The Six Million Dollar Man

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This game has received 46 approved Pinsider ratings. 4 more approved ratings are needed to get a rating and for it to be eligible for the Pinside Pinball Top 100 ranking.


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Found 18 ratings (with comment) on this game

There are 18 ratings (that include a comment) on this game.
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7.319/10
5 months ago
Fun and fast late 70s Bally. Nice art package, and cool licensed theme for those old enough to have watched the show in the seventies (56, like me). Easy to service and keep running.
7.978/10
10 months ago
6MDM the TV show was a cheesy 1970s TV show starring Lee Majors and 6MDM the pinball machine is a cheesy 1970s pinball machine starring Bally spinners and bonus. I really liked the TV show as a kid and I really like the pin as an adult. I can admit that neither are objectively great, but they fill a niche.

To me, there are three great things about this pin:
* juicy symmetrical spinners
* a center post dropped by star rollovers that are perfectly positioned to drop the center post just when you think you are safe
* chasing the 50K award (which also opens the right gate) by collecting the 5-0-0-0-0 rollovers and standups

It's not Bally's best of the era, but it's far from the worst and always worth dropping some quarters!
7.082/10
1 year ago
Siz Million Dollar Man is a licensed theme that looks great and plays tough!

The Pros:
Greg Kmiec and Dave Christensen are at it AGAIN! Nudging skills are in effect from the top saucer to the outlanes. Ripping spinners is awesome and this design is centered around the ball making those spinners GO! Once you find the sweet spot on the flippers for each spinner, you should do that. The art package on this game is most righteous and features the first button under Mr. Austin's thumb (Is there something Pat Lawlor needs to tell us?) on the left sling. The backglass and the cabinet are both absolutely 1970's brilliant! Playing this game feels like Evel Knievel, but is symmetrical from top to bottom with few exceptions. Gameplay is fast and deadly, fortunately, the saucer and the center standup will help with the ball post when scored. The drops are satisfying to hit and make your spinners even more valuable after the first completion. I have seen a few copies of this game with the flipper post disabled. I can understand why a tournament director would do that, but even the greediest of ops would want their players to come back for another game. The Bally feel and tap passing flipper action is in full effect, so skillful players will get their pin-workout on with this design.

The Cons:
Getting to 20k is too easy. Spinner speeds may have to be adjusted to bring out gameplay balance. The outlanes on this game are VERY hungry. The combination of rubber on the slings, damp metal lane wires and even more damp wood on the outside of the playfield mean that if the ball goes to the left, it is probably gone. If it goes to the right, you had better have gotten the 5-0-0-0-0 target sequence activated. Getting that "5" lane may be this design's most difficult task. Normally I don't think a game of this design would need an up post, but the game times were probably so short, that they had to put it in there to make the game LAST LONGER for most people on the street. The center target will raise the save post. The star rollovers will drop it again. Don't shoot for the center standup!

The Takeaway:
A challenging player with low ball times and a ruleset that prioritizes specific tasks. Hit the Saucer to get to 5x asap. You will most likely max out 20k bonus just getting to 5x. The drops on the right light spinner and the extra ball/special awards. 50k is worth going after to nerf the right outlane back to the plunger, and you are going to need it! But with your spinners lit for 1k, just keep ripping spinners and be aware that the star rollovers on the playfield are in the ball path to both spinners from the flippers. This game will take the player back to 1978, when bionics made that awesome sound and kids loved to tune in to this show. This game really only needs one thing...

Andre the Giant as... Robo-Bigfoot!
7.095/10
1 year ago
This is a very under rated pin. Well designed play field and a blast to play. Very challenging. These things come together making it a standout from the era.
5.540/10
3 years ago
Nice artwork, but disappointing game play
8.338/10
3 years ago
Great gimmick on six player angle. Classic pinball with both a post, a gate and a Bionic Man!
7.318/10
3 years ago
This is my favorite of the "standard" Bally SS games. Lots of fun here.
Since the layout is basic and not exactly unique it helps to be familiar with the theme and Bally seemed to do as well as they could have at the time. The kickout hole bleeps sound especially "bionic." The bonus countdown is really fun.

I'm not sure how long this would last in a home lineup. It's a bit easy. It's a lot easier to get those 5 drop targets twice for an extra ball than it is to get the 4 drop targets on the 1979 Star Trek 3 times, for example. The up-post is easy to get and easy to keep there. But it's fun and hasn't gotten old at the arcade, anyway. I'm not sure six people played this at once even in 1978.

