Gottlieb

Pro-Football

Pinside Rating

This game received 29 approved Pinsider ratings and currently rates 7.318 _/10

7.318

Top 100 ranking

This game ranks #229 in the Pinside EM Top 100.

Score breakdown

Score breakdown in the 4 main categories:

Game Design: 7.364

Artwork: 7.132

Sounds/Music: 4.822

Other Aspects: 7.288

Pinside staff rating

None of the Pinside.com staff have rated this game. Sorry, no rating from us.

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Found 19 ratings (with comment) on this game

There are 19 ratings (that include a comment) on this game.
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6.827/10

3 months ago

CP

BRONX

Pinside member

Hamilton, ON

4y 42,300 701 36

I only played two games without the plunger shot, this and Big hit. Great theme, art work and backglass. Nice rules Aswell just like regular American football, but I'm not a fan of the annoying quad flippers, Harlem Globetrotters has the same annoying flipper set up. I like the dual scoring system to win replays, but something in the fun factor is missing in this pinball. This past week there was one available close to me at a cheap price and I let it go and paid more to buy a big hit instead. The lone spinner is cool but it seems like as you try all the other shots, it might be the type of game where you Solely go for the spinner and keep doing so to bring up your run count and replays, also builds up the bonus system faster if you go for spinners. It's kind of one sided that way, which is too bad because there's alot to shot for and more challenging shots which don't reap the rewards as the easier spinner shot? Upper rollovers are hard to achieve as well due to alot of things in the way, so let's call it a fluke shot. For me, a mediocre game,/average at best. I tried to like it.

8.622/10

2 years ago

KOJ

koji

Pinside member

Surrey, BC

6y 112K 2,657 14 65

My favourite wedgehead and I've owned many of them!

Love the theme integration, you start each ball with a kickoff from the trough, and the spinner advances your yardage up the field.

Two vari targets act as blockers and score for touchdowns or additional yardage.

Two means of scoring by points and score!

With a scissored four flipper bottom and slings moved to the upper part of the pf, this is one of the most true games of skill. Advanced players will need to utilize their talent for ball control and nudging to line up and rip the spinner again and again. As touchdowns score 6000 points this quickly becomes the primary strategy... But as it is such a rewarding shot, this title refuses to get tiring!

Any player who does not enioy this title, simply has not played one with the correct set up.

koji has owned this game in the past.

6.424/10

2 years ago

TPD

tomdrum

Tom's Pinball

Port Matilda, PA

6y 167K 7,440 16 52

Fun game but its big brother "Gridiron" is better with the hold relay for outlane scoring.

tomdrum currently owns this game.

7.464/10

3 years ago

KJS

CVpin65

Pinside member

5y 25,800 2 8

Fun EM, very logical game play - moving up the field and scoring touchdowns! Fun escape from the hectic nature of modern games.

6.154/10

3 years ago

EJH

ehex9

Pinside member

Saint Albans Town, VT

3y 46,650 5 7 179

This Game is very easy to play. The high score I posted was after my 6 or 7th time playing the game. Nothing special here. Backglass is great!

8.800/10

4 years ago

EEP

edptrs

Pinside member

4y 29,650 9 19

I recommend this pin. March the ball down the field and add up the football score. The upper left area is difficult to get the ball to. The varitargets are a challenge to nail. The 4 flipper arraingment is really different and you will drain balls between the pairs no matter how hard you try not to. The central ball launch is neat, something different than the typical is cool. Some decent ball time and then one drains without a single point!! Nice wide body feel due to the central ball kicker. Will fail to score touchdowns if the score wheel is turning.

edptrs edited previous rating on November 07, 2020.

8.356/10

4 years ago

KIM

pinball2020

Pinside+ Frequent

4y 87,550 794 6 22

For it's day and time this was pretty cool. It is cool enough that I wanted it and got one. This isn't for everyone and it is subjective - as is everything else on this site :).

Cons: You need to get hotter flippers and practice to get the ball up to the top of the field.

Pros: I like 'em steep and hard to hit and plan on changing the rubbers but it is fun the way it is. In case you haven't read other posts or unaware - this is a center shooter pinball machine. There is no shooter lane - the ball is launched from the right flipper and goes up the ramp. Boom. You take it from there. Season to taste and yes, it may not be everyone's taste.

pinball2020 has owned this game in the past.

7.375/10

4 years ago

PGR

VALIS666

Pinside+ Frequent

4y 116K 1,129 245 1

Interesting game modeled off American football, particularly in that there's two different scores here -- the usual pinball scoring plus a separate column of football points, scored in 3 point field goal (the center spinner) and 6 point touchdown (advancing 100 yards in the game) increments. You can get replays by getting a high enough score in either category. With four stacked bottom flippers and two vari-targets, it's a faster, more chaotic game; not one for the traditional trap & aim strategy. It's unique and decently entertaining, but probably has a limited range of appeal.

5.635/10

5 years ago

PAT

patbou1975

Pinside member

Laval, QC

6y 22,300 4 5 6

I bought this game because i wanted to try an electromechanical game. I sold it the day after. Maybe the one i had was not very good but difficult to shoot the ball at the top of playfield. maybe good in it's era but not today...

patbou1975 has owned this game in the past.

