Atari

Hercules

Pinside Rating

This game received 81 approved Pinsider ratings and currently rates 4.923 _/10

4.923

Top 100 ranking

This game ranks #291 in the Pinside Pinball Top 100.

Score breakdown

Score breakdown in the 4 main categories:

Game Design: 4.871

Artwork: 6.115

Sounds/Music: 3.002

Other Aspects: 4.637

Pinside staff rating

This is how we, the very knowledgeable (wink wink) Pinside.com staff & moderators rate this game. 3 of us have rated this game.

6.493

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Found 50 ratings (with comment) on this game

There are 50 ratings (that include a comment) on this game.
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1.000/10

21 days ago

ROG

Maik

Pinside member

4y 34,650 2 10 47

It is Big, thats it.

6.206/10

8 months ago

ABF

Sheev_Palpatine

Pinside+ Frequent

4y 104K 649 69

So huge and cool looking but plays so slow.

6.879/10

11 months ago

LXL

Isochronic_Frost

Saratoga Silverball

7y 219K 9,373 108 1 1

Pinball in slow motion!
Rated too harshly for a fun, unique piece of pinball history. It’s a very unique experience, and is worth a play any chance you get!

4 Pinsiders starred this!

5.699/10

11 months ago

DIA

mrossman5

Pinside+ Frequent

Warren, PA

6y 197K 3,172 7 253

One trick pony only meant to be played once, I wouldn't expect much more from a game with this type of gimmick.

4.234/10

1 year ago

SAM

SAM1978

Pinside member

Royal Oak, MI

2y 15,500 3 3 13

Pure novelty. Everyone should play it at least once.

4.121/10

1 year ago

>>>

Well, this was a surprise. Found this at Pinball arcade in Lyons CO. It certainly has curb appeal due to its size and I'm grateful there are collectors/arcades keeping these running for the novelty of it. I could never imaging owning one of these given the size and the overall play-ability.

The game is slow! The ball you shoot it like a ball you'd find in a jump pit. The upper play-field is hard to reach with the flippers. Other than the novelty of saying you played it, I find little reason to play. But hey, now I can say I played the "world's largest pinball", at least for 1979. :)

2.878/10

1 year ago

LB

SirMachismo

Pinside+ Addict

3y 89,300 504 9 12

Just a waste of time and money, but I had to play to see if it was really the train wreck it was made out to be. And...Hercules is a roadside attraction with one clown shoe on. Watching and waiting for the ball to lumber down to the playfield was painful and made even worst by the weak flippers. I give it points for being something that i had to take a picture of, but nothing else. Stop and play it once and then simply point at it as you waltz by to a real pinball machine.

3.355/10

2 years ago

JFM

Striker

Inactive member

Alexandria, VA

4y 47,550 114 58

Strictly a novelty game. It’s a must-play-at-least-once game because of the size of the game and the fact the ball is a cue ball, not a pinball. But one game is usually enough. If the flippers are weak the game is unplayable.

6.018/10

2 years ago

RRR

drwasabi

Pinside member

2y 13,250 10

It's one of those games you just have to play once. It's a must.

5.842/10

2 years ago

CGS

NoahsArkadePlayr

Pinside member

3y 22,900 4 4 15

I remember when this machine first showed up at Noah's Arcade in the front of the arcade prime play "new machine" show-off location.

It was (and is HUGE), but sadly that is about the most this machine has going for it. The game play as I still recall was very uninspiring and the ball was a slow moving boulder (and not in any positive sense). My friends and I played it a fair amount the first few weeks after it initially arrived, but ultimately did not hold our interest, after those couple of weeks.

I encountered this machine again many decades later at the Pinball Museum in Banning CA. I had a brief temptation to play, but it quickly passed, and I went off to play my other "old" friends. I did enjoy showing to my daughter and being able to relay my first encounter stories to her.

2.396/10

2 years ago

PIE

SilverballGamer

Pinside member

4y 57,650 29 5 87

What a terrible game, though it’s incredibly obvious why, and considering where Atari was at the time, this game being released is logical.

Pro’s:

I like the backglass and playfield artwork.

The game does deliver on the fact it is, in fact, humongous.

When you first play it, it’s admittedly kind of funny how bad it is, though that wears off quickly.

Con’s:

I have played 4 of these in my life, and no matter the condition, they are always slow, clunky, and miserable to play. You can immediately look at the layout at be able to tell this game sucks.

Cabinet artwork is, admittedly, weak.

The plunger on these games are always incredibly stiff, which is rather annoying, especially when your reward is a lousy machine to play.

Overall, of course this game was bad. It was almost destined to be. As much as I dislike Thunderbirds and Playboy 35th Anniversary, I feel this game should take the crown for the lowest rated game in my opinion.

4.534/10

2 years ago

WXW

Lawlor_and_Order

Pinball 518

7y 81,400 38 112

Ah, I finally got a chance to play a working Hercules at the Strong Museum in Rochester, crossing another one off my list.

And....it played just like everybody else said it plays. It's sort of amusing for a couple of balls and then the novelty has completely worn off by Ball 3 and it's like you're playing a computer game that suddenly slows down because the refresh rate required on your screen isn't matched by your processor.

