Dragon

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This game has received 25 approved Pinsider ratings. 25 more approved ratings are needed to get a rating and for it to be eligible for the Pinside Pinball Top 100 ranking.


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Found 14 ratings (with comment) on this game

There are 14 ratings (that include a comment) on this game.
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10.000/10
9 months ago
My machine is like factory new so keep that in mind. Mine plays fast, its super fun and very challenging. Its a rock solid performer with the janin boards and the art work is excellent.

Its fairly common too which keeps the price in line. Worth a pick up for sure
8.901/10
1 year ago
Awesome system 1 game. Simple rules and a lot of fun to keep me playing one more game. I generally don't like vari targets but it works on this game. Only one slingshot and 2 pop bumpers but if you have them working well you can get the ball flying around the playfield. I like hitting the rollovers in the upper right lane, lots of fun shots on this simple game. I love the art package on this one, think I'll keep it a while.
7.767/10
1 year ago
I got one of these in a bulk deal. Had it a few years and cut my teeth of fixing up the boards (luckily the spider chips were fine). It was actually a pretty fun game and the rules have a clever twist for a gotlieb. Not close to their best, but I was surprised. There's a progression to the game for more advanced players. Multipliers, max out bonus, then cash in some bonus then repeat the last 2 steps. Collecting bonus can feel like a wizard more (for an (almost) EM) And to lite some things like Ebs it's in the middle of the bonus value so if you go past it, you'll be tempted to cash some bonus in (the risky vari-shots) to get back to it. Quite clever.
The thing I most miss about the game is the cabinet art though. For me, one of the most beautiful. I had it out so you could see the side. The Heavy Metal-esk (magazine) theme is pretty cool. The large face on the PF always bugged me a bit for some reason though.
What drove me nuts on this game though is the lack of registered shots due to the slow system1 boards. Rip the lit spinner? Oh yeah! I got like ten spins! Oh wait, the slow a** boards only registered 4. :/
The lack of shots are a bit disappointing too. Really to start there's only 2 smart shots from either flipper. It opens up though once you have your multipliers.
Someone had retrograded mine to chimes. It was good. Some people prefer it. I don't mind the basic electronic beeps either though. It's nostalgic.
Still a fun game. My wife was sad to see it go.
10.000/10
2 years ago
This game has plenty if bang for the buck. They pop up once in a while. The playfield and backglass art are excellent renditions.

The game itself is easy to understand but its not all that easy, getting the multipliers is the key. This is one of the harder system ones to keep the ball alive but its super fun and basically sounds like pacman era machines.

Cabinet are is excellent also. Cabinet is fairly light weight and easier to transport.

Much like an em these are not new stern machines, they are excellent from the time period where pinball was huge. They didnt have all the tamps and lights the current machines do.

You will kick yourself for passing on one of these machines


Quick note about system 1:

The system one gottliebs are excellent machines kust put a janin all in one in them and they really pop.
10.000/10
3 years ago
I really like this game, great straight forward pin, great art. System one are excellent machines. I do t see many of this title. I added a janin board and now its an amazing machine.
3.792/10
3 years ago
For a 1978 Solid State, it's average, but playable.
A very basic machine. For experienced players, it doesn't offer too much.
8.076/10
3 years ago
Beautiful game. Great art. Looks and feels like an em. It's the missing link, like the dragon.
6.451/10
4 years ago
Cool artwork, Gorgeous Backglass and ok gameplay, but the sound is a major detractor for me.
4.915/10
5 years ago
A stunning piece of pinball art regarding the backglass and playfield. This kind of flashy imagery from fantasy land is about as good as it gets, specially considering the age of this deck.

Unfortunately the game play is rather stale and uninspiring. The spinner and upper stand up targets just don´t seem to be in good sync with the overall playfield layout here. On top of that those vari-targets -a bad type of playfield target to start with - feel completely weird and placed way too close to the flipper fingers.
This in combination with a rather irritating game sound (pong ! ) makes for a pinball game that just feels simple and without seductive qualities - apart from the above mentioned colorful backbox art.

I will try to test another Dragon game if possible, because there is a sort of slow:ish and rattle-like feel to the flipper fingers that really bug me here. I will have to investigate if this is that infamous bad Gottlieb flipper feel, or if that particular game I was playing had some bad coils or adjustments.
4.109/10
6 years ago
Fantastic art package, dreadful game. Any game that relies on TWO vari-targets as its main hook is in big trouble. No drop targets also hurt the design. Gottlieb was showing signs of design exhaustion at this point, and basically allowing Bally to eat up their slice of the market pie. There just isn't any fun awkwardly working up the bonus multipliers and ripping a lit plastic spinner. Not much more to say here, just avoid Gottlieb Dragon.
7.790/10
6 years ago
The back glass is quite attractive with the komodo dragon and rider, in a '70s comic book way. The playfield art carries over with the same feel. the sounds are not great with electronic chimes. the real chimes might make it feel better. gameplay is simple, its a very gateway pin. 3 ways to score bonus , with a spinner to add control/variability. 2 varitargets make for a unique game as well... especially if youre not used to them. not bad for the EM/SS hybrid it is.
3.500/10
9 years ago
The art work is below par. That creature looks like some mutant turtle, not like a dragon. Ball drains quickly, the distance between the flippers seems to be the largest of any game I ever played.
Overall I found this game rather boring. No cool features, no drop targets. 2 bumpers, 1 spinner and 2 vary-targets, that's as bad as it gets.
7.486/10
10 years ago
This is a good game with a few tricky shots. The art work is good the sound is what you would expect for a late 70s game.
8.060/10
15 years ago
One of the last gasps of the EE era, "Dragon" was originally manufactured as an Electro Mechanic pin, before being converted in a SS one. It shows, but also works as a missing link between two different steps in the pinball evolution.
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