Roller Coaster

Roller Coaster, manufactured by Maquinas Recreativas Sociedad Anonima (Maresa) of Madrid, Spain in 1973, is a Spanish copy of Gottlieb's 1971 machine of the same name. As such, it brought Gottlieb's roller-coaster-track gameplay concept to the Spanish market a couple of years after the American original.

Key features include two flippers, three pop bumpers, two slingshots, six stand-up targets, and two kick-out holes that send the ball over 'roller coaster' tracks to the flipper inlanes. A rotating indicator in the center of the playfield scores points when hit. These roller coaster tracks were an interesting early precursor to the habitrails that would become common in later solid-state games. The wedge head backbox adds to the machine's period-appropriate look.

Roller Coaster's amusement-park and carnival theme is timeless, evoking memories of classic roadside attractions. Little information is available about who at Maresa adapted the design for this release, but as a faithful copy of a Gottlieb classic, it remains an interesting piece of pinball history illustrating how popular American designs were reproduced abroad.