What a beautiful end to Bally!

Let's turn on the wayback machine to 1986...Cyndi Lauper was still famous, Back to the future 2 and 3 were in final production, Electric Boogaloo was only a two year old film ( :p ), and the space shuttle Challenger exploded shortly after take off. Then there was Bally Pinball Co.

Bally was in dire straights. They were cutting pinball costs left and right, trying to stay afloat and solvent, and word was Williams may or may not be interested in an aqcuisition. But, Bally was designing a pin based on a cult phenomemon, Dungeons and Dragons.

They made a pin which was both challenging to play, fun to look at, and filled with a deeeeep ruleset. So deep, some of the rules are still being pieced together by some of the smartest pinballers in the country! (Well, not really, maybe just the most bored...).

With an absolutely stunning playfield, filled with color and graphic interpretations of D&D characters, the Wizard, challenging the dragon to a duel of magick, the warrior, fending off dragon attacks, the Valkyrie, caught in the dragons clutches, and, of course, the dreaded red dragon himself. With three three bank targets, a LH ramp to the lair, a RH ramp, which retracts when the ball is caught by a 'hidden' mechanical ball capture, and a wizard area, with another hidden ball capture inside, all of these are tough, tough, tough to make! Add to these the ultimate challenge, the Mystical Million shot! Drop the RH ramp by locking a ball in it during the correct mode, using the second ball, go up the RH ramp three times and knock down three drop targets inside, then finally go up the ramp a fourth time and past the dropped targets, into the lair for a million points, in which the game decries, "Mystical Million!" 3 times.

This game is NO for the squeamish, as it Will spank you and send you home after 3 quick ball drains, as the shots to make are in delicate areas.

The two downfalls to this pin are: #1: Lack of speech. There is sound effects, and limited speech, but too little of it; a Bally cost-cutting measure.

#2: The cabinets! Pressed laminated wood fibre board is not conducent to lastibility (Yeah, that's my word, I made it up!), and the unique 'Banana' style of the cabs are a pain in the ass to move without damage! Flaking of the cab corners anf decal delamination is common.

Other than that, with a limited production run of only 1100, these are pins to restore and keep in anyone's collection!

--Rick.