The 10 Worst Pinball Machines of the 1970s

Tim Sexton·video·7m 28s·analyzed·Jul 21, 2025

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.023

TL;DR

Tim Sexton ranks 1970s pinball's worst machines by gameplay and design quality.

Summary

Tim Sexton presents a ranked list of the 10 worst pinball machines from the 1970s, critiquing their gameplay mechanics, rule design, playfield layouts, and thematic execution. The list spans manufacturers including Bally, Williams, Stern Electronics, and Atari, with common complaints about poor playability, gimmicky mechanics that don't work, uninteresting rule sets, and wasted licensing opportunities.

Key Claims

Time War features 'banana flippers' (curved flippers) that make the ball go to the same place regardless of when you flip, undermining skill-based play
high confidence · Direct observation of mechanical design feature by Tim Sexton analyzing the game
$6 Million Man was a popular sci-fi TV show on ABC in the 1970s but Tim Sexton has never heard of it or heard anyone discuss it
medium confidence · Tim Sexton's personal admission of unfamiliarity with the IP; the TV show is factually a real property but his claim about lack of cultural awareness is opinion
Airborne Avenger by Atari sold reasonably well despite being a wide-body that didn't need to be
medium confidence · Tim Sexton's inference based on Atari's decision to produce it; no specific sales figures provided
Disco Fever by Williams sold 6,000 units but they are now unwanted and many are destroyed
medium confidence · Tim Sexton cites production number; secondary market fate is opinion/observation
World Cup by Williams sold 6,500 units despite Tim Sexton's negative assessment
high confidence · Specific production number cited; verifiable claim about commercial success
Random award/hole-based rules are 'always the worst rule in pinball'
low confidence · Tim Sexton's subjective opinion stated as universal principle
Atari made pinball machines, most of which were so bad they don't qualify as mass-produced games
medium confidence · Tim Sexton's assessment; Atari's pinball history is factual but his quality judgment is opinion
Ted Nugent (spelled 'Nent' in content) had a music career before becoming known for Twitter posts and that career was significant enough to warrant a pinball machine
high confidence · Tim Sexton's factual biographical reference with some sarcastic framing

Notable Quotes

“Problem is, it's just not any fun to play. Plunge is bad. The bonus multiplier rules are horrible and a big part of the game is just shooting the ball into these saucers. And trust me, nobody wants to shoot at a bunch of holes.”
Tim Sexton @ ~0:15-0:45 — Establishes the core thesis: visual appeal does not guarantee good gameplay; introduces recurring criticism of poorly designed shot sequences
“These curved flippers make it so that no matter when you flip, the ball goes to the exact same place. I guess they needed to do it on this game because if you were able to shoot at the right shot, you would get all the points and the game would be really easy.”
Tim Sexton @ ~1:15-1:35 — Technical critique of a specific mechanical constraint design; reveals how game designers sometimes create poor player experience to compensate for rules issues
“This is just such a nothing game that there's just nothing to say about it.”
Tim Sexton @ ~2:45 — Summarizes criticism of $6 Million Man as having zero personality or memorable features
“It's got that classic top left corner widebody. I have no idea what to put here, so maybe I'll do a little loop.”
Tim Sexton @ ~7:45 — Satirical commentary on design laziness in Pocarino; illustrates how manufacturers filled playfield space without purpose
“No one cares about cards. Yeah, even in the late '7s, cards was just not an interesting pinball theme.”
Tim Sexton @ ~8:00 — Opinion on theme viability; contrasts with modern card-themed games like Baller
“Always the worst rule in pinball. Always has been, always will be. No one cares about like, oh, I happen to land here and now I get double bonus.”
Tim Sexton @ ~9:15 — Strong design philosophy statement about randomness vs. skill in pinball rule design
“It takes disco, something that's genuinely cool and fun, and turns it into this Sesame Street looking playfield that's no fun to shoot, no fun to play.”
Tim Sexton — Critique of art direction and theme execution; shows disconnect between theme promise and gameplay delivery

