Gottlieb

Freddy: A Nightmare On Elm Street

Pinside Rating

This game received 125 approved Pinsider ratings and currently rates 7.145 _/10

7.145

Top 100 ranking

This game ranks #243 in the Pinside Pinball Top 100.

Score breakdown

Score breakdown in the 4 main categories:

Game Design: 6.992

Artwork: 7.371

Sounds/Music: 6.985

Other Aspects: 7.045

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.

7.588

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Found 70 ratings (with comment) on this game

There are 70 ratings (that include a comment) on this game.
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8.116/10

77 days ago

FJB

Viggin900

Pinside member

Union, KY

5y 80,300 1,736 6 18

I owned this game for several months and enjoyed it. Adding better lighting really helps this game. It is not a wide open game to place shots except the boiler. The rest are quick hits to freddy or the glove. The theme is everything on this game, if you are a Freddy fan it is a must. Anyone unfamiliar will probably scratch head. The glove and claw save on this game are over the top and will keep you coming back. Not a very deep game but the mechs make up for it.

Viggin900 has owned this game in the past.

1.970/10

3 months ago

JDA

skink91

Pinside member

9y 108K 3,305 31

I have never come close to hating a game this much. There are zero redeeming qualities on this turd.

4.013/10

3 months ago

CAM

DeputyDrain

Pinside member

Saint Paul, MN

<1y 31,250 138

Multiball heaven! It is so easy to get a multi ball going on this one, maybe too easy...

The theme is pretty rad, I love the movies and the Freddy head is thematic and cool!

There are not that many shots on this pin, you will get real sick of the variety pretty quick, I could hardly stomach a couple of plays on one I found in the wild.

Nothing special but happy to play it from time to time.

7.888/10

5 months ago

MJM

Sonic

M&M Creations

10y 114K 1,511 9 11 2

It's an odd pin for certain - and best in a bigger collection - but the theme integration is excellent - and there are a lot of unique toys aside from the obvious Freddy head - like the pop targets, the claw-save, the boiler, and the bullseye target...but even the much maligned glove flipper is interesting in that if used correctly to hit the boiler or captive ball can be a reward. At the end of the day - the game is not easy - and that's what makes it a winner. The atmosphere is creepy and I can't imagine how cool the animations would be colorized one day....

Sonic currently owns this game.

2 Pinsiders starred this!

5.040/10

1 year ago

???

ssmc1987

Pinside apprentice

Unknown

2y 7,000 25

Great theme that is very poorly delivered. Seems the CLAW is broken on every example ive ever seen and the audio is waaayyy too repetitive. The theme could use a re-do by Stern.

7.047/10

1 year ago

MDS

MStem80

Pinside member

Horseheads, NY

2y 26,900 66 1 6

Big Horror Fan here, and I own this game. Simple Rules, easy to explain, challenging to play. A few cool toys, some kinda pointless (broken Glove). Game is all about the boiler shot, and trying to kill Freddy while still in multiball so you can hit endless jackpots.

MStem80 has owned this game in the past.

7.332/10

1 year ago

NIC

Zildjian

Pinside member

14y 28,900 15 6 8

Freddy is a great machine, I wouldn’t say you NEED to own this pin. But if you like 80s horror and pinball, then how can you not have this in your home lineup? The music paired with the playfield animations are very fun to play and watch. Between the Boiler room, Freddy’s head, trapped souls, Freddy’s glove and the claw save for SDTM saves is badass. Never reached the final nightmare but the playability lacks and the flippers feel mushy. the playfield is pretty open in the first middle half and can just be blah. None the less for it’s time it’s awesome and we definitely found a home for it in our collection.

Zildjian currently owns this game.

7.113/10

1 year ago

PIE

SilverballGamer

Pinside member

4y 57,650 29 5 88

Nightmare on Elm Street is a strange pinball machine in many ways, especially with its many bizarre and polarizing aspects.

Pro’s:
Backglass artwork is well done, as well as the cabinet artwork. The work put into these aspects clearly has lots of effort.

The playfield layout has a great use of toys, especially with Claw Save and back diverter for the loop. The soul shroud and Freddy Head also look cool.

I like certain aspects of the ruleset, like the mix of Multiball and Single Ball modes, as well as the multiple jackpots. Specifically, the Combo Jackpot is very nice to pull off.

