Gottlieb

Sing Along

Pinside Rating

This game received 34 approved Pinsider ratings and currently rates 8.467 _/10

8.467

Top 100 ranking

This game ranks #14 in the Pinside EM Top 100.

Score breakdown

Score breakdown in the 4 main categories:

Game Design: 8.574

Artwork: 8.399

Sounds/Music: 4.17

Other Aspects: 8.408

Pinside staff rating

None of the Pinside.com staff have rated this game. Sorry, no rating from us.

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Found 25 ratings (with comment) on this game

There are 25 ratings (that include a comment) on this game.
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8.750/10

3 months ago

???

EntityClay

Pinside member

1y 28,900 82 2 12

Sing Along, what a delightful surprise! Wedgehead in Portland has this on the floor and I can't get enough of it.

Short flippers, no inlanes, and a wide flipper gap makes controlling the ball challenging, but not impossible. Moving the ball through all four kick out holes is extremely satisfying to pull off.

Every feature of the game feels well integrated into the scoring. Tilt ending the game is brutal, but feels fair because games are 5 balls instead of 3. This game is a lot of fun to play competitively and a refreshing change of pace after playing modern games.

The theme and artwork is wholesome and reminds me of stories my parents told me of their childhoods.

EntityClay edited previous rating on March 04, 2024.
EntityClay has this game on the wishlist.

8.719/10

3 months ago

WPG

guymontag451

Wedgehead

Portland, OR

13y 92,800 1,006 25 170

Sing Along is one of the most iconic wedgeheads of all time, and for good reason. It has a very fun and challenging playfield by the legendary Ed Krynski and features a classic Art Stenholm art package. Lanes and targets are color coded and build up the four center saucer shots, that feed it each other from left to right. The lower playfield has no inlanes, but features geometry that rewards the patient player who nudges and bounces the ball out of danger. It's surprisingly controllable for a short flipper game, and that's what makes it addictive. I have yet to roll it, or really ever come close, but this is a highly addictive player that I won't ever get tired of trying. Lives up to the hype and then some.

guymontag451 currently owns this game.

2 Pinsiders starred this!

9.701/10

1 year ago

FBA

Deerlakes6

Pinside member

Springdale, PA

7y 65,700 155 8 30

I'm not the biggest en fan but I find myself drawn to this machine..I acquired it from a man who owned it for 30 yrs..now I know why..the cool sounds ..great artwork and super fun layout of the playfield is just amazing..really cool to watch the kickout holes in action..simply a tremendous game in all aspects.

Deerlakes6 has owned this game in the past.

9.296/10

2 years ago

DO

Dono

Pinside+ Frequent

Glenelg, MD

9y 86,050 1,790 12 25

Great all-around. Stands up to other EMs from the 70s as a game that keeps you coming back for another round of plays. Wonderful period artwork, with a great backglass. Highly rated.

9.648/10

2 years ago

EH

Mcrics

Pinside member

Lincoln, NE

4y 29,400 17 8 7

The sounds of the ball moving from kickout hole to kickout hole is perhaps the best in all of EM pinball. A wonderful game that never gets old.

Mcrics edited previous rating on February 01, 2022.
Mcrics currently owns this game.

9.687/10

2 years ago

GSL

Pin-Gerg

Pinside member

St. Louis, MO

2y 21,000 19 20

I love this game. The playfield is genius and very addicting. Such a fun game that rewards you and punishes you at the same time (you can only get a '4' in all the colors when you loose a ball so you can only have all the lights lit on the 5th ball). It will keep you playing game after game for hours. Built like a tank, plays amazing for a 54 year old game.

Pin-Gerg has owned this game in the past.

8.714/10

2 years ago

FDR

frdelrosario

Pinside member

Hayward, CA

2y 29,250 5 9

If I were limited to playing only one machine, it's Sing Along.

frdelrosario edited previous rating on August 16, 2021.
frdelrosario has this game on the wishlist.

