Joker Poker

Jack's Open

Hot Shot

Target Alpha

Jumping jack

I can't really add a lot that hasn't been said, but a horizontal line of drop targets is very high on my list for things I look for in an EM. I gravitated towards Pin-Up.

Target Alpha! drops and a sweet art package!!

Big Hit is a good one too.
10 drops, 4 flippers, 2 vari targets, no out lanes, and you can win on specials, score and/or runs.

I think you might want to re-check yours.

IMHO, the best drop targets pinball EMs are the pinballs with reseting target like SURF CHAMP, JACK IN THE BOX, SHERIFF, BIG INDIAN, SINBAD... for multiplayers and CENTIGRADE, ATLANTIS, JACKS OPEN or VOLLEY...for single player.

Hot Shot/ Big Shot family of games. Think there are four or five that are similar

From Mr. Big Hit himself Haha you are correct. I incorrectly stated the lack of plunger situation.

One of my favorite target games was Royal Guard. Probably not what you had in mind. Anyway for a more traditional Gottlieb drop target game I enjoyed Pop-A-Card, Lucky Hand and Pro Pool.

For Williams, Teachers Pet was excellent. It's fun how dropping a target wasn't the only objective. Depending on the goal you can also raise them during the ball in play.

Sometimes it's all about the rules and how the drop targets are used within the game. Oh, and the difficulty of hitting them.

BigDeal (resized).jpg

That's a really good point which begs the question why would any game have drops that don't reset or can't be reset after being knocked down or a bank completed? I have had a couple that only reset after each ball is over and they got old fast.

Nico overthinking it version...

Oldest to newest that I've played and recall liking a lot (and would own if I only had the space):

Heat Wave
Crescendo
2001
King Pin
Captain Card
Out Of Sight
Impacto
Old Chicago
Freedom prototype
Volley
Grand Prix
Aerobatics
Jacks Open
Hot Tip
Pinball
Jungle Princess
Rancho
Cleopatra
Joker Poker (SS version)
Sinbad (SS version)
Gemini

Top five favorites where drop targets are the main focus:
Joker Poker (SS version)
2001
Sinbad (SS version)
Out Of Sight
Cleopatra

Top five where drop targets are more-or-less secondary:
Freedom prototype
Old Chicago
Rancho
Hot Tip
Pinball

My favorites are Joker Poker, Royal Flush/Card Whiz followed by Big Hit and Target Alpha. C37 is a great game but not so much for the drop targets. Gemini is also awesome but a bit on the pricey side. A game I have my eye on for a while is Volley. I had to let several nice examples pass me by since I am out of room. Time to throw out the furniture

I recently finished a restoration on my Expressway including a cab and head repaint, all new lamp sockets, playfield switches, etc. This game is tough for sure. You can go for points and/or spelling expressway. Not at all easy to spell expressway. Maybe if you added ramps that deliver the ball right to the flippers and add a kick out ball saver to the outlanes it might be a bit easier...like modern pins do.

CCoin did not have many drop target games
but Gin is probably the best
with a curved arc of 5 DTs.

Fast draw is a fav for me. It has special coils that drops the drops except center drops.

We just did a live stream on twitch this past Sunday of Jacks Open.
Check it out. Lots of drop targets.
It is being played by this years Louisiana State Champion and past Texas champ. Preston Moncla.
Also during the stream the Texas state champion Colin MacAlpine stops in the chat as well as Jack Danger, and Double Danger.
We stream games live every Sunday night 9-11P.M. CST on Twitch under "Thepinballmafia"

What was the score? Make it through the Royal Flush?

Yes. I think we had one double roll of over 200,000.
Few games in the 160's to 180's.
Couple of games we had a drop target stick halfway and ran up the score but we did not count those. lol

Dang!!!

I see it as a case of originality, that is simply the way the machine was made and to enjoy it as it is.Many modern tables have glitches in the software that owners wish were better but no reason to dismiss the whole game. Some collectors/owners seem to have decided some features found on EM's are "The Best" and hence more desirable.
I have seen this played out on add-a ball VS replay, small flippers against large, Williams chimes VS Gottlieb, etc. I hate this term but will use it in this one instance.
"It is what it is"
In the case of Out of Sight, if the drops are hit with skill in the correct order the score is astronomical, if however the drops are pounded willy-nilly, the original logic of the machine goes out the window, its not supposed to be easy or reset for another try.

For me I would go with one of these A games. I have all of them except Joker Poker:

Atlantis/Lawman
Abra Ca Dabra
Jacks Open
C37
Joker poker is great but I prefer the Solid State over the E/M
I also feel Big Brave is an A game as there are lots of options and the artwork is superb as is the art on all the games I have mentioned.

Good Luck!