Hardbody

Hardbody, designed by Ward Pemberton and released by Bally Midway in April 1987, brought an unusual theme to the arcade: exercise and bodybuilding, a departure from the sci-fi and fantasy themes prevalent at the time. The game leaned into its fitness-craze subject matter with a genuine celebrity tie-in - it was endorsed by female bodybuilder Rachel McLish, the first Ms. Olympia.

Gameplay-wise, Hardbody features four flippers, two slingshots, 16 standup targets, six star rollovers, and a plethora of other challenging elements. The machine boasts an impressive array of playfield components, including flex-save lanes, a 3-bank of drop targets, three in-line drop targets, and two mechanically raised and lowered ramps. Notably, this pinball has no pop bumpers at all. Its playfield layout is almost identical to Bally's 1983 'BMX', minus that game's upper-playfield magnet.

With artwork by Greg Freres, a Bally 6803 MPU, and the 6809-based "Turbo Cheap Squeak" sound board, Hardbody is a characteristic product of Bally Midway's late-1980s output. A confirmed 2,000 units were produced, making it a modest run that adds to its interest for collectors of solid-state games from this era.