Super Flipper

Super Flipper, released by Chicago Coin in 1975, is one of the stranger crossovers in coin-op history: a genuine video game dressed up to look and play like a pinball machine. Its IPDB classification is literally "Not A Pinball" - inside a real pinball cabinet with a shooter alley, flipper buttons, and lockdown bar, the "playfield" is actually a black-and-white video monitor viewed through a blue plastic overlay printed with graphics.

Rather than physical flippers, players control paddles that move left and right across the screen, similar to contemporary video games of the period - the overlay's layout resembles that of Model Racing's 'UFO.' The flipper buttons use optical controls, a lamp and photocell separated by a sliding part with a hole in it, so how far the paddle travels depends on how hard the button is pressed. A pull-and-release ball shooter sends the simulated ball into play, which begins with gravity-simulated left-right movement across the screen; games can be set for 3, 5, or 7 balls. The unit runs on transistor-transistor logic (TTL) circuitry with no CPU or memory.

Reportedly the first video pinball hybrid to use real flipper buttons, a ball shooter, and a genuine pinball cabinet, Super Flipper occupies an unusual niche between two different entertainment technologies. Its numitron tube score display, monophonic sound, and UFO/outer-space theme round out the presentation. It should not be confused with Chicago Coin's unrelated 1970 title 'Big Flipper.'