Mata Hari

Mata Hari, designed by Jim Patla with art by Dave Christensen, was manufactured by Bally in May 1977 in a limited run of 170 confirmed units. This four-player electro-mechanical machine takes its name and historical theme from Margaretha Zelle, the Dutch-born exotic dancer executed as a spy during World War I under the stage name Mata Hari. A solid-state version of the game followed in 1978.

Gameplay on Mata Hari includes two flippers, four pop bumpers, two slingshots, two sets of four-bank drop targets, and a kick-out hole, with an end-of-ball bonus and a maximum displayed score of 999,990 points per player.

The backglass features a dagger, and one known variant carries the German inscription "Meine Ehre heißt Treue" ("My honor is loyalty") -- a motto associated with the Waffen-SS and adapted from a 1931 statement by Hitler, making it an odd historical anachronism given that Mata Hari died in 1917, years before the phrase existed. With its low production numbers and unusual thematic history, Mata Hari remains a notable curiosity among 1970s Bally EM machines.