Williams

Space Shuttle

Pinside Rating

This game received 236 approved Pinsider ratings and currently rates 7.643 _/10

7.643

Top 100 ranking

This game ranks #156 in the Pinside Pinball Top 100.

Score breakdown

Score breakdown in the 4 main categories:

Game Design: 7.883

Artwork: 7.625

Sounds/Music: 6.321

Other Aspects: 7.906

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.

7.335

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Found 128 ratings (with comment) on this game

There are 128 ratings (that include a comment) on this game.
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7.836/10

8 days ago

FIN

FinnThelonious

Pinside member

Gambrills, MD

2y 48,150 39 16 102

The game that saved pinball, this game is so approachable for new players while still having a ton of appeal for more experienced ones. I love this game but I like it's sequel Space Station a little more, but if that's my only complaint, this game is alright with me.

7.786/10

11 months ago

MCH

Pinkitten

Pinside+ Pro!

Williamston, MI

6y 136K 3,776 14 87

Just one more game! This fun pin is all about scoring, like most 80’s pins, still a few years away from mode-based games. The rules are really well done. Multiball is obvious, lock one ball on each side for either 2 or 3 ball multiball. But the really fun challenge is clearing those 3 drop targets to bump the spinner value from 1,000 to as much as 7,000 per spin. Once you get to 4-5k, you can really rip that spinner and start scoring some points! Plus, the bonus multiplier can go to 7x, and the shuttle awards can also help. So, there are a few strategies for putting up a high score. Once you set a goal for yourself, or play with friends and try to outscore each other, this is a fun, fairly simple pin. Theme is well done and very 80’s. Voice callouts are pretty good, but music is basic and repetitive. Sounds are ok otherwise. I wish it had a kickback for that thirsty left outlane. The gate on the right, and the center up-post are helpful. A left kickback woulda been nice. A very fun, nicely designed game. It was evidently very well received in ‘84 and helped keep pinball in the arcades, setting the stage for the DMD era! So thank you, Space Shuttle.

Pinkitten currently owns this game.

2 Pinsiders starred this!

7.216/10

1 year ago

JSA

sidetrackedbrew

Sidetracked Brewery

Morganton, NC

2y 45,800 109 8 19

I respect this machine’s place in history and even had some really fun games on it. I think the artwork is beautiful, especially the backglass, and the sound effects are great, addictive even. My issue with this machine is the randomness introduced on the plunge. The ball comes down from the pops and often goes SDTM and you never even get to flip. Likewise when it comes out of the pops and hits the slings to the outlanes. I have a hard time giving good gameplay marks on a machine that you only actually “play” (as in, at least flip a time or two) 70% or so of the time, with 30% insta-drains and no ball save. I do LOVE this machine, theme, all else. There were just too many drains with no gameplay. In a private collection, it’s awesome. On location/in tournaments, it’s too much.

sidetrackedbrew has owned this game in the past.

9.411/10

1 year ago

???

Pinsider45

Pinside member

Unknown

1y 8,500 7

Classic game with a great integration of space theme. multi ball is relatively easy to get but is fun and satisfying and never seems excessive. Relatively simple rules but still fun and with the all important “one more game” feeling. Sound effects and voice are relatively simple but perfect for the time that this machine was released and still hold up.

8.471/10

1 year ago

GMT

toaster777

Pinside member

Mississauga, ON

2y 35,150 211 6 11

This game is in my collection and it will never leave. For one I have fond memories of this game from my childhood. Another reason is its the game that non pinball people gravitate to and love to play. It's rules are simple and it's easy for a novice to look at and get what they need to do but the game doesn't get old for good players as well. Some will say the spinner scoring is unbalanced and they're not necessarily wrong but man is it a satisfying shot especially when you sweep the drop targets. You can see why this game is said to have saved pinball in the 80's and started pinball's hay-day. It's just a fun game to play.

toaster777 currently owns this game.

8.926/10

1 year ago

KPC

kciaccio

Pinside+ Frequent

Houston, TX

5y 77,300 1,976 5 15

Probably the best game that came out of 1984. Super fun to play for age of the game.
Should be ranked higher than Firepower...

kciaccio has owned this game in the past.

4.302/10

1 year ago

DAS

Inflamedcarnie

Pinside member

Ponte Vedra Beach, FL

2y 34,900 1 3 107 1

This defines 'boring'.

Inflamedcarnie has this game on the wishlist.

