The 10 Worst Pinball Machines of the 1970s
The 10 Worst Pinball Machines of the 1970s
In my opinion, these are the 10 worst mass-produced solid state pinball machines released in the 1970s. Pinball machines can be bad for a variety of reasons. In the 1970s, with limited early solid...
Highlights
- Time Warp features 'banana flippers' (curved flippers) that make the ball go to the same place regardless of when you flip, undermining skill-based play
- $6 Six Million Dollar Man was a popular sci-fi TV show on ABC in the 1970s but Tim Sexton has never heard of it or heard anyone discuss it
- Airborne Avenger by Atari sold reasonably well despite being a wide-body that didn't need to be
- Disco Fever by Williams sold 6,000 units but they are now unwanted and many are destroyed
- World Cup by Williams sold 6,500 units despite Tim Sexton negative assessment
- Random award/hole-based rules are 'always the worst rule in pinball'
- Atari made pinball machines, most of which were so bad they don't qualify as mass-produced games
- Ted Nugent (spelled 'Nent' in content) had a music career before becoming known for Twitter posts and that career was significant enough to warrant a pinball machine
Notable quotes
“Problem is, it's just not any fun to play. Plunge is bad. The bonus multiplier rules are horrible and a big part of the game is just shooting the ball into these saucers. And trust me, nobody wants to shoot at a bunch of holes.”
“These curved flippers make it so that no matter when you flip, the ball goes to the exact same place. I guess they needed to do it on this game because if you were able to shoot at the right shot, you would get all the points and the game would be really easy.”
“This is just such a nothing game that there's just nothing to say about it.”
“It's got that classic top left corner widebody. I have no idea what to put here, so maybe I'll do a little loop.”
“No one cares about cards. Yeah, even in the late '7s, cards was just not an interesting pinball theme.”
“Always the worst rule in pinball. Always has been, always will be. No one cares about like, oh, I happen to land here and now I get double bonus.”
“It takes disco, something that's genuinely cool and fun, and turns it into this Sesame Street looking playfield that's no fun to shoot, no fun to play.”
“it's hard to pick out what may be the most offensive part of Nugent career, but I'm going to wager that it could be this upper flipper on the right side of the playfield that really does nothing”
Entities
- Atari· company
- Bally· company
- Stern Electronics· company
- Williams· company
- Airborne Avenger· game
- Batro· game
- Disco Fever· game
- Freedom· game
- Hot Hand· game
- Lost World· game
- Pokerino· game
- Six Million Dollar Man· game
- World Cup· game
- Ted Nugent· person
- Tim Sexton· person
More from Tim Sexton
→ All content from Tim Sexton
Why do pinball guys always rag on their wives?
This humorous video essay breaks down and analyzes various examples of casual sexism in the pinball hobby by men and women who regularly refer to - the wife - a character who exists to promote male...
The 10 Best Pinball Machines Ever Made From 1980 - 1984
In the early 1980s pinball was booming and these pinball machines represent the best of the best of this exciting pinball era which brought tons of new innovations like multi-level playfields...
Here's What Happened In 2025 In Pinball
2025 was an amazing year for Pinball where we averaged a new game announcement every single month. In this video I cover all the launches from companies like Stern Pinball, Jersey Jack Pinball...