This is the only DMD Gottlieb with an original match sequence. It’s barely coherent what’s going on, but it’s there.
Con’s:

Some aspects of the ruleset are just plain stupid, like the fact that if you are bad enough at hitting the cellar modes start automatically it seems? This was at least the way the model I played was set.

Modes are very basic, hit the blinking shots until the cellar opens for a final blow.

Claw Flipper is just plain stupid. There is no point for it to exist, all it does is look unique.

The shots just seem kind of poorly laid out on here. For example, there is a big area above the right inlane that has an inaccessible lane that’s just kind of there? I’m guessing they had a unique idea there that got scrapped.

Sound is pretty bad. It’s just loud and unfitting.

DMD animations are fairly poor, Gottlieb was just really behind the times when it came to polish on these games.

Overall, I think this game has some cool ideas, but just doesn’t come together. I will say it’s one of the better Gottlieb games from this era, though.

Edit: I realized the model I played had a broken diverter causing the area I mentioned as “pointless with a cool initialized idea” to be a false statement. No points were removed, as I still think the overall layout is not great.

7.916/10

1 year ago

EKS

PanzerKraken

Pinside member

Boynton Beach, FL

2y 70,550 3,075 7 47 1

An all time favorite. It's a very simple ruleset with a sorta repetitive main goal as everything revolves mainly around making the boiler room shots, but it's such a great presentation and is a fun shooter. The simplicity is probably the only real negative I have with it but it's a classic for me and was my first pin as well.

PanzerKraken currently owns this game.

8.340/10

2 years ago

MJK

MJK29504

Pinside+ Frequent

Hudson Oaks, TX

3y 23,500 11

This game is on my lineup and it is really fun. Freddy spitting the ball out and the multi ball right off the bat is awesome. Freddy talks crap the whole game and the music and singing from the movie makes it creepy. It is a really fun game that does not get much love. If you like horror or love the movie you will absolutely want this game.

8.199/10

2 years ago

BXP

Deafman013

Pinside member

Osborne Park

3y 28,800 44 17 24

Own Freddy and done alot of work on it including adding extra lights to help make the playfield brighter.
Great game and the Final Nightmare multiballs are incredible.

Deafman013 currently owns this game.

9.280/10

2 years ago

MBC

radfordian3505

Pinside+ Frequent

Radford, VA

6y 89,550 763 9 52 1

Amazing theme. VERY UNDERRATED. Simple rules but best theme integration of any gottlieb.

radfordian3505 currently owns this game.

4.822/10

2 years ago

JAS

Sinistarrett

Pinside member

Freeport, FL

8y 81,850 1,623 3 12

Owned this game for a short time and recently played one on location. To each his own but I found the gameplay and fun factor to be the lowest out of just about any other game Ive ever played. I would choose Hollywood Heat or just about any “D” Gottlieb title over this game. Its cool because its Freddy but the layout and rules are just so bad. I see a lot of people call this table underrated but I dont think thats possible. I dont usually review games I dont like but this game to me is a total stinker. Sorry.

Sinistarrett has owned this game in the past.

9.880/10

3 years ago

VMD

Robodobro

Pinside member

Saint Leonard, MD

3y 17,150 31 1 13

The only horror franchise IP out of the bunch. Hits it outta the park. Some issues with parts failing but one of the best horror themed games out there.

Robodobro has this game on the wishlist.

5.531/10

3 years ago

RKR

Chicoman

Pinside member

12y 51,900 558 15 20

This was my first pinball machine. I purchased it because I love the horror theme and enjoy the Nightmare on Elm Street films. It's a good effort to incorporate the Freddy theme into the game....overall as a pinball machine this game falls flat. The playfield toys are intriguing including the CLAW Save between the 2 flippers. It's hard to find a Freddy pin where the CLAW hand on the left ramp actually still has it's fingerknives......most of them are broken right off. I did repair mine with Lexan and a Dremel and some Gorilla Glue......looked pretty solid after I painted it.....never broke after that either. It's just an ok pin for me....the game play is just lackluster and really a turn off despite a good themed pinball machine. Always play a few games when i see it out in the wild but this machine is definitely not a KEEPER and with Prices today it's still a sub $1500 pin IMO. It's just not fun!

Chicoman has owned this game in the past.

