KISS

Pinside rating

This game received 116 approved Pinsider ratings and currently rates 7.167 /10

7.167

Top 100 ranking

This game ranks #240 in the Pinside Pinball Top 100.



Score breakdown

Score breakdown in the 4 main categories:

Game Design: 6.847

Artwork: 8.496

Sounds/Music: 5.859

Other Aspects: 7.195


Pinside staff rating

This is how we, the very knowledgeable (wink wink) Pinside.com staff & moderators rate this game. 4 of us have rated this game.

6.327

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Found 48 ratings (with comment) on this game

There are 48 ratings (that include a comment) on this game.
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10.000/10
87 days ago
the first game i ever bought back in 1986 for my record shop! I absolutely love it.
9.929/10
1 year ago
If you are lucky enough to own a Bally Kiss, you will need to add the Geeteoh custom sound board. Its an absolute game changer with all the cool sounds and music which are game controlled. The backglass is absolutely Rad! If your are a musician or Kiss fan, this has got to be the coolest pin ever! The game rules are just right! Cool shots throughout and having drop targets and spinners are the perfect touch... I highly recommend the 1979 Bally Kiss!
7.307/10
1 year ago
The hottest band in the land..........KISS! This is a game I could have bought cheap many years ago. I let it slip through my fingers because it was so beat up. (Regretting that forever). For the time period this is a very good machine. The graphics is amazing if you are a fan.
8.755/10
2 years ago
This was my first pinball I played ever, being young boy and pressing flippers was unbelievable as a kid, I loved it amazing, it’s a definite 10 for me hahaha, it’s KISS what else do you need!!!lol
6.159/10
2 years ago
Great looker, poor player. If the theme wasn't KISS, this game would sell for less than a Dolly Parton.
9.099/10
2 years ago
The best of the original early SS games. Could be better playability and more shots etc... but its KISS. Best them in the late 70's.
5.631/10
2 years ago
Kiss is the coolest theme for a 70's pinball. To bad the technology was not good for pinballs then. Art package is awesome but the game falls short in every other area.
7.292/10
4 years ago
For better or worse, this is (arguably) the most iconic pinball game of the 70s. Everyone knows this game.

I'll start with the good stuff. The art is just fantastic. If you walked into an arcade in 1979 you'd know if this game was there within 5 seconds.

The sounds are terrible. Oh wait you mean the pinball game...really, it's fine for the time. I can't actually tell which songs they're trying to emulate, but it's fine.

The game doesn't play all that bad and it's fun to try to fill the grid but there just isn't much here. The spinners are slightly difficult to nail but it's fun when you really get them.

In the end it doesn't matter what I think - the game is massively popular (colossal bonus!) and priced accordingly. And I really don't think I'm being too critical. If you're a KISS fan this game is a grail collectible.

*Wife approval* She hasn't played it but I've shown her pictures. She just thinks it's silly. Actually she might have played it at a convention when we were dating and we both forgot about it. The gameplay itself is forgettable. Anyway, she's too young for the band to have any significance, and when I was a kid I asked my parents who these KISS people were in the t-shirt ads in my comics.

Have at it though, KISS fans. You could have done worse than this one. Rock art gem, not a lot after that.
7.367/10
4 years ago
I grew up with this at home, so it has a lot of sentimental value for me, but I still recognize it for what it is: Spell this word over and over and over again. Also, get A-B-C-D over and over.

Your bonus level persists for the entire game (or at least it did on mine), so the key to big points is to get your bonus early on, then get 2X via A-B-C-D every ball. Despite playing more modern pins in arcades through the 80's and early 90's I always loved this game. The sound of 16 bonus womps at the end of a turn from Colossal Bonus and 2x will probably stay with me for the rest of my life. The spinners are awesome, too, with the persistence of vision effect illustrating a tongue sticking out of dude's mouth.

