Dracula

Meet Dracula, a hauntingly themed pinball machine released by Stern Electronics in January 1979. Designed by pinball pioneer Harry Williams, this four-player solid-state game (model 109, running on Stern's M-100 MPU) takes on a supernatural vampire theme, with 3,350 full games produced along with 262 knock-down games assembled in Australia under license as LAI's 1979 'Dracula'.

The playfield offers plenty for players to shoot at: three flippers, three pop bumpers, a passive bumper, two slingshots, five standup targets, five star rollovers, a 4-bank and a 3-bank of drop targets, a kick-out hole, a spinning target, and a horseshoe lane. The variety of targets and the extra third flipper give the game a busy, shot-rich layout typical of Stern's late-1970s output.

An interesting technical footnote: according to Stern's Service Bulletin #7A, Dracula uses the same ROMs as Stern's 1978 'Wild Fyre'. Dracula remains a solid example of Stern's early solid-state era, pairing a classic horror theme with the work of one of pinball's most storied designers.