The Six Million Dollar Man is an arcade pinball game released in 1978 by Bally. It was designed by Greg Kmiec and illustrated by Dave Christensen.
As the name indicates, this table is based on the popular seventies television show starring Lee Majors. It is a quintessential example of early solid-state pinball — shoot the top saucer to advance the bonus multiplier and light the outlanes for a Special, and complete the five-bank drop targets to increase the awards. Complete the Bionic Power Awards for a 50,000 point bonus and to open the ball-save gate, then make yourself invincible by hitting the center stand-up target to raise the up-post between the flippers, blocking (almost) every exit on the field.
The Six Million Dollar Man is notable for being the first solid-state pin to support up to six players, and the only six-player game from Bally. Aside from that, it's a respectable game from pinball's golden age, with solid albeit unremarkable gameplay and a good balance of things to shoot for. Over 10,000 units were made, and it is still in fairly high demand by collectors looking for some nostalgic fun.
The Six Million Dollar Man pinball demonstrates the following tropes:
- Dolled-Up Installment: Aside from the backglass art and a single playfield plastic with Lee Majors' likeness, there is nothing tying this game to the television series.
- Iconic Outfit
- Licensed Pinball Table
- Patriotic Fervor: The game's primary colors are red and blue, with an assortment of white stars and various jet fighters.
- Spelling Bonus: Spell 5-0-0-0-0 to enable the Bionic Power Score bonus and to open the right outlane gate.
- Trade Snark: Enforced; in this game, you can't spell "bionic" without the "TM"
