to Mars Attacks, the game goes into hyper mode with a flurry of options and actions. Total annihilation of Mars is the ultimate goal. Many more feats and multi-balls are also present.Space Mission was released in January, designed by Steve Kordek with artwork by Christian Marche. Production run was 11,652. This game was very successful for Williams and is considered to be the seventh most desirable game of the ’70s era.The game features a moving target as well as two side kickers next to the flippers for shots at the moving target. Making the A, B, or C light up the side eject holes to award a double bonus for the ball in play. If you were skillful enough to complete the A, B and C, the side outlanes light up for special. The top horshoe loop advances the bonus system. This game has a lot of nice shots and is fast paced. One doesn’t tire easily trying to achieve the scores needed to win a free game. This game was one of Steve’s Kordek’s favorite designs.Yet another legendary, genre-defining game – in an era replete with genre-defining classics - in which a single player takes control of a ship trapped in the middle of an asteroid field. A number of large, slow-moving asteroids drift randomly around the play area and must be shot by the player. When shot, the asteroids will break into a number of smaller pieces, which must also be shot until, eventually, all of the asteroids and fragments will be destroyed and the next wave begins. Asteroids introduced real-world physics to video games for the first time, with speed and inertia all adding to the player’s problems. As well as the inertia of the player’s ship – forcing the player to allow for the ship slowing down and speeding up whenever the thrust button was utilized – shot asteroids would often send fragments flying in seemingly random directions, and at varying and unpredictable speeds. As well as the ever-present asteroids, alien saucers also make a regular appearance. These move diagonally around the screen, firing at the player’s ship and must be quickly destroyed.September was the month for the introduction of this game. Both solid-state and mechanical versions were produced (9,950 versus 550 units, respectively). Ed Krynski designed the machine with art by Gordon Morison. A roto-target was incorporated into the upper right of the game, a Gottlieb exclusive. Hitting the A-B-C rollovers lights up the extra ball target and increases the value of the roto-targets as well as the drop target values. Knocking down all the drop targets increases the bonus multiplier value. The second time this feat is completed lights the special roto-target value. This game also features a bonus advance bank which increases to 20,000 points and a two to five times bonus multiplier feature. Score is the other way to win games.It’s probably a very rare person who has never played Pac-Man. Even for those who may have missed it in the 1980s, Pac-Man has been re-made on nearly every video game platform since then. Pac-Man even appeared on the front page of Google (as a playable game) on Pac-Man’s 30th anniversary. However, for those few who are unfamiliar with the game, here are the basics. You, the player, control the yellow, circular Pac-Man using either keyboard arrows or a joystick. The goal is to move Pac-Man around the maze-like screen gobbling up all 240 dots before the four ghosts (sometimes called monsters) get you. The four ghosts are all different colors: Blinky (red), Inky (light blue), Pinky (pink), and Clyde (orange). However, they all turn dark blue when Pac-Man eats one of the four power pellets available on each level; the pellets enable Pac-Man to eat the ghosts. Occasionally, fruit will appear on the screen. If Pac-Man gobbles those up then he earns a point bonus, with different fruit worth different values. While all this is happening, Pac-Man makes a wocka-wocka sound that is nearly as memorable as the yellow character himself. When first launched in Japan by Namco in 1980, the game received a lukewarm response, as Space Invaders and other similar games were more popular at the time. However, the game found far more success in North America. Pac-Man’s success in North America took competitors and distributors completely by surprise in 1980. Marketing executives who saw Pac-Man at a trade show prior to release completely overlooked the game (along with the now-classic Defender), while they looked to a racing car game called Rally-X as the game to outdo that year. The appeal of Pac-Man was such that the game caught on immediately with the public; it quickly became far more popular than anything seen in the game industry up to that point. Pac-Man outstripped Asteroids as the best-selling arcade game in North America, grossing over $1 billion in quarters within a decade, by the end of the 1980s, surpassing the revenues grossed by the highest-grossing film “Star Wars”. The player controls Pac-Man through a maze, eating pac-dots (also called pellets). When all pac-dots are eaten, Pac-Man is taken to the next stage. Between some stages one of three intermission animations plays. Four enemies (Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde) roam the maze, trying to catch Pac-Man. If an enemy touches Pac-Man, a life is lost and the Pac-Man itself withers and dies. When all lives have been lost, the game ends. Pac-Man is awarded a single bonus life at 10,000 points by default.Wayne Neyens designed this classic with Roy Parker penning the artwork. 