Pinside rating

This game received 244 approved Pinsider ratings and currently rates 8.107 _/10

8.107

Top 100 ranking

This game ranks #57 in the Pinside Pinball Top 100.

Score breakdown

Score breakdown in the 4 main categories:

Game Design: 8.058

Artwork: 8.681

Sounds/Music: 7.337

Other Aspects: 8.151

Pinside staff rating

This is how we, the very knowledgeable (wink wink) Pinside.com staff & moderators rate this game. 8 of us have rated this game.

7.931

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Found 119 ratings (with comment) on this game

There are 119 ratings (that include a comment) on this game.
Currently showing results page 1 of 5.

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6.276/10

19 days ago

NAT

Medieval_Gofers

Pinside member

Ipswich

10y 65,900 208 3 79

This era of games isn’t really my thing but I do recognise Centaur and Fathom as being among the best. Theme and art do nothing for me but the system of achieving multiball and then trying to stay in it keeps me coming back for more and the layout is more inventive that many from this era.

9.491/10

23 days ago

JEM

jmanc62

Pinside member

Wyomissing, PA

<1y 18,500 7 6 1

Spectacular Art. Great sound effects call outs. I think this game the best of its generation (yes - better than fathom :) !!!)

Simple gameplay but you always come back for more.

jmanc62 currently owns this game.

6.756/10

65 days ago

EJH

ehex9

Pinside member

Saint Albans Town, VT

1y 32,250 1 8 172

Typical bally from this time period. The art makes the game cool.

9.487/10

5 months ago

???

Wmasspin

Pinside member

Whately, MA

<1y 18,750 1 1 10

One of Bally's best playing ,keep you coming back for more.

Wmasspin has owned this game in the past.

6.641/10

5 months ago

TNA

flip17000

Pinside apprentice

La Rochelle

<1y 11,250 26

good old flip

8.676/10

5 months ago

JRC

JRC6000

Pinside member

Bon Air, VA

<1y 28,400 64 6 7

I like the old school multiball and the challenge of hitting the captive ball. I keep coming back trying to figure out the right timing to get the captive ball all the way.

JRC6000 edited previous rating on May 05, 2021.

9.247/10

5 months ago

RIV

SteveRivet

Pinside member

Ashburn, VA

8y 30,150 29 2 20

After a long session on a perfect example this weekend I realized I'd forgotten how great this machine is. It's critical that all of the features work right and machine is set up properly, and I've noticed on routed machines in the past certain parts were screwy, impacting overall play. Only thing I dislike on the playfield is the gap in the Orb targets can set up an SDTM drain a little easily.

For the time period, this is one of best Bally solid states out there, with plenty of shots, decent speech/sounds for the time, and playfield / backglass art of the Paragon / Lost World / Viking quality.

SteveRivet has this game on the wishlist.

7.616/10

6 months ago

PO

pat4race

Pinside apprentice

Unknown

<1y 14,500 1 70

While I completely enjoyed playing this game - with drop targets, plenty of specific items to aim for, straight-forward rules, and amazing artwork, it does seem to drain quarters and balls at an alarming pace. While I keep coming back to play, its also frustrating to not be able to establish any lengthy gameplay. Many different shots to try, and more strategy than I could try on my first exposure - I'm more into playfield design, game play, lastability and fun, but the artwork and sounds definitely add to the experience. Excellent game other than the large number of quick “no fault” drains

pat4race edited previous rating on May 01, 2021.

7.987/10

8 months ago

DIA

mrossman5

Pinside member

Warren, PA

3y 163K 2,470 4 176

This and Fathom are my two favorite games from this era. I might even prefer the gameplay of Centaur a little more than fathom. Multiball is incredible for the time and the callouts are great.

8.276/10

9 months ago

LEX

ssjakie

Pinside member

7y 17,200 5 14 19

After owning 3 centaurs i feel like an expert.... Haha, seriously this is one of the only tables that lets you forget everything else around you. The sound is inviting you to become one with the machine and it plays you -> bad move human :)

It's hard to get those 5 balls out and even with 2 balls out you have to work.

If it plays slow or cluncky then your machine is not dialed in the way it should be.....It begins slow and ends in mayhem and it will hypnotize you like no other machine can.

Compared to my addams family or shadow it holds its ground and thats impressive!

ssjakie currently owns this game.

5.390/10

10 months ago

ECW

Ecw0930

Pinside member

Fredericksburg, VA

1y 41,150 250 1 90

Y'all telling me this game rates about the same as Getaway on the Top 100? . It's not even close.

Maybe for it's time it was novel and cool. Nostalgia and all. The art is the coolest, weirdest, worst, best, ugliest, most awesome mix of whatever it is! Hahaha.

The game has some cool shots and ruleset is decent. If not too easy. Fun time.

But cmon..... Play it for the novelty and move on. Unless you grew up playing it and still have a hard-on for it. It plays slow. Sloppy. Sounds are OLD. The game is OLD. It plays OLD.

Dont rank it up with the high class just because it USED to be the shit. It's not.

Jump on it if you have a shot. Take a spin and say you've played it. That's all you'll need.

Ecw0930 edited previous rating on May 04, 2021.

4 Pinsiders flagged this rating/review.

9.077/10

11 months ago

LSB

lazySUNBATHER

Pinside member

2y 47,400 33 41

Love the BLACK and WHITE theme
With splash of colors. A few well placed
Color LED lamps really make this game pop.

