To the 25th century and beyond — Gottlieb’s 1980 Buck Rogers brings the classic space-hero serial to the playfield, designed by John Buras with art by the masterful Gordon Morison. With a strong confirmed run of 7,410, it was a popular route machine, and its layout features a distinctive messenger ball, a vari-target, a captive ball, and the clean two-flipper geometry that made early Gottlieb solid-states so satisfying to learn.
The strategy is a clever exercise in bonus manipulation. Hit the captive ball until the yellow targets light, then hit those yellow targets for points, bonus, and bonus multiplier. There’s a wonderful bit of depth in the collect-bonus logic: hitting the saucer when it’s not lit adds bonus based on the captive ball’s current position, so if the ball sits at position three, you collect three bonus — and if that maxes your bonus, you instantly cash it in. The vari-target’s “Advance Bonus” adds a value set by its position, shown in green numbers, while “Add Bonus” simply adds a thousand. Returning the captive ball to the top and “Returning to Base” cleverly changes the bonus-multiplier requirements in your favor, and don’t forget the center post that can save a ball headed for the drain.
Buck Rogers is a smartly designed classic Gottlieb that rewards a player who understands its captive-ball-and-vari-target bonus engine, with the red drops largely a sideshow until you want to spell BUCK and light the Special. It’s an approachable, historically rich machine wrapped in Morison’s gorgeous retro-future art. Work the captive ball, time your saucer collects, and rocket up the scoreboard. The 25th century has never played so well.