Devil's Dare

Pinside rating

This game received 53 approved Pinsider ratings and currently rates 7.347 /10

7.347

Top 100 ranking

This game ranks #204 in the Pinside Pinball Top 100.



Score breakdown

Score breakdown in the 4 main categories:

Game Design: 7.389

Artwork: 7.934

Sounds/Music: 6.072

Other Aspects: 7.54


Pinside staff rating

This is how we, the very knowledgeable (wink wink) Pinside.com staff & moderators rate this game. 3 of us have rated this game.

6.917

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Found 30 ratings (with comment) on this game

There are 30 ratings (that include a comment) on this game.
Currently showing results page 1 of 2.

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8.620/10
1 year ago
My best system 80 with the Spirit
8.429/10
1 year ago
Devil dare is one of my favorite 80's game, strong game, efficient, back to basics in terms of rules but very fun! However as I own the European version, the sound is a nightmare compared to the US model
8.169/10
2 years ago
I rated this higher than I think I would have by scoring individual portions of the game. Art is great for the era, the layout makes real use of that wide body and certainly has enough to keep it interesting, and the sounds were top notch for the era and I almost look forward to the Alfred Hitchcock (Funeral March) ball drain. Each piece of this game really is superb. Certainly the best Gottlieb made in that decade. But the game is so very difficult with little satisfaction most of your rounds. Then when you finally get all your shots and you keep the ball draining long enough to get the multiball and all the gates activated, then it's this huge release of joy. I still don't fully understand the bonus bet feature but it's unique. In fact, that's the quality of this entire game it's so Unique. Most games are about score for me, but this one is about making the Devil dance on the playfield. I like it, I do. But I probably won't own it very long because it's so frustrating. And I imagine any deal with the devil is about the same. Huge rewards that leave you grinding your teeth in the end...
8.357/10
3 years ago
My favorite System 80. An often misunderstood and underrated pin. It definitely takes some time to really learn the rules and appreciate this game. Some creative and unique shots and features. Great value if you can find one!
9.900/10
3 years ago
My youth Pinball.
Loved playing it at 17 years old.
38 years later, always the same fun.
7.514/10
3 years ago
Great artwork package that makes the game. Sounds are evil and spooky. Gameplay is decent and challenging. Green display covers are cool. Overall good game.
8.380/10
4 years ago
I played this at Funspot in Laconia, NH. I liked it so much I drove to mass to buy one.
I still haven't set it up because of room. Im a sucker for the big Ones. I currently own
Black Hole
Mars god of War
Counter Force
The Amazing Spiderman
Batman Forever
Devil's Dare

Having a lot of room on a pinball with lots to shoot for is a great change from small crowded Sterns.
The theme the menacing devil and the Devils Lair all make for a unique fun challenging game,
but I love wide bodies.
A few posters complain the upper flipper doesn't do anything. There are two target banks up top.
Maybe that's what the top flipper is for?? This game would look great next to a Gorgar.
7.192/10
4 years ago
A lot of open area on the playfield in my opinion. The ball spends almost as much time moving sideways as it does up and down. I like the drop targets, spinners, and captive saucers but I wanted more.
7.391/10
6 years ago
Super fun with a really unique layout.
8.164/10
6 years ago
When set up correctly, a very challenging game.
8.198/10
7 years ago
Devil's Dare is an odd game from an odd company, Gottlieb. I really enjoyed playing devils dare. The drops are sweet as well as the super unique center shot! The artwork was excellent, very creepy and cool. At least on my copy, there were lots of air balls off the center targets as well as the slings. I love it when game designers put slings all over the place and DD has 5! The upper flipper was in a neat place although there wasn't much use for it. LOVE the manual kickback. Overall, a real fun game for the money.
4.637/10
7 years ago
Devil's Dare looked so promising, but the ones I've played were sluggish, boring, and just disappointing. There are interesting features (captive, way upper pf flipper, "caves", etc.) and it's widebody (my favorites), but I just shrugged after each attempt to like it.

I wouldn't buy it, and I would only play it to see if it is as bad as I say it is in terms of kinetics and enjoyment level.
9.032/10
8 years ago
Great game. Very fast. Looks incredibly cool.
8.030/10
8 years ago
Need more plays to fully rate.

* Asymmetry: Excellent.
* Backhands: Great, Too bad left sling doesn't allow for LBH into captive ball area.
* Ball Time: Seems a little easy.
* Drops (Sweepable): Excellent. Two sweepable banks (top one must be hard) - sometimes they sweep passively too
* Flasher Blinding: great - none
* Flippers (extra): Good. But #3 in a weird position. That's a minus.
* Free Ball earning: has some
* Fun/Lastability:
* Hazards: Excellent. 5-drop bank is really low and tough to miss on.
* Inlane Flow: Excellent. Wide open, and 4 lanes.
* Lateral movement/Nudging: you def nudge the outlanes
* Multiball - entering: seems pretty tricky to earn it
* Multiball - enjoyment: ?
* Orbit Shots: NONE
* Originality: Excellent. unlicensed theme. Totally unique PF layout
* Outlane save-ability: Decent. Both are tough outlanes, but at least it's a rubber post.
* Pop bumpers: Weak. they just score drops and standups.
* Rules (Time and Order-based): ?
* Scoring Balance: ?
* Shots per flipper: 9 overall?
* Skill shot: ?
* Slap Saves: Fair. Gottlieb is always far apart.
* Sound/Callouts/Voice: Decent. has voice, but it's the SAME voice for black hole, which does NOT fit the theme of a devil. Weak. sound is a bit annoying and repetitive.
* Spinners:
* Stop n Go/Flow: Excellent. Just ball locks.
* Taunting: NONE - plays a silly theme when you drain... not a fan
* Theme/Art/Lights: Good, but whole pin is missing the colors Blue and Purple, very strange.
* Toys/Gimmicks: horseshoe behind drops is neat. drops that allow a new passageway is cool.

