Explorer

The Explorer pinball machine, manufactured by Nordamatic of Verona, Italy in 1976, is an EM add-a-ball game whose backglass artwork is credited to Michele "Mike" Martinelli. It's worth comparing its backglass to Gottlieb's contemporaneous 1976 'Pioneer'.

The gameplay experience on the Explorer is characterized by dual flippers, two pop bumpers, five stand-up targets, and two star rollovers. A kick-out hole adds an element of surprise, while dual inlanes and two parallel lanes of serial rollovers offer a challenging, layered playfield. The wedge-head design rounds out the cabinet.

The Explorer's theme of land, air, and space exploration was likely inspired by the excitement surrounding space travel in the mid-1970s. As one of Nordamatic's EM titles from this brief manufacturing period (1975-1979), it offers a glimpse into the smaller Italian pinball manufacturers operating alongside the larger American companies of the era.