Eight Ball (Bally 1977)

Wow, typical “where do I begin?” post…  This is gonna be long and to be fair in the review of this recreation, it also needs to touch on Bally’s real pin as well.  Trust me, it will make sense at the end.

My love affair with pinball started with a Gottlieb Royal Flush in a seedy bar in Aylmer Quebec in the late 70’s, where I played that pin just about every day.  But while Royal Flush fed the flame which led to outright addiction; the initial spark started back a few years prior in 1977, in a diner in the French Canadian town of Gatineau, in its gloomy looking gameroom located the back.  My older brother used to hang around there regularly, I think the place was called “La Cantinière” and that spark I spoke of?  Bally’s Eight Ball.

Pinball tables need something to attract you, to lure you in and when you look at Eight Ball, you see the coolest guy ever seen on TV: the Fonz front and centre!  So sure, gotta check it out and I did: I put my quarter in and next thing you know, I now had a lost quarter since my 3 balls lasted about 45 seconds.  After a rather annoyed “WTF?”, I put in another quarter.  I did a bit better, maybe I lasted a full minute.

Short playtime was pretty standard for pins of the era but this one took it to another level.  It had typical shots: orbit to the top in-lanes with a decent scoring spinner, progressive rollover leading to X bonus, extra ball and special, pop bumpers, two flippers, etc.  But… it had only one flipper in-lane on the right side with the left side enjoying a cavernous ball sucking “break shot lane”/outlane with a kicker available to save you, when enabled.

I could go on-and-on but now is as good a time to discuss Uncle Paulies work and the best way to do that is to discuss my first game:  1st ball, down the pop bumpers, hits a post, straight down the middle it goes.  Okkkkk   2nd ball, I get it down to the left flipper, so need to enable that kicker… crap, hit the left post at the entry to the bank shot lane, down the Break shot lane again.  Frack!  On the 3rd ball, I got the kicker lit up! Yay!  Ball goes in there, pops out, I feel good, I miss the left orbit, ball eventually finds itself on the right sling and BINGO, welcome to the “Break shot lane” again.  MOTHER F…..

Now, before anyone dares read this and say to themselves “that’s a badly designed game”, whoa there!  This is CLASSIC PINBALL, similar to most 70’s Gottliebs and Ballys:  You must be accurate with your shots and I was not.  All 3 balls were lost because I didn’t hit what I was aiming at… just like the real pin.

So I stuck with it, ended up playing for 90 min (well, what’s 3:00am?  Who needs sleep?).  My last game, I ended with around 225K with an extra ball, a special and a new high score.  I felt like a world class champ after that last game and rightly called it a night, ending in a happy place.  But between that first game and the last one, there was a constant  “one more game” feeling, with a relationship developing between me and this recreation that had me talking to it out loud several times “oh no you don’t”, “you ain’t gonna beat me”, etc (with several adult type words mixed in a hundred times or so).

So bottom line: Uncle Paulie and all contributors/testers got it right.  It looks like the real thing, it sounds like the real thing, every object is placed where it should be, physics are tuned to perfection and therefore it PLAYS like the real thing. 

If you are having problems with quick ball times, KEEP PLAYING this gem!  Learn the ball paths, stop bricking your shots. They are all achievable, but you need to develop your skills.  Hitting that spinner is gloriously satisfying when you see your score go up. Getting those ball targets (and that #$%$ 1 at the top left) is hard but rewarding.  Hitting the rollover is exciting PRECISELY because if you miss it, you will likely lose the ball. Hitting it 7 times in the same ball?  Chef’s kiss.

Thanks devs for making this old classic a reality.  Maybe it’s not my favorite of the era (Atari Superman and Williams Firepower are for the early SS era) but it was what kicked off this love-hate-love relationship with Pinball and this interpretation really blurs the line of real vs sim and should be enjoyed by all.   Highly recommended, though I also highly recommend seeking help if you end up in the fetal position at the end of the night while crying “have sex and travel Break Shot Lane”

I just wanted to take the time to give a genuine thank you for your work, including this table. At the end of the day, the hours of entertainment you have provided my friends, family and I can't be understated. While I love the new Stern tables, I can always go somewhere close and play the real thing. I can't say the same for some of these older tables, that I will never get the chance to play in the wild. I am also a fan of older pinball anyway, that paved the way for the new stuff. I have been in this hobby for nearly 15 years now and I am amazed at just how far the hobby has come thanks to updated apps and technology. Seeing this virtual table in action truly is spectacular. Anyway, thank you again. Your skill in bringing these tables to life is so great, and I hope you realize how much it's appreciated. 

