City Slicker

City Slicker, designed by Greg Kmiec and released by Bally Midway in March 1987, is one of the rarest solid state games of its era, with a confirmed production run of just 300 units. The game carries a Cops and Robbers theme -- specifically a nostalgic Roaring 20's bank robbery -- with art by Pat McMahon, sound by Michael Bartlow, and software by Rehman Merchant.

The playfield is unusual, with five flippers, four pop bumpers, two slingshots, nine standup targets, and two kick-out holes. A clear plastic elevated platform holds two smaller captive balls (15/16 inch, versus the 1-1/16 inch ball in play) that can be flipped towards targets, and a kick-out hole in the center playfield ejects the ball to a nearby flipper that automatically flips it back towards the player.

The game's backstory is fascinating: Kmiec originally designed City Slicker as a truly interactive two-player shoot-out, with the first two sample games including a cable-attached trigger 'gun' that let an opposing player control the upper and middle flippers against the person at the machine. Bally management removed this feature for the production run, replacing the top flipper with a pop bumper and putting the middle flipper under circuit control -- a change Kmiec considered a big mistake. Its tiny production run and unusual design make City Slicker a prized find for collectors.