Probably as crappy as Mario bros mushroom world. J/k Gladiators is actually a pretty fun game if you give it a chance.

Gladiators is a fun game. And has the best shaker motor in all of pinball.

I like my Gladiators, as well. It does have an awesome shaker......I actually think the theme "American Gladiators" would look pretty dated today, and how many even remember Zelda these days? The generic theme stands the test of time, because it is not tied to any specific person or event, I think.

Millions as they still crank out new games: http://vgsales.wikia.com/wiki/The_Legend_of_Zelda

Gladiators is a pretty good game. Really feels good hitting those big combo's and then the ramp to the tank shot (saucer hole) BOOM!

What planet are you on? Everyone under 40 knows what Zelda is. There series has sold close to 70 million copies of the games.

I bet quite a few games have changed themes/titles between conception and production.

It's always kind of neat to hear the stories behind the process, though

If you can accept Super Mario Bros Mushroom World for what it is - a half sized playfield game - you discover that what they did with it is surprisingly creative and awesome. SMBMW is ten times the game that the full sized SMB is.

Gladiators is cool too.

OK, I just picked up a Gladiators off of craigslist last week for a fair price. I pretty much only got it because I wanted another DMD game and I won a gladiators translite in a tournament a while back and its just been sitting around. I never played the game before I went to pick it up.

All I can say is that it has far exceeded my expectations. It has like 9 modes or so, a wizard mode, 2 or 3 multiball modes, combo shots, a crazy shaker, call-outs, 4 flippers, moving ramp, the ability to stop the pops to get the ball quick if you are in a timed mode, mystery saucer...etc, etc...

Its no Twilight Zone or Addams, but it is very fun and underrated. I bet it would be ranked much higher if it was a Zelda pin. The music is ok and I do like some of the sounds. The art I am fine with, but wish it was better. I'm thinking about "skittleizing" it with LEDs to distract from the art but haven't decided yet.

One thing that threw me for a loop was how damn heavy this machine is. I have 6 other machines and this one by far is the heaviest. Built like a tank I guess.

Gottliebs are freaking tank heavy.!

You can hear what is basically the American Gladiators theme song at the beginning of the mode starts in Gladiators.

The only thing that's missing is the "Malibu" mode.

....pardon my ignorance of video game classics!! I had no idea Zelda was such a hit.
I am not a video game guy at all.
Mike

I liked Gladiators the one time I played it. With a Legend of Zelda theme, it probably would get a much bigger price command on resale.

Gladiators was my first DMD pin. Not a bad pin, certainly beats a lot of other pins for the price. The only problem I had was it started to become very easy after a while. Slaying the dragon became a pretty common occurrence.

Reviving this old thread.

Has anyone learned more about this? I think it’s fascinating that this could have been a real game. I wonder what the playfield looked like, and how the rules played out. I’m surprised that the homebrew crowd hasn’t made this a thing yet.

https://www.knapparcade.org/post/the-time-we-almost-got-legend-of-zelda-and-american-gladiators-pinball-machines

Thats funny. I was just looking at his blog last night. And i even sent jon an email asking a question. It always bugged me that on the flyer for gladiators, it says self pitching playfield. Obviously not on the game, so i emailed to ask him what that was and how it worked. Havent heard back yet though