Gottlieb’s Excalibur, released in 1988 and designed by John Trudeau and Jon Norris, draws the sword from the stone with an Arthurian fantasy theme on a busy, four-flipper playfield. With multiple drop-target banks, kicking targets, a ball diverter, a ramp, and a two-ball multiball — and, in a design choice of the era, no slingshots at all — it’s a target-rich late-80s machine wrapped in legend, complete with hand-drawn artwork.
The scoring centers on completing target banks to light locks. Cleverly, your plunge selects which target bank you need to complete to light the lock at the center ramp, adding a layer of choice right from the start, and a “sympathy lock” may be lit on your last ball if you haven’t yet reached multiball. In the two-ball multiball, shooting the ramp pays 10K times your multiplier. Completing any set of four drop targets raises that multiplier — not worth much for bonus, but significant during multiball — though it resets between balls. A nice wrinkle rewards quick reflexes: immediately after multiball, in single-ball play, hitting the roaming drop target pays big points.
Deep, themed, and rewarding to a player who learns its bank-selection logic, Excalibur is an underrated entry from Gottlieb’s final years of production. For collectors who love an Arthurian theme, a satisfying multiball build, and the distinctive feel of a slingshot-free late-80s layout, it’s an engaging and characterful classic. Prove yourself worthy and claim the crown.