Black Belt

Black Belt, designed by Dan Langlois and released by Bally Midway in June 1986, is a solid-state electronic pinball machine that rode the 1980s wave of martial arts fascination. With artwork by Greg Freres, sound by Michael Bartlow, and software by Howard Shere and Rehman Merchant, the game carries a full-blooded Martial Arts theme. Notably, Black Belt was Bally's first game to include their "Self-Percentaging" feature, and only 600 units were produced.

Key gameplay features include four flippers, two pop bumpers, and a mushroom bumper, all driving the ball through a layout replete with rollunders, kick-out holes, a spinning target, and a ball kicker. The machine's target array is unusual: two 3-bank drop target sets have standup targets hidden behind them, alongside a 3-bank of standup targets. A detour gate on the right outlane can save balls that would otherwise drain, adding a distinctive twist to the layout.

Black Belt has an interesting production footnote: the same game was also produced as Bally Midway's 1986 'Karate Fight', with artist Greg Freres changing the name on the backglass at the request of a European distributor - possibly to avoid confusion with Zaccaria's 1986 'Blackbelt', released a few months earlier. This quirk of history, combined with its low production run, makes Black Belt an intriguing find for collectors of 1980s Bally games.