I get real pinball peoples deal with sys3's, however they seem to just go overboard with hate for them. My first game was a Waterworld, and man I miss it. They are great for beginners or non pinball people. I recommend them to anyone to asks me to look for a game for them, that just want 1 game at home for the "grand kids".

I liked when people hated them as it kept the prices low, now the sys3 prices are jumping near 2k ish and I'm not used to that. I would also say that the sys3's have deeper code than given credit for, but no one really dives deep into them. I remember the day I sold waterworld, I played and was getting new modes I had never seen before.

Shaq, Q ball Wizard, Waterworld, and Stargate are all very solid games to me. I think they are all settling right around 1800-2200 or within a couple hundred of there. They lack some of the polish of Bally/Williams but the layouts and rules are good.

Now, Recue 911 and SFII... yeah I would really only buy those titles if they were worn out parts machines. You can't force someone to like a game of fun.

I am an admitted system 3 fan...

Sherman tank reliability for the most part, quirky layouts/rules/art/themes.

However...

They were seemingly 10 years behind everyone else at the time, there is a monopoly on parts and manuals, quirky layouts/rules/art/themes, and let's face it: put an "A" list sys 3 (is there such a thing as an "A" list sys 3 ?) next to a "B/C" list B/W from the same era, and tell me which one you ae going to play every time? They aren't even in the same league.

Carguments aside, I've heard the comparison made that if B/W was Cadillac, then DE would be Hyundai...but what would Gottlieb be? I'm not going to say Yugo, but I would say 80's General Motors C-10 trucks; rock solid, but otherwise, spartan.

Well in the em days gottlieb was the Cadillac, in the 90’s maybe I agree with your c10

Oh yeah, no doubt.

Again, I love me some system 3, but they are priced accordingly on the collector's/player's market when compared to their contemporaries. Maybe even a little high, but the same could be said for pinball as a whole.

Now that we are down this rabbit hole, take the arguably most coveted system 3, Stargate, and put it next to Fish Tales or The Getaway. While the latter 2 have less "features", they have significantly more polish in their artwork, rules, music, and overall execution. All 3 are priced pretty similarly on the used market, but I can almost guarantee that the majority of people would rather play or own FT or HS2. While system 3's usually had lots of stuff on the playfield, they just weren't as well integrated into the overall theme of the particular game.

Even compared to a lot of B/W system 11's, I think most people would still rather have and play an older, mid-level game like Mousin' Around or Taxi to most newer Gottlieb System 3's.

All that said, I still really enjoy all of the system 3's, especially the street level games!

I really enjoy gottlieb system 3 games.
I feel they all have unique layouts, with lots of features on the playfield.
I currently have a Super Mario Bros, and I don't think it will ever leave. I have owned Shaq Attaq and Street Fighter 2 in the past, and wouldn't hesitate to bring them back into the lineup in the future. I quite enjoy playing my buddy's tee'd off and stargate as well.
Gottlieb made some great games. They used to always get a bad rap, though over the last few years they have seen some more love, which is nice to see.

Have owned a few System 3s. If I had more room, I would definitely still have one just for the fact that they are so beginner friendly. There is always something interesting to shoot for and the flippers have significantly more travel so cradling is really easy. I wish code was better on these games. Too much unbalanced scoring and mystery awards. My favorites have to be Stargate, Gladiators, Big Hurt, and Silver Slugger.

As far as reliability when properly gone through the Gottlieb system 3s are the best.