9.189/10

3 years ago

DRK

Seahawk53

Pinside member

Highlands Ranch, CO

10y 39,250 29 3 8

A fantastic older EM! Love the 5 kickout holes which provides an opportunity to earn up to 160 points and a specials award in one shot! The theme is very family friendly and a beautiful machine overall! Fun to play and an absolute tank of a machine. It is so solid and dependable, never have any problems with mine other than a bulb out on occasion.

Seahawk53 has owned this game in the past.

9.820/10

4 years ago

JSH

John-H

Pinside member

Norman, OK

4y 38,150 19 10 37

The best pinball game ever made.

There may be other games that beat Sing Along in one particular factor. I think Gigi, for example, tops it in the "just one more game" feeling. The actual gameplay of North Star may be more fun...it's close. The "wow factor" you feel the first time downing a saucer in Attack From Mars is hard to top. But put everything together - theme, playfield layout, art, fun factor, etc. - and here you go.

As you light more numbers, the game "sings" to you more as the ball hops along the kickout holes. This game makes you happy when you play it. The newest players will love it and it's maddeningly difficult for the vets too.

My #1 favorite game and the best overall pinball game made.

*Wife approval* "Wow, this game IS good!" 10/10. Usually when I'm all blah blah blah about this or that pinball game, I'll hear lots of "oh that's nice sweetie," etc. So that comment, during her second game on it, was something special. Just like Sing Along.

John-H edited previous rating on November 25, 2021.
John-H currently owns this game.

8.186/10

5 years ago

???

oldbaby

Pinside member

Unknown

5y 54,050 355 54

I'll start with the bad.
I've said it before and I'll say it again: I don't like having to be skillful with the plunger. I don't think it's an interesting thing to get good with. And I'm happy to nudge to save my ball, but I don't enjoy when I'm obligated to nudge to get the rollover I want. Modern games have shots that are reachable from the flippers without relying on lucky bounces from the pop bumpers. It took time for people to understand that this was a good thing. By 1967, they hadn't figured that out yet.

Apart from that, I'd say Sing Along is just about as good as a small-flipper no-inlane EM can get, as far as gameplay is concerned.
The rules are simple enough for a new player to understand and fun enough for anyone. The four saucers is a great gimmick. Definitely a Moment with a capital M.

Art/theme: I'm not Christian and there was no snow where I grew up, so a caroling theme doesn't do much for me. I do like the name though. The art... it's okay. I like how it has sheet music on it, you don't see that too often. Cabinet walls are sleek like a race car. Which doesn't really fit the theme. But it's not bad.

7.462/10

5 years ago

DPC

dpapclare

Pinside member

Fredericton, NB

7y 40,300 123 15 26

Fun machine with that "just one more game" appeal. Frustrating on three ball but rewarding when you have a good game. Fun to have around, might not last forever in the collection but its a keeper for now.

dpapclare has owned this game in the past.

6.123/10

5 years ago

MLP

tabascoman77

Pinside member

6y 46,150 4 110

"Sing Along" was a game I had the pleasure of playing at Santa Clara's big pinball expo, "California Extreme". It's simple to understand, yet extremely difficult to knock out. The object is to light up numbers that are strewn across the playfield and then score points by putting the ball in the left center hole which tosses the ball into the rest to score big points. The main issue is that the flippers are tiny which leaves you with a giant hole in the middle that your ball drains out of. This game might teach the casual play how to nudge. Believe me, it works here. The other issue is that the lanes and targets are insanely difficult to hit and there are other targets in the way that don't really help things much. Overall, a decent EM but there have been better ones.

9.500/10

6 years ago

???

classicszone

Inactive member

Unknown

6y 13,000 2 7

Sing Along is truly a classic EM. I have always loved playing this machine where ever I came across it. For me it has it all and when you play it you will see why. Great game.

