Rocket III

The Rocket III, designed by Ted Zale with art by Christian Marche, was manufactured by Bally in April 1967. It taps into the outer space theme popular during the late-1960s space race era. A total of 2,603 units were produced.

Key gameplay features include two zipper flippers, four pop bumpers, ten mushroom bumpers, and a spinning bumper, alongside slingshots, a left-outlane ball kicker, and a right-outlane ball return gate. Early production games differ from later units, lacking the 'Special' light on the letter 'E' of 'Rocket' on the playfield and the corresponding outlane kickback, and featuring different bottom arch graphics and a sliding playfield glass rather than the later lift-up frame.

The game was built for replay operation but could be converted to add-a-ball via a relay accessory plugged into a jack on the motor board. Notably, several early-production Italian units were found with no replay unit installed at all - an add-a-ball variant was later released specifically as 'Rocket III (Italy).' The Rocket III offers an interesting look at Bally's late-1960s EM design during the space-race era.