Untitled Document

Gottlieb Countdown

by Drac

Backglass:10
Playfield Art:9.7
Sound:7
Playfield:8.5
Rules:8.7
Longevity:10

Total: 9/10
Difficulty Factor:2/3

Pluses:Very nice-looking game featuring Gordon Morison artwork. A
drop-target lover's paradise, this game never really got quite the attention
it deserved as it was somewhat overshadowed by very popular Gottlieb
drop-target titles like 2001 and El Dorado. But this game has as much to
offer as the more popular titles due to rapid game play, a much deeper rule
set than these older drop-target games, and of course, tons of drop targets.
What's especially addictive is the need to get the targets down in a
specific order, as we'll see in more detail in the strategy section.

Minuses:Carry-through tilt. You have a good chance of getting two balls
tilted for the price of one here as the game will not infrequently tilt your
next ball in play (leaving it marooned in the plunger lane) after the
current ball is tilted.

Strategy:Rapid combination shots on this game are incredible fun (and
necessary for big points) -- rather than shooting either set of upper
drop-target banks directly from the lower flippers, which can lead to rocket
drains, shoot either (or both) of the middle drop-targets in a lower bank,
and the ball will travel to the opposite upper flipper for a nice
combination shot into either upper drop-target bank, or the top saucer if
"collect bonus" is lit (this lights when the bonus reaches 20,000 points).
Once any two of the drop-target 4-banks are cleared, the extra ball light
will be lit on the top-left rollover which feeds the upper left flipper --
there is no direct shot for this EB, but once again a combination shot comes
to the rescue as the player can shoot the 2nd to lowest blue drop-target on
the lower right 4-bank (or rubber if the target is down already) using the
lower left flipper, and the ball will often travel from the rebound over the
upper left-flipper (which could be flipped for a target or saucer shot if
the EB rollover wasn't lit) and up the rollover lane for an EB ! A similar
strategy applies to the Special rollover on the upper right side above the
right upper flipper (the 2nd to lowest red target is shot from the lower
right flipper). Drop-target order is very important for multipliers. The
4-banks must be cleared in the following order:
1) Green 1st for 2x
2) Yellow 2nd for 3x
3) Red 3rd for 4x
4) Blue 4th for 5x

For example, if you cleared all 4-banks but the green 4-bank, your bonus
multiplier would be 0x !
Another strategy key is that once a 4-bank is cleared, it will reset and
each target in the bank will be worth 5000 points (as indicated by the
correspondingly colored insert in front the 4-bank in question). At that
point you can just keep hammering on that bank if it is a lower 4-bank or go
for ricochets to the upper banks if these have been cleared. If just one
upper drop-target is required to clear a bank, for example one green target
remains, then a direct shot rather than a ricochet shot can be attempted
even though it is more risky than a combination shot. Backhand shots to the
upper drop-targets are somewhat less risky than direct shots, but still not
as safe as simply shooting a lower-bank directly (or even backhanding a
lower bank if the goal is to clear a lower bank).

Reviewer:	Rudy	9Ball	Drac	Buzz	Total
Art-Backglass	7.5	7	7	6	7
Art-Playfield/Cabinet	8.5	8	6.5	7	7.5
Sound	8	8.5	7	4	6.75
Rules	8	8.5	6	5	6.75
Playfield Design	8.5	8	7.5	8	8
Replayability/Longevity	8	8	7	6	7.25
Total Score					7.25

Reviewer:	Rudy	8Ball	Drac	Buzz	*Total*
Art-Backglass	5	7.5	6.5	5	6
Art-Playfield/Cabinet	5	8	5	7	*6.5*
Sound	5	7	8.5	8	7
Rules	3	6.5	5.5	5	5
Playfield Design	4	6.5	5	4	5
Replayability/Longevity	3	6.5	6	4	5
Total Score					6

Reviewer:	Rudy	8Ball	Drac	Buzz	*Total*
Art-Backglass	8	8.5	5.5	7	8
Art-Playfield/Cabinet	7.5	7.5	6	8	*7.5*
Sound	5.5	8	6.5	9	*7.5*
Rules	5.5	7.5	7	8	7
Playfield Design	6	7.5	7.5	7	7
Replayability/Longevity	6	7.5	7	7.5	7
Total Score					7

Reviewer:	Rudy	8Ball	Drac	Buzz	*Total*
Art-Backglass	8	7.5	6.5	6	7
Art-Playfield/Cabinet	6	8.5	6	8	*7.25*
Sound	8	8	7	9.5	*8.25*
Rules	8.5	8	7.5	8	8
Playfield Design	7.5	8	8	6	*7.5*
Replayability/Longevity	8	8	6.5	8	*7.75*
Total Score					7.75

Reviewer:	Rudy	8Ball	Drac	Buzz	Total
Art-Backglass	7.5	6.5	8	7	7.25
Art-Playfield/Cabinet	8	7	6.5	7	7.25
Sound	8	8.5	6	7	7.5
Rules	7	8.5	8.5	8	8
Playfield Design	7	9	9.5	8	8.5
Replayability/Longevity	6.5	8	7	8	7.5
Total Score					7.75