CONS:
* music, voice that doesn't match theme, weak pops. no taunting.
7.697/10
8 years ago
Huge game with lots on the playfield to shoot for, but I can see this game would not last that long in a collection before being moved on. I imagine if you played one a lot as a kid nostalgia would help it stick around but apart from the awesome artwork this game doesn't have a massive amount going for it.
9.095/10
9 years ago
Devil's dare hmm where to begin. Oh yeah the PF art kicks ass that's where, the art package on this whole game is pretty good. Good cabinet and backglass art also. This is our only wide body game and after playing it for a bit the other pins seem tiny. This is an early 80's game but it still has some good shots and features that set it apart from other games of the same time frame. The left lane ball save is manual operated and a challenge to hit at the right time. The game has both a 2 ball and 3 ball multiball and neither are super easy to get. You have to shoot the center drops for the captive cave lock and the left drop targets for captive pit lock. The center drops are particularly dangerous to shoot because of center and left outlane drains. It has a fun shot near that travels through a passage behind the center drops and will either take down the left drop targets or if they are down will give you a shot into the captive cave lock. The spinners are pretty gratifying to shoot when you have the spinners lit.

The music and voice call outs are pretty good for the era.

Overall I enjoy playing Devil's Dare and think it is one of the better games from the early 80s. Like all Gottliebs from the era the mechanics are well built but he boards can be finicky unless you get them up to snuff. There are also several people making new boardsets for the 80A and 80B's now so that helps quite a bit.

"EDIT" I updated my rating a bit on the rules/scoring and game layout. The more I play DD the more I enjoy it, it is a hard pin it doesn't give you anything. The multiball bonus timer is great when you can actually manage to rack it up. If you score enough points during multiball it will give you a second multiball when you drain all your balls, the multiball will continue until your bonus score counts down to zero. Then the flippers go dead and you drain.
7.155/10
9 years ago
Fun Love the art on back glass
5.607/10
10 years ago
Devil's dare is one of those games that makes you realize that Gottlieb was on the downslide for a LONG time before this deck came out.

The Pros:
Lots of drops and some really cool shots on the lower PF require your aim to be on point and ready to activate. The lane through knocked down drop targets to the multiball lock is way righteous! The Doug Watson art pax is sweet and that devil is grinning at you like he knows he's got you by the short pin-curlies. Devilish would be an apt description for the look of this deck.

The Cons:
The upper PF is a dearth of meh, even with snappy pops and fresh wax/rubber, this whole part of the game just doesn't do much. Did Gottlieb hire Atari's designer for Middle Earth to create this deck? Oh that's right… His only other design was Punk, err… Pfffrtt. Some people dig the sounds on this deck, maybe on Haunted House, but on this game just really doesn't do it for me. The upper flipper does what?!? How can a game with 5 sets of stand ups/drops play this poorly?

The Takeaway:
This game looks great, but I'm not feelin' it as far as gameplay is concerned. Maybe I need to get on a copy that is in better shape and I'm willing to give it another chance, but… I'm not keeping my hopes up.
7.460/10
10 years ago
my first ss.and what a game.gottlieb at is best.
both the hands are fully packed with a heavy game.
only the top flipper is a shame!
8.027/10
10 years ago
i vote for export version (france)
8.709/10
10 years ago
I own a project Devil's Dare that I am hoping to restore in the coming months, but an arcade I go to also owns one. That is where I have played Devil's Dare the most. It is a very addicting game. It is sort of tricky to figure out what the main objective is because almost everything is flashing and blinking. When you do figure everything it out it is one of the funnest System 80 games produced.

I agree with other Pinsiders who say that the upper flipper is sort of useless. The reason why I think is is there is because a slingshot probably wasn't an option in the switch matrix or space wise.

The artwork is very cool probably one of my favorites because of the rich oranges and yellows with the contrasting green. One of the few games that green actually works in from that era.

Like most System 80 multiball games this one is very difficult to get started. That is what makes it so much fun though. I personally hate easy games that give you multiball. I feel like people should have to earn it. This game definitely you earn it.

Also another thing to note is a Multi-Mode which is sort of a bonus multiball, which I think is earned by playing multiball and raking up a bonus timer.

Overall: Devil's Dare is a really fun game with tons of drop targets and shots to make.
7.089/10
10 years ago
Devil's Dare was fun. A game worth playing a few times, but other than that, I wasn't too impressed.
8.000/10
11 years ago
what a fantastic back glass ! very funny !
7.643/10
11 years ago
This game is the fastest playing wide-body I have ever played. I love the challenge, and all the shots and targets covering this field are really something. The ball save button is super frustrating to learn, but a neat trick--quite a bit more challenging than Black Knights magna save.
7.668/10
11 years ago
Devil's dare is a great pin. One you will remember. I played that one years / decades ago, and was so happy to find another one at a Pin show. Instant recollection... Fast play for a wide body and inspiring / scary backglass. A keeper.

Edit: after playing it again several times, some of the magic faded. Downgraded accordingly.
There are 30 ratings (that include a comment) on this game. Currently showing results page 1 of 2.

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