Pinside rating

This game received 16 approved Pinsider ratings and currently rates 7.873 _/10

7.873

Top 100 ranking

This game ranks #106 in the Pinside EM Top 100.

Score breakdown

Score breakdown in the 4 main categories:

Game Design: 8.001

Artwork: 8.129

Sounds/Music: 3.331

Other Aspects: 7.669

Pinside staff rating

This is how we, the very knowledgeable (wink wink) Pinside.com staff & moderators rate this game. 1 of us has rated this game.

6.81

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Found 11 ratings (with comment) on this game

There are 11 ratings (that include a comment) on this game.
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7.065/10

69 days ago

MSL

SantaEatsCheese

Pinside+ Pro!

Crofton, MD

5y 194K 8,329 9 79 1 1

What a fun little EM. This is the add a ball version of El Dorado, which I had and put many games on. The drop targets on this are so fun. Art and theming is excellent, and the chimes are nice. Not my favorite game in the world but a very easy concept to explain to a noob. Just shoot the drop targets!

8.769/10

1 year ago

GHL

Garrett

Pinside+ Frequent

Pinckney, MI

11y 83,800 2,226 7 30 1

Great game for the end of an era.

Garrett has owned this game in the past.

9.179/10

2 years ago

???

Adm927

Pinside+ Frequent

Sanford, NC

3y 45,800 128 55 44

Great game, very fun to play. Only down side is with practice it is a game that can be beat. Still super fun. Better as an AAB .

Adm927 currently owns this game.

9.099/10

3 years ago

ZAP

zahner

Pin-a-Go-Go

Fair Oaks, CA

10y 80,550 1,023 6 16

I always loved the layout of this and El Dorado. This wins only because of the Add-A-Ball feature. What a fun game to play. Man it keeps you working, and I just always love anything with Gordon Morison art.

10.000/10

4 years ago

EEM

MatadorMan

Pinside member

6y 37,250 1 30 26

Simply put, Gold Strike is the holy grail of all EM pinball machines, period. This machine has it all.

Let's start with the most popular playfield of all time - an asymmetric design with 15 drop targets 4 flippers it's a sniper's dream. It rewards good shot and punishes bad ones, especially if you have everything tuned up and the posts to the "hard" setting. Krynski design at it's finest. Classic Gottlieb chimes never get old when you score 5,000 points. The backglass is dazzling and the western theme timeless, and all the colors pop on the playfield which is stunning as well. The artist Morrison was in peak form.

The fact it's a single-player gives it a deeper ruleset that it 4 player cousin, Target Alpha - where the drop targets have to reset after each player. The AAB format of this game is superior to the replay version El Dorado, as it's better for home play as you can go into "Pinball Wizard" mode and see how high of a score you can get (my best is 850K). Great resale value as only 675 were made making it extremely collectible and a good investment. The only pinball I can give a perfect score!

MatadorMan edited previous rating on February 28, 2020.
MatadorMan currently owns this game.

8.817/10

7 years ago

MLF

stashyboy

Pinside member

High Falls, NY

10y 89,800 2,575 16 44

Well respected,classic EM. Lots of drops, sneaky layout that will punish bad shots. If you can take advantage of the lit 'WOW' targets, you can rack up lots of fun.

stashyboy has owned this game in the past.

4.714/10

8 years ago

WAM

Aicfuel

Pinside member

9y 26,400 8 3 16

This game has not withstood the test of time very well. Plays very slow, with a poor layout and weak flippers. Boring....and I like vintage games.

7.698/10

9 years ago

GJB

gjbwalker

Pinside member

11y 46,450 423 18

Purely a nostalgic rating for me. Drop targets galore and add-a-ball made this game a lot of fun as a kid. I absolutely love the artwork on this pin.

Having played one recently, it's still fun, but I'm not accustom to EM speed (or lack of) anymore. I need this one in the collection someday if I can find one.

5.743/10

9 years ago

B13

Bribo13

Pinside member

Ortonville, MI

11y 70,550 410 28 69

This is the WORST version of this playfield layout, This AAB machine is so easy it gets boring, I usually walk away from this machine with several balls yes to play after rolling it over several times, this on is a Miss Two thumbs down.

8.465/10

10 years ago

GM

BallyWizard

Inactive member

London

10y 34,150 2 24 98

For hours on end I would play Lucky Strike the identical Italian version of this classic AAB Wedgehead. For hours I would chase the roaming cactae special and for hours I enjoyed playing this wonderfully original asymmetrical game. The only down side is the back glass which could have been better, but let's not nit pick. I love this and El Dorado and hopefully one day will own one.
Ed Krinsky is a divinity when it comes to pinball designs.
I have been playing more and more of his games of late and think he is a pinball Guru.
The imagination and mental aptitude the man must have had to constantly bring out fresh and interesting games, makes him a legend in my books.

9.480/10

10 years ago

ZUL

Caucasian2Step

Evil McBooty

12y 158K 1,449 51 1001

This is possibly the best PF design that ever came out of Gottlieb, ever. I have only encountered this add-a-ball game once and it played great!

Pros:
The shots! the way the game opens up from the flippers to the top of the pf with 10 drop targets to shoot for. A shooters game if there ever was one. A skill shot that takes real skill. Nudging properly is required as well. You have to do it to keep the ball on the table... as the outlanes and the space between the flippers eat up pinballs like there is no tomorrow. If you can roll this game... your pin-fu is very strong!

Cons:
Finding one. Especially one for sale. For less than the price of a new Mercedes-Benz. Somewhere in my time zone.

Takeaway:
A truly classic game design... They made over 18,000 versions of this game with different graphics/rulesets and even made a SS version. Hitting the lit target for another ball to play after dropping all the targets is never an easy task. Adding balls to your quest for a high score is incredibly satisfying and is also an excellent example of a great psychological "hook" in a well designed game. Master K is the MAN!

Update:
The El Dorado has landed, into my collection. I am very happy and very grateful to the seller who got this game to me at a relatively reasonable price. While Target Alpha is long gone, ElDo is staying around. We will see if I ever come across a Gold Strike or an El Dorado, City of Gold. In the meantime, I can't stop playing ElDorado. That'll have to do for now.

1

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