Gottlieb

Genie

Pinside Rating

This game received 112 approved Pinsider ratings and currently rates 7.271 _/10

7.271

Top 100 ranking

This game ranks #222 in the Pinside Pinball Top 100.

Score breakdown

Score breakdown in the 4 main categories:

Game Design: 7.282

Artwork: 8.208

Sounds/Music: 5.384

Other Aspects: 7.299

Pinside staff rating

This is how we, the very knowledgeable (wink wink) Pinside.com staff & moderators rate this game. 5 of us have rated this game.

7.413

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Found 56 ratings (with comment) on this game

There are 56 ratings (that include a comment) on this game.
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8.052/10

8 years ago

TBK

xTheBlackKnightx

Pinside member

8y 128K 4,097 137

The "Gottlieb Widebody Paragon Equivalency of the Era".
"A game that plays as well as it looks".
- TBK

No major design flaws, rock solid game.
Timeless System 1 classic game.
Outperforms many modern SS games in terms of required pinball skill and general features.
If you want to kill zombies, this is not your game.

Great variety of game shots to master, including multiple rollovers and drop targets.
Great mini playfield flipper design.
Exceptional flow in order to work the machine and scoring.
Bonus scoring exceptional.
You need to learn this game's "tricks", to play it very well.

Solid sound and tune selections for the period.
Good "twinkling" memorable tunes in line with the theme.
Outstanding playfield artwork.
Historical backglass image, instantly recognizable.
Average cabinet.

100% perfect side by side partner for Gottlieb Star System 80 Circus which is a lot harder to find in good shape.
Once properly restored, it runs forever, but a lot of them need an overhaul with the PCBs with battery damage, blown transistors, rebuilding power supplies, etc.

I have a used superb playfield just waiting to be touched up and clear coated.

4 Pinsiders starred this!

3.180/10

8 years ago

RAT

FatFoxcoon

Inactive member

Lenexa, KS

8y 16,000 3 11

Mabey it's just me but this game just doesn't feel fun. It's to wide, very drab and the sounds are basic. but then again it is fro the 70's and maybe I am biased but the field feels to wide. there's nothing to make you want to play again. it just feels like your hitting the ball around to make random noises happen. theres no progression of any kind, no plot or story to get you to play.

The artwork is pretty good for the time. Even with 5 balls this game just drags on when I play. it feels more like a chore than a fun game.

3 Pinsiders flagged this.

7.359/10

8 years ago

JAM

jroakland

Pinside member

Oakland, CA

13y 60,050 106 7 111

a great wide body to play,spinner
drop targets ,plus three extra flippers to get to all drop targets,i liked this game alot upon release i recalled it played aliitle slow, probly cause its a wide body but i still like it alot, diffrent playfield from most others at the time...great art package, classic game ,all in all great job gottlieb !!!

7.572/10

8 years ago

DAR

Pauz21

Pinside member

Swift Current, SK

11y 59,050 1,430 4 13

My first experience with Genie came on the Pinball Arcade App. Found myself playing it a lot so I went in search of one. The one I found is in incredible shape and is a lot of fun to play. Maybe I'm just bad... but the one knock I would say is that occasionally, I'll get in to a rhythm where I might shoot the ball 5 or 6 shots in a row where it hit's nothing but posts and rubbers with no score switches behind them. Only happens occasionally but I've never played another pin where you could take 4 or 5 shots and not hit anything, even with it bouncing back and forth across the play field. Something with the angles I guess. Only other knock is that the sounds are repetitive but when you consider it was one of the first pins WITH ANY electronic sound at all... it's very good.

The art is incredible on both the play field and the back glass and the cabinet... while very subtle... is completely on point with the theme of the game.

It's a fun wide body with lots of shots and a good rule set... albeit very simple.

Play one if you find... you won't regret it... and you might just end up owning one a short time later.

Pauz21 has owned this game in the past.

6.978/10

8 years ago

AMK

OrdealByFire

Inactive member

New Baltimore, MI

8y 23,650 57 43

I'm noticing a bit of a trend... it seems like the older tables tend to be more difficult than the newer ones. Genie is a classic Gottlieb machine, this one with five flippers. Genie is an interesting machine for that fact... five flippers on a machine this old, to me, is unusual. This is a challenging table that really requires you to unlight the "ABCD" lights to get the possibility of an extra ball to keep you going. Even with five balls on this table, it's still difficult to get a very good score. The absolute biggest key to getting a nice score on this table is trying to avoid the bottom left slot area as much as possible... if you happen to get a ball down there, timing a table bump is crucial to get the ball out back in front of the flippers. If you let the ball fall down, more often than not, you've got yourself a lost ball. I was frustrated with this table at first, but after becoming more effective at table bumping on it, I've grown to like it, and think it's Gottlieb's best table in season one of Pinball Arcade.