2,700 of these were fabricated. This game has a holdover feature, which holds the monkeys’ positioning on the backglass from game to game. If you’re skillful enough to hit the A, B, C, and D targets, a monkey is advanced up the tree on the backglass. If one monkey makes it to the top, one replay is awarded: two monkeys score two replays, and three monkeys score three replays. Obviously if you pass this game and notice the third monkey nearing the top, feeding the coin slot was a natural for your just reward. Rolling over the 1 – 5 rollovers at the top of the playfield lights the side specials and awards 200 points once you drain the ball. A nice, well balanced game and quite a challenge not to lose your ball in play.Gottlieb Pop-A-Card was another classic ‘70s playfield designed by Ed Krynski with artwork by Gordon Morison. Only 825 of these units were made. The replay version of the game was called Drop–A-Card which, as usual, was a much higher produced machine. The open playfield of this game gives ample room for scoring the three banks of drop targets. To win free balls with this game, you have to either complete the 2, 3, 4, and 5 targets, or the 6, 7, 8, and 9 targets…or the 10, J, Q, K, and Ace targets. The first two options light the wow feature to award free balls during that ball in play. If you hit the 10 thru Ace targets to completion, four rollovers light up to score extra balls. Of course, score is another way to score more balls.Two banks of 5 drop targets, with two kickout holes above the drop targets. Three pop bumpers, no slingshots, and two 3″ flippers. The game play/rules behind Fastdraw is rather interesting, and a bit complicated for an EM pinball. First try and score the three A-B-C rollover targets. This increases the score value of the two kickout holes (1000 points plus another 1000 for each of the scored A-B-C rollovers, for a possible 4000 points max per kickout hole). Each of the three rollovers corresponds to a pop bumper too, so scoring the “A” rollover lights its pop bumper scoring 100 points instead of 10 points. Getting the three A-B-C rollovers also turns on the “extra bonus” light (double bonus for all but the last ball). Last ball gets double bonus by default, and if the A-B-C rollover lanes are scored, triple bonus is awarded. After the A-B-C rollovers are scored, knocking down all 5 of either the right or left drop target banks will also light the corresponding right or left kickout hole for Special. (The center pop bumper alternates the Special between the right and left kickout hole.) Also each drop target knocked down increases the end-of-ball bonus by 1000 points. Finally, knocking down all 10 drop targets makes the game raise the single center black drop target on each of the two drop banks. Now this single drop target is worth 5000 points. If one of the two center black drop targets is down, again that corresponding kickout hole will alternate lit as Special (assuming the A-B-C rollovers have been scored). If both black single drop targets are knocked down, the game resets these two black drop targets again. At the end of ball all targets and features reset, so it’s rinse and repeat for the next ball/player.This April release came in a four-player version, also in the museum called “Royal Flush.” 12,250 games were created in this sizable run of machines. Ed Krynski designed the machine with Gordon Morison penning the artwork for the game. A very popular game in its day, the main ingredient of the play field is the battery of nine drop targets set at an angle. The object here is to complete the drop targets to complete the five card combinations represented on the front play field. Completing a combo illuminates the light in the bonus column of combos and at the end of the ball, a “scan” bonus would score the appropriate number of points to the player currently up. The drop targets reset after each ball unless an extra ball is scored via the free ball gate. A double scan of the bonus lights on the last ball. Another feature to shoot for is the three colored card sequence. These light