9.880/10

3 years ago

WAX

WaxMoon

Pinside member

Richmond, VA

3y 27,400 4 26 35

This has to be one of the more underrated machines which makes sense being that it’s a Gottlieb, the more i play it the more i love it!
Positives:
- As a horror fan I must say i could not be more satisfied with the theme, i love that there 7 nightmares (one for each film)
- the furnace shot is your main objective just like in the highest rated pins (Medieval Madness, Attack From Mars, Stranger Things) but this one is to the right which is unique and challenging
- Most people would call this a negative but the flippers are slightly to far apart, why this is actually cool is you can activate a claw at the bottom of the playfield to bounce the ball back in play!
-the game starts with multiball which is very unique and always makes things interesting
- Freddy spits the balls and talks smack to you!

Negatives:
- Animation is okay but could be better i suppose
- the left claw flipper isn’t as exciting as it could be but it’s still pretty cool

WaxMoon edited previous rating on December 25, 2020.
WaxMoon currently owns this game.

6.119/10

3 years ago

BBE

hittheorbits

Ba Ba Buttons

Bloomington, IN

5y 27,400 3 31

Cool game with fun toys. Really like the claw ball save, makes things interesting.

8.096/10

3 years ago

KEY

Keithisonfire

Pinside member

Victoria, BC

7y 27,750 17 30

It’s A Nightmare on Elm Street.
The theme carries this game a lot further than the game itself.
I’m really not sure what to say about this game... the claw save is cool, the furnace toy/shot is cool, and Freddys head is cool too.
It has its charm for sure, and to anyone who loves the horror genre can overlook its shortcomings.
I really love the cabinet artwork, and I love the theme.

Keithisonfire has owned this game in the past.

7.006/10

3 years ago

JOB

jobowens

Pinside+ Frequent

Orlando, FL

4y 47,400 13 9 17 1

Enjoy the game a lot! Easy for friends and family to jump into. Freddy spitting balls out his mouth is great, creepy sounds, good artwork on cabinet and play field. underrated.

jobowens edited previous rating on January 26, 2021.
jobowens has owned this game in the past.

8.528/10

4 years ago

???

Pinchild

Pinside member

Eagle, ID

5y 54,800 737 12 44

Owned one 15 years ago and regretted selling Freddy ever since.
I like the theme alot as it brings me back to the 1980's.
When you learn the rules the game is quite fun.
Machine must be 100% to truly enjoy.
Art is beautiful and for being a Gottlieb its great.

I will not be letting this one go ever again.

Update game was just to slow and boring to keep after honeymoon. Love theme and art but not enough to take up a spot in my collection.

Freddy's Home

Pinchild edited previous rating on October 23, 2020.
Pinchild has owned this game in the past.

8.329/10

5 years ago

GBL

Lightshifter

Inactive member

Asheville, NC

5y 32,500 1 81

Such a underrated game

7.575/10

5 years ago

CUZ

mcuzz

Pinside member

8y 117K 500 137

Theme is great on this one , if you have a horror collection this game is for you.
Fun early dmd , not much to do but ok for a few games.

9.520/10

5 years ago

???

noob-a-tron

Inactive member

Melbourne

7y 41,650 488 8 19

I own this Awesome machine we need more horror Halloween Friday 13th Evil Dead come on Stern!!!!

noob-a-tron currently owns this game.

7.499/10

5 years ago

UWU

Rewdood

Pinside+ Frequent

Truckee, CA

5y 39,400 44 12 16

This game is pretty simple, like other Gottliebs (Rescue 911 for example) but it is fun.

It is easy, but also difficult due to the awkward playfield layout. Not sure if this is a good or bad thing...

The gimmicks are pretty awesome.

Multiball all the time.

Plays more like a fast paced 80s game then something from 1994.

It's a weird game, but I like it.

Rewdood edited previous rating on February 05, 2023.
Rewdood has owned this game in the past.

7.697/10

5 years ago

DIA

mrossman5

Pinside+ Frequent

Warren, PA

6y 197K 3,186 7 253

A very good Gottlieb. In my top 3. Art is absolutely beautiful and that is hard to say about any Gottlieb. Modes are lacking and difficult to understand at first, but the code could be increased worse. The head is very scary and was really well done. I don’t think the call outs are bad and I actually love the music and some sound effects. I would definitely recommend.

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