6 Pinsiders flagged this.

8.897/10

1 year ago

???

tmonag

Pinside+ Frequent

Roswell, GA

2y 21,900 1 7 7

Great game, especially for a 1984 pin. There are enough shots to keep the game interesting for an experienced player and some easy enough to be fun for a novice. The sounds are pretty repetitive, but I like them nonetheless. Definitely a keeper.

tmonag edited previous rating on November 01, 2022.
tmonag currently owns this game.

7.498/10

1 year ago

JIM

somenerd

Pinside+ Frequent

4y 47,400 106 2 6

A pure "get the highest score possible, then try to get an even higher score next game" type of game. Targets are fun to shoot (but be careful about how you hit that center drop target!), the "airlock" and center post make this a more forgiving game than others of the era, and multiballs are fast and frequent- if you can get a good rhythm going for the center ramp, you can really pile on the jackpots and watch your score "blast off" (sorry, couldn't resist).
As for sounds... My only real complaint is the ambient noise- it's also on par with other Williams games in the early/mid-80's like Firepower and Sorcerer, meaning it can be fairly grating. Sound effects are fine, they fit the theme and generally aren't too bad. The voice clips have a definite "mid-80s speech synthesis" charm to them, and that "AAAAAAHHHH!" when you drain with a lit extra ball/special always lets me know when I've made a grave error.
I can never just play once, either- every game leaves me with a feeling of "you could do better... give it another try!" So, I do. The missus enjoys playing too, so getting her with a 2-player game is fun too (even if she steals my locked balls for her own multiball).
I imagine this will probably stay in my collection for a long time, but no complaints about that!

somenerd has owned this game in the past.

9.116/10

2 years ago

TAB

interconnect

Pinside+ Frequent

Cumming, GA

2y 43,050 307 4 6

This is such a cool game. The perfect mix of simple, yet deep enough to keep you engaged; it keeps you coming back for more and more and more. The rule-set and layout are awesome. Light show is killer. Multi-ball is not easy to achieve, but yet not hard to either. Theme, artwork, backglass are all awesome. Sound effects are totally 80s... love it! One downside with the sound is the one synthesizer sound that repeats over and over, but I honestly don't pay any attention to it while I'm playing. All in all this is a great machine that everyone loves to play and never gets old.

interconnect edited previous rating on July 04, 2022.
interconnect currently owns this game.

7.209/10

2 years ago

JAP

pinner11

Pinside+ Frequent

Lutherville-timonium, MD

2y 40,300 106 1 12

First pinball that I owned. So much fun yet easy to understand the rules. The whole family enjoyed this game and it really got us all into pinball. Space theme was well done and the shots are fun. Overall a fun user friendly pinball.

pinner11 has owned this game in the past.

8.206/10

2 years ago

WCB

WesleyB

Pinside+ Frequent

Marietta, GA

3y 39,150 79 19 6

I got this game recently (about a month as of this review) and have yet to shop it. I replaced a few glaring issues and still waiting on parts to get this thing fully back to nice working condition. This game is fun for some of our younger kids and it brings back a ton of memories playing this when I was a kid going to Pizza Hut. That was the main reason I bought it. I think this is a good game but not a smash hit like some of the others I have (Pinbot, BoP, TMNT Pro) but I will revise my rating when I get this one fully fixed. It really seems fun but I feel like it is very repetitive. Saying that, I have some main parts of the game lighting that has to be addressed (SHUTTLE AND XX Bonus lights are out due to a bad resistor) and I think those two things are major parts of gameplay that I am missing. Great looking game and all of my friends (mid 40's) love when they see this game. It brings us all back to our childhood.

WesleyB has owned this game in the past.

7.493/10

2 years ago

TPD

tomdrum

Tom's Pinball

Port Matilda, PA

6y 165K 7,315 16 52

Played this with a hardtop installed and it was a blast!

7.752/10

2 years ago

GKD

FoghornLeghorn

Inactive member

Brentwood, TN

10y 30,650 163 1 7

I spent many quarters on this machine back in the day. Super fun SS game with great risk/reward. Would like to own one.

7.932/10

2 years ago

MRA

Lablaw

Pinside member

South Hadley, MA

5y 30,650 2 2 20

One of the machines that saved pinball. Love the countdown and bell during multiball. Easy rule set to understand. Wish the ramp looped around to the top to feed the pop bumpers though...

3.625/10

2 years ago

MTM

Rollbar45

Pinside member

New Richmond, WI

3y 21,900 4 2 8

This is my least favorite game. I find it to be incredibly boring with dull shots and a terrible layout. The only redeeming feature in my eyes is the theme.

