Also known as HMM
1987 · Bally
Heavy Metal Meltdown
Known for Power Booster, Power Amp, Right saucer and Jam top lanes. Black field with radiating yellow lightning starburst, purple and grey jagged rock or smoke shapes, dark silhouette of conifer trees low left behind the figures and brown striped stone-textured wedges in the lower corners.
- Year
- 1987
- Maker
- Bally
- Type
- Solid state
- Display
- Alphanumeric
- Players
- 4
Known for
- Ramp
Power Booster
- Lock
Power Amp
- saucer
Right saucer
- Lane
Jam top lanes
- Multiball
Meltdown Multiball
- Goal
Playfield Multiplier
On the playfield
Ramp 1
- Power Booster
Orbit 1
- Mini-loops loop
Holes 2
- Right saucer saucer
- Left saucer saucer
Lock 1
- Power Amp
Bumper 1
- Jam bumpers
Targets 4
- Heavy target
- Metal target
- Center standup target
- Shatz targets
Lanes 2
- Jam top lanes
- Lone top lane
Other 1
- Lane change feature
On the backglass
Who and what
- man Central foreground musician: adult male, tanned skin, enormous curly dark-brown or black mane, wide open-mouthed grin, bare muscular arms, black studded wristbands, white sleeveless tank top with red script rush, blue jeans, red-and-white high-top shoes. holds a red, white and blue v-shaped electric guitar with a rainbow-gradient neck, picking with his right hand while his left hand grips the neck high.
- man Left figure: slim adult male with long dark curly hair, wearing dark sunglasses, sleeveless blue top and blue jeans, in a dynamic leap with legs thrown apart and feet pointed. holds a dark blue angular electric guitar with a yellow lightning-bolt shape behind him.
- man Right figure: adult male with long wavy auburn hair, bare chest, brown fringed trousers with hanging tassels, bent forward in a crouch with mouth open as if singing. plays a brown acoustic guitar with a dark pickguard.
Setting
- Black field with radiating yellow lightning starburst
- Purple and grey jagged rock or smoke shapes
- Dark silhouette of conifer trees low left behind the figures
- Brown striped stone-textured wedges in the lower corