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Cool Table Review: Centigrade 37 FS B2S by Pinuck

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Pintrepid:
Here is another Gottlieb classic EM table from 1977 that has been faithfully and meticulously recreated by Pinuck into another must-have masterpiece table for your VP cab.


About The Table

Centigrade 37 (IPDB # 480)  was made by Gottlieb in 1977 with a production run of 1,600 tables. So you may or may not have seen it in your local arcade or game room back in the day. But I think they should have made more ...  I never saw this table IRL, either, but if it had showed up in my area, it quickly would have become one of my all time favorites.  This table would be right at home next to Target Alpha, Royal Flush and Spirit of '76.

The theme is science fiction/fantasy, and depicts two fine-looking blonde ladies engaged in some kind of process with a futuristic machine. Maybe they were in cryogenic sleep on a spaceship and are now being revived. Or maybe their being "energized" for more ... intimate ... purposes ... it's easy to let your imagination get a little crazy there. On the backglass, one lady, who has some resemblence to a much younger Barbara Bain from Space 1999, is working the controls, while another fine, Farah Fawcett-looking lady is being zapped by the machine. Bionic Woman. As you score points on the playfield, the thermometer to the left rises higher and higher until it reaches Centigrade 37, which is Farenheight 98.6, or, normal human body temprerature, which is quite optimal for whatever the ladies have planned when they are done here.

The playfield is laid out very nicely, typical of late EM Gottliebs. It's easy to see that this was a precursor to their SS layouts that were shortly to come, There are 3 rollover lanes (A, B, C) and 3 pop bumpers up top, with one 4-bank drop target on the left middle playfield,  2 standup targets on the lower right playfield, and a kicker hole in the upper right playfield which scores the special when lit.

This table has a special Gottlieb featute on the far right playfield, "parallel lanes of serial rollovers", as the IPDB calls it. There are, indeed, two columns of 3 lanes. Inbetween the rows of lanes there were posts with rubber rings which could deflect tge ball. So where the ball could just go straight down the column, it could also alternate from one column to the other as it went down, increasing your score. There would be a satisfying light display on the entire playfield when you were successful in alternating the colums like that.

Like all things Gottlieb, this "parallel lanes of serial rollovers" appeared on several other of their tables:

1971 Sherriff
1972 Lawman
1972 Texas Ranger
1975 Atlantis
1975 300
1975 Top Score

The one somewhat disappointing thing about Centigrade 37 is that there's no bonus scoring! This feels really odd when going from one ball to the next during the gameplay. The first time I played it, this confused the hell outta me, Ah .. hello!? Did we forget something here? Or did I just miss it somehow? Wasn't there supposed to be a bit of dinging, flashing and clanging with a bonus collect before starting the next ball? No??? Hmmm ... how odd. It's very strange that Centigrade 37 left out any bonus collect feature. Otherwise this table would get top marks!

Nevertheless this gets a Classic 70's Gottlieb EM Award. The gameplay is nice and engaging. It's fun to alternate the columns in the parallel lanes on the right and watch the playfield do its light trick. And it's nice to watch the therometer get higher and higher until you reach the top.

Interesting note: Centigrade 37 also appeared in Spain under the Marquinas Recreativas Sociedad Anomina brand of Madrid, Spain (IPDB #4635). At that time, due to restrictions on foreign imports into Spain, pinball machines could not be imported from the US. It is not known if this is version of Centigrade 37 is a licensed or illegal table.


Pinuck's Centigrade 37 FS B2S Table

Here is another exquisite and beautifully recreated table from the master VP author Pinuck. This table is stunningly crisp and sharp, a must-have for your cabinet!

The backglass artwork is very detailed and passionately displayed. The EM reels of this single-player table are very prominent and fully functional. And the thermometer is nice to watch get higher and higher as the gameplay continues, until reaching the top, where that big starburst keeps flashing on and off in a very satisfying way for the rest of your current ball.

The playfield is very realistically and authentically recreated in all its brilliance. It's very easy to think you are playing the actual arcade table! It would certainly cause a flood of flashbacks if I'd played this table IRL. The physics are slightly enhanced for faster gameplay with VP ... but that makes it far more enjoyable, IMHO. Faster than an arcade table would be, I think.

This table makes for a good arcade run on a Saturday afternoon. It brings back memories of watching the original Star Wars in the cinema, having some pizza at Papa Gino's across the way, and then getting some arcade time in the Just Fun game room after lunch. The smell of hot buttered popcorn brings back many memories, and reminds me of fun tables and the countless hours of fun I had playing with them. How nice to play such a realistic table again on my FS B2S setup.
 
Thanks again to Pinuck for another fabulous table, and thanks to rosve for B2S!

Itchigo:
Love it!! Very well written too! ;D

slashbot:
Thanks for the table review, when i read it i got a flashback from the good old times!

faralos:
the IPDB lists both versions the foreign one and Gottliebs
so I would guess that it is legal otherwise the good folks at ipdb would have pulled it from their site

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