Play Meter

artist (G.M.) gets flack for the types
and style of his work, it's nice to see
what he can do when set loose on a
subject. The backglass is flashy and
powerful with its black background
and bursts of color. The princess
looks shamefully alluring ( yet still
"G" rated) and the effort is just super
given what Gottlieb usually offers in
the way of art. And another nice
touch is the placement of the scoring
readouts down toward the bottom of
the head which gives the appearance
of a much larger glass and an impact
for the player when he walks into an
arcade. Plus, the recognizable theme
is going to be a definite bonus for the
effort from Gottlieb.
PLAY: The play of Buck Rogers
can be sustained for three- or five-ball
play, and, in fact, the majority of
Gottlieb games are still better values
at the longer setting. For three-ball,
extra ball areas try a 150,000
beginning and follow it up with a
280 ,000 and 450,000 limit. For free
play on three-ball you can get away
with 100,000 points more to each
limit depending upon the caliber of
players in your location and for
five-ball levels you might even be
able to get away with another
100 ,000 points tacked on.
PROS & CONS: Someone said
to me that rather than having the top
lanes start lit, that maybe the lanes
should be out and a player would
have to light them and hence get
greater points that way , rather than
less points each succeeding shot back
up to the top, but that's the least of
my concerns on this game. One
major thing I mentioned last month
Gottlieb is going to have to sort out is
the integration of memory into a
pinball machine, where basic values
and play can increase from ball to ball
( the old one-player machine men-
tality that Gottlieb championed for so
long before solid state).
My understanding is that the
present system won't allow them to
do it , except for some machines
which retained values on extra-ball
play, and that's unfortunate because
the design and utilization of features
becomes so limited. In a way,
Sharpshooter, which was based
primarily on a Gottlieb game design ,
shows what can be possible to
program into a game , but the
company is still forced to think in
terms of electro-mechanical action
in a solid state world. And this is the
biggest weakness which has effected
its games of late.
Another area of involvement is the
strength of the flippers, long a
trademark of the Gottlieb game,
which has lessened in strength on
some recent efforts and is the case
here for power and for direction to
that top center target. Also, the
problem of shots from the left flipper
and the flexibility of action with
multiple areas to aim for, is
Stern's GALAXY
A fitting close to the first games of
'80 to be reviewed is this effort from
the king of kings , Harry Williams,
one of my all-time personal favorite
people in this industry. And Harrv is
making the jump to solid state in fine
fashion , with some nice touches as
witnessed by this spaced out theme .
PLA YFIELD:
In what is a
departure from the norm for the top
of a game, Harry has come up with a
swirling little area called the "space
warp arch" that combines a kick-out
hole and saucer with multiple point
values along with a top right bumper.
The action then leads down to a
three lane set-up ( G-A-L) and a
right side star rollover button (A),
while at the lett of the lanes sits a
spinner with a curved arch above it.
Two thumper bumpers are at
midfield to cut down on drains
from the lanes , while the right side
features flush three targets ala
"Dracula."
At the left side is a "horseshoe"
kick-back kicker while just below this
Williams' GORGAR
Gottlieb's BUCK ROGERS
Stern's GALAXY
PLAY METER, January, 1980
something that gives the field a
feeling of confinement. Buck , how-
ever, still is the best game Gottlieb
has come out with in a while. There's
some good skillful play and enough
shots for the above average player
while also being forgiving enough for
the novice .
RATING: ###
93