Dragonfist

Stern Electronics' Dragonfist, released in November 1981, is a distinctive example of early-1980s pinball design with a martial arts theme. Designed by Joe Joos Jr. with artwork by Doug Watson, this four-player solid-state game ran on Stern's M-200 MPU. It is also genuinely scarce: manufacturer records confirm only 302 units were produced between November 1981 and February 1982.

One of the standout features of Dragonfist is its unorthodox target design, where two banks of drop targets each allow a ball to hit them from the side. This unusual layout adds an extra layer of strategy to the gameplay. The playfield rounds out with two flippers, two pop bumpers, two slingshots, nine standup targets, a spinning target, and a star rollover.

With its tiny production run and unusual drop-target geometry, Dragonfist has become an intriguing find for collectors of Stern's early solid-state era, a short-lived design whose scarcity only adds to its appeal.