a special on the kick-out hole.Donkey Kong is an arcade game released by Nintendo in 1981. It is an early example of the platform game genre, as the gameplay focuses on maneuvering the main character across a series of platforms while dodging and jumping over obstacles. In the game, Jumpman (since renamed Mario) must rescue a damsel in distress, Lady (now named Pauline), from a giant ape named Donkey Kong. The hero and ape later became two of Nintendo’s most popular characters. Donkey Kong is one of the earliest examples of the platform game genre; it is sometimes said to be the first platform game, although it was preceded by Space Panic. In contrast to Space Panic, however, Donkey Kong was the first platform game to feature jumping, introducing the need to jump between gaps and over obstacles or approaching enemies, setting the template for the platform genre. Competitive video gamers and referees stress the game’s high level of difficulty compared to other classic arcade games. Winning the game requires patience and the ability to accurately time Jumpman’s ascent. In addition to presenting the goal of saving the Lady, the game also gives the player a score. Points are awarded for finishing screens; leaping over obstacles; destroying objects with a hammer power-up; collecting items such as hats, parasols, and purses (apparently belonging to the Lady/Pauline); and completing other tasks. The player typically receives three lives with a bonus awarded for the first 7,000 points, although this can be modified via the game’s built in DIP switches. The game is divided into four different one-screen stages. Each represents 25 meters of the structure Donkey Kong has climbed, one stage being 25 meters higher than the previous. The final screen occurs at 100 m. Later ports of the game omit or change the sequence of the screens. The original arcade version includes: Screen 1 (25 m), Jumpman must scale a seven-story construction site made of crooked girders and ladders while jumping over or hammering barrels and oil barrels tossed by Donkey Kong. The hero must also avoid fireballs which generate when barrels run into the oil drum at the bottom of the site. Players routinely call this screen “Barrels”. Screen 2 (50 m), Jumpman must climb a five-story structure of conveyor belts, each of which transports cement pans. The fireballs also make another appearance. This screen is sometimes referred to as the “Factory” or “Pie Factory” due to the resemblance of the cement pans to pies. Screen 3 (75 m), Jumpman rides up and down elevators while avoiding fireballs and bouncing objects, presumably spring weights. The bouncing weights (the hero’s greatest danger in this screen) emerge on the top level and drop near the rightmost elevator. The screen’s common name is “Elevators”. This screen appears as an unlockable stage in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Screen 4 (100 m), Jumpman must remove the eight rivets which support Donkey Kong. The fireballs remain the primary obstacle. Removing the final rivet causes Donkey Kong to fall and the hero to be reunited with Lady/Pauline. This is the final screen of each level. Players refer to this screen as “Rivets”. The player loses a life if: Jumpman collides with a barrel, fireball, flaming oil barrel, spring weight, cement pan, or Donkey Kong himself Jumpman falls off the structure or through open rivet holes The bonus timer reaches 0. These screens combine to form levels, which become progressively tougher. For example, Donkey Kong begins to hurl barrels faster and sometimes diagonally, and fireballs get speedier. The victory music alternates between levels 1 and 2. The 22nd level is unofficially known as the kill screen, due to an error in the game’s programming that kills Mario after a few seconds, effectively ending the game. With its four unique levels, Donkey Kong was the most complex arcade game at the time of its release, and only the second game to feature multiple levels (the first was Gorf by Midway Games).This wide-body mouthful of a game incorporates not one talking head (like in the game “Funhouse”) but two…and they talk to each other during game play. Williams made around six wide-body machines such as this so as to incorporate more real estate space for playfield action and toys. They went by the moniker of the “Super Pin.” This machine was designed by Pat Lawlor and inked by John Youssi. 