Black Hole (pinball)


Black Hole is a pinball game released in 1981 by Gottlieb. It is notable for having two playfields: one on top with a conventional slope, and one mounted underneath, sloping away from the player. It has no connection with the 1979 film of the same name.

Description

Black Hole was the first machine to feature a lower playfield viewed through a window in the upper playfield. It was touted as the highest-grossing pinball game of all time shortly after its release, partly due to the fact that it was the first pinball game which cost 50¢ to play. Black Hole's robotic speech is generated by a Votrax SC-01.

Features

In Japan, Game Machine listed Black Hole on their June 1, 1983 issue as being the eighth most-successful flipper unit of the year.

Appearances in pop culture

Black Hole can be seen in the background of the 1983 movie Les Compères
Black Hole can be seen in the background of the 1983 movie Strange Brew
Black Hole can be seen in the background of the 1989 movie Next Of Kin
The phrase "Do You Dare To Enter The Black Hole?" which the machine says during attract mode was etched in the vinyl runout grooves on LP versions of the band Hovercraft's 1997 album, Akathisia.

Digital versions

Black Hole is available as a licensed table of The Pinball Arcade for several platforms. The game is also included in the .