7.396/10

8 years ago

BXV

dezaanster

Pinside member

11y 44,150 23 106

Played this at the Pizza Depot in Sunnyvale, CA after having played it many times on the Pinball Arcade. Can't really explain why but I really love this game. Probably because it is so hard to master.

8.158/10

8 years ago

TJF

KingDaddy

Pinside member

Marblehead, MA

9y 55,150 611 3 31

Aesthetically, this is one of the nicest Pins I've ever seen... Like the bodacious Genie herself, the game is drop-dead gorgeous.

As for the gameplay, at first it feels a tad slow - but as you get into it - you realize there's tremendous nuance and variety. There is never just one shot option. There is something more cerebral about this game than most. Genie is "baseball" or "golf" - not "hockey." There is time to contemplate. There are starts and stops. I find the simplicity of the soundtrack to be soothing. It is also an extremely well-built game, as Gottliebs from that era were. Get the Pascal board or similar, to realize this game to its fullest.

Love Genie.

KingDaddy has owned this game in the past.

5.536/10

9 years ago

K K

snowvictim

Inactive member

Warsaw

9y 66,050 549 4 29

A game with quite a lot of potential that had not been used, although for an early alphanumeric it's decent.

Pros:
- 5 flippers
- extra upper playfield
- some nice artwork on the playfield and backglass
- simple layout, easy to figure your way round the game

Cons:
- nothing particularly interesting in the game
- alphanumeric (don't fancy them)
- colour schemes on the playfield are a bit dodgy; the genie cloud is wonderful, looks a lot like the lamp trail cloud on TOTAN, but the dominant yellow comes at odds with the theme, overall lack of colour variation

7.361/10

9 years ago

YOS

Yoski

Pinside member

Sebring, FL

9y 88,150 456 17 133

Attractive looking game with 5 flippers and lots of toys on the PF. At first glance you think fun overload. Once you start playing you quickly experience the short comings of this impressive looking machine. The layout is poor, the game doesn't flow well. If you trap the ball there's not much to shoot for, 4 drop targets and a spinner.
The bumper on the left seems oddly misplaced.
Still a very cool looking game I would like to own and look at. The fun factor is lagging a bit.
Edit: The lastability is better than I thought. Always gets me back to play another game.
Edit: Play it a lot. Game lives of building the bonus and the multiplier. You only get one chance of ripping the spinner after the ball hits the rollovers in the inlane. Next switch will turn it of the bonus per rotation. To build the multiplier you have to hit any of the 4 drop targets while the yellow light is on. It turns on and off randomly based on switch contacts. So when the light is on there is a certain sense of urgency to hit a target before it turns off again. Flow still sucks but the backglass the prettiest of any machine, especially with some LEDs installed.

Yoski edited previous rating on July 18, 2017.
Yoski currently owns this game.

7.768/10

9 years ago

ALX

achtungboyy

Pinside member

El Paso, TX

11y 75,150 252 98 131

Classic wide body. Beautiful artwork. A classic from its time

8.644/10

10 years ago

SIR

toasterman04

Pinside member

Saskatoon, SK

11y 99,600 1,733 30 22

what a beauty!! it is always nice to play a wide body every once an awhile and when that time comes this is the one I want. fun to play

toasterman04 currently owns this game.

7.994/10

10 years ago

MAC

Mackin

Pinside member

Pflugerville, TX

12y 29,150 17 6 11

Genie is one of those machines you come across by accident, and fall in love with after a few plays. The extra wide playfield is a lot of fun, the ball travel is slower than in most games, but it's a good speed. The playfield artwork and backglass are great pieces of artwork. A fun machine that's also very beautiful.

Mackin currently owns this game.

8.282/10

10 years ago

OKS

Piparoo

Inactive member

High Point, NC

10y 42,650 856 13

Just a beautiful game with a bunch of flippers and drop targets. Hands down my daughter's favorite game.

Piparoo has this game on the wishlist.