6 Pinsiders flagged this.

8.656/10

2 years ago

KDZ

kool1

Pinside member

Oakville, ON

2y 101K 3,420 5 53

One of my favorites when I was a kid, I still absolutely love the game.

8.523/10

2 years ago

TYK

TINKY

Pinside apprentice

Mainz

5y 16,750 12 19

I didn´t expect the game to be so much fun. Very good rules, you can play different stategies, with the up post in the middle and the airlock at the right outlane it can become a long player.

TINKY has owned this game in the past.

2 Pinsiders starred this!

8.043/10

3 years ago

PO

pat4race

Inactive member

Unknown

3y 19,000 1 73

Great theme, interesting shots and multi ball. Given when it was made, an interesting game that is still fun today.

9.032/10

3 years ago

???

locksmith

Pinside member

10y 90,300 817 52 1

Just bought this game for the second time.This one is a beauty with new Playfield and great Cabinet.Its not a sleeper but should be rated much higher.Starting with the sweet placement of the pop bumpers in the upper left which is always a shot you’ll want to make.Three drop targets placed on the left of the spinner lane on your way up top are ingenious and an important shot.Spelling Shuttle from the standup targets will make you change your shots when extra ball is lit.Could go on and on for this fast little package,but you have to play it to realize how great it really is.Love the bonus light setup also where you actually know where your at.System 9 games are worth a look.

3 Pinsiders starred this!

8.820/10

3 years ago

TJB

Tbates

Black Diamond Collectabl

Nanaimo, BC

9y 32,650 8 28 9

It’s a williams classic! Great layout, lots of fun shots. Multiball, ramp, space shuttle toy and great theme made this a huge success at its release. Good light show for its age. Great game that keeps you coming back

Tbates edited previous rating on January 09, 2021.
Tbates has owned this game in the past.

7.596/10

3 years ago

GTX

gdonovan

Pinside member

7y 185K 13,208 70

I love the sounds, very 80's and work well with the theme. The bell cracks me up. Finding one of these without a trashed playfield is difficult and no points are deducted for that. Lighting seems fine, cabinet and art work well together. When multi-ball starts hang on! Locking balls takes a deft touch. The light show with Comet LEDs is excellent.

My only real complaint is the 3 bank drop target is at a very odd location and you get the targets down more often then not by chance. Game didn't make the cut long term, in a choice between Blackout and Space Shuttle, Blackout got the nod. For some reason after you get multiball there just doesn't feel like there is much to do here.

gdonovan edited previous rating on July 26, 2022.

10.000/10

3 years ago

NAT

NatetheGreat

Pinside member

Unknown

6y 23,800 44 11 15

One of my personal favorites of all time and when this first came out when i was a kid I loved everything about this game and still do. One of my childhood dreams was to one day own this game and I do. The sound effects define the era of video games. However, take caution because one thing I've learned is that if you play it for more than 30 minutes straight this is what happens in the link below so be careful:

https://youtu.be/Ebo0aLLPYwA

I still find it unbelievable that this pure classic and hall of fame pinball machine isnt even in the Pinside Top 100 which I find to be grossily underrated. From a historic perspective, this is pretty much the game in 1984 that literally saved William's pinball.
This is one of the most straight forward fun to the point pinball machines of the early 1980s, and the fun factor still holds up today everytime i play it.
In my humble opinion this should at least break the top #100 and should at the very least be at #99 in Pinside ranking, but I guess some people think it's too repetitive. Perhaps so in some ways, but still a fun addictive game as well as attractive to look at.
I rate it a 10 at least for a pin of the early-mid 1980s era and I'm sure some feel I have overrated it, but hey it's my prerogative, LOL.

NatetheGreat edited previous rating on April 23, 2021.
NatetheGreat currently owns this game.

3 Pinsiders starred this!

9.141/10

3 years ago

???

Pinchild

Pinside member

Eagle, ID

5y 54,800 737 12 44

I have had over 80 pins since 2003 and I bought this do to being local. I had no Idea my 14 year old would fall in love. He plays this machine more than anything I own and i have some awesome titles. I seriously enjoy it as well. Really glad to have stumbled on to this blast from the past!

Pinchild has owned this game in the past.

3 Pinsiders starred this!

8.486/10

3 years ago

BDC

Iewindowman

Pinside+ Addict

4y 40,650 3 24 1

This was the first pinball machine I ever bought in 2002. I still own it. It is a simple play in my collection that anyone can play on with its simple rule set. I probably rate this game a little higher than it deserves, but it was my first pin. So I have a place in my heart for it.

Iewindowman edited previous rating on May 08, 2021.

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