"Gridiron" and "Pro-Football" are two related pinball machines produced by D. Gottlieb & Co., with "Gridiron" being a reworked version of the earlier "Pro-Football." "Pro-Football," released in January 1973, is a single-player electro-mechanical (EM) game designed by Ed Krynski, featuring a sports theme with football elements like flippers, pop bumpers, and vari-targets, and it produced 4,500 units. "Gridiron," released in December 1977, was designed by John Osborne and is essentially the two-player version of "Pro-Football," updated with different artwork and a unique dual scoring system that tracks both standard pinball and football scores on the playfield.
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Quickie Version:
UTAD, preferably through the spinner.
Go-to Flipper:
Balanced
Risk Index:
Very High; watch the returns from vari-target shots and balls rolling down the outsides of the vari-target chutes
Full Rules:
This is the 2-player version of Pro Football with different scoring. Skill Shot? No, this game autoplunges the ball out the center drain when you flip the right flipper. That’s actually one of the most dangerous moments on the game. If the autoplunge is too weak, the ball might hit just one or two switches, then fall back down to a center drain. Watch out! Your best strategy on this game is to shoot through the spinner to the top lanes. While you can hit the spinner with any of the four flippers, you’ll do best to use the lower ones since the shot angle is better for going through. The scoring difference between Gridiron and Pro Football is in the values of the spinner and the lanes. The two top outer lanes on Gridiron are worth 1000 when lit; the two central lanes are worth 3000 lit; and the inner lanes and the side lanes below the outer top lanes are worth 5000 when lit. On Pro Football, the scores are only one tenth of these, while the vari-target and bumper values are the same. On Gridiron, this makes it better to avoid the vari-target risk and just go UTAD via the spinner, which at 1000 is also 10 times Pro Football’s value. As on Pro Football, the vari-targets score more the further back you push them; which flipper, upper or lower, does that better is a bit more variable from machine to machine. It’s also affected by how steep or shallow the game is. This is a case where you may need to have the ball rolling down the flipper face to add that extra bit of energy to the shot to push the vari-target all the way back. Vari-target values range from 1000 to 5000; you also get a touchdown for a fully-back hit, but partially-back shots do not award yards as on Pro Football. Touchdowns are scored every 100 yards and award 6000 points. The lanes and spinner spot you yards towards that. Side drains score a touchdown. With the top lanes and spinner worth so much, though, you can pretty much ignore touchdowns. The upper flippers of each pair are better for getting the ball up top into the bumper and lane zone when you can’t set up a spinner shot. The paired flippers take some getting used to since they’re at different angles with the upper ones at a steeper angle and the lower ones shallower.
via Bob's Guide
Pro-Football
Quickie Version:
UTAD, through the spinner if possible. If the flippers are very strong and can push the vari-targets all the way back, you can do vari-targets instead if the rebound from them is safe.
Go-to Flipper:
Balanced
Risk Index:
Very High; watch the returns from vari-target shots and balls rolling down the outsides of the vari-target chutes
Full Rules:
Skill Shot? No, this game autoplunges the ball out the center drain when you flip the right flipper. That’s actually one of the most dangerous moments on the game. If the autoplunge is too weak, the ball might hit just one or two switches, then fall back down to a center drain. Watch out! Your best points on this game are the center spinner and the vari-targets. You can hit the spinner with any of the four flippers, but you’ll do best to use the lower ones since the shot angle is better for going through. The vari-targets score more the further back you push them; which flipper, upper or lower, does that better is a bit more variable from machine to machine. It’s also affected by how steep or shallow the game is. This is a case where you may need to have the ball rolling down the flipper face to add that extra bit of energy to the shot to push the vari-target all the way back. Vari-target values range from 1000 plus 10 yards to 5000 plus 50 yards for a fully-back hit. Touchdowns are scored every 100 yards and award 6000 points. The lanes, spinner and vari-targets all spot you yards towards that. Side drains score a touchdown. The upper flippers of each pair are better for getting the ball up top into the bumper zone; here, the ball can get popped up one of the top lanes for yardage towards a touchdown and points. Obviously you prefer the 50 yards / 500 point lanes [center-most of the three lanes on each side at the top and also the two far outside lanes, one on each side] to the lesser ones when given a chance to nudge between them as the ball is popping around. [Ignore the “when lit” on the top lanes; they always score those values.] The paired flippers take some getting used to since they’re at different angles with the upper ones at a steeper angle and the lower ones shallower.
via Bob's Guide
