Williams’ Space Shuttle, released in 1984 and designed by Barry Oursler with Joe Kaminkow, holds a treasured place in pinball history — it’s widely credited with helping save the entire business during a mid-80s slump, its space-age theme and shiny shuttle model luring players back to the flippers at a moment when the industry badly needed a hit. A two-flipper machine with twin ramps, a spinner, and a multiball, it pairs that historic significance with genuinely fun, rewarding gameplay, right down to a ringing bell used in place of a traditional knocker.

The scoring revolves around the spinner and the shuttle. Completing the drop targets beside the spinner raises its value level — after which it’s “spinner all day” for big points — and those same drops open the gate on the right outlane for a measure of insurance. The multiball is the showpiece: shoot the locks on the left and right, then hit the central shuttle ramp to launch it, at which point the ramp freezes and scores points on the display. There’s a clever bit of strategy with the timed center target, too — when it’s down, quickly lock a ball and it won’t reset when the timer expires.

Brisk, atmospheric, and historically vital, Space Shuttle is a landmark machine that helped carry pinball into its dot-matrix future. For collectors who appreciate the games that kept the silver ball rolling — and a fun, spinner-driven table with a great space theme — it’s an essential and thoroughly enjoyable classic. We have liftoff.