Gottlieb

Shaq Attaq

Pinside Rating

This game received 68 approved Pinsider ratings and currently rates 6.535 _/10

6.535

Top 100 ranking

This game ranks #283 in the Pinside Pinball Top 100.

Score breakdown

Score breakdown in the 4 main categories:

Game Design: 6.997

Artwork: 5.78

Sounds/Music: 5.677

Other Aspects: 6.919

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.

7.136

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Found 40 ratings (with comment) on this game

There are 40 ratings (that include a comment) on this game.
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2.400/10

8 years ago

CBZ

Kineticross

Inactive member

Needham, MA

10y 69,150 1,103 1 62

Iraq can only dream of a bomb like this machine.

Pros:
- Admittedly interesting layout with a moving basket and a vari-target. Be sure to get the 5 hidden features for 1 billion!
- Gottlieb did a terrible job in quality control on this machine, so you won't see it on location much.

Cons:
- SHOOT THE SPINNER! SHOOT THE SPINNER! SHOOT THE SPINNER! Sound on this machine could be the worst of all time, barely beating out "EVERYBODY UNDERGROUND NOW!".
- Basket bounces are random and score more points than anything else.
- Terrible artwork... Shaq on the backglass looks more like a giant Tootsie Roll than a basketball player
- A true turd chopper, if there ever was one.
- Shoot the announcer!

3.331/10

8 years ago

DAN

BeaverBrewing

Pinside member

Beaver Falls, PA

11y 80,150 289 7 282

I am usually a System 3 apologist. I like Barb Wire, SF2, Freddy, almost all of them. This one falls way short though.

The sound and callouts are below par, very repetitive.

While there is alot going on in the layout, none of it flow together. The upper kinda playfield area is dull and hard to see with ramps going over it.

The art is very Saturday morning cartoonish. And not in a good way. Big Hurt has great art...don't know what happened here.

Not very fun, and like most system 3's, really unbalanced scoring. I am a huge Shaq fan in real life, but the pin does not translate into fun.

7.781/10

9 years ago

ADM

3413241

Inactive member

State College, PA

10y 24,650 12 4 10

Shaq Attaq is a game that should be given a chance. Yes, the backglass has major issues. Yes, it offers the easiest multiple ever. Yes, the shout outs are annoying. But, this is a great game to play with friends. Your non-pinhead friends will like it. It is a game that is easy to play and some of the more annoying aspects can be changes in the settings. For instance, you can limit the number out shout outs. In terms of depth, there is more than meets the eye. There are hidden features, different sequences to complete, and an ability to trade games balls for different features. Sadly, Shaq Attaq will never make a pinball top 100, but it is worth giving it a chance to see some of what the game has to offer.

3413241 currently owns this game.

3.269/10

9 years ago

TAM

tamoore

Pinside member

Grayling, MI

11y 123K 6,661 37 58

Miserable.

2 Pinsiders flagged this.

7.077/10

9 years ago

CDF

Collin

Pinside member

Columbus, OH

11y 116K 5,271 29 82

Updated review in 2023: this game is corny as hell and I love it! It's one of very few games I've sought to buy again after selling. The scoring is imbalanced towards multiball which is too easy to get into, but if you can accept its simplicity it's a lot of fun.

ORIGINAL REVIEW FOLLOWS (this is what I had to say shortly after selling the game the first time)
Shaq Attaq is actually a lot of fun, if you give it a chance. It gets a bad reputation on Pinside, but is really worth playing, especially for people new to pinball. At parties, it frequently got more play than any of my Bally-Williams DMDs. The shot call-outs make things straightforward, and the layout isn't too intimidating. Tournament players won't likely care for it, as it's a bit easy and boils down to a one-shot, multiball-heavy game. I had a lot of fun with it, though, especially after a couple beers. Overall, a woefully under-appreciated game, and still one of the best value-for-money titles (like Gottliebs seem to be.)

Pros:
Easy for beginners - the 'coach' tells you what shots to make.
The basket shot is one of the more gratifying shots.
Simple, straightforward fun.
Artwork is comically bad (another reviewer said Shaq's legs look like Tootsie Rolls on the translite.)
Far and away one of the best value-for-money DMD games.
4 flippers, 2 VUKs, 1 ramp (2 if you count the one for the basket,) and a swinging basket!

Cons:
Sounds are pretty dated for their time, and the coach voice can be a bit much.
Artwork is comically bad in some regards (Again, the backglass.)
Scoring is unbalanced; it becomes a one-shot game quickly.
Default settings are awful; minimum game timer needs to be turned off.

Collin edited previous rating on October 23, 2023.
Collin currently owns this game.

4.145/10

10 years ago

TGB

Thunder424

Inactive member

Angola, IN

10y 24,150 294 1 67

Played this game once and had no desire to ever come back to it. Cheap feeling mechanisms, funky playfield layout, and just a bad feeling pin overall.

