Gottlieb’s Vulcan, released in 1977, forges a Roman-mythology theme around the god of fire and the forge, delivered on a focused, drop-target-driven playfield. Designed by the celebrated Ed Krynski and artist Gordon Morison, it follows the slingshot-free design philosophy Gottlieb explored in this period, relying instead on two banks of drop targets — a five-bank and a four-bank — plus pop bumpers to keep the action moving.
The scoring is a clever color-coded puzzle. The green drops light an extra ball and crucially do not reset during a ball, so a determined player can methodically work toward them; they also boost the value of the upper-right saucer, the table’s most valuable shot at 5,000 points once the green bank is cleared. The white drops, meanwhile, light 2X bonus and do reset on completion, offering a repeatable scoring path. Rounding it out, the 1-through-5 rollovers on the left increase the value of the white drops and carry their progress over across extra balls, with a special waiting for those who complete them.
Balanced, strategic, and rewarding to learn, Vulcan is a fine late-70s Gottlieb that gives the thoughtful player plenty to manage. For collectors who enjoy drop-target gameplay with a layer of color-coded strategy — and a handsome mythological theme — it’s an engaging and well-built classic.