Overall, I like zipper flippers. My personal favorite is Four Million B.C.

That said, I've *heard* (but personally cannot confirm) that Gator plays inferior due to the zippers than the layout does without. Gator is a reused layout. The game was first Sheba (a 2-player in 1965) and then Campus Queen (a 4-player in 1966). Neither of those iterations use the zipper flippers. I've played Campus Queen, and it's an interesting game.

Anyway, some say the zipper mechs don't play the same (more give or something when open?) and the layout suffers for it. No idea if it's a big deal or not since I have no first-hand comparison knowledge.