Fun and neat and great bang for the buck.

*Wife approval* "This sounds a lot like your Star Trek!" And she lost interest shortly thereafter. I'm just barely old enough to remember the cool show and she wasn't born yet, so yeah, I do think nostalgia helps a bit here.
6.563/10
4 years ago
The big feature is the six player displays, but the game itself is pretty basic. It was a must have for me because of the theme, but if you had to have a 1978 Bally SS for game play, Mata Hari is the better choice. As has been pointed out, this is very similar to Evel Knievel, which has the better art package and integration. The art is still pretty good, and though the theme doesn't relate really well to the show that much (Steve Austin was a test pilot but the show is really about what happens after him crashing).
8.041/10
5 years ago
It's an older SS game, but for it's time, it's a fun and fast game to play. It can be challenging to complete all the rules, and difficult to gain the extra ball. I own this game and did some LED upgrades and they make the machine look much newer. It plays very fast but does have times when the ball rolls the entire play field and hits nothing, but that's part of the challenge. Overall the game is addicting, and requires fast reflexes.
4.633/10
5 years ago
Ok game not much to it , worth a game or two. Cool sounds!
9.733/10
5 years ago
This was my first pin in my collection. It is a perfect example of Bally SS in the late 70’s. The rules are simple, the shots are solid. I have other pins that are newer, but this one draws everyone back to it. 6 player option keeps everyone included. This is a fun game and is truly underrated. It will always be a part of my collection!
6.997/10
7 years ago
Six Million Dollar Man and Evel Knievel are very similar games, layout-wise.  Generally speaking, EK is the more sought after and beloved game.  But for my money, I’ll take Six Million Dollar Man any day of the week.  Chasing the 50,000 through the rollovers and side targets is a good challenge, and works to lure you away from any other strategy with the prospect of big points, because you’re always close to completion of the sequence by sheer randomness of the ball hitting rollovers or targets.  The play-more post and right drain ball diverter give players a false sense of security, but are good features to take advantage of if you can.  If Evel has the Six Million Dollar Man beat in one feature, it is that of the alternating lit spinner—drop sequence completion lights both spinners solid for duration of ball play.  You can rip the spinner from either flipper, which makes for an incredibly worthwhile strategy to employ while playing the game.  I wouldn’t argue that the art package is one of Dave Christiensen’s best, but it is certainly colourful and patriotic—very indicative of the television show of the same name.  Christensen adds his typical hyper-masculine touch to the game, so far as illustrating Steve Austin’s muscles ripping through his flight suit.  I will say that the cabinet stencil design is one of the best to come out of the Bally factory.  6MDM has all of the elements of an “early Bally solid state game”, and stands to be one of the best examples to represent the period.
5.980/10
8 years ago
The 50,000 for 3 side targets and 2 rollovers is wildly unbalanced. It takes too much effort to light the spinners. The pop up large center post is a nice addition, and the rollovers to drop it are placed in a very mean spot. There is little to nothing that connects this to the 6 Million Dollar Man, so the theming is lackluster. Simply having the 50,000 shots be the different parts of the body would have tied the game into the theme much better (rollovers for arms, the side targets could be legs, torso, head).
5.764/10
9 years ago
Solid early SS game. Not my favorite but worth a play or two.
7.019/10
10 years ago
Very cool theme. I've ways struggled to score well on this machine but enjoy it none the less.
9.381/10
11 years ago
One of my favorites from this era. I understand why some people do not understand the practicality of a 6 player game, and I could empathize with that as a kid sitting at a bowling alley having to wait. With that said, when I play now its usually around great friends while sharing good conversation and spirits, so the 6 player comes in quite handy as well usually have more than 4 wanting to play it. The playability and layout is fantastic with plenty to shoot at and well laid out missions/targets. Best Bally 70s game in my opinion. Just added one to my collection.
7.169/10
12 years ago
Love this game, I was a big fan of the show. The play more post is a good feature, typical bally game of the era. I loved playing this game back in the day and would love to add to my collection.
9.586/10
13 years ago
Great 1970's machine. The six player mode isn't practical, but at least its not six million? Anyway the "play-more post" is a great feature that should be mentioned. Some other machines must have them too (e.g. Power Play) but this is the only one I've had a chance to play. In short, I like the game and love the theme and artwork,... but it's the game play that makes this machine my young son's absolute favorite!
There are 18 ratings (that include a comment) on this game. Currently showing results page 1 of 1.

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