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June marked the month when Bally let Greg Kmiec and Christian Marche unveil their newest creation to the pinball world. This two-player game awards an extra ball when the A-B-C-D sequence is completed. C and D when completed, award the double bonus. The third flipper in the middle right of the playfield gives the player maximum control to shoot for the Aladdin’s Alley. Hitting the rollover at the top of this shot scores the lit value and then advances the value for the next completed shot. If you’re skillful enough to make it to the 5,000 shot, the next shot scores a special. This special remains lit for the balance of the ball in play. All in all, a typical Bally game of the era. This game was released at the same time as the classic Captain Fantastic Bally machine (that game is in the museum). Captain Fantastic made Bally #1. -
This electromechanical two-player game was designed by Steve Kordek. The game reminds one of an older game, as an animated golfer is on board that you aim to hopefully sink a ball in the appropriate hole. The nine scattered holes are tough to sink, especially the back ones. The lower your score in strokes, the better with this game (no handicap is given). Free games may be awarded set by the operator for low-stroke counts after completing so many holes. A neat and rare game. -
Frogger is an arcade game introduced in 1981. It was developed by Konami, and licensed for worldwide distribution by Sega/Gremlin. The object of the game is to direct frogs to their homes one by one. To do this, each frog must avoid cars while crossing a busy road and navigate a river full of hazards. Skillful players may obtain some bonuses along the way. The game is regarded as a classic from the golden age of video arcade games and was noted for its novel gameplay and theme. It was also an early example of a game using more than one CPU, as it used two Z80 processors. Frogger is still popular and versions can be found on many Internet game sites. By 2005, Frogger had sold 20 million copies worldwide, including 5 million in the United States. The player starts with three, five, or seven frogs (lives). The player guides a frog which starts at the bottom of the screen. The lower half of the screen contains a road with motor vehicles, which in various versions include cars, trucks, buses, dune buggies, bulldozers, vans, taxis, bicyclists, and/or motorcycles, speeding along it horizontally. The upper half of the screen consists of a river with logs, crocodiles, and turtles, all moving horizontally across the screen. The very top of the screen contains five “frog homes” which are the destinations for each frog. Every level is timed; the player must act quickly to finish each level before the time expires. The only player control is the joystick used to navigate the frog; each push in a direction causes the frog to hop once in that direction. On the bottom half of the screen, the player must successfully guide the frog between opposing lanes of trucks, cars, and other vehicles, to avoid becoming roadkill. The middle of the screen, after the road, contains a median where the player must prepare to navigate the river. By jumping on swiftly moving logs and the backs of turtles, the player can guide his or her frog safely to one of the empty lilypads. The player must avoid crocodiles, snakes, and otters in the river, but may catch bugs or escort a lady frog for bonuses. When all five frogs are directed home, the game progresses to the next, harder level. After five levels, the game gets briefly easier yet again gets progressively harder to the next fifth level. There are many different ways to lose a life in this game (illustrated by a “skull and crossbones” symbol where the frog was), including: 1.Being hit by a road vehicle 2.Jumping into the river’s water 3.Running into snakes, otters or into a crocodile’s jaws in the river 4.Jumping into a home invaded by a crocodile 5.Staying on top of a diving turtle until it has completely submerged 6.Riding a log, crocodile, or turtle off the side of the screen 7.Jumping into a home already occupied by a frog 8.Jumping into the side of a home or the bush 9.Running out of time before getting a frog home Frogger is available as a standard upright or cocktail cabinet. The controls consist solely of a 4-direction joystick used to guide the frog’s jump direction. The number of simultaneous players is one, and the game has a maximum of two players. The game’s opening tune is the first verse of a Japanese children’s song called Inu No Omawarisan (The Dog Policeman). The song remained intact in the US release. Other Japanese tunes that are played during gameplay include the themes to the anime Hana no Ko Lunlun and Araiguma Rascal. -
Flippers (2), Pop bumpers (3), Ramps (2), Autoplunger. A left-side catapult propels ball airborne into a habitrail. Two pop-up trolls in playfield become active during “Trolls!” mode. Tina Fey (of “Saturday Night Live” fame) did the voices of the “Opera Singer” princess and the Cockney-talking princess, and Andrea Farrell did the voices of the Jewish princess and the sexy princess. Greg Freres was the voice of the jousting announcer and one of the trolls while Francois Du Grim was voiced by Vince Pontarelli who also did the other troll. Look no further! This game, in my humble opinion, takes the prize as the most sought-after, inventive game of the ‘90s! Brian Eddy designed this machine with 4,016 units screwed together. The action, endless vocal calls, the exploding castle, the pop-up trolls and the moat and dropping gate make this machine one of a kind. The value of this machine is going through the roof, more than doubling its original price. The six kings from six different castles must be defeated by attacking the castle walls. Defeating a king makes the fort collapse. It’s nearly impossible to complete this feat. The princess must be rescued up the upper right ramp when activated (the princess’s vocals are none other than Tina Fey’s voice). Many multiball challenges await. The trolls must be hit many times to be conquered. The whole package is artistically and musically amazing. Most of these machines are tucked away in home arcades at this point. Enjoy! -
