Stellar Wars

Stellar Wars, designed by Steve Ritchie and manufactured by Williams Electronics, was released in March 1979 as a wide-body Solid State Electronic (SS) machine running on the Williams System 4 platform. By 1979, solid-state technology was already well-established at Williams, and Stellar Wars represents a mature, feature-rich example of the format rather than an early pioneer of it. Over 5,500 units were produced.

The gameplay of Stellar Wars is built around two flippers and five pop bumpers, which create a fast and unpredictable experience. Its feature set includes two 3-bank drop targets, a 4-bank drop target, standup targets, spinning targets, a kick-out hole, dual inlanes, and a 'messenger ball' that adds a layer of strategy as players manage its movement to maximize scoring potential.

Visually, Stellar Wars' outer-space, science-fiction theme was brought to life by artists Constantino and Jeanine Mitchell, who hand-produced the playfield and plastics artwork using ink and Rubylith marker on Mylar film, with sound and software both credited to Paul Dussault. Though it appears to be the last game in Williams' System 4 line, at least one known example was built with a System 6 MPU instead, making Stellar Wars an interesting transitional piece in Williams' electronics history.