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Gottlieb Subway arrived in October ’66. It was designed by the classic team of Ed Krynski and art by Gordon Morison. This add-a-ball version of the game closely resembled the replay version by the name of Crosstown. This wedgehead Gottlieb has an animated backglass. Every time 100 points are scored, the door of the subway opens, revealing passengers jammed together in a comical pose. The center target is where all the action is in the game. If you happened to match the two columns horizontally by advancing the columns by hitting various spots on the game and hit the center target, the award indicated would be given. Otherwise 10 points were awarded. This game was a tough game to play, as the opening between the flippers was rather large and a hit to the center target would regularly cost you a lost ball.Another rare machine stands before you. Although 2,885 units were produced, they were all sent to France as a promotion in a contest to market Canada Dry soda. Designed by Ed Krynski and art by Gordon Morrison, this game was released in the US as a one player, two player and four player version. If you like drop targets this is your game. Fifteen drop targets live in this playfield design! If you’re skillful enough to hit all the upper drop targets, the side extra ball rollovers activate. The same is true if you hit the bottom five drop targets. If, however, you’re skillful enough to complete all fifteen targets, the specials are activated. Score is another way to win. The machines put on location in France provided high-scoring winners with monetary prizes from Canada Dry. I wish they would do this in the united States, especially in Atlantic City.The table is the first Williams WPC machine designed to feature a dot-matrix display. But due to the long design phase, Gilligan’s Island was the first manufactured with a DMD. Terminator 2: Judgment Day was the first game to feature an autoplunger (replacing the traditional plunger), as well as a ball-firing cannon (dubbed, “Gun Grip Ball Launcher”). Finally, T2 was the first game to feature a video mode, a mini video game featured on the DMD. Arnold Schwarzenegger provided voices for the game. Some playfield design elements were based on Ritchie’s 1980 classic, Firepower. T-1000 was not included in the artwork of the table, with the exception of a small image of actor Robert Patrick because of pre-release secrecy of the movie. The character was only included in the display animation because when the DMD programming was finalizing the liquid metal character was already public knowledge.
- Release date: July 1991
- System: Williams WPC (Dot Matrix)
- Design: Steve Ritchie
- Programming: Dwight Sullivan
- Artwork: Doug Watson
- Mechanics: Carl Biagi
- Music: Chris Granner
- Sound: Chris Granner
- Production run: 15,202
Defender is an arcade video game developed and released by Williams Electronics in 1980. A shooting game featuring two-dimensional (2D) graphics, the game is set on a fictional planet where the player must defeat waves of invading aliens while protecting astronauts. Development was led by Eugene Jarvis, a pinball programmer at Williams; Defender was Jarvis’ first video game project, and drew inspiration from Space Invaders and Asteroids. Defender is a two-dimensional side-scrolling shooting game set on the surface of an unnamed planet. The player controls a space ship as it navigates the terrain, flying either to the left or right. A joystick controls the ship’s elevation, and five buttons control its horizontal direction and weapons. The object is to destroy alien invaders, while protecting astronauts on the landscape from abduction. Humans that are successfully abducted return as mutants that attack the ship. Defeating the aliens allows the player to progress to the next level. Failing to protect the astronauts, however, causes the planet to explode and the level to become populated with mutants. Surviving the waves of mutants results in the restoration of the planet. Players are allotted three chances (lives) to progress through the game and are able to earn more by reaching certain scoring benchmarks. A life is lost if the ship comes into contact with an enemy or its projectiles. After exhausting all lives, the game ends. Defender is an arcade video game developed and released by Williams Electronics in 1980. A shooting game featuring two-dimensional (2D) graphics, the game is set on a fictional planet where the player must defeat waves of invading aliens while protecting astronauts. Development was led by Eugene Jarvis, a pinball programmer at Williams; Defender was Jarvis’ first video game project and drew inspiration from Space Invaders and Asteroids. Defender was one of the most important titles of the Golden Age of Arcade Games, selling over 55,000 units to become the company’s best selling game and one of the highest-grossing arcade games ever. Praise among critics focused on the game’s audio-visuals and gameplay. It is frequently listed as one of Jarvis’ best contributions to the video game industry as well as one of the most difficult video games. Defender was ported to numerous platforms, inspired the development of other games, and was followed by sequels and many imitations. Defender is a two-dimensional side-scrolling shooting game set on the surface of an unnamed planet. The player controls a space ship as it navigates the terrain, flying either to the left or right. A joystick controls the ship’s elevation, and five buttons control its horizontal direction and weapons. The object is to destroy alien invaders while protecting astronauts on the landscape from abduction. Humans who are successfully abducted return as mutants that attack the ship. Defeating the aliens allows the player to progress to the next level. Failing to protect the astronauts, however, causes the planet to explode and the level to become populated with mutants. Surviving the waves of mutants results in the restoration of the planet. Players are allotted three chances (lives) to progress through the game and are able to earn more by reaching certain scoring benchmarks. A life is lost if the ship comes into contact with an enemy or its projectiles. After exhausting all lives, the game end.Here’s another classic single-player wedgehead. This machine was designed by Jeff Brenner with art scrolled by Gordon Morison. 3,100 units came to fruition as well as an add-a-ball called Royal Pair. This open playfield design allows for a lot of action mandated by flipper shots all the way up the playfield. The object of the game is simple…by completing all the card targets and rollovers, three specials light. Hitting the ace target up top or scoring a lit rollover awards a replay. Another unique feature built into this machine is the random rollover values one may capture. 10, 100 or 1,000 points may be scored by rolling over one of four rollover targets when lit. The shots to the targets must be precise to score from the flipper. The outlanes are unique in design as they are angled. A very interesting variation of a Gottlieb card theme machine.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.Gottlieb produced a few baseball-themed games, but Williams Manufacturing was the king of these types of games. This game, designed by Ed Krynski with art by Gordon Morison, had a run of 775 units. This is the add-a-ball version of this game, so it is rarer. The replay version is called Grand Slam. This game has eject holes which activate the roto-target, a Gottlieb exclusive device, which stops and a man is lit on a corresponding base to the eject hole on the baseball diamond. The rollover button lights when the bases are loaded. This scores 1,000 points whenever the bases are loaded. Runs and score are the ways to win free balls with this game.