The artwork is provocative and frankly ridiculous, but as a child I always thought it was intriguing. Would I have it today? Nahhhh. Because my mother still has it in her basement!
8.077/10
4 years ago
Ultimate classic machine! KISS is probably one of these most classic machines in my mind. A true institution to pinball.
6.655/10
4 years ago
Its an early SS Bally. They play the same, especially the symmetrical ones like this. With four pops, this differs from others slightly. The KISS animation on the BG, the gorgeous PF are wonderful to look at - truly works of art. For gameplay, not too much to write home about, but you can't play a Van Gogh.
3.278/10
4 years ago
My dad loves this game and I am always stuck playing this with the old guy. I hate this machine with a passion.

KISS in general has to be a generational thing, I'm in my late 20's and don't understand how anyone can like them.
8.665/10
4 years ago
This is a real must to have game in a mancave,its just amazing to look at in attract mode,and quite fun to play
7.604/10
5 years ago
Pros:
Spinner shots are very fun and rewarding. Standard Bally Williams bonus max out fun time design is as fun as it has always been although maby some inlines somewhere, just a thought. Spelling kiss is fun.

Cons:
While spelling kiss is fun, that is really the extent of the theme. Maybe they could have had different instrument shots instead of just spelling kiss. The skill shot is worth to much. I have had to play this many times in tournament and the if you know where the skill shot is you have a massive advantage. Why does your colasol bonus not get multiplied.

Overall:
While it is a fun game I feel like more could have been done or rules could be improved. Overall though a game I allways come back to and that I wouldn’t mind owning.
7.562/10
5 years ago
If you’re into KISS this game is a must-have, great hand drawn artwork of the band and all around decent game.
7.445/10
5 years ago
My first one, forever ...
6.698/10
5 years ago
Art is definitely the strong point of this pin. Rules and sounds are not.
8.741/10
6 years ago
For what it was when released it was impressive. The subject matter could not be beat and considering how many were made, shows its appeal. Forward nearly 40 years and it is still very popular for it's subject matter alone. Classic gameplay with not a lot going on. As others have mentioned, it's basically a show piece for the artwork but likely doesn't hold up in a small collection.
7.908/10
8 years ago
artwork is awesome..i have this machine basically as a show piece for the art, people play it but not often.
7.177/10
8 years ago
For it's time, KISS was ok. Not much going on here playfield wise. Light KISS over and over. Like the drop targets. Spinners are always fun to hit. If your a KISS fan, worth owning if you don't have a small collection. Gets a bit old in a smaller collection. Nice looking pin. Always a fun game for a play or 2. Somewhat miss mine. When I have more room, i'll pick up another. Do love the artwork...
6.192/10
8 years ago
Great theme, classic art package, yet incredibly boring gameplay. Spinner all day once it is lit. Great for casual players looking to spell KISS over and over and over again via the matrix in the center but further than that, the game leaves a lot to be desired compared to other games of the era. One of the best art packages on a classic Bally, from a company that created the idea of an in-house art department. It would a few years before the idea of art agreeing with game design was introduced...as Kiss proves wonderfully. Prices on this game have been madness for years now given Kiss Kollectors valuing this as the ultimate Kollectable. If it held a reasonable price, being a fan of rock n' roll, I'd consider owning the game for a spell, but not at current market value...!
9.760/10
9 years ago
Where's my platform boots so I can kick some Ace!
7.233/10
9 years ago
Hard to play, not for a long time
7.674/10
9 years ago
Lots of fun, lighting up the spinners never gets old. Has some tight shots.

Surprised there isn't more love for this one...I am not a kiss fan but his is a fun pin.
7.742/10
10 years ago
Very good early Bally Solid State. I don't like symmetric games as much as asymmetrical ones, but it works pretty good for Kiss. Scoring is consistent with the other Bally's of that era, so if you kick ass early on it you can coast thru, esp on a 5 ball game. You either like the theme or you don't, not many people are on the middle. Can't find them cheap any more, so if you're looking for a player from this era maybe look for a Mata Hari or something instead.
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