As Herr Loafmeister stated, this IS a punishing table, but as he also said, so was the real item!

UnclePaulie consistently builds recreations of beauty, accuracy and playability.

So, thank you UnclePaulie for your time and skill in creating yet another awesome piece of your work.

Now, if only I could somehow tempt you to do a U P version of Williams "Road Kings"...

cheers and thanks again from Down Under!

This table was chosen by me as my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE TABLE. It's a real love-hate relationship. Everywhere I could play this table, I put my money in...and lost again and again! The left outlane cost me so much nerve, but you get older and calmer, and it's great that everyone involved created such a fantastic VPX version that's so damn close to the original...Thank you so much for that.

By the way, I'm still struggling with the left outlane.

Love to see you doing an ever deeper dive into one of my increasingly favorite eras of machines, UnclePaulie! You always have a great feel for the games from this period. This one looks and plays GREAT. Thank you! 🍻

One tough table, but a great recreation yet again by Uncle Paulie. When you do start to get something right, though, it is very rewarding. It gives you a real sense of why a table like this would be a lucrative investment for any establishment, and Uncle Paulie managed to capture that sentiment perfectly 😉

Plays great! Feels like I'm playing a VPW table so good job. Challenging table though damn.

This is killer. Plays as good as it looks. Thanks Uncle Paulie, Redbone and Hauntfreaks. 

Another great @UnclePaulie release, great gfx and physics.  Thanks all.

Superb, thank you very much Uncle Paulie .

I just love it when these older tables gets some love and care. I played the last vpx version of  Eight Ball  and quite frankly there was a lot to be desired. But now UnclePaulie has put his magic hands on it, and boy does it get my stamp of approval. This looks and plays extremely well. Physics feels like a real pinball machine from the 70´s, and hitting that spinner is  a real winner. The sounds, the haptics, and the feel of this table is just amazing. Thank you so much for rebuilding this classic table!!

Absolute fantastic!!! Plays and looks amazing! Thank you

Thank you  UP and all who helped. My favorite era of pinball is solid state. I look forward to seeing what you will post next. 

Looks and plays great! THANKS for sharing! 👏

This thing is gorgeous and plays like a champ. Thank you for making this a reality!

Ayyyy! Another great selection and recreation by UnclePaulie. Plays beautifully with top notch lighting, and Redbone's playfield work comes up trumps again. This was the era of table that I initially bounced off as a newbie to VP but have since grown to adore. Best enjoyed versus another player, the frustration (and realism) of house balls is contrasted with the immense joy from hitting that spinner on the fly. With no post passes available, flipper control can be difficult but once you dial in the spinner and candy cane shots, the scores will start racking up.

Thanks as always to Hauntfreaks for the first class accompanying backglass. I'm not sure Bally would have paid Henry Winkler his dues for that likeness but the Fonz lookalike is cool when you're not being distracted by the obligatory cleavage art that seems to be par for the course on old-school backglasses. Happy Days indeed! 

Awesome update to this table! It looks Amazing! Thank you very much! 😎

You do such an amazing job on these retro tables. Great work and THANK YOU!!!! ❤️

OMG🤩 Amazing job with my favorite EM-table😍 It was really nice suprise to see upgrade to my home table of Pinup Popper👏 It really looks & plays like real one plus it´s massive & very welcome upgrade to other version of  this table👍 Thanks for time & effort to this old classic😁🤝

Very Nice, incredible table !
Thank you Uncle paulie

This is a major upgrade from the old version.  The graphics are crisp and the lighting really puts you in the game.  I really enjoy these classic tables and the updated b2s really shines on my cab!  Thanks for your effort on this table.  It really shows!   

amazing work again, best version of this classic. Looks and play great, thanks for all your effort. 👍

I remember this Pinball Table from my youth, it was everywhere you went back then. How amazing to be able to play it at home these days, especially when it looks and plays like this. Thanks to everyone who contributed to it and all your hard work and attention to detail

never a huge fan of the old versions of this table.... but just one look and you see the lighting alone.... it draws you in and says "play me, you know you want to"
anyway beautiful work guys

Great work.