Draw fast and shoot straight — Williams’ 1982 Cosmic Gunfight is a fantasy-western-in-space four-player designed by the prolific Barry Oursler, and it’s a scarce one, with a confirmed run of just 1,008. Doug Watson and Larry Day handled the art, and the machine sports a clever multiple-lane-change system: the right flipper changes the top-right lanes, the left changes the top-left, and pressing both together shifts the position of the ABC grid at the center of the playfield — a satisfying bit of player control for its era.
The strategy revolves around the right orbit and that ABC grid. Multiple shots to the right orbit advance in value and eventually lead to a two-times playfield, a major scoring escalation worth working toward. Completing the top-right lanes lights the ball locks for multiball, with the right flipper changing those lanes to help you finish them, and the inlanes light “advance bonus x” at the right orbit. The nine-insert ABC grid on the left is the other key system: completing it enables end-game bonus-ball time, with various shots adding to that time once earned, and you manipulate the grid by holding one flipper and tapping the other to change the active row. It’s a thoughtful, multi-system layout that rewards a player who learns to juggle the lane changes and the grid.
Cosmic Gunfight is an underrated, relatively rare early-’80s Williams that gives a strategic player plenty to chew on with its multiplier orbit, multiball locks, and clever ABC grid. Work the right orbit toward that two-times playfield, complete the grid for bonus-ball time, and master the lane changes. It’s a sharpshooter’s machine, and the player with the steadiest aim and the smartest sequencing wins the gunfight.