"Panthera" is a pinball machine released by D. Gottlieb & Co. in June 1980. It features a solid-state design with two flippers, no ramps, and no multiball mode. The game is part of the Gottlieb System 80 series and showcases artwork by Doug Watson. A total of 5,220 units were produced.
The same machine, made under a different name by a different manufacturer: licensed copies, conversion kits, and re-releases.
| Name | Manufacturer | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Le Grande 8 | Christian Tabart | 1985 |
Up top until you have all four colors lit, then drop targets all day. Once the saucer on the left is lit to collect bonus, do so with a multiplier of 3X or more.
Balanced
High
Panthera is a bit better score balanced than some of its peers. It’s also got a dozen drop targets for fans of these which are worth enough to play for. Bonus is advanced by lit drop targets, the top right star rollovers, the right side bullseye target and lit 1-2-3 lanes. Base bonus goes up to 29K. Advancing your bonus multiplier is a two-step process. First, you need to score top lanes to light the drop targets of matching colors – white, green, yellow and blue. You then need to knock down all three lit targets of the same color to advance you one multiplier, up to 5X. At the end of a ball, any drop targets you knocked down that were lit stay down, ones you hit that were unlit pop back up. Base bonus resets but colored lanes and multiplier are held. You want to hit drop targets when lit not just to work on your bonus X but because they’re worth 5K lit, just 500 unlit. The top lanes also light the corresponding color return lanes and outlanes for 5K rather than 500. The top lanes are only worth 5K the first time you score them; likewise, the 1-2-3 lanes are worth 10K only the first time. The saucer below the left #2 lane scores 10K and 3 advances, but the ball doesn’t always settle into it when exiting that #2 lane. Once you have at least 20K in base bonus, this saucer lights to collect bonus. When collected, base bonus resets but multiplier is preserved. Basic strategy is to go up top via the left spinner and right rollover star lane to get all the colors lit. Once you’ve done that to make your targets worth 5K and set up getting your multipliers, shoot the drop targets. Focus on completing a color set at a time rather than one or two of each. Since your bonus multiplier is held, it’s important to get it up as high as possible on ball one. As soon as you have your bonus at 20K with a multiplier of 3X or better, try to get the ball in the left collect bonus saucer. There are at least three ways to do this: shoot at it directly, which may risk a left side drain; nudge the ball into the top of the left #2 chute, although the ball will sometimes skip through; and have the right slingshot kick the ball into it, perhaps with a nudge assist on your part. Yes, that sound you recognize is the same as on Counterforce - - thrum, thrum, thrum, thrum, and the wiggly-screech at the end.
via Bob's Guide
On the floor at 11 locations
Podcasts, videos, and articles from the community that mention Panthera.
Panthera pinball is supposed to make noise… but apparently somebody forgot to tell the sound system! 😂 I head over to the garage with one goal: get Panthera’s sound working once and for all so I can get this stubborn machine into…
In this video, I'm working on two classic pinball machines—Panthera and Tri-Zone—to get them back into playing condition. From tracking down electrical issues to repairing, and testing, I'll show you the process of bringing these games…
After getting these machines set up in the last video, it's time to see what we've actually got! In this episode, I reconnect all of the wiring between the heads, cabinets, and playfields before powering up three classic pinball machines…
