Found 14 ratings (with comment) on this game

have only played this a couple of times, and it was years ago...but have always considered adding one to my bally lineup, just due to the artwork.

Typical Bally of the era. Not a fan of the artwork.

Have owned this game for over a year now and it still hasn't gotten old! This challenging game is a ton of fun to play and a favourite in the household amongst friends and family. It's a bonus building game with drop targets and a spinner. While being a widebody, it plays quite quickly and there is a ton of horizontal action on the playfield.

The in-line dorp targets are a blast to shoot at and completing them to open up the loop to the scoop is fantastic. The kicker to collect your bonus mid-ball is a cool feature that was rarely used on machines, great creativity in placement and effectiveness there. Very underrated game in my opinion and that's probably due to the theme and low production run. Either way, its a pleasure to play and I would highly recommend playing it if you have the opportunity. I know it's never leaving my collection!

Update: Lpve this machine, has aged well in my collection, still gets played all of the time and has become a bit of a cult classic amongst the regulars that are over!

A better-than-average widebody with in-line drops in the upper left and a fun little middle PF flipper make Hotdoggin' a treat to play. The shots are decent and the gameplay is exciting enough. I'm not a fan of the skiing theme, and the left lower pop bumper creates chaos at times. I'd like to play this a bit more, but first impressions were favorable.

Worth playing and a solid machine relative to its age.

This wide body plays like a wide body, and its not hard to put up high scores with the bonus multipliers being easy shots. But I have to say that it is fun to play. Set up the collect bonus kickback, rack up the bonus, and then keep the ball high and right until it falls in. It's not Embryon or Paragon, but I'd say that it's better that Space Invaders. I can't comment on Future Spa.

Hotdoggin was my very first game. I played it many, many times; being that it was my only game. Thinking back, it had most of the typical features. Pop bumpers, drop targets, and a cool ball catch/save. The one I had was a player machine and was a great game to learn on, but found myself looking for titles with ramps, music and more fun features.

Had wanted this game for a while and one came up in good mechanical condition but poor cosmetic shape. The game is fun for a while but loses steam fast. It's WAY too easy to roll over and after playing it for a bit you realize that that some shots are satisfying, like the inline drops. But others are more like a chore, such as the right bank of standups. The artwork is absolutely FANTASTIC!!!! One of my favorite packages ever! Sounds are good for the time and I still like them nowadays. Overall, out of the bally widebodies it lands right in the middle. Above Space Invaders and Future Spa but below Embyron and Paragon.

After years of searching... I FINALLY got a chance to play this game. Muchos thanks to Bridge Morrigan for buying a copy and letting me session it out!

The Pros:
A very interesting layout and a more complex ruleset than any of the other Bally Buh-donk-a-donk-5. Big ups to Greg Freres for taking a chance and putting together one of the more creative and less literal art packages seen on a pinball game in a long time. For some reason, I'm hungry for Ike and Mikes now. Spelling out HOTDOGGIN can come rather easily with the lanes, but it is more fun to sharpshoot the standups around the PF. I like the narrow shot to the inline drops at the top of the PF and going around the lane to the saucer is satisfying. The spinner is way sweet when it swings easily. The sounds on this game are really incredible. For a game of this vintage, it is almost like playing a Frontier. Nothing else sounds quite like it.

The Cons:
This game is WAY too easy to roll with the bonus multiplier at 5x within 3 shots. The coolest feature of the table is a lucky-bumble it in shot. Can it be reflected off of other parts of the PF skillfully? Maybe, but I have yet to find that shot. 5, count em'... 5 inlanes. Yes some of the inlane rewards are different, but... 5 inlanes?!? The saucer to the right of the inlanes is accessed about 78 times more from a shot from the flippers or a random bounce from the upper left hand pop bumper. A switch/rollover at the top of the u-turn lane that would offer a REWARD for accurate shooting through the inline drop lane is what should have happened here. Don't crack your lower left pop bumper cap. They can't be found anymore!

The Takeaway:
While Strikes and Spares may be Gary Gayton's best design, this one isn't that bad at all. I'd put it right about the same place as Evel Knievel. Bonus is King on this game and there is a PF collect, but you have to get the center lane at the top of the PF and then drop the ball into the kickem'-outer lane on the right. Do this 5 times over at 5x bonus and roll it! I woudn't be surprised if someone hasn't already made a ROM to take the zero out of the last digit of the 6 digit display. This game really needs it. This game is in desperate need of another digit or a s/w alteration to get rid of that last zero. A fun game, I'm glad I finally got the chance to play it.

Hotdoggin has quickly earned a permanent spot in my collection. The game is challenging and fun to play and makes for a great league game. The triple inlane/outlane design is a fun design, the rules are good and the inline drops are difficult to hit. I don't see the need for the third flipper, but whatever, Hotdoggin is a very cool game for its era.

I love Hotdoggin. It was my first pinball and the widebody design definitely changes the play dynamics.

I was able to bring this game back to life after it sit in someone's basement for years. Boy am I glad I did. This is a late 70s/early 80s Bally Widebody that feels like a classic car. The game has great artwork on the PF and BG. I love the kicker on the right side that adds to scoring and the saucer hole in the upper left. Who can go wrong with skiing in a cowboy hat..funny theme.

Not many games made, and a winter theme to boot means not a lot of people have seen this machine or played it outside the snow belt(s). In New England this pin was in every game room at every ski resort in 1980. Set up properly and not whipped to death this is a great fun fast wide body. Drop targets, the spelling game, disappearing kicker, saucer, in line drops, a cool "SKI" spinner, interesting placement of the pop bumpers, a third flipper in a unique position, liberal "extra ball" and plenty of on field 'specials" make this a fun game for novices and more experienced players. For whatever reason, i see people often set up their wide bodied machines almost flat...crank up the back legs! esp. on this machine or the force of the ball coming off the flippers is going to destroy the mid field drop targets. The art? See my rating, beauty is in the eye of the beholder...this one is just plan 1980/81 cool.

The almost "forgotten" 5th Bally superwidebody. Inline drop targets and lots to shoot for. Artwork and backglass are marginal but I would buy one for the right price.