7.205/10

7 years ago

RHO

spiroagnew

Inactive member

11y 121K 982 161

I am a huge fan of Melody, the add-a-ball cousin of this game, however I'm not as big a fan as Sing Along. There is something more magical about collecting the extra balls at the kickout holes rather than replays. I guess it is a general rule that add-a-ball games play better in a home environment than replay games, but it really shows in a game like this. Art is fantastic and layout is one of the best on a 60s wedgehead. Great game, just not as great as Melody.

8.082/10

8 years ago

AMK

amkoepfer

Pinside member

Toledo, OH

9y 162K 4,922 23 51

One of my favorite ems, a lot of fun with great shots and art

amkoepfer has owned this game in the past.

8.884/10

8 years ago

SCO

scooter

Pinside member

Louisville, KY

15y 96,900 3,615 1 205

Great EM pin!

8.268/10

8 years ago

JOE

eoj69

Inactive member

Princeton, WV

8y 8,750 1 9

Very good ... The most fun I have had with a em.

8.880/10

8 years ago

VCP

Vic_Camp

Pinside member

Clifton, NJ

12y 103K 1,849 44 28

Top of the line for playability and beauty is what this Gottlieb wedgehead is all about.Somehow and i can't explain why this awesome looking pin has escaped being in my collection of wedgeheads even though i remembering playing as a young boy back in the late 1960's.These days i want it badly for sentimental reasons and playability more than ever.Recalling all the fantastic aspects of this interesting and sensational player it seems to have still slipped pass my capture of over 150 pinball machines i have rounded up during days of hunting for games.Maybe it's because i am out of space these days and a friend who lives two miles from my home that collects wedgehead has one in his collection for me to play anytime i want. The playfield layout design seems to be a mixture of Kings and Queens and Cross Town if you look carefully at it and i don't think a Gottlieb EM wedgehead collector would complain about that combination.How nice are those colored playfield lens numbers one thru four when lit and how sweet it is the way the game counts each lit number for each kick out hole.The way the ball is passed from one kick out hole to the next is simply magical and i especially like that the last kick out holes throws tha ball towards the flippers for a quick skilled flip.
The artwork on this game is at the top of the list with the best of them and the color of the cabinet it noticeably attractive compared to other wedgeheads from that era.I enjoy the flipper arrangement with the slim tiny post between the the flippers because it really gives a player many chances of saving the ball from going out through the number four red and four green rollovers.Even if the ball does go out betweenthe flippers a player will need one or both number four red and green rollovers to lite special when lit in a kick out hole and won't be a complete lost.

If you blind folded my eyes and asked me if i could by listening to the sounds of the scoring what game it was Sing Along would be the easiest one to identify. The kick out hole scoring would be the dead give away to identify the game especially when a player has two or more colored numbers lit in each of the kick out holes.When the game does counts the scoring in the kick out holes when jumping across to each of the four kick out holes the game produces a musical song like melody like no other wedgehead.If this game had some sort of back glass animation it would be at the top of the list of best wedgehead ever produced by Gottlieb.

Posting this game here on IPDB has made me realize i am missing out on a great player and looker that isn't in my 32 game collection.I guess at some point if i do not move soon,i will have to break a hole in the cylinder block wall and start digging outwards under the deck in the backyard to give me more added space in my basement game room to accommodate some other great wedgeheads that i need to ease my addiction to these wonderful and entertaining machines.This game will challenge the most talented EM player and will not allow a player to complete the entire number sequence without playing many many consecutive games.Are you looking for a game that isn't boring and will get you angry because you can't beat it so easy but will get you close enough that you'll want to play another game?Then look no futher. Play this game and you will want one!

After posting this rating i couldn't stop thinking about having a Sing Along added to my collection..so on June 24th 2009 just a week after this posting i found and bought a excellent condtion Sing Along(see pictures at IPDB)that now stands proudly with my other 24 wedgeheads.

Vic_Camp currently owns this game.