8.955/10

10 years ago

DAN

BeaverBrewing

Pinside member

Beaver Falls, PA

11y 80,150 289 7 282

Best wide body I have played to date regardless of era. Shots galore across the playfield, sound is great and it actually varies. Upper playfield is tough to clear out and the extra ball shots are no joke, almost hit with luck only. Worth a quarter or two.

9.432/10

10 years ago

WAD

wadwerks

Pinside member

Hanford, CA

11y 27,250 18 11 15

Love this game. Doesn't play fast but has a ton of great shots to shoot for and the slower speed plays well with the out lanes since it is a 50/50 chance its gonna drain any time it heads that way. Really like the way they set up the multiplier on this game. The art work is just amazing the playfield looks great and the back box is one of the best of the era.

wadwerks currently owns this game.

8.798/10

11 years ago

TSG

TheShameGovernor

Pinside member

Omaha, NE

11y 60,650 494 6 36

Really enjoyed this ultra-mega-supra-widebody. The play is slow, but varied, and I think it's a nice change of pace from the high speed thrills we covet so much.

You would be hard pressed to get a Gordon Morison machine in your house that doesn't look good, and this is no exception. Backglass is stunning, and the playfield is beautiful. I would own one in an instant.

Owners Edit: After finally nabbing this machine and putting a couple hundred plays on it, I have to say this is one of Gottlieb's finest. For such a simple ruleset, this game constantly has you on your toes. Are your lower drops lit? get that multiplier before it's gone. Is your spinner lit? It won't be for long - crank up the bonus and just try to collect from the very top. The 50/50 outlanes are a nudger's dream, but I set my tilt tight so there is always a risk/reward with every bump.

It's the subtler things in Krynski's design that reveal themselves only after extended play. The way the game has you chasing every inch of the table. The fast choices between bonus building or multipliers. The way each of the flippers can make a shot into the mini playfield, but the most satisfying (IMO) is from the left flipper, through the spinner, ricocheting off the left pop bumper into the mini-field with some serious speed. These were master pinball makers at the top of their game.

I was barely a toddler when machines of this era were out earning on location, so I have zero nostalgia for this time period - but I do have an appreciation for craft - and it is clear that Gottlieb had it once - in spades.

Bonus edit: While my review is based off of the original design, I recently put in Pascal Janin's System 1 board, and it completely takes this game to another level. 35 new dipswitch settings add so many nuanced improvements, it should be considered a mandatory purchase (working original boards or not).

TheShameGovernor edited previous rating on March 27, 2013.
TheShameGovernor has owned this game in the past.

4 Pinsiders starred this!

8.795/10

11 years ago

JJM

J-ride

Inactive member

Colbert, WA

11y 15,900 18 4 11

I love this wide body game with a extra play field in the upper left and the 2 extra small flippers

9.277/10

11 years ago

ZUL

Caucasian2Step

Evil McBooty

12y 163K 1,456 51 1011

Genie is a game that will keep you occupied for a while if anything... just to try to hit every shot on the table in a single game. This is the best Super- Ultra-Mega-Hefty-BaDunk-a-Dunk wide Gottleib made.

The Pros:
The PF is nuts! There is so much to shoot for on this table, it's not even funny. Max your bonus from the drops and then hit collect bonus saucer in the upper right hand of the pf is a true skills shot. 3 big flippers and 2 little flippers work quite nicely on the available real estate (and there's lots of it), so work em'. Vibrant colors and detailed artwork on the PF, BG and cab make this table look fantastic. Bikini sportin' genies popping out of bottles are a crusty old wizard's dream... No wonder Geezer McSkeezer's raven haired GF lookes upset!

The Cons:
The lower left of the PF is rather sparse and using a pop-bumper in this area... well... it's just not the beast's lair. Gameplay can be slower, but this is a single level gottleib game. Audio is lackluster at best. This is a shame because this game should be rating even higher if it wasn't for this category.

The Takeaway:
A great looking and playing game that has more to do on it than many other games designed 20 years after it came out in 1979. If you think this game is slow... adjust your setup, steepen the angle, refresh the rubbers, wax your PF and play it when you can.

Baby's got Back! And I cannot lie... you otha pin-brotha's cannot deeee-Nie! When a girl walks in with an eeeety beeeety feeeeper waist and a round thing in your face you get... SPRUNG!

