Quick on the draw — Game Plan’s 1983 Sharp Shooter II is a western-themed four-player and a sequel to the company’s earlier Sharpshooter, designed by the noted pinball authority Roger Sharpe alongside Wendell McAdams. With a strikingly low confirmed run of just 600, it’s one of the scarcer machines a collector can pursue, a genuine rarity from the underdog Game Plan stable, dressed in Larry Day art and built around a seven-bank of drop targets and a spinner.
The strategy, by the community’s own account, is essentially identical to its predecessor — this is the same gameplay as the original Sharpshooter, so the wisdom that applies to one applies cleanly to the other. That makes Sharp Shooter II a fascinating study in the sequel-as-refinement: a familiar, satisfying western shooting gallery of drop targets and spinner play, refreshed with new art and presentation. The big seven-bank of drops dominates the playfield, giving a sharp-shooting player a clear, repeatable objective, while the spinner and kick-out hole round out a clean, no-nonsense layout that rewards accuracy above all.
What makes Sharp Shooter II special isn’t deep, novel rules — it’s the combination of its extreme scarcity and the pedigree of Roger Sharpe, the man famous for the legendary called-shot demonstration that helped legalize pinball in New York City. Owning or playing one is a small brush with that history. For the collector who values rarity and provenance, this western deep cut is a real prize. Drop the seven-bank, work the spinner, and channel a bit of Roger Sharpe’s legendary aim. Sometimes the best machines are the ones almost nobody got to play — and this is one of them.