5.028/10

6 years ago

RHO

spiroagnew

Inactive member

11y 121K 982 161

It's nice to have a football themed game in the Gottlieb wedgehead family, but it falls short of what Gottlieb did with wedgehead baseball themed games.

The game is nice to look at, but the four flipper setup is a bit cumbersome. It does however add a sense of frantic-ness as shots from the lower flippers are run-and-gun, because you can't trap. The darn vari-targets are here again, my least favorite Gottlieb feature, but at least they add to the overall theme of running the ball up-field. I think the baseball games Gottlieb made were executed better. Art is good, but I prefer the football artwork on Gridiron, the 2-player version of the game.

7.822/10

6 years ago

JDC

Brak0777

Pinside member

Hibbing, MN

8y 35,000 3 12 15

I really enjoy this game because of the varitargets and the spinner. What really makes this game fun is I have it on hi tap and I put hot flipper solenoids in. The game really flies now and the varitargets are easier to hit. I really enjoy the large bell that rings when you score. I think I will be keeping this machine for a long time.

Brak0777 has owned this game in the past.

7.371/10

6 years ago

MJS

Matesamo

PinballRI

Warwick, RI

7y 117K 1,292 112 1

Taking out the plunge lane gave the designers another inch or two of playfield to work with but it does not feel like they really took advantage of the space. Plays well enough and the duel scoring is always a bonus but this one has to be one of the busiest backglasses that Gottlieb ever released on an EM machine.

7.938/10

6 years ago

JLH

PrincessJillian

Inactive member

6y 28,400 14 9 11

This is a great old EM! I have one in my house and LOVE to play it. The game play is great, the rules are simple, and it is really about the skill of the shot! There are no complex gadgets or anything that these new games have, this is just a really solid EM game that will last a lifetime!

PrincessJillian currently owns this game.

6.710/10

6 years ago

BTL

Junk-Man

Inactive member

Nicholasville, KY

6y 21,500 4 11 7

Nice older Em I love to play from time to time.

Junk-Man currently owns this game.

7.033/10

8 years ago

M

Wahnsinniger

Pinside member

10y 42,900 277 20 9

Pro-Football is great because of one very specific reason ... CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG! CLANG!

Many of its shots are very mundane points-scoring shots, and indeed the game lacks virtually any features to increase the rate of normal point scoring. Instead, it has a second (American) Football score, increased slowly by a handful of 'Field Goal' targets, and more dramatically, by pushing the football to the endzone to score a 6-point touchdown. Each of these Football points result in a strike on a large bell in the front of the cabinet, directly next to the player. Thus touchdowns cause a very gratifying 5-1 clang sequence that gives this game all of its charm.

This game stands head-and-shoulders above the 'chime' sound package on most or all other EM's. In a small collection, it lacks sufficient depth to have long-term appeal. Indeed, this is why I initially sold mine... but now I want it back. In a large-collection, or for American Football fans, it would be a great addition.

Wahnsinniger has owned this game in the past.

7.561/10

9 years ago

WAR

wayner

Pinside member

10y 95,300 2,583 25

Pro Football has a great theme and a sound logic to replicate real football-scoring touchdowns through points. The centre shooter is different but because it always shoots right tends to be a tad repetitive. Nevertheless 'a different machine' and well worth a spell in ones collection.

9.313/10

10 years ago

DEN

KingNine

Pinside member

Beaumont, TX

10y 51,900 1,050 18 13

I've looked for this game for a few years and finally found one. In great shape too. I love the unique layout and scoring of the game and the unique features of it. As others mentioned the spinner is a great shot but it is quite hard to hit regularly. It is flanked by a pair of lower posts making it be a tight accurate shot with a possible STDM rebound or a light rebound to the sides. This can be an issue as a light rebound to the side makes a funnle shot SDTM. I absolutely love the vari targets as well. I think they are perfect for this application and quite fun to go for. We have fun challenging each other for pinball traditional scores as well as football scores available on this game. I'm so glad to get this into my collection!!

KingNine currently owns this game.

6.951/10

10 years ago

JLM

jlm33

Pinside member

Villejuif

11y 152K 5,892 7 169

Cool, original way to accumulate bonus on the play field, which is converted into 5,000 points once you reach the top line. The spinner is the way to get there fast...Actually too fast, making this game unbalanced. Stand up targets for only 10 yards are useless. The upper lanes are hard to reach... the varitargets are fine but the spinner is the way to go!! This game should be fun for a while, but I would become bored relatively quickly.

3.711/10

10 years ago

ZUL

Caucasian2Step

Evil McBooty

12y 163K 1,455 51 1011

Pro Football is one of those decks that had some interesting ideas put into it. But it doesn't seem to come together with gameplay.

The Pros:
Quad flippers will keep you on your toes at all times. I like the spinner when it gets ripped (as it should). I like the dual scoring and the progress across the field with the spinner and targets all around the PF. Nudging is mandatory in the upper PF lanes. Cheerleaders with large breastessessss are always a good thing.

The Cons:
This game absolutely positively has to be set up and angled right. The balance between "too easy" and "too hard" is too fine with this deck. That player on the lower left hand side of the BG is gonna bite his tongue off. I'm not a fan of the flipper launch button.

The Takeaway: Shoot the ball through the spinner to the upper lanes. rinse and repeat. A bore to play unless absolutely dialed. And even then... this game is high on the "meh" factor.

1

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