6.412/10

9 years ago

YOS

Yoski

Pinside member

Sebring, FL

9y 88,150 456 17 133

Overall not my favorite EM. Ball drains fast. No way to get the ball back to the upper PF, no drop targets. The lanes between the flippers are annoying.

9.296/10

9 years ago

TOM

mot

Inactive member

Sharpsville, PA

11y 60,650 1,833 5 18

Christmas caroling = 10/10 theme. Eat your heart out, AC/DC.

The main feature of the game are the 1-2-3-4 lights of four different colors. On the backglass, there are four groups of four Christmas carolers in each of the four colors. On the four large playfield plastics are closeups of these four groups of carolers. The integration of the theme is very clever and gives the game a great feel.

The playfield contains simple art: a street with footprints through the snow, some cozy looking cottages, and brick building at the top of the playfield. There are three people pictured: an old lady sweeping her doorstep, a woman carrying gifts, and a man dropping mail into a mailbox. Simple. Beautiful.

Sing Along was my first wedgehead. I bought it without having ever played it. With the old rubbers that were on it when I got it, it wasn't very lively or very exciting. After shopping and with rebuilt flippers, the game is lively, exciting, a great player, and introduced me to another world of pinball.

At Clay Harrell's pinball show in Michigan (May 2014), I spent at least half of my time playing wedgeheads, and there was not one 60s / two-inch flipper game that I liked as much as Sing Along.

A nice feature (seen in many wedgeheads) is important lights to hit (number 4 light of each color) in the outlanes and center drain between the flippers. It's a five ball game, and you've got to drain, but at least here it seems rewarding, especially when it's the light you need.

3,000 is a good score in my opinion, yet the score reels go up to 9,999. This is one that I don't think I'll ever roll.

mot has owned this game in the past.

8.338/10

10 years ago

SS

Shapeshifter

Pinside member

13y 150K 10,467 8 144

I think I prefer this to Melody. Lovely artwork and fairly addictive collecting the numbers. Not on my list to buy but if I saw a mint one, it would be hard to say no.

8.121/10

10 years ago

ATE

AdamTheGamer

Pinside member

11y 56,150 270 2 133

My favorite EM so far. Great layout and is just hard enough to stay fun.

AdamTheGamer edited previous rating on October 02, 2013.

8.872/10

10 years ago

B13

Bribo13

Pinside member

Ortonville, MI

12y 70,550 412 24 69

A fun game to play, typical of this era, It reminds me of a couple of other playfields, like Kings n Queens I enjoy playing it, it is not easy to win games on, great art work. I don't own one, but if I had the chance, I would.

9.531/10

10 years ago

GM

BallyWizard

Inactive member

London

10y 34,150 2 24 98

What is there not to like about Sing Along or Melody? Melody allows you to get an array of extra balls and that double, treble, or quadruple knocking when the holes are lit up on Melody is just amazing. Sing Along is the classic replay game. I love them both, think they are both great. This, Cross Town and Kings & Queens must rate as the all time best EMs ever.

BallyWizard currently owns this game.

9.066/10

11 years ago

ZUL

Caucasian2Step

Evil McBooty

12y 163K 1,455 51 1011

Sing along is a game that takes you back in time to see what a great playing pinball game Gottleib made when they were the kings of pinball.

The Pros:
Skill is required all over the PF. Nudging at the top lanes, nudging in the pops to hit the 50 point gate back and forth, nudging by the eeeety beeety fleeepers with the post between them. So much to shoot for and when you get it all lit... lining up that white saucer is so sweet... The entire art package is a joy to take in. Art Steinholm is the MAN! Personally, I get the idea that he was a Christmas kind of guy because everyone looks happy and is having a great time.

The Cons:
This game is hard to aim with having no inlanes and eeety beeety fleeepers. Reflex shots are pretty much all you can get. Drop catch at your own risk.

The Takeaway:
A true players game for the era. You have to work your nudging skills as well as your flipper skills. Just remember, there is no tilt warning, just a tilt. Ed Krynski strikes again!

1

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