Entities

Tim SextonpersonBal's Lost WorldgameWilliams Time WargameB's the $6 Million MangameAirborne AvengergameHotandgameWorld CupgamePocarinogameFreedomgame

Signals

?
product_concern: Wide-body playfield format often used ineffectively in 1970s; manufacturers filled space with aimless shots and loops rather than purposeful shot sequences
medium · Tim Sexton on Pocarino and Airborne Avenger critiques of unnecessary wide-body design and purposeless playfield elements like 'top left corner loop'
?
design_philosophy: Dysfunctional flipper placement and design (Nent's non-functional upper flipper, Time War's constrained flippers) creates side-to-side uncontrolled play rather than skill-based shot selection
high · Tim Sexton on Nent: 'this upper flipper on the right side of the playfield that really does nothing and makes the game some side to side mess'
?
design_philosophy: Theme-based games with weak thematic execution (World Cup, Pocarino, Disco Fever) using generic elements (flags, pictures of women, arbitrary decorations) rather than cohesive design
medium · Tim Sexton on Pocarino: 'There's just pictures of women all over the game, which is a sure sign that you've completely given up on whatever the loose poker theme is supposed to be'
?
design_philosophy: Poor playfield geometry causing shot flow problems: Lost World has bad plunge and bonus multiplier rules; Disco Fever has unshootable layout; Freedom has oversized spinners
high · Multiple examples throughout video describing specific mechanical/geometric failures
?
design_philosophy: Random hole-based awards (Freedom) represent fundamental rule design failure; outcome depends on ball landing position rather than player skill

Topics

1970s pinball design philosophy and playfield architectureprimaryMechanical gimmicks and their effectiveness (banana flippers, motorized features, rotating mechanisms)primaryRule design failures (random holes, bonus multipliers, poor shot sequences)primaryLicensed IP in pinball and theme execution qualitysecondaryPlayfield layout principles (wide-body design, flipper placement, shot geometry)secondaryArtwork and backglass aesthetics vs. actual gameplay experiencesecondaryManufacturer comparison (Bally, Williams, Stern, Atari quality differences)secondary

Sentiment

negative(-0.85)— Tim Sexton is uniformly critical of all 10 machines, using dismissive language ('nothing game,' 'boat anchor,' 'offensive'). However, his tone is more analytical and historically contextual than purely hostile; he occasionally acknowledges effort (crediting Atari for flipper placement innovation, noting Time War is 'weird in a good way' artistically). The negativity is focused on specific design failures rather than personal attacks.

