1977 Bally NIGHT RIDER pinball machine

Here we have a iconic early Bally solid state pinball machine that seems to be everywhere! Night Rider was produced in late 1976 as an electromechanical machine and in early 1977 as Bally's first solid state machine. (Actually, there is a little confusion over whether Night Rider or Freedom were Bally's first production solid state games, but let's just say Night Rider was the first).

Anyway, Night Rider is a fun game with a symmetrical playfield. The two spinners and two drop target banks are both fun to shoot and the game offers lots to aim for and a fairly quick pace.

The rules are simple: hit the drops to light the special. Smoke the spinners when lit for decent points. Hitting the saucer at the top when lit for 5k is the most valuable shot in the game.

The artwork is perhaps what makes this game so iconic. Many people seem to associate the art package on this game as the epitome of late-70's pinball. Artist Paul Faris had his hands all over pinball starting in 1976 and many of the era's most popular machines donned his designs, including Evel Knievel, Eight Ball, Lost World, Playboy, Paragon and more.

Night Rider was designed by Greg Kmiec.

For more information about this game, see here:
https://www.ipdb.org/machine.cgi?id=4497

By the way, I haven't been recording the scores on my gameplay videos because editing a multi-camera video takes more time than I care to spend. Sorry. I'll try to get back to it soon.