9.478/10

1 year ago

ARK

arkuz

Pinside member

6y 47,050 145 11

This is my second time around on owning this game, and should have held on to it first time around in the 90s. I wasn't quite as exposed at the time to all of the games in the world to appreciate its uniqueness.

The art and sound package is a masterpiece of creative and aesthetic commitment to the theme, which includes some intentional ugliness as it should. Let's all appreciate how hard it is to get something like this to market anymore (Metallica and Walking Dead being exceptions to the rule). And not only is the multiball kickout a unique mechanism of interest to techies, it also makes for a wonderfully surprising attract mode when it shoots out all the balls on its own. And much love for the ball-holding magnet -- an early use of that feature (following on from Gorgar if any others).

While everything this game offers in terms of rules and action are rich and exciting for the period, one does eventually master the shots and you, as a human, can "destroy Centaur"! So perhaps the only con here is not having an extra display digit -- rolling it over, like with all SS machines of the era, requires you paying attention to mark it. Doing so multiple times becomes annoying to track. I started another thread soliciting info on how to fix that, with some great responses.

Lastly, I must recommend getting an overlay for the playfield. My machine has wear, and slight cupping in spots while waiting for me to spare a full work week to do a PF swap. In the meantime, I grabbed an overlay for it and it really came to life as though brand new, zippy fast and smooth!

7.539/10

1 year ago

JNS

TecumsehPlissken

Pinside member

Longwood, FL

7y 112K 2,344 10 103

one of the most classic bally games of all time , & a better player then Fathom IMO with the bonus that you can get one for a better price

10.000/10

1 year ago

???

brucea1956

Pinside member

Delton, MI

8y 44,900 131 20 10 1

Fantastic art and sounds.

brucea1956 has owned this game in the past.

7.129/10

1 year ago

DWD

KnockerPTSD

Pinside member

Hamilton, ON

3y 79,600 2,980 6 95

Ugliest fun you can have lol

9.220/10

2 years ago

TKM

Daditude

Pinside Moderator

Rockwall, TX

2y 242K 6,761 13 264 1

One of the best early SS games with a fantastic art package. The gameplay will have you playing again and again. This is a solid game and a must-own if you collect games from this era.

8.615/10

2 years ago

JTC

Trainman15148

Pinside member

5y 31,975 45 18

When I was a kid, Centaur and its art package freaked me out. I remember thinking the game was demonic! Now that I’m older - way older - I can appreciate the overall design. For a predominantly black and white machine, it really stands out and the use of what little color there is as accents really works out well. I’ll never understand what drugs Jim took to come up with the half man half motorcycle humanoid with all the crazy weaponry but it looks cool and the women on the machine, well, what can I say! The gameplay is great for the era and I like the rollovers to increase the bonus. The rule set that rewards you for dropping targets in order is a strong plus and getting “orbs” as a reward is a great touch. I also like how the outlanes are designed there’s a way to get an orb there too. The only thing I think the designers missed is the queen’s chamber. I’m just not a fan. Had they done something different like what they did on EBD or Fathom, it would have been much better in my view. Even so, they did distinguish the shots you could take and had appropriate call outs like “only single value” when the easier shot is made. All in all, it’s a great deck and I’m happy to have one in my collection.

8.468/10

2 years ago

???

luigi90

Inactive member

Unknown

2y 7,750 2 6

Really fantastic art, gameplay that rewards accuracy and control. For me it is absolutely one of the best in this time period. Unfortunately many people think the same which led to the price being what it is.

8.560/10

2 years ago

JDS

Chromiesnwhites

Pinside member

Spokane, WA

2y 17,750 18 10

What a blast!! I need one in my collection! Wow! I love how dark the artwork is, and multiball kicks @$$!!!

Chromiesnwhites has this game on the wishlist.

5.970/10

2 years ago

DEM

Brutilus

Pinside member

2y 25,550 61 1 24

After a dozen plays at MAGFest, my opinion on Centaur comes down to this: the artwork combined with the lighting on the cabinet was actively repellent to me. I found the art ugly to the point of it being distracting from the play. It's a solid table layout. Re-themed, it might be a table I go back to.

Brutilus edited previous rating on January 31, 2019.

9.154/10

2 years ago

LUC

Lucas66568

Pinside member

Bologna

3y 17,000 27

Centaur looks like a normal pin until you discover the multiball function. If you complete orbs (if in order, you will add a ball into play) you will have a ball to launch when you hit the upper right target "release orbs". I love this machine especially for this feature. Not a fan of the artwork. For the rest it's my favourite early 80s pinball

9.600/10

2 years ago

MAG

FancyFrank

Pinside member

5y 23,150 5 7

The Centaur beats imho all EE machines. I owned one for more than 10 years. There is nothing comparable in the pinball universe. The callouts, the multiballs, the sounds, the design, everything is outstanding.

A fantastic machine!

8.060/10

2 years ago

D D

davidlldennis

Silverball Chronicles

3y 55,550 354 2 34

A Bally 1981 classic. Knew right away what I had to do with simple rules, but my goodness it was not simple to play! The artbis unlike any other pin. I'm not a fan of the piano bike thing, but I appreciate how awesome the artistic aspect it. Very risky, very different with black and white. Screams cool.

8.535/10

3 years ago

DEF

DefaultGen

Pinside member

Morrisville, NC

8y 120K 2,806 10 166

Can someone tell me what happened to shooting drop target banks in order? What a great gimmick that is.

Oh also this table is a god damn work of art.

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There are 119 ratings (that include a comment) on this game. Currently showing results page 1 of 5.

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