Monday 8 April 2013

1984 Black Pyramid from Bally/Midway

1983/4 was a dark period for pinball.  So how does Black Pyramid stack up?



This game was released at the time when video was king.  You know something is up when production runs from Bally are around 2000 units compared to the late 70's when they were pumping out 10,000+ of most titles.

So due to the lower numbers, some cost cutting measures were in order.  Crappy chipboard cabinets with pealing decals instead of painted designs. The speech board has been dropped, plus pretty much zero innovation on the playfield.  Black Pyramid could have been released back in 1979 and probably would have sold 10,000 units.

So, if you don't care about all the nerdy stuff above, what is the game like?.

Well the one in the video was immaculate.  For whatever reason it has had very little use, and you could tell by how smooth it played and how tight everything felt.  On the night it was played constantly for hours and everyone raved about it.

I have a feeling if this particular game was in lesser condition it probably wouldn't have received so much love, as there's really not much going on with a swing target in the middle, and some inline drops on the right.  The other main shot is the left lane up to the top saucer. 

It's not a bad game.  I wouldn't say no to one if the price was right (crazy cheap).  Keep it for a little while and flip it.  It's an attractive looking game.  I don't mind the art at all, so it's not like it would be hard to move on.

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