I will say though that in terms of thematic reach, having the mighty Hercules as the theme for a REALLY BIG machine was a decent idea, and honestly the playfield layout isn't that bad considering. What they probably need to do to make this sucker work better was to juice up the flippers and the bumpers, and instead of using the cueball provide a special steel pinball that is the same size but with a slightly hollowed out core to provide just the right weight.

My 14 year old played a remarkably good game on this just feeling out the flipper action -- he's better at playing the flippers as they are without muscle memory intruding, and essentially working the machine up the slot from bottom right flipper to the bumpers, and around the right "orbit" from the left flipper worked quite well for him.

I do have a use for this: this should be the tiebreaker machine at a big tournament sometime. I mean, it's an unusual test of skill, it's different from any other machine, and the very fact it's a bit of a stinker for gameplay would be its own test. Meh, yeah, OK, maybe not.

4.488/10

2 years ago

CMW

RoxasUrSoxas

Pinside member

Middleburg Heights, OH

7y 62,050 125 20 59

Hercules is more of a pinball gimmick than a game you would want to play consistently. Is it cool to play once when you see it? Yes. Does it have the rule set and lastability of traditional sized games? No. It's cool to see though and is definitely unique.

5.509/10

2 years ago

EJH

ehex9

Pinside member

Saint Albans Town, VT

3y 46,650 5 7 179

Cool gimmick but this game plays like a big pile of @#$%!

8.241/10

2 years ago

DAV

Gritty

FUN STOP ARCADE

Cinnaminson, NJ

13y 106K 609 82 3

This is a fun unique game and a very cool piece of pinball history. Should not be compared to traditional pinball. This is a novelty game and if setup right and working correctly with strong flippers and a lighter ball it is fun to play. This is usually the most popular game at pinball shows. Unfortunately many experience this game on location where they are poorly maintained and setup.

Gritty edited previous rating on September 11, 2021.

2.110/10

3 years ago

AJH

AndHart120

Pinside member

13y 67,550 812 49 1

Worst game ever.

2.628/10

3 years ago

DCD

cdnpinbacon

Pinside member

Alcona, ON

10y 117K 7,639 8 10

A large heavy useless turd.

4.057/10

5 years ago

CLA

SkaterVet

PIC

Marvin, NC

7y 65,800 282 5 37

A neat novelty game and is an eye catcher when you walk into an arcade. That said, the playability is not fantastic. The nostalgia factor is high as I remember my younger brother and I being too small to reach each flipper button so he would take one side and I'd take the other. Certainly worth playing if you get the chance.

2.504/10

6 years ago

H2O

zh2oson

Pinside+ Frequent

Pasadena, CA

6y 132K 1,193 7 66 1

I've never walked away from a game of pinball in my life...even when location games have had maintenance issues. I walked away from this game after two balls. It is butt. Pure butt. An hour later I felt bad and tried again, but just couldn't do it. I let ball one drain and continued living my life. I have no regrets.

I do think it is important to always find at least one nice thing to say about everything. So...

Sure, the gimmick (I'm throwing you 3 Pinside ball rating thingies on this rating scale for Toys and Gimmicks) of a giant pinball machine is a curiosity. Yes, I can brag to everyone about how I've played this game and how special this should make me. And the backglass is better than at least 50 others in the annals of pinball history - especially if you are tired of looking at all the scantily clad women that grace just about every other machine in history.

2.065/10

6 years ago

MOF

mof

Mof Pinball

San Francisco, CA

11y 149K 13,298 25 94

What a disgrace. Worst game of all time.

6.572/10

6 years ago

JDR

jdrenner32

Inactive member

7y 21,000 5 1 22

It's kind of neat to play "The Largest Pinball Machine Ever!", but it's more of a novelty than an awesome game. Playfield runs kinda slow because it so large. You're constantly waiting for the ball to come back. Over all, fun the first few times, but I might pass on this in the future.

5.305/10

6 years ago

MJS

Matesamo

PinballRI

Warwick, RI

7y 117K 1,292 112

A true novelty game, if you ever seen it out in the wild watch people point at it excitedly, start a game and then struggle to even play all the balls before they walk away.

6.149/10

6 years ago

CPI

cait001

Pinside member

10y 114K 4,832 37

It plods along, but I find the extra patience and different physics really appealing. And the theming is kind of perfect. I always play a bunch of games whenever I have the chance. A very unique and pleasant experience if you can find one that works.
Probably the lowest-rated game that comes with the caveat that I'll ALWAYS want to play it when I see it.

cait001 edited previous rating on September 04, 2020.

4.957/10

7 years ago

RHO

spiroagnew

Inactive member

11y 121K 982 161

This pinball machine is just like Andre the Giant late in his wrestling career. Imposing size and impressive to see in person, but slow, plodding and painful to experience. It is a game that you have to play a couple of times just to say you've played it, but it's really nothing to write home about, and offers little in the way of "fun" beyond having someone take your picture beside the game once your game is over. It fits in with the rest of Atari's bland pinball lineup. I can actually say I've tilted a Herc, not on purpose, in regular play trying to nudge a ball out of the outlane. I'm lucky I didn't pull a muscle.

3.392/10

7 years ago

PSN

Paul1478

Pinside member

Peachtree City, GA

9y 51,050 86 3 39

sorry but what a waste of wood. They would have been better off letting that tree grow instead of it dying to make this turd. When I first saw it I thought, Wow, this is going to be GREAT!. nope. SUCKED.

Paul1478 edited previous rating on August 08, 2017.

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