Top Ten Most Wanted Poll #1: Early Solid States - Corrected Version

NOTE: This is the corrected version of my early solid states poll. I misunderstood the poll setup process, which led to the first attempt at posting this poll only allowing one vote per person. The poll looks like it was set up properly here, though, so I would be much obliged if the mods could lock and/or delete the original thread.

In light of the poor performance of early solid-state tables in the Top Ten Poll Series, I have decided to make a separate poll dedicated to these pinball pioneers. Tables were selected as follows:

1. First, I took the top 5 early solid states from each of the Williams, Bally, Gottlieb/Premier and Stern/Data East/Sega polls that did not make the top 10, for a total of 21 tables (Quicksilver & Star Gazer tied for the fifth Stern spot).
2. Then, I picked one of the remaining early solid states at random from each of the 4 polls mentioned above and added them in, bringing the total to 25 tables.
3. Finally, I added 5 of my own personal favorites to bring the count to 30 (it is my poll, after all).

Much like the official Top Ten polls, everyone gets 10 votes. The poll closes on Monday, October 31, so you should have plenty of time to think your votes through. I've placed links to gameplay videos and playfield photos below; happy voting and may your favorite tables win out!

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Alien Poker (Williams, 1980) Gameplay | Playfield
Catacomb (Stern, 1981) Gameplay | Playfield
Comet (Williams, 1985) Gameplay | Playfield
Defender (Williams, 1982) Gameplayhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwlSpH6rHZQ | Playfieldhttp://www.ipdb.org/showpic.pl?id=651&picno=13933
Devil's Dare (Gottlieb, 1982) Gameplay | Playfield
Fathom (Bally, 1981) Gameplay | Playfield
Firepower II (Williams, 1983) Gameplayhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AI2ypxm3z8g | Playfieldhttp://www.ipdb.org/showpic.pl?id=857&picno=50033
Flash (Williams, 1979) Gameplay | Playfield
Flash Gordon (Bally, 1981) Gameplay | Playfield
Freefall (Stern, 1981) Gameplay | Playfield
Joker Poker (Gottlieb, 1978) Gameplay | Playfield
Jungle Lord (Williams, 1981) Gameplay | Playfield
Lightning (Stern, 1981) Gameplay | Playfield
Medusa (Bally, 1981) Gameplay | Playfield
Meteor (Stern, 1979) Gameplay | Playfield
Nine Ball (Stern, 1980) Gameplay | Playfield
Paragon (Bally, 1979) Gameplay | Playfield
Quicksilver (Stern, 1980) Gameplay | Playfield
Roller Disco (Gottlieb, 1980) Gameplay | Playfield
Sinbad (Gottlieb, 1978) Gameplay | Playfield
Solar Fire (Williams, 1981) Gameplayhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAnIDQSKbzo | Playfieldhttp://www.ipdb.org/showpic.pl?id=2238&picno=9774
Space Invaders (Bally, 1980) Gameplay | Playfield
Spectrum (Bally, 1981) Gameplay | Playfield
Spirit (Gottlieb, 1982) Gameplay | Playfield
Star Gazer (Stern, 1980) Gameplay | Playfield
Stellar Wars (Williams, 1979) Gameplay | Playfield
Strikes and Spares (Bally, 1978) Gameplay | Playfield
Time Warp (Williams, 1979) Gameplay | Playfield
Viper (Stern, 1981) Gameplay | Playfield
Volcano (Gottlieb, 1981) Gameplay | Playfield

If Centaur had a sister her name would be Fathom. They feel very similar when you play them. Also two of the more striking pins around.

Ooh, this poll is too hard for me. I really love this era. Going to have to really think this one through.

Not a big fan of these types of tables, but I've never played any on this list either. So, I'm voting by how they look and what would probably interest me:

1. Medusa
2. Spirit
3. Space Invaders
4. Catacomb
5. Paragon
6. Nine Ball
7. Defender
8. Flash

I could only stomach voting for 8 of these. These types just aren't my thing.

sotie said:

Ooh, this poll is too hard for me. I really love this era. Going to have to really think this one through.

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Bring 'em all!

Okay,I picked my ten. And I could have picked a few more easily.

I had no idea that Devil's Dare was from 1982. That is impressive,and probably one of the five I'd want in TPA most from this list.

i tried my best but i could only muster 3. defender , firepower 2, and fathom . the rest i could care less about and the poll is missing EBD !!!!!

