Wednesday 4 September 2013

1972 Williams Spanish Eyes

Time for some more wacky 1970's Williams goodness!



Most people would say that you'll either love or hate Spanish Eyes.  The 2 devisive elements are the art and the weird bumper between the flippers arrangement.

Cant say that I am fan of the art at all.  I do like some of the work from Christian Marche, but the colours and overall look of the backglass is just awful.  The playfield is slightly more pleasing to the eye, and to be fair they do integrate very well together.

Playability is another story though.  From my previous postings, you'll be aware that I am a sucker for weird lower playfield arrangements.  So the bumper between the flippers is just an awesome design in my opinion.  Of course it wasn't the first game to have this.  Just off the top of my head I can think of Williams 1968 "Cue-T" and also "Fan Tas Tic" from 1972.

When you start playing this machine straight after playing a "regular" machine, it really has a strange feel that takes a moment to get accustomed to.  It's a real nudgers game, as the ball can slip under the flippers and all of a sudden escape what looks to be a certain drain by bouncing back out of the bumper area.

The rules are easy to understand, and because it's a single player game, it carries over from ball to ball.  Light the numbers 1 through 6 by hitting the corresponding spot targets.  Each number lit adds 1,000 points to the value of the centre saucer.  Light the A,B,C,D,E top rollovers to score an extra ball.

So yep.  Great game to play.  Definitely don't walk past it if you're not keen on the art.  The gameplay alone makes it a winner.