Description: Gottlieb Bronco pinball. Same game as Gottlieb Mustang pinball, just different number of players (4 players versus 2 players). Gottlieb sold this game design in the two flavors, though they are essentially the exact same game (with artwork differences). The 2 player version (Mustang) had a lower price than the 4 player (Bronco), and was marketed to game operators with less money to spend.

The Gottlieb Bronco pinball has three individual drop targets at mid-playfield. Two kickout holes, three pop bumpers, two dead slingshots (they do not kick), two side kickers (which feed the two kickout holes), and two 3" flippers. A kind of interesting pinball playfield design. Once the drop targets are down, this lights the kickout holes for increased scoring (each downed drop target adds 1000 points to the kickout hole for 4000 points maximum). But shooting the kickout hole does not reset the drop targets. So after the three drop targets are down, there's not much to do other than to "rape" the kickout holes (the kickout bonus stays). If the player gets the A-B-C rollovers, 2x bonus scoring (or 4x on the last ball) is envolked, and the side kickers (alternatively) light for extra ball. The definate downfall of the Gottlieb Bronco pinball is the lack of things to shoot for. Again, once the drop targets are down, they stay down until the ball drains. Also the lack of slingshot kickers above the flippers makes the game play a bit sluggish.

Because of this, I modified my Gottlieb Bronco pinball's game rules a bit. With some added switches, when the player puts the ball into either kickout hole, it resets the drop targets (only reset the drops, does not reset the ABC bank unit, which is on the same circuit.) This is good, since the player has collected the kickout hole bonus, and now that the drop targets reset, the kickout holes' bonus goes back to 1000 points. Now the drop targets are available to shoot for again, and you can't "rape" the kickout holes for maximum bonus points (the player has to advance the bonus back up by hitting the drop targets again). This really changed the flow and objectives of the game, making it a lot more fun, and there's always drop targets to hit.

In addition, I added slingshot kickers to the lower triangle rubbers. This makes the Gottlieb Bronco pinball A LOT faster and more fun. The added slingshots make it harder to control the ball, which is a good thing on this game (much more challenging.) Without these modifications, I felt the Gottlieb Bronco pinball was sluggish and boring. With the mods the game really feels "right" and is a lot more fun to play.

They made 9160 Gottlieb Bronco pinballs, and 2225 Gottlieb Mustang pinball machines.