6,259 were made. In a nutshell, the object of this machine is to cross the US to achieve the ultimate jackpot round. Each time you hit Ted, the day of the week advances in front of him. When you reach Friday, it’s payday. This starts the three-ball multiball series. The jackpot is achieved when you shoot a ball into sleeping Ted’s mouth! Much mayhem, a vibrating motor, two plunger shots, and a lot of characters pop up to taunt you on your way across the country. Country singer Carlene Carter is the voice of Red.Gottlieb Joker Poker pinball. An interesting design, and only made in a 4 player version (no 2 player, unusual for Gottlieb pinball). One bank of five ace drop targets, one bank of four king drop targets, one bank of three jack targets, one bank of two queen drop targets, and a single ten drop target. Pretty cool pinball design really. Two pop bumpers, one slingshot, two 3″ flippers. They made 820 Gottlieb EM Joker Poker pinballs.Here’s a 1977 Stern ‘Pinball’. This was Stern’s first solid state machine and marked the beginning of a long and interesting history for the company. Designed by Mike Kubin, it’s a fast game that has some wicked out-lanes and very quick ball times. There are no mini-posts above the out-lane guides which make controlling the ball near the out-lanes very difficult. Stingray, the game made by Stern following ‘Pinball’ also lacked these posts, but games made thereafter had the posts which dramatically improve the player’s ability to control the ball and avoid the out-lane. This game has a basic rule-set. Knock down the 5 drop targets twice in one ball to score the special. The saucer on the right side of the playfield awards a somewhat random award and the spinner shot on the left is a very satisfying shot to hit.This roll-up game is a classic which originated in 1909 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is one of the first redemption games ever made, with tickets being awarded as higher and higher scores are achieved. Batteries of these machines were a common staple on every boardwalk down the Jersey Shore. Nowadays, the game is still being made and is popular for all ages. The newest twist with the popularity of these machines is the formation of leagues which, like bowling, compete for trophies and bragging rights. Players go by the name of Ski-diddies, and a recent competition was televised on ESPN . These games are relatively easy to cheat on, by dropping balls in the high-scoring holes. That’s why the nets were incorporated into the design of more contemporary machines to limit this activity.Williams produced this game in October with 7,053 units produced. Norm Clark designed the game and Christian Marche did the art package. This four-player electromechanical game is based on the game tic-tac-toe. Making 3 x’s or 3 o’s in line or diagonally lights the eject holes to award an extra ball and 5,000 points. Making the A and B rollovers lights the center target. Hitting it opens the gate and 1,000 points. A bonus feature is incorporated into the game and this is awarded when the ball drains. Lighting all the squares activates the side rollover lanes to score a replay. Score and matching are also incorporated into the game. A fast playfield design and fun to play.This game is the most complicated solid-state pinball machine for complexity and gadgetry ever made. 15,235 of these were made and design credits go to Pat Lawlor with art by John Youssi. Multiple multi-ball options, magnets, a porcelain power ball a gumball machine and an extra-wide play field are only part of what’s before you. The main object of the game is to complete all the segments of the door in the bottom of the play field. These segments illuminate a light in the door. If by rare chance you complete the feat (you can “buy in” extra balls at the end of your game), all heck breaks loose in the form of a “lost in the zone” ultimate stage in the game. All six balls pop out, every option special, and bonus is lit all at once, and then, as if by magic, the flippers stop working (as this is a timed event) and your bonus is totaled. The battle in the zone magnet-controlled play field and power ball are neat!
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John Popodiuk designed this magical game with artwork penned by Linda Deal. 6,600 units were manufactured. This game is always in the top 10 machines in collectibility. The magic trunk is the centerpiece of the playfield. Its multifunctional sides rotate according to the storyline of the machine at the time. Eight illusions are to be collected in a typical game. This is one of four requirements needed to complete the grand finale stage of the game. Advancing the clock to midnight by shooting the right-side lane 12 times or hitting the captive ball completes this feature. Multiball must be made at the trunk to complete the third part of the puzzle. The last issue is completing the word “theater” by certain ramp shots. Grand finale is tough to achieve but a neat show awaits you. Vanish is another feature that makes a ball disappear when shot up the left-side ramp; the ball reappears when the right ramp is made.