Swing for the fences — Gottlieb’s Big Hit is an electromechanical single-player that brings America’s pastime to the flippers, and it comes from the legendary team of designer Ed Krynski and artist Gordon Morison, the partnership behind an incredible run of Gottlieb’s most cherished classics. With reel scoring and a confirmed run of 2,313, it’s a handsome woodrail-era machine celebrating the crack of the bat.
The layout has a genuinely distinctive feature: a generous four flippers, two big five-bank drop-target arrays, three star rollovers, and — the standout element — two vari-targets, those variable-value targets that reward a player for a full, committed shot. The seasoned wisdom on this one is clear: go for the banks of drops at the upper part of the playfield, while treating those vari-targets as dangerous, since a missed vari-target shot can spell trouble. That risk-reward tension between the rewarding upper drops and the perilous vari-targets gives the game real strategic texture, and the four flippers open up extra angles to attack that busy field.
Big Hit is a fine showcase of the celebrated Krynski-and-Morison team’s craft, pairing an evergreen baseball theme with a satisfying, drop-and-vari-target playfield and Morison’s warm artwork. The baseball motif was a perennial favorite, and this machine translates its excitement into rewarding pinball. For the collector who loves the golden age of EM pinball and its greatest creative teams, it’s a rewarding find. Work those upper drop banks, respect the dangerous vari-targets, and swing for the fences. Some machines reward smart shot selection, and this Gottlieb baseball classic keeps you thinking. Step up to the plate and drop a coin.