Twilight Zone

Twilight Zone is a landmark pinball machine that embodies the essence of adventure and supernatural thrills. Conceived by Pat Lawlor and designed by Lawlor, Larry DeMar, and Ted Estes, it was released April 5, 1993 by Midway Manufacturing Company (under the Bally trade name) as part of the "SuperPin" line of widebody games. As a licensed theme built on Rod Serling's iconic TV series, it brought the show's eerie atmosphere to the playfield, with voice-over artist Tim Kitzrow providing Rod Serling's vocal likeness (Serling's own likeness had to be licensed separately from the show's name).

What sets Twilight Zone apart is its combination of features: four flippers, three pop bumpers, two ramps, a miniature playfield that uses magnets for flipper-like action, a working gumball machine that dispenses pinballs, and a working analog clock that tells time in attract mode and times most modes during gameplay. Magnets on the main playfield sit along the looping lane and help guide the ball into the camera and piano targets; they are not player-controlled. The "Powerball" is a distinctive ceramic ball, about 20% lighter than steel and unaffected by the game's magnets, used in some of the machine's five possible multiball modes: Powerball Mania, Fast Lock, the six-ball wizard mode Lost in the Zone, and two variants of Regular Multiball.

Twilight Zone was originally intended to be the first game to use Williams' new DCS sound system, but time constraints pushed that debut to Indiana Jones: The Pinball Adventure later in 1993; as a result, Twilight Zone's music was composed for the older Yamaha YM2151/Harris CVSD audio board, making it the last Williams/Bally game to use that system. With 15,235 confirmed units produced, Twilight Zone remains one of the most celebrated and sought-after machines in pinball history.