Rocky features the legendary Rocky Balboa, as portrayed by Sylvester Stallone in the successful movie series. The game's flyer claims that it was featured in "Rocky III", but this is not strictly true. The game in the movie that stands in an arcade crammed with other pins has a special Rocky backglass made for the film that is quite different from that of the production game; even the positioning of the displays is different. This special backglass carried copyright notices from both Gottlieb and United artists that are dated 1980, meaning that this glass was 2 years ahead of the subsequent production game. The playfield that appears in the movie is that of a "Force II" and the cabinet appears to be that of a Pink Panther. In the movie, one of Rocky's drunken ex-cohorts throws a bottle of scotch to smash the backglass.

Rocky, like other Gottlieb games from this time, has an unusual playfield design where the outhole does not sit neatly between the flippers. Instead there are a pair of flippers either side of the outhole to hook and jab the ball upfield. The artwork is a mix of stars and stripe patriotism and Rocky boxing imagery and the game's theme is carried into the gameplay, with the player trying to win rounds by completing lit drop-targets. An extra button allows the player to win 2 instant rounds per game, which is useful because the gameplay is made very difficult by the playfield layout.

The initial playfield layout had a fifth pop-bumper towards the centre of the playfield. John Trudeau explained to SNP that it was removed for game play reasons, opening up a return to the top from the right side of the playfield.

Since 2006, when news of a final Rocky movie emerged and with the film's subsequent release, interest from Rocky fans has seen these games changing hands for thousands above their "book" value. This has been much to the chagrin of pinheads, some of whom have a hard time coming to terms with the fact that "outsiders" (i.e. Rocky fans rather than pinheads) are willing to pay more for a game than they are: not that most pinheads would even consider buying a Rocky pin in the first place!