At the moment I don't have any EM's in my collection. But definitely on my want list with a couple of others is Jumping Jack.
The theme and art can be a deal breaker for some. Personally I like it quite a lot. Gameplay wise, it has a lot going for it with a bank of 10 drop targets, 4 flippers, and 2 bumpers placed in an unusual arrangement which was copied a few years later by Bally on their 1976 Old Chicago machine.
I'm a big fan of unusual bumper arrangements. Williams did it quite a bit in the late 60's/early 70's with Norm Clark designed games like Spanish Eyes, Fan-Tas-Tic etc. It really encourages you to nudge the machine, and get the ball back in play from what appears to be a certain drain. Some people don't like that much because of the added perception of "luck". But I guess Gottlieb managed to cater for everyone back in 1973, because they also released "King Pin" which has a very similar playfield layout. Just move the bumpers half way up the playfield and put slingshots with in/out lanes in it's place. Replace the upper 3" flippers with 2" flippers and give it a Tenpin Bowling theme and you have King Pin. This is also an amazing game which I would defiantly own. However, JJ is the winner for me because of the lower bumpers and also it's a multi player game (It's more fun to compete!), whereas KP is a single player wedge head and has the standard slings and in/outlanes.
The above video was taken a couple of years ago and shows the lower bumpers going nuts!. Very cool indeed :)
Until next week
Rod
That was crazy, I remember that day - it did that a couple of times! Shame it drained right after that one. LOL
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