VP8 Gottlieb SS Recreation Counterforce (Gottlieb, 1980) VP8 v1.43 2020-01-28

Counterforce was the 125th and last Gottlieb pinball done together by Ed Krinsky and Gordon Morison. The game borrows the idea of Space Invaders, with "alien rockets" descending at ever-increasing speed towards multiplier "guns". The objective is to destroy all the alien rockets as quickly as possible to maximise scoring. This is done by either shooting the 7 drop-targets directly or the lit yellow spot-targets or rollovers, which will automatically cause the associated drop-target to fall. Counterforce therefore uses the same memory drop-targets as James Bond 007 and Panthera.
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COUNTERFORCE was the last of 125 Gottlieb pinball machines from the prolific designer/artist team of Ed Krinsky and Gordon Morison. The artwork is typical Morison sci-fi fantasy, whilst the game design has Krynsky's typical trait of being based on shooting drop-targets. On COUNTERFORCE, this is a bank of no less than 7 drop-targets facing the player.

The gameplay resembles the classic advance of aliens from the "Space Invaders" video-game, with the player having to hit the drop-targets before advancing lights in fornt of them reach the lowest level and slash the bonus scores.

7 yellow spot targets trigger the automatic demise of their corresponding drop-target, when hit, whilst the 7 green rollovers increase the bonus multiplier. Gottlieb proclaimed that Counterforce is "the game they'll fight to play, because this one fights back."

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DROP TARGETS (7)
Location: Upper centre of playfield
Scoring: When lit, 4000 (3-ball), 2000 (5-ball)
Extra: Adds Bonus & turns out Red light
HOLE

Location: Top left of playfield
Scoring: 5000 (3-ball), 3000 (5-ball)
Extra: Score Bonus when lit
SPOT TARGET

Location: Top right of playfield
Scoring: 500 or 2000 when lit
Extra: Advances Multiplier when lit, awards Special when lit
SPOT TARGET

Location: Upper right of playfield, to left of right rollover
Scoring: 500 or 4000 when lit
Extra: Advances Multiplier when lit
SPOT TARGET

Location: Middle right of playfield
Scoring: 500 or 2000 when lit
Extra: Awards Extra Ball when lit
SPOT TARGET

Location: Middle left of playfield to right of left rollover
Scoring: 500 or 4000 when lit
Extra: Advances Multiplier when lit
POP BUMPERS (2)

Location: Upper right of playfield
Scoring: 1000 (3-ball), 100 (5-ball)

RIGHT OUTLANE

Location: Lower right of playfield
Scoring: 500 or 2000 when lit
Extra: Advances Multiplier
RIGHT IN-LANE

Location: Lower right of playfield
Scoring: 500 or 2000 when lit
Extra: Advances Multiplier
LEFT INLANES (2)

Location: Lower left of playfield
Scoring: 500 or 2000 when lit
Extra: Advances Multiplier
LEFT OUTLANE

Location: Lower left of playfield
Scoring: 500 or 2000 when lit
Extra: Advances Multiplier
LEFT ROLLOVER

Location: Centre left of playfield
Scoring: 500 or 4000 when lit
Extra: Advances Multiplier when lit
RIGHT ROLLOVER

Location: Centre right of playfield
Scoring: 500 or 4000 when lit
Extra: Advances Multiplier when lit
TOP ROLLOVERS (6)

Location: 3 top left and 3 top right of playfield
Scoring: 500 or 4000 when lit
Extra: Advances Multiplier when lit
10 POINT SWITCHES (3)

Location: 2 behind the drop target bank; 1 above left spot target; 2 slingshots
Scoring: 10

FLIPPERS (4): 2 lower centre of playfield, 1 lower right to right of left in/outlanes, 1 lower-mid left above left in/outlanes
BONUS & MULTIPLIER: Bonus between 1000-20000. Multiplier value of 1x, 2x 3x; Outhole adds Bonus

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