Also known as BW100
1988 · Bally
Blackwater 100
Known for Starting Gate, Green buttons, Reverse playfield and RAIN. Muddy motocross track with a deep brown rutted berm and a wall of tan dirt spray, dark stormy grey-blue sky with white lightning bolt and dark rock outcrop and distant blue-grey hillside and scattered dark trees.
- Year
- 1988
- Maker
- Bally
- Type
- Solid state
- Display
- Alphanumeric
- Players
- 4
Known for
- gate
Starting Gate
- buttons
Green buttons
- upper playfield
Reverse playfield
- Lane
RAIN
- Shot
Sections
- Mode
Heat
On the playfield
Extra level 1
- Reverse playfield upper playfield
Orbit 1
- Upper loops loops
Shot 1
- Sections
Lane 1
- RAIN
Post or gate 1
- Starting Gate gate
Control 1
- Green buttons buttons
On the backglass
Who and what
- man Central hero rider, blue jersey with yellow sleeves and yellow shoulder stripes, blue-and-yellow trousers, orange-and-black full-face helmet with red s badge on the forehead and dark tinted visor, white motocross boots, both hands on orange handlebars, standing on the pegs of an orange bike doing a wheelie
- man Left rider, orange and white racing suit, orange full-face helmet with dark goggles and blue-tinted visor, on an orange bike leaned steeply into a left-hand berm, front wheel up, throwing a large rooster tail of tan mud
- man Small background rider just left of centre, orange suit and orange helmet, partially obscured by mud spray, on a bike with a yellow number plate
- man Right rider, smaller scale, green full-face helmet, red and green jersey with white lettering on the chest, on a green quad bike with a black tubular front rack
Setting
- Muddy motocross track with a deep brown rutted berm and a wall of tan dirt spray
- Dark stormy grey-blue sky with white lightning bolt and dark rock outcrop
- Distant blue-grey hillside and scattered dark trees
Text on it
- BLACKWATER
- 100
- WORLD'S TOUGHEST RACE!
- Bally
- MIDWAY
- SUZUKI
- 1
- TONY RAMUNNO
How it plays
-
Modes 1
- Heat
-
Goals 2
- Holeshot
- Lap
Made by
- Design & Sound
- Dennis Nordman
- Art
- Tony Ramunni
- Software
- Gary Oglesby
- Sound
- Neil Falconer
- Sound
- Greg Freres
Reference
Linked terms
- Green buttons also called Green race buttons
- RAIN also called Spell RAIN
- Sections also called Course Sections also called eight course Sections
- Lap also called Lap Complete
Playfield vision analysis
Written by a machine from the photos, so details may be off.
Playfield
- black
- orange
- red
- yellow
Fingerprint: Enormous blood-smeared screaming zombie face across lower-left and centre, dark-haired man's face on cabinet side panel filling bottom left corner, five round purple inserts spelling BUDDY down left ramp lane, large teal translucent tunnel plastic ringed with rivetted black frame
A giant circular orange-ringed swamp map in the centre of the playfield, ringed with named courses (BLACKWATER COURSE 100, HILL CLIMB, HWY 93, CLIFF HANGAR, RAPIDS, SWAMP, BOG, DOWNHILL, ROCKY) and lit by round coloured inserts. A huge PUNK arrow sweeping across the lower left apron. A large red block title on the lower right whose visible letters run to the right edge as RIME. Two mirrored orange lane guides with stacked round lamps flanking six grey rider-name panels.
Setting
- Swamp and marshland
- Rocky hillside and dirt track
- Night sky above the course
- Garage and hangar area near the flippers
Symbols
- Playing-card suits
- Dice
- Circular map ring
- Arrows
- Multiplier circles
- Round insert lamps
- Motorcycles
Notable shapes
- Large central orange ring encircling the whole map motif
- Huge pink-outlined arrow across the left apron
- Mirrored orange lane towers
- Clear plastic over the top bumpers
Art motifs
- Comic-style airbrushed racing action
- Screams and shouted course names
- Checkered and arrow speed graphics
- Swamp water and mud spray
Themes
- Motorcycle hill climb
- Swamp racing
- Biker
- Off-road
- Motocross
Text on it
- NEVER
- ENDING
- BIKE
- SUCKIN
- SWAMP
- COLD
- WET
- ROCKY
- RAPIDS
- DOWNHILL
- CLIFF HANGAR
- BLACKWATER
- COURSE
- 100
- BOG
- HILL
- CLIMB
- HWY
- 93
- RAPIES
- 12x
- 20x
- 3x
- BILLY
- SHOOT 3 BALLS BACK TO LOAD START
- LOWER BUTTON DROPS START GATE AND MOVES FLASHING SECTION
- Starts with 3 Balls (Load 3 into shooter lane)
- HIGH SCORE
- TILT
- PUNK
- RIME
- INSPIRATION
| Kind | Description |
|---|---|
| Other | Small plastic motorcycle rider figure at the top centre, blue shirt, arms outstretched, mounted on the upper playfield |
| Man | Bald man in a pale shirt at the right side of the centre circle, leaning over a motorcycle as if working on it |
| Other | Helmeted motorcyclist in orange and black gear straddling a bike at the lower centre, above the flippers |
| Other | Small figure or rider silhouette near the top plastics under the score displays |
A long, dark, airbrushed motorcycle hill-climb race playfield, photographed under glass with heavy green and magenta LED reflections washing across the artwork. The layout is vertical and roughly symmetrical. At the top, four orange seven-segment score displays read 0, 00, 00 and 0, with clear card holders mounted along the top edge and a small printed instruction card strip beneath them. Below sits a small plastic rider figure in a blue shirt and helmet, arms out, surrounded by orange-lit plastics. The upper-middle carries two mirrored orange lane guides, each with a vertical row of round white lamps, flanking a bank of six grey rectangular name panels reading NEVER, ENDING, BIKE on the top row and SUCKIN, SWAMP beneath. The centre is dominated by a large orange-ringed circular map motif on a dark green swamp background, its names arranged round the ring: DOWNHILL, CLIFF HANGAR, ROCKY, BOG, RAPIDS, SWAMP, BLACKWATER COURSE 100, HILL CLIMB, HWY 93, RAPIES, each beside a coloured round insert lamp, with 12x, 20x and 3x in cream circles at the bottom. The left apron carries a big pink-outlined arrow with PUNK lettering; the lower right carries a large red 3-D title running to the right edge, ending in RIME. Orange, red, black and yellow dominate, with lime-green swamp water.