Transcript

youtube_auto_sub · $0.000

These are the 10 worst pinball machines of the 1970s. Number 10, we have Bal's Lost World. This game looks amazing. It's got a horse on it. It's got a man with wings wearing a big Skyrim helmet. [Music] It's got a woman in the front riding on a dragon, plus some great decorative elements and imps around the back glass. It looks fantastic. Problem is, it's just not any fun to play. Plunge is bad. The bonus multiplier rules are horrible and a big part of the game is just shooting the ball into these saucers. And trust me, nobody wants to shoot at a bunch of holes. At number nine, we have Williams Time War. This is actually the best banana flipper pinball machine that was ever made. These curved flippers make it so that no matter when you flip, the ball goes to the exact same place. I guess they needed to do it on this game because if you were able to shoot at the right shot, you would get all the points and the game would be really easy. So, they put these things on it. It's a shame because the game is weird in a good way. At least artistically, but play-wise, it's just not very good. Very drainy, weird pop bumper layout. Yeah, this game's not very good. At number eight, we have B's the $6 million man. This is a licensed game based on what I suppose was a popular sci-fi TV show that was on ABC in the '7s. I've never heard of it, never heard anyone even talk about it. The game is really just giving generic blah nothing. There is no personality to this playfield. It's what a kid draws when you're like drawing pinball machine. Two spinners. It's got targets on the side and it's got three pop bumpers. And hey, we'll throw some American flags on it. This is just such a nothing game that there's just nothing to say about it. At number seven, I have Airborne Avenger by Atari. Yes, Atari actually made some pinball machines, and by and large, they were all so bad that they didn't even make my list to qualify as mass- prodduced games. This one, Airborne Avenger, had enough of something that it sold. that something was probably that it's a wide body and it has some interesting art, but the problem is it's a wide body and it really doesn't need to be. The outlines are goofy, the middle's goofy, the top is goofy, it's all kind of not quite pinball, but hey, give them some credit for actually putting the flippers at the bottom of the playfield because Atari, for some reason, did not want to do this on most of their games. At number six, we have Hotand by Stern Electronics. The main gimmick of this game is that there's this giant motorized flipper that rotates around and kind of keeps the ball in these 10 little saucers. There's an array of popers that are set up right below it to try to keep as much action up there as possible. The big problem with this game is that the gimmick is not very interesting and it creates a horrible playfield where the pop-upers form this giant wall. The rest of the playfield is wide open. There's a really bad angle on the left spinner to feed it back up top. It's just not fun to play. This game falls into that category where it's more of an experiment of a mechanism and a gimmick that has never been recycled because it just wasn't that good. I don't like this game at all. I don't like playing this stupid feature. I don't like hitting the bottom of pop bumpers and having it come back to me. I don't like the open play field. I don't like this game. I think it's pretty bad, but I guess at least they tried something different. So, good for them. At number five, we have World Cup by Williams. This is a soccer game, not an officially licensed game. It's just called World Cup. And there's something about this game that's just like, ah, I don't want to play it. I don't want to look at it. I just don't really get a good feeling when I approach this game. It's sold great. 6,500 units. I don't have much to say about this game. I don't care about it. I don't care for it. It's just not interesting. And I'm going to leave it at that. At number four, we have Pocarino by Williams. This is a big open wide body with a bunch of flippers and a bunch of nothing to shoot at that really just makes this game not interesting or fun. It's got that classic top left corner widebody. I have no idea what to put here, so maybe I'll do a little loop. There's just pictures of women all over the game, which is a sure sign that you've completely given up on whatever the loose poker theme is supposed to be on this game. Yeah, it's cards. Yeah, no one cares about cards. Yeah, even in the late '7s, cards was just not an interesting pinball theme. I'm grading by the standards of today, sure, but look, everyone loves Batro. It's got great aesthetics, great music, great vibe. This game has none of this. This is a card game with none of the heart and soul and spades and clubs of a good card game. At number three, we have Freedom by Ballet. So, most pinball machines are fun to play. Not this one. It's a 1976 bissentennial theme. Yeah. Yeah. The United States is 200 years old. Here you go. Here's what we think about it with this horrible layout. The ball does not fit up the spinners. The gimmick of the game is just getting into the hole for the random award. Always the worst rule in pinball. Always has been, always will be. No one cares about like, oh, I happen to land here and now I get double bonus and now I get 2,000 points. This is a game where if I draw it in a tournament, I'm just like, I know I'm going to lose because someone's going to get double bonus and my ball is not going to land in the hole whenever any good award is on. So yeah, I'd rather not play it at all if I didn't have to. At number two, we have Disco Fever by Williams. Another banana flipper boat Chris Ancarrow of a game. It takes disco, something that's genuinely cool and fun, and turns it into this Sesame Street looking playfield that's no fun to shoot, no fun to play. People see this game and they go like, "Ah." Uh, and then they play and they go this just bad bad game. They made 6,000 of these things. Can you believe it? No one wants them. No one wants them anymore. I think a lot of them are destroyed and for good reason. And our number one worst game of the 1970s is Nent by Stern Electronics. Did you know that Ted Nan actually had a career before he was known as a guy who posted terrible memes on Twitter? That's right. He actually wrote and performed rock music. Allegedly, this got him enough fans to make him almost a household name. I guess enough for the people at Stern to think that it was worth doing a pinball machine. Now, it's hard to pick out what may be the most offensive part of Ted Nent's career, but I'm going to wager that it could be this upper flipper on the right side of the playfield that really does nothing and makes the game some side to side mess that has nothing to do with what a pinball machine should B.