Gordon Morrison really let loose on this deck. There is more detail on this table than I can think of on any other game from the time. John Buras's best single level design by far! I like it even better than Buck Rogers. Only the incomparable Black Hole supercedes this design.
The Pros:
Lots to shoot for. 2 banks of drops in conjunction with the 4 lanes at the top of the PF require skills all over. The first left loop to left flipper design that is not seen again from Gottleib until the Street series of pinball games. Getting all the hands to light the special is never easy. The spinner is satisfying, the extra ball standup is a sniper shot all the way up the pf.
The Cons:
Finding one to play is hard enough. Owning one may be a pipe dream for the collector. The saucer shot is more likely to be scored from a sling bounce than a direct flipper shot.
The Takeaway:
There were lots of reasons that this game was low production. Memory/display issues, single player design in 1980... Regardless of these reasons... I have to say that this table is one of the best playing Gottleib games I have ever laid my hands on. A brilliant player that should have seen more people at the arcade.
I have a funny story to go with this table as well. I was playing this game at a party and a little kid about 7 years old came up to me and asked him to help him find a game. My reply to him was, what was the name of the game? He said he couldn't tell me because the name was "dirty". Now that junior has my full attention I'm on a quest to help him find this game he is looking for. We look about this joint and I keep asking him questions.
q- what does the game look like?
a- it has a girl on it.
q- what is she doing?
a- she's playing a game with some weird looking creatures.
q- does it have a dmd on it? You know like a small orange TV?
a- no, just blue numbers.
I think I know what he is looking for and we go over to the corner with the game in it. He points to it and says you found it! My favorite game! "Hemmoroid Annie and the Aliens!" I couldn't stop laughing for the next half hour.
Update:
This game has to be finely tuned or it gets slow and "flat" very quickly. Scores have been reduced accordingly, but if this game is well cared for and properly nastified, it is lots of fun.