The "Black Pyramid" pinball machine, released by Bally in July 1984, features an adventurous Egyptian theme designed by George Christian with artwork by Greg Freres.
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Quickie Version:
Orbits all day.
Go-to Flipper:
Left until you have 5X, then balanced
Risk Index:
Medium-High; main risk is the feed out of the bumpers
Shots to Master:
both orbits.
Skillshot(s):
Plunge to get the “A” in Black and open your gate at the lower right.
Full Rules:
The right orbit inline drops give you 2X, 3X, 5X, then allow the ball to go up top, scoring a letter in the process. This is yet another game with a Super Bonus feature: completing “Black Pyramid” the first time gives you the 60K held bonus, a second time gives 120K, so your maximum bonus is 120K + 11*5K [11 more letters in Black Pyramid a third time; competing it resets] times max multiplier of 5X for a total of 875,000! Shooting the orbits give decent points, too. The left one starts at 20K and goes up from there each time you shoot it, eventually getting to EB after 70K, then resetting to 20K after the EB is scored. You also get a letter in Black if you still need any; if you have Black completed, you get a number in “200000” The right one is worth either a “Pyramid” letter, a “Black” letter or 50K per shot once you’ve completed the three bonus X drop targets in front of the red star rollover. The swinging target is best avoided, but here’s what you get for it: each hit lights either a number in “200000” or one of the two stars on the end, whichever is lit when the ball hits the target. Completing the six lights in “200000” scores that value, but if you have completed one star first, it’s double that, and two stars first, triple that for 600K. It’s a high risk of drain shot, though, so most players avoid it even with the points to be had there and just do orbits all day. But … if you have collected five of the 200000 numbers via shooting the left orbit and happened to hit a couple of stars along the way by accident, it’s sure worth one shot at that last number to get your 600K. Ball control: the ball rarely enters the return lanes fast enough to not be able to hold the flipper up to get the ball to a cradle.
via Bob's Guide