Stern Electronics’ Stars, released in 1978, is a lean and elegant entry from the early solid-state years, dressing a tidy two-flipper layout in a cosmic, space-exploration theme. With twin three-bank drop targets, a cluster of star-shaped standup targets, and a pair of spinners, it’s a machine built around precision and repetition rather than flashy toys — a pure, distilled example of what made late-70s pinball so addictive.

The scoring philosophy is wonderfully focused: it’s all about the spinner. Hitting the five star targets pumps up the right spinner’s value by 200 points apiece, and once you’ve fattened it up, the play is simply to rip that spinner all day for big points. The drop banks reward methodical clearing too — finish one for double bonus, the next for triple, and complete both after reaching 3X for an extra ball. Sweeping the five star targets in a single ball lights a rotating special, often worth a cool 100,000. There’s even a touch of hand skill on offer: with the ball trapped on the right flipper, a deft post transfer to the left sets up that all-important spinner shot.

Unpretentious and quick to learn, Stars is a satisfying skill-and-repetition machine that rewards players who master its rhythm. For collectors who appreciate the clean, uncluttered designs of pinball’s early electronic era, it’s a handsome and very playable little classic that shoots far better than its simple looks suggest.