8.683/10

10 years ago

KLC

keanan_connell

Pinside member

Wilmington, DE

11y 38,550 45 20 20

Most under rated pinball of all time. (And I’m not a sports fan) The rules are actually very very deep when you get into it and it's just plain old FUN to play. Some unbalanced scoring (surprise it’s a gottlieb) and some repetitive annoying call outs are this games ONLY down fall as far as I'm concerned.

keanan_connell edited previous rating on May 24, 2023.
keanan_connell currently owns this game.

8.900/10

10 years ago

ROG

bearsfan27

Inactive member

Omaha, NE

11y 27,400 148 19 14

A definite sleeper. Shooting baskets is fun. A keeper for the basketball fan.

bearsfan27 currently owns this game.

7.956/10

11 years ago

LBH

Gerrard17

Inactive member

Woolloongabba

11y 58,900 564 2 53

I've re-rated this machine after selling it from my collection. This is a really great pin, extremely under rated! The rule set is well varied, you can go for big scores by Super Jackpots through multiball, saving up game balls for Slammin Jammin, spelling 'Shaquille' for Slamming Jammin, going to the Finals and getting all the hidden features. The basketball shot is great and I like to two play levels. It was a regrettable sale so I could buy a few new pins for variety and I can definitely see me tracking another one down in the future.

The Cons: The artwork is pretty bad.. that is all.

UPDATE - Have just purchased another Shaq Attaq! That's a good review if I've ever heard one!

Gerrard17 edited previous rating on July 24, 2014.
Gerrard17 has owned this game in the past.

4 Pinsiders starred this!

6.283/10

11 years ago

MSL

flipperilaakso

Pinside member

Vantaa

11y 29,050 12 11 10

Look past the lousy art package (including DMD animations), close your ears from repetitive coaching tips that hit you constantly from the speakers and you will see that Shaq Attaq is a fun pinball machine to play - again and again.

Rules are probably the best I have seen in any Gottlieb system 3 machine (haven't played all of them though e.g. Stargate). Collecting the "hidden features" is the key to big scores. 5 hidden features include some that are pretty easy to achieve (tip-off 5,000 twice) some moderate (re-lock balls to ramp during multiball) and one of them so hard that you will feel like a winner just to get it collected (multimode level 5 or supermode). The trick is to get all 5 hidden features in as early ball as possible to achieve massive end of ball bonuses. Alongside with hidden features the game has game event modes (including not so lucrative "finals" mini wizard mode) and multiball modes. Anyway pretty much fun stuff to do.

Like I said art is awful, music sucks and voice calls are either annoying (they are repetitive even if tuned down from the software menus) or you learn to take them as part of the game's fun factor and take them as jokes for their silliness and repetitiveness like I used to do when playing with friends ("the ramp, the ramp!"). Theme is well executed and when set up correctly the basket shot is really enjoyable, not too easy but not impossible. I owned this game for a while and enjoyed it all the time I had it. Will play it every time I have a chance. In my opinion it is much better than many give it credit for.

flipperilaakso has owned this game in the past.

2 Pinsiders starred this!

3.645/10

11 years ago

ZUL

Caucasian2Step

Evil McBooty

12y 163K 1,455 51 1011

Shaq is a game that has some interesting things going on for it that don't come together for great gameplay.

The Pros:
The ramp to the basket shot is very well done. The shots through the spinning disc are great to hit. The points kept for all players is a nice touch as well.

The Cons:
This game gets high ratings on the "meh" factor rather quickly. It just does not feel like it should. The saucer shot in the middle of the PF seems out of place. There seems to be a lot put into this game and it just does not pan out as it should. Shaqzilla looks like he is made out of Tootsie Rolls on the BG. Seriously... he has tootsie rolls for legs.

The Takeaway:
Maybe I need to take some time to really get to know this game and find out what all the positive reivews are about. Maybe I'd rather play another game I know I'm going to enjoy. Might be good for the Shaq or the B'ball fans.

9.760/10

12 years ago

???

mazzzulatoro

Inactive member

Riccione

12y 19,000 56

Great game, fun and varied, has everything you need to be a top: double-deck game, background music, groove, multiball, beautiful graphics and robustness.

4 Pinsiders flagged this.

9.840/10

12 years ago

DOK

ziddosi

Inactive member

Magione

12y 26,250 8 81

Great game with two game plans, the basket Mobile is unique, a must for fans of basketball in general and Shaq!

ziddosi currently owns this game.

5.247/10

12 years ago

???

miliet

Pinside member

Valencia

12y 14,400 2 8

cabinet artwork is good.

2 Pinsiders flagged this.

6.884/10

13 years ago

DEL

SealClubber

Pinside Moderator

14y 127K 11,060 246

Artwork is horrible but game play isn't bad. Shooting the moving hoop is novel. Speech was starting to get on my nerves. Not the worst game I've ever played but one of the ugliest. Change the backglass and the game would rate much higher.

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