Bally’s KISS Pinball captures the electrifying energy of the self-proclaimed “Greatest Band in the World” with its 1979 release, featuring the iconic rock group in their 1977 “Love Gun” era costumes. Despite the band’s evolving look by the time the game launched, the artwork pays homage to their classic solo album covers from 1978.
The game is equipped with two flippers, four pop-bumpers that alternate between 100 and 1,000 points, two sling shots, a four-target drop target bank, eight stand-up targets, and a 4×4 grid of lights. Players aim to complete rows in the grid to achieve the Super Bonus and Colossal Bonus with multiple completions.
The AS-2518-50 sound board enhances the gameplay with rock classics, playing “Rock and Roll All Nite” at game start and “Shout It Out Loud” at game end. This setup, reminiscent of earlier Bally machines, features a sound board similar to others in the lineup, with sounds for point increments handled by the MPU.
A different version of the backglass and playfield was released for the German market, featuring rounded S’s instead of the lightning bolt S’s in the KISS names.
With a production run of 17,000 units, Bally’s KISS pinball was the second-highest production volume among the first-generation Bally electronic sound machines, trailing Playboy and slightly surpassing Star Trek. Notably, 11 wooden cabinet prototypes were produced, with three remaining today. These prototypes featured a larger MPU board and unique sound chip, offering different sound effects from the production models. Additionally, a one-off fiberglass cabinet machine was built to compete with Williams’ Gorgar at the 1979 AMOA show, featuring a special speech board that delivered custom KISS-related audio cues.
