Williams’ F-14 Tomcat, released in 1987 and designed by Steve Ritchie, scrambles players into the cockpit of a fighter jet for a fast, aggressive dogfight — fittingly muscular work from the designer they call the Master of Flow. Topped by three rotating beacon lights on the backbox and packing a four-ball multiball, it’s a loud, high-octane machine built around speed, including a notorious “Yagov” kicker that fires the ball back toward the flippers at alarming velocity.
The scoring revolves around spelling TOMCAT and chasing multiball. The smart, safe route is shooting the “Launch” saucer to spot Tomcat letters rather than risking the standup targets directly — and when five of the six letters are lit, a right-orbit shot spots the last and immediately locks a ball. Ritchie’s flow shows in the orbit play: holding the right flipper while shooting the right orbit widens the shot gap, and a high-speed feed into the upper loop can be looped back for an easy bonus multiplier.
True to its designer, the table is relentless, rewarding players who can tame its speed and keep the ball under control through the chaos. Fast, brash, and dripping with Cold War jet-jockey swagger, F-14 Tomcat is a high-energy Ritchie classic — a machine that, decades later, still feels like strapping into an afterburner.