Update:
I recently got the chance to play a nicely tuned version of this deck and DAY-UMM! This girl has got it goin' on! The semi-random lit bonus-x four-ply yellow standups make sure that you keep your eye on that drop-bank at all times. Once I figured out the "light the spinner" rollovers on the inlanes... my shatzing skills came to the forefront. Light that spinner and rip it when you have a trapped ball. At first this may seem a bit strange, but once you gitcher' 5x set and you hit that oh-so-temptational saucer in the upper right hand side of the PF and collect that bone-us, it's an ego booster. Gotsta' build this girl up again before you can collect 29k at 5x! This is the kind of game that keeps on giving, and giving, and giving. The upper left hand of the PF has that wonderful red-white bank of drops that are so tempting... but le left land and the center space between the eeety beeety fleepers lead to the a-b-c-d lanes, just past that 2k pop bumper into the 50/50 valley of death. Are your pop-switches fresh???!? Do you want to take that risk? Did you light that ex-ball / special with your eeety beeety fleeeper skeeels? A classic Gottleib game with a classic setup. Build your bonus and collect it from the toughest shot on the PF. Rinse and repeat. If you think for one second that this game is too easy. You are right. YOUR GAME IS SET UP TOO EASY! so Gitcher' game setup correct and see if you can clear 300k with consistency. If not the pin-deck... it's not you... it's your deck adjusted (most likely by you collector-gomer!) to too easy of a setting/slope/inlane-outlane setup. You gotsta do right by Master K's design and it will do right by you.

Girlfriend has always been hot, but now that she's a playa... as in.... she's on the shortlist into Club Cuacasian2Step! And when the game sound effects emits its soundscape-thing that says "Whut, whuuut!!!" C2S says right back to it... "In the Buuuuuutt!"

Caucasian2Step edited previous rating on January 28, 2013.

5 Pinsiders starred this!

3.935/10

11 years ago

LUC

luch

Pinside+ Frequent

Newmarket, ON

11y 109K 3,571 74

first widebody I played , never kept the game sold it

6.992/10

11 years ago

ATE

AdamTheGamer

Pinside member

11y 56,150 270 2 133

Fun game, one of the better Gottliebs I've played. The artwork is really cool, and I enjoyed it throughout. Never would want to own it, though.

AdamTheGamer edited previous rating on November 17, 2012.

7.568/10

12 years ago

KEV

flyrock

Inactive member

Winnipeg, MB

12y 8,500 4 7

love the backglass

flyrock has owned this game in the past.

6.949/10

12 years ago

DSD

Winball_Pizard

Inactive member

Austin, TX

12y 75,400 1,104 12 54

Genie is a pretty good game but sooooooo sloooooowwww. Its like watching a train wreck in slow motion when your ball is going stdm. You can see it coming from a mile away, you just cant do anything about it. Its the steamroller scene in austin powers basically. Its got a lot of usually fun features, drop targets, seperate/mini playfield, multiple flippers but its lacking it the excitement department. The ball just sort of meanders slowly around the playfield, scoring random points, being boring, yawning, inducing sleep. I would probably buy one for the awesome retro value or use it as a sleep aid. I rub the lamp, a genie pops out and tells me I have three wishes. Wish one, I want to go to sleep early, granted.

Winball_Pizard edited previous rating on March 23, 2013.

6.645/10

12 years ago

LBE

Espo66

Inactive member

Trumbull, CT

12y 32,400 256 6 24

Slow playing WideBody

Own(ed): Yes

Times Played: 100s

Positives:
Pretty much every trick in the book was incorporated into this widebody. Upper PF is fun to shoot for. Bonus countdown is really suspenseful.

Negatives:
Too big. Ball movement is slow, even when game is jacked up as steep as possible and the PF waxed. Sounds would be better is it were an EM. System 1 Gottliebs are a pita to keep running well without aftermarket boards.

Recomendation:
My son and I fell for this game while playing the Gottlieb HOF video game. It excels at multiplayer and is worth picking up at the prices they go for.

Espo66 has owned this game in the past.

7.122/10

12 years ago

CAT

DCFAN

Pinside+ Frequent

Chantilly, VA

12y 148K 12,776 34

A pretty good game for the 1970's. The layered flippers make for a unique style of play. It seems the best way to play is to shoot diagonal shots to the upper playfield areas as much as possible.

DCFAN edited previous rating on March 22, 2013.

8.679/10

12 years ago

BUK

pinballslave

Pinside member

Litvinov

12y 138K 6,386 133 149

Beautiful true 'very-widebody' game with 2 alternate sound options that was an innovation for the time it was made... one on my wishlist!

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