Rapid Fire

Rapid Fire is a 1982 solid-state pinball machine from Bally Manufacturing Corporation, notable for abandoning traditional flippers entirely in favor of a cannonball-firing mechanic. Designed by Jim Patla and Dennis Nordman, with artwork by Kevin O'Connor, the game tasks players with aiming and firing a cannon at targets in a space alien combat setting - Bally's answer to Williams' 1981 Hyperball. Bally manufactured 5,000 confirmed units of Rapid Fire.

Nordman has said he designed the cabinet, created the game's 'force-field' concept, and built the molds for the tanks, while O'Connor produced the complete art package. The game was rushed to market in just six weeks rather than the usual year of development, and according to Patla the gun assembly - firing an estimated 14 balls per second - suffered reliability problems in the field as a result.

Rapid Fire's leftover cabinets were later repurposed for several other Bally titles, including Mr. & Mrs. Pac-Man Pinball, Eight Ball Deluxe Limited Edition, and Centaur II. Its flipperless, arcade-style shooting gameplay makes it a distinctive entry in Bally's catalog and a notable example of the brief early-1980s trend toward alternative, non-flipper pinball formats.