Bowling Queen is a challenging game where, as is the case with many Gottlieb wedge heads, aiming for a specific goal supersedes trying to accumulate any kind of large score. For this game, unless, perhaps, you manage to spend an inordinate amount of time in the pops, the two benchmarks for your play are intertwined.

Bowling Queen boasts several rollover lanes on the playfield and a window in the backbox above a row of bowling balls labeled one through twelve. For every lit rollover lane hit on the playfield, a ball pops up in the backbox. The goal is to get all twelve "bowling balls" racked up - something that is no easy feat. Four of the twelve lanes are outlanes, which means that, in addition to skillful plunging, skillful draining is required, with very little room for error, even in a five ball game.

Getting control of the ball is nigh impossible given the tiny flippers and large slings; as stated above, skillful plunging is essential. The two topmost lanes are almost never reachable from the flippers, and even the lanes that are even on the playfield with the lower pop bumpers are incredibly difficult to reach. Hitting these rollovers on the way down is your best bet.

The theme of Bowling Queen is quite fun, too. The apparent titular character (young and sweet; only seventeen?) takes center stage on both the backglass and the playfield, surrounded in all cases by awed onlookers. The row of pinball players in the background of the backglass art is a nice touch.

Overall, this is a decent EM to play.

Very fun table especially for it's time. A classic pin that I enjoy playing over and over!

Fantastic golden era Gottlieb EM. Designed by the venerable Wayne Neyens, this game has a fantastic animated backglass gimmick, killer artwork, and a fun but challenging symmetrical layout.

Bowling Queen is a game that looks great and kicks your butt in soooooo many ways.

The Pros:
A skills game that will work your nudging abilities to the max. Good shots and lots of action in the pops. The Bg animation is righteous! Artwork on the BG and the PF is very nicely done. Thank you Roy Parker. Lighting the pops and getting the ball back up the the top of the PF is lots of fun. Set up your pops and get your action on. Getting all the balls to light the speccial is NEVER easy. Work it!

The Cons:
The canyon between the flippers. Planning for four outs on the sides is against the idea of scoring points. So what is it? Points or replays?

The Takeaway:
A good game that was made for making money on the street. Gameplay is signifigantly different in the home environment. The eeeeety beeeeety fleeeepers better be strong enough to get the ball back to the top of the pf.

One of my favorite wedgeheads to play and one I am still looking for to add to my collection. Gottlieb used the exact same playfield in 2 other wedgies, earlier in Rack A Ball, and later in Mibs, a testament to a great layout. BQ has by far the best artwork IMO, so it gets my vote as the best of the 3. A nearly impossible challenge to get all fifteen balls to rack in the backglass, but one that keeps you coming back for more!!