"PINBALL with POW!"

  • Manufactured by D. Gottlieb & Co.
  • Game # 667, Sytsem 80 Series
  • Released: September 1981
  • Production run: 3'665
  • Design: Tom Szafransky
  • Artwork: David Moore
  • Theme: Fantasy, prehistoric volcanic eruption
  • IPDB Entry: 2742

    • Volcano was the second Gottlieb pinball after "Mars god of war" to feature speech and a double backglass, which combined with driven lamps and sound effects simulates an erupting volcano.......hopefully without any fierce heat, molten parts and noxious gases spewing out. The double glass is not mirrored, and serves only to add a feeling of depth to the prehistoric scene portrayed. This scene by David Moore deserves some close attention, to appreciate the contradiction between the Stone-Age men and their women folk. The men portrayed are a small step-up from apes, whilst the women are several steps further up the evolutionary ladder as babes in fur bikinis. Such a vision of life is only possible in pinball artwork!

    The playfield layout features a host of unusual features: most noticeably starting with a player-controlled, cam-adjusted ball shooter guide (the shooter lane only extends half way up the playfield), for the opening skill-shot. The other obvious feature is the "skee-ball" ramp which has 4 "craters". The higher up the crater that the ball lands in, the more points and bonus are scored. The craters also serve as the ball capture holes, with player skill vital to activating the crater that the ball falls into. Capturing 3 balls causes Volcano to erupt into multi-ball mode, spitting the balls back into play from under the flap in the left channel. Multi-ball won't last long thanks to the pop-bumpers in front of the flippers that are about as friendly as sawn-off shotguns, not to mention the open-ended right "return" lane, but nobody within earshot will be unaware of your achievement!

    PROMOTIONAL FLYER
    VOLCANO PAGES:
    TECH.INFO.
  • Game Features & Rules

  • Serial # Database

    • The Flipper Age of Dinosaurs: They're 4-legged creatures of a different kind!

    "Gottlieb's 1981 VOLCANO is total prehistoric mayhem where artists Terry Doerzaph and David Moore envision a Stone-Age volcanic cataclysm. Multiple violent eruptions are taking place and the previously serene environment is thrown into chaos. Pterodactyls zig-zag the fireball-filled sky as a trio of brontosaurs retreat to deep water. A raptor seeks higher ground while human inhabitants and a lone dimetrodon react in perplexed fear of their impending doom. Suddenly, all of these living things become equal - each concerned for their own survival. It's a tragic dramatization - there's nothing cute or positive. It's sheer destruction and the natives know it. VOLCANO, by pinball standards, wasn't a rousing hit with operators. However, for the dino-enthusiast, its artwork screams loud with a painful portrayal of an ancient time."

    The above extract is from Tim Ferrante's article originally published in Playmeter
    (read the complete article at Silverball News & Views).

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    Last updated: 25.July 2006