Backglass vision analysis
Written by a machine from the photos, so details may be off.
Backglass
- orange
- black
- tan
- blue
Fingerprint: Motocross rider in blue-yellow suit performing high wheelie with orange knobbly front tire filling right-center, tan mud spraying outward, enormous black-orange brush-lettered "BLACKWATER" spanning top with white outline and red-orange "100" gradient below, four glowing amber score windows at bottom, small coiled snake in mud
The single most memorable feature is a motocross rider in a blue-and-yellow suit doing a high wheelie straight at the viewer, his orange knobbly front tyre and spinning tread filling the right-centre of the glass while tan mud sprays outward. Second is the enormous jagged BLACKWATER brush-script title, so wide it runs off both edges of the glass. Third, four amber seven-segment score windows glowing in a row along the very bottom, showing 00 / 00 / 0 / 00. Fourth, a small coiled snake painted into the mud in the bottom-left corner. Also note the Bally script logo with MIDWAY beneath it at upper right, next to the 100.
Setting
- Muddy motocross track with a deep brown rutted berm and a wall of tan dirt spray
- Dark stormy grey-blue sky with white lightning bolt and dark rock outcrop
- Distant blue-grey hillside and scattered dark trees
Symbols
- Lightning bolt
- Coiled snake in the bottom-left mud
- Motorcycle knobbly tyres
- Mud splash and rooster tails
- Cherry-red s emblem on the central helmet
- Number plate 1
Lettering
- Black jagged spray-paint brush lettering with white outline and drop shadow for the title, red-orange gradient heavy italic block numerals with black and white shadow for 100, plain orange sans-serif capitals for the slogan, orange cursive script for the maker logo, and a small gold cursive artist signature lower right
Themes
- Motocross
- Off-road racing
- Dirt bike
- Mud
- Extreme sport
Title on it
- Blackwater 100
Text on it
- BLACKWATER
- 100
- WORLD'S TOUGHEST RACE!
- Bally
- MIDWAY
- SUZUKI
- 1
- TONY RAMUNNO
| Kind | Description |
|---|---|
| Man | Central hero rider, blue jersey with yellow sleeves and yellow shoulder stripes, blue-and-yellow trousers, orange-and-black full-face helmet with red s badge on the forehead and dark tinted visor, white motocross boots, both hands on orange handlebars, standing on the pegs of an orange bike doing a wheelie |
| Man | Left rider, orange and white racing suit, orange full-face helmet with dark goggles and blue-tinted visor, on an orange bike leaned steeply into a left-hand berm, front wheel up, throwing a large rooster tail of tan mud |
| Man | Small background rider just left of centre, orange suit and orange helmet, partially obscured by mud spray, on a bike with a yellow number plate |
| Man | Right rider, smaller scale, green full-face helmet, red and green jersey with white lettering on the chest, on a green quad bike with a black tubular front rack |
Illuminated backglass dominated by a huge spray-painted black-and-orange brush-lettered word BLACKWATER across the entire top, outlined in white and shaded, with a red-orange gradient numeral 100 in heavy block italics below its right half, shadowed in black and white. Under the title at upper left, orange sans-serif caps read WORLD'S TOUGHEST RACE! in two lines. Four motocross riders charge out of a muddy brown-and-tan splash zone. The central hero is a rider in a blue and yellow jersey and trousers, orange-and-black full-face helmet with a red S emblem on the forehead, dark visor, gripping orange handlebars, front wheel lifted high in a wheelie, kicking up tan mud spray. Behind him left, a rider in an orange and white suit on an orange bike leans into a berm, throwing a rooster tail of dirt. Right, a smaller rider in a green helmet and red-and-green jersey rides a green quad bike with a black front rack. Bottom left shows a coiled snake. Four glowing amber seven-segment score windows sit along the bottom edge, reading 00, 00, 0, 00. Comic-book realism with heavy black ink outlines and airbrushed shading.