I recently became an owner of Cosmos! It's a very fun game. I haven't had a chance to get it tuned up and really singing yet, but my wife and I are already enjoying it quite a bit. She loves the orbiting pinball satellite!

The zipper flippers come into play less frequently in this game than in some others I've played, because the "Flips In" target is off to the side and the "Flips Out" targets (plural) are front and center. Maybe I just need better aim.

At first it can seem like there's not much to do, but lighting all three planets and all nine rockets and then hitting the blast off shot so that the pinball orbits the Earth and the machine slowly and deliberately awards you your 900 points is actually quite satisfying! I also like the third slingshot on the left side. Plus the art style is really awesome. If you find one, I'd say go for it. Then again, this is my favorite era... if I could find a Wiggler and a Capersville I think I'd be in heaven!

The "Fuel Pod" points are kind of a gimmick, honestly. You are correct: you get awarded one Fuel Pod point for every time you hit the Blast Off shot with at least one of the Mars, Saturn, or Moon lights lit (which also sends the pinball into orbit around the Earth).

I *think* that you can earn a replay if you reach a certain Fuel Pod score, as well as the regular score. I haven't snooped out the replay circuits on this machine yet, but in any case the two are independent of each other. Bally seemed really smitten at the time with parallel scoring systems. My other 60s Bally (Dogies) has "Cactus Juice Score" which is basically the same thing. It's kind of fun in a kitschy way, a vestigial remnant of someone's idea of an innovation, but unless you're a lot better than me at hitting the Blast Off reliably, it doesn't make much of a difference.

Yeah, mine needs that in a SERIOUS way.