Combat

Combat is a solid-state prototype built by the Italian manufacturer Zaccaria of Bologna, better known for its long run of electromechanical games. Only a single unit of this solid-state version is known to exist. Built around a Signetics microprocessor, it was shown publicly at the 1977 ENADA show in Rome (October 12-14, 1977) and later at the AMOA Expo in Chicago (October 28-30, 1977), as reported at the time in Play Meter and Automat magazines.

For the prototype, Zaccaria modified a backglass from their earlier electromechanical version of Combat, blacking out the small EM replay window and the four long EM score displays to make room for a smaller digital display, similar to the approach used on Bally's 1974 Bow and Arrow prototypes. This experimental hardware would go on to inform the display used on Zaccaria's first production solid-state game, Winter Sports, in 1978.

Combat's four-player playfield features dual flippers, three pop bumpers, two slingshots, seven rollover buttons, two standup targets, a 5-bank drop target, a spinning target, and a kick-out hole, with an upper-right kickback lane and open-elbow inlanes that let the ball pass between inlane and outlane. Artwork was by Lorenzo Rimondini. As a one-of-a-kind prototype rather than a production release, Combat is a notable artifact documenting Zaccaria's transition from electromechanical to solid-state pinball.