King Kong: Myth of Terror Island (Premium)

King Kong: Myth of Terror Island is Stern Pinball's April 2025 release, designed by Keith Elwin on the SPIKE 2 platform. The game tells an original story inspired by the classic King Kong tale: players join Ann Darrow, Jack Driscoll, and Carl Denham on a voyage to mysterious Terror Island, an adventure that ultimately brings the giant ape back to New York City with chaotic results. The art package is a notable collaboration between Stern art director Jeremy Packer (Zombie Yeti), legendary pinball artist Kevin O'Connor, and former Stern art director Greg Freres, with sound design by Jerry Thompson and custom speech by Brian 'Q' Quinn.

The playfield centers on a custom-sculpted animatronic Kong who reacts to player action, swinging his arms and torso via new animatronic animation software. On this Premium model, the Kong figure is fully mechanized and can flip over the nearby subway train car, which itself holds balls for multiball, while the gong is an actual interactive toy struck by the ball rather than a decorative plastic. The Pit area adds a custom-sculpted giant spider that magnetically grabs and attacks the ball.

With four flippers, three ramps, and seven multiball modes, the Premium edition launched at an MSRP of $9,699. It sits between the Pro and the Limited Edition (which was restricted to 932 units) in Stern's standard three-tier lineup.