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This game is another breakthru game by Williams. 13,075 units were made. Steve Ritchie designed the game and Tony Ramunni did the art package. Larry Demar programmed the game. Black Knight invented the “magna save” feature which is activated by the second flipper buttons on the side of the cabinet. When active, timing is critical. By activating this feature, the ball, which was about to drain down the side drains, is magically transported to the ball guide lane back to the flipper for continued play. This game also incorporated the “bonus ball” feature if more than one player was playing the game. The person with the highest score is awarded at the end of the game with a bonus round, which is timed to try and pop a game. Finally, this game is the first game to have a two-level playfield. Steve Ritchie, the designer, used his voice as the Black Knight. -
This was one of my favorite arcade machines in its heyday. Midway found much success with this one-player machine. A faux periscope is the viewing platform for action in this battle to sink enemy ships. You are allowed a fixed number of torpedoes per game to sink as much tonnage as possible per outing. A perfect game awards bonus torpedoes. The lighting effects and sounds are wonderful for their day. You’re allowed to “steer” your torpedo to about one-fourth of theway to your enemy. Giving just the right amount of lead time to each ship is critical. Some shipsare faster than others and these sinkings award more points. Go ahead, captain, sink the fleet! -
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Gottlieb released the game “Sinbad” in both solid-state and electromechanical formats in June of the year. Designed by Ed Krynski with art by Gordon Morison, there were 12,000 S.S. games and 950 E.M. games made. This machine is the rare two-player version of the game, of which 730 were made. Drop targets are the main theme of this game. Knocking down the single white drop target awards a 2x bonus and lights the white rollover. The three yellow drops were next. If hit, 3x bonus is awarded when the ball drains and the 5,000 rollover lights at the top of the playfield. The four purple drops were next. Making these would award 4x bonus and light the extra ball rollover. Finally, the five red drops; when hit would award 5x bonus (the maximum bonus that could register is 15,000 points times the bonus) as well as light the special rollover. Four flippers allowed for interesting play, also.
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Kasco Manufacturing Company produced about eight machines of various themes in their productive commercial life. This machine is the most popular of the games they made. This shoot’em up game awards a free play if a score of 80 is made. The game board is elaborate for its day and looks 3-D. Blacklight, holograms, and mechanical chain link drives are all synchronized at different speeds (the faster the ninja moves, the more potential points you can earn if you hit one). Hitting a ninja produces a flash of light and points. Audio enhances your experience. Lighting colored artwork from behind a mirror creates the animation effect seen in this game. There’s only eight molded targets in the game, but it appears a lot more are present due to the computer’s timing of their action. Give it a shot! -
This unique woodrail game was screwed together in November of the year following the success of a Gottlieb space theme called Rocketship. Harry Williams designed the playfield and game rules while George Molentin inked the artwork. The object of the game is to score at least three rockets on the backglass in order. Doing so awards a replay. This is not an easy task as most of the rockets are “selected” at the top of the machine’s playfield and, even though you may have had a countdown going on a desired numbered rocket to complete this feat, the next ball will most likely change the selected rocket in your countdown sequence! To spot a rocket, you must count down five levels to light the fire bumpers. Hitting one of these spots your actively selected rocket. More replays are yours if you can achieve four, five, six, or seven rockets in order, an extremely rare feat. Score is also another way to score replays. A very challenging playfield for sure, between trying to change your selected rocket and the high-side drain exits take some time to master. -
This “special edition” game was produced to recognize the fact that this game, when initially released two years earlier, was the biggest number production game ever made in the contemporary era, with a total production run of 20,270. This game was produced in 1,000 examples. Pat Lawlor designed the machine with John Youssi getting accolades for the artwork. Gadgets abound in this machine, which is augmented by the gold detailing over the standard unit. The main theme here is to complete all 12 parts of the house panel. Doing so brings you to the ultimate level of excitement. Multi-ball options abound as well as “Thing”, consisting of just a hand, grabbing the ball in the upper-right corner of the machine. A magnet under the play field provides strange ball play as well as Thing “flipping” the ball remotely if hit. The sounds and art are fantastic representations from the movie of the same name. This game is #3! -
