Star Trek Pinball

Although it had been off the air since 1969, Star Trek remained a big deal among fans of science-fiction television throughout the 1970’s.

In fact, thanks to reruns, the show’s popularity grew with every passing year, and the show’s devoted fans clamoured for new Star Trek-related products.

Their prayers were answered in 1979 with Star Trek: The Motion Picture at the cinema and with Bally’s Star Trek pinball game at the arcades.

Ironically, the Star Trek game was not released to capitalise on the new movie’s release. In fact, the design of the original game featured Kirk, Spock, Uhura, and McCoy in their original costumes, as well as the original Enterprise (pictured below).

When Paramount Pictures requested that the game be redesigned to reflect the new movie, the art was retouched so the characters wore their up-to-date film uniforms.

The Enterprise was also retouched to resemble the film version of the ship, and Klingon ships were painted into the background.

The game itself boasted an exciting array of bumpers, targets, and drop targets set against a background of space art featuring Klingon ships, space girls, and more than one rendering of the Enterprise.

The Bally machine also sported two lanes offering nifty features for the pinballer: the ‘Hyper Space Lane’ allowed the player to score extra balls, while the ‘Warp Speed Lane’ allowed the player to shoot the ball back to the plunger to launch it again.

Released in the spring of 1979, Star Trek became an instant success in the arcades and continues to be a favourite with pinball collectors and Star Trek fanatics.