No Good Gofers

"YEEEEEEE-HAW!!!"

So how do you evoke the spirit of the comedy classic Caddyshack without the license? Simple: focus on the gofers. No Good Gofers is Williams’ greatest pinball masterpiece, and I can think of no finer table to remember the dying breed of games by.

The story is simple. You’re a golfer doing your thing on the golf course, only you’ve got to contend with two pesky gofers. There’s Buzz, the sarcastic and obnoxious one who’ll continually taunt you with “You’re on our turf now!” and “Hole in one! OOPS! WRONG HOLE!!.” And there’s Bud, the dense, bucktoothed, friendly gofer who’ll say “Weeeeellllcome back!” when you play a second game. These two gofers will do anything to keep you from interfering with their home, including blasting you away with dynamite! But you can get back at them fairly easily, too…

The game follows your standard pinball conventions with flippers, bumpers, ramps, drop holes, and the like. The two center ramps are where you’ll see Buzz (on the right) and Bud (on the left) pop up to say what’s on their minds. Aim the ball just right, and you can knock them dead in the face for a nice bonus. There’s a plastic driving range hovering over the playfield, and if you can shoot the hole-in-one drop hole, you’ll get a great reward.

There are the usual bonus-games and multiballs that have you shooting for the ramps or the hole in one, plus Pop-a-Gofer which really lets you take out your frustrations on Buzz and Bud, and you can even warp ahead a few holes to really advance your scores. These games are usually picked by a wheel in the center of the playfield when you finish the hole you’re on. Sometimes you get to choose your own bonus from the rapidly spinning wheel, or sometimes the Gofers will pick. Usually Bud. That wheel is also designed of a surface that will slow down the ball a little, changing its direction if it’s spinning while the ball is passing by. End of ball bonuses are determined by how many holes you finished, how close to par you got on each hole, and your bonus multiplier.

The table is imaginatively drawn and designed with all the classic golf conventions, and the marquee is colorful. The madcap feel of the setting is captured perfectly by both. All the requisite blinking lights are here, and the gofers translate particularly well on the scoreboard. The real star is the sound, however. The gofers are voice acted to near perfection, and the music is catchy and fun. And be ready for a complete change of pace with the “Dance Fever” bonus game when Bud picks your bonus. “Everybody dance!” indeed.

A quick bit of trivia. Early pre-beta versions of the game had a “boss gofer” underneath the bonus wheel, but this sadly was not to be thanks to design issues. Even still, this is my all-time favorite pinball table for a very good reason. It’s fun, funny, and always a hoot to take on the gofers on “their turf.” FORE!!!

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 09/25/02, Updated 09/25/02