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May was the release month for this game. Designer Ed Krynski and artist Gordon Morison put together the package. Production run was low, at 675 units. This is an add-a-ball game variant, the replay version was called High Hand. The challenging part of this playfield design is trying to lock a ball in the eject hole for extra balls. Four batteries of drop targets in four colors are along the sides of the playfield. Making a completion of a color of drop targets increases the value of the eject and side drains. If all the drop targets are completed, the extra ball features light up. Score is another way to win balls set by the operator. No match units were incorporated into these games as, again, that was considered a form of gambling, i.e. winning a free game. -
This classic game is currently rated as the number two game of its generation. 4,650 units were produced in April of the year with design credits going to Roy Parker for artwork and Wayne Neyens for design. The game was produced to coincide with the New York World’s Fair of 1964-1965. The 11 ferris wheel cars depicted on the backglass are represented on the play field by roll overs and targets. Hitting a numbered car lights the corresponding backglass car. The interesting gadget developed for this game is the center spinning disc (i.e. ferris wheel) in the middle of the game. By spinning the disc, one randomly spots a ferris wheel car on the backglass. Completing all the cars awards a replay and the randomly advancing lighting of a rollover which, if you’re skilled enough, would award a replay if hit. Score is another way to conquer the machine. Enjoy trying your hand at this classic machine. -
Galaga is a single-screen shoot-em-up in which the player controls a “fighter” spaceship and must defend the home planet against the on-coming hordes of alien invaders. The fighter can only move left and right along the bottom of the screen. Galaga aliens fly onto the screen in a variety of formations – dropping bombs as they do so – before forming troop lines at the top of the screen. Once a troop line is formed, the aliens separate and start attacking the player’s ship in ones, twos and threes. The top line “boss” aliens need to be shot twice before they are destroyed. The boss alien has a tractor beam that can capture the player’s fighter. A captured fighter changes color from white to red and stays with that particular boss Galaga until it’s destroyed. The fighter can be retrieved by destroying the boss Galaga that captured it, but players must be careful not to destroy the captured ship itself, or that ship is lost. A rescued fighter changes color back from red to white and links up with the player’s current fighter, doubling its fire power. As players progress through each screen, the speed and number of alien attacks increases. Alien formations also become more complex, making the aliens harder to shoot. Bonus fighters are awarded periodically throughout the game, as players reach specific point values (dictated by the “bonus life” dip-switch setting). Each enemy ship also has an assigned point value (see scoring below). The alien troop lines that form at the top of the screen are, from top to bottom: Boss Galaga, Butterflies (red/white bug ships) and Bees (blue/yellow bug ships). I cut my teeth on video games like this back in the ’80s. Pinball lost momentum in this era as video games ruled the arcade at this time. -
This is the next-to-last machine Williams made under the Bally moniker and the first game made to “reinvent” pinball in a last-ditch effort to save Williams from ceasing pinball manufacturing. 6,878 machines were made. George Gomez designed the new platform with Greg Freres and John Youssi designing the art package. This is Star Wars; the last games from Williams were the most technologically advanced games pinball has ever known. The incorporation of a reflecting video monitor with interactive playfield video feedback is revolutionary. The top of the playfield is mostly hidden from view except for a few selectively placed spots which light on occasion. This machine consists of nine different modes which must be conquered to proceed to the ultimate mode, that being the destruction of Mars. A very different game that sold well. However, Williams pulled the plug on pinball and thereafter focused on slot machines. -
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This very collectible game of the ‘70s was another in a series of celebrity-themed tie-in games Bally found license to produce. 17,000 units were made, a sizable number for the day. A prototype speaking version of this game was made ahead of its time but failed to be marketed. The object of the game is to spell out the name KISS. If you complete four times, a super bonus is awarded. Do it again and a colossal bonus is awarded. A third time awards a replay and a ton of points…which can be doubled if the 2x value drop targets are completed. The A, B, C, and D targets also can award extra balls and specials. The left drop targets award the KISS line when completed. All in all, an exciting game with great graphics but no speech. Talking pinballs finally made the scene with the release of Gorgar (in the museum). Replays are also awarded by score or matching. Matching is the process by which the last two numbers of your score match the generated number produced by the game. -