It was really hard to only pick 10.

After making my initial selections I found I had 12, watched some videos, make some changes and counted to see I had 11. Watched more videos made more changes, counted them up and had 9. That 10th selection was the hardest.

1. Alien Poker
2. Catacomb
3. Comet
4. Fathom
5. Flash Gordon
6. Lightning
7. Medusa
8. Paragon
9. Quicksilver
10. Spectrum

norbert26 said:

i tried my best but i could only muster 3. defender , firepower 2, and fathom . the rest i could care less about and the poll is missing EBD !!!!!

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I could be wrong,but my guess is that CC13 left EBD off the poll because it is almost a certain future TPA table. Not to mention that it would have been my first choice in the poll. EBD is the first pinball table that I can remember playing as a child.

I will admit my choices are purely on appearance (and I really like the way most of these look) as I have never come close to playing any of these.

In no order

Fathom
Joker Poker
Lightning
Medusa
Nine Ball
Paragon
Quicksilver
Space Invaders
Spectrum
Spirit

What this poll is truly missing is Gemini 2000

netizen said:

What this poll is truly missing is Gemini 2000

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That's just too funny

I recently watched a video of Bowen playing Paragon after reading on his Reddit AMA that he used to hate this machine and now loves it.

It looked absolutely menacing, with tons of ways to drain, but the art is incredible and I recently started to really enjoy these wacky early tables. Flight 2000, for instance, is completely silly, but very fun at the same time.

Comet looks really fun as well. All of these do, really. I'm starting to fall in love with that era.

netizen said:

What this poll is truly missing is Gemini 2000

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I kinda want to play that thing, though it would be rather redundant

Nightwing said:

Okay,I picked my ten. And I could have picked a few more easily.

I had no idea that Devil's Dare was from 1982. That is impressive,and probably one of the five I'd want in TPA most from this list.

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I agree, especially the sound is fantastic. I love the intense chords, miles above the monotone bleeps and bloops of that time.

mmmagnetic said:

I kinda want to play that thing, though it would be rather redundant

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Much like Gamatron

I voted for 10 and could easily have voted for 20. But the 5 must haves for me were...
1. Comet
2. Fathom
3. Joker Poker
4. Medusa
5. Strikes and Spares

Question - can anyone who has played Defender give me a little review of the gameplay? Never played one, but it looks pretty cool. Thanks

I voted only for the musts:

1. Paragon
2. Joker Poker
3. Fathom

I voted for many others in the earlier polls. I just can't imagine TPA without these three.

Well, I joined the forum so I could vote in this poll, which I did ..,.

But a couple of my favorite machines from the era aren't in this list:

Gottlieb "Counterforce" http://youtu.be/qldmAwTUGGY
Williams "Scorpion" http://youtu.be/R009pD7uniU
Bally "Xenon" http://youtu.be/eYnEftF1oL0
Williams "Blackout" http://youtu.be/NDyr-QQva8o

Despite what many others have posted in this thread, it is the early solid states that drew me to Pinball Arcade, and I find many of the more modern games to be less interesting. I think a big part of it is the generated analog electronic sound effects in the older machines, while the newer machines are usually just doing sample playback.

Hey, to each their own, right?

nebula said:

Well, I joined the forum so I could vote in this poll, which I did ..,.

But a couple of my favorite machines from the era aren't in this list:

Gottlieb "Counterforce" http://youtu.be/qldmAwTUGGY
Williams "Scorpion" http://youtu.be/R009pD7uniU
Bally "Xenon" http://youtu.be/eYnEftF1oL0
Williams "Blackout" http://youtu.be/NDyr-QQva8o

Despite what many others have posted in this thread, it is the early solid states that drew me to Pinball Arcade, and I find many of the more modern games to be less interesting. I think a big part of it is the generated analog electronic sound effects in the older machines, while the newer machines are usually just doing sample playback.

Hey, to each their own, right?

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Like someone else mentioned before, I think it's just mainly all about the machines you grew up playing.

I think the first table I ever played was "Silverball Mania", which is about as low as you can get as far as a Pinball table. lol After that, I think it was "Space Shuttle", which was definitely much more up my alley as for as tables go.

Personally, I just don't find much joy in tables without Multiball.

Needs more Laser Cue. A hidden gem of early SS if there ever was one. Similar to Alien Poker, but I think it's a bit better.