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Ranked #163 of all time · ranking score 75.6 · See the list
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Ranked #163 of all time · ranking score 75.6 · See the list
The "Harlem Globetrotters On Tour" pinball machine, released by Bally in September 1979, features a basketball theme celebrating the famous exhibition basketball team. Designed by Greg Kmiec with artwork by Greg Freres, this solid-state machine offers a dynamic playfield with three flippers, three pop bumpers, six standup targets, two kick-out holes, and three spinning targets. It also includes a unique right outlane detour gate.
The same machine, made under a different name by a different manufacturer: licensed copies, conversion kits, and re-releases.
| Name | Manufacturer | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Space Rider | Geiger-Automatenbau GMBH | 1980 |
Right standup target to open the gate, then the four right inline drop targets to maximize your bonus multiplier and the spinner value, then spinner all day.
Left until spinner value maxed and gate open, then Right
High; while hitting the inline drop targets is the best path to high scores, hitting the far right recessed standup target to open the right gate is very useful as a defensive measure
Inline drop targets, spinner.
Make the top saucer, to collect a letter in G-L-O-B-E. Finishing Globe scores 50K each time, might as well make progress towards it. Globe also lights the left outlane for 25k.
Harlem is one of the most popular classic games ever. It’s a spinner-and-bonus game, like many of that era. Simple but fun. Once you get the ball, you want to shoot the inline drops on the right side. Besides being worth 5K each, these do three things: they increase your bonus multiplier to 2X-3X-5X; they increase your spinner value to 100-200-1000-2000; and they spot a letter in Globe. They are your top priority until finished the first time. You may also want to hit the right-side standup target to open the gate on the right to return a ball heading into the outlane; some people like to do this before shooting the inline drops, others prefer to do the drops first, and a few don’t shoot it at all. I like to get it early as a safety measure. Once your bonus X and spinner are maxed out, it’s spinner all day. At 2K per spin, plus a likely letter in Globe each trip, you can get over half a million on a ball even before your maximum of 245K [5X49] in bonus. The top saucer, inline drops and the two central spinners advance your bonus. Don’t bother shooting at the central spinners unless you’re just below a Bonus Hold threshold; even then, most players wouldn’t.
Important setting #1: whether or not the Bonus Hold feature is on. If it is, when you get to 20K in base bonus, the 20K is held for future balls. Same thing for 30K and 40K.
Important setting #2: how G-L-O-B-E letters are scored. May be sequential, in which case 5 shots to the saucer scores Globe, or may be random, in which case it will take longer to finish it. If set to sequential (“easy”), consider sending all balls from the right flipper up top through the spinner regardless of its value rather than trying to tap pass or otherwise transfer to the left flipper for shots at the inline targets.
Important setting #3: whether or not Extra Balls are on. If they are, you get one by competing the standup targets on the left, then shooting that recessed gate target on the right.
Important setting #4: whether the in-line drop targets come back up once completed. The saucer behind them is worth 25k base, 50k when lit for special, so if the drops stay down, that’s a valuable and easy shot. Key feeds: the rebounds off of each of the four inline drops [some can go SDTM]
Trivia #1: the name Harlem comes from the Dutch city of Haarlem. When the Europeans came to America, the Dutch founded the city of New Amsterdam [named after guess where] at the mouth of the Hudson River, and the town of Haarlem, named for a town just west of Amsterdam, where that part of Manhattan now is. Years later, the English Navy forcibly took over the city and renamed the whole place after the Duke of York [who later became King James II]. The Harlem neighborhood kept its name, but the double-“a” was Anglicized down to a single “a”. My original IFPA photo was me holding my Dutch Pinball Masters Classics Champion trophy in front of a windmill in Haarlem a few days after that event. And yes, Harlem Globetrotters was one of the games they used in it.
Trivia #2: The bald basketball player was nicknamed “Curly.”
Trivia #3: Wilt Chamberlain played for the Globetrotters before joining the NBA. Look on Wikipedia for lots of other fun trivia about the team.
via Bob's Guide
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1979 Bally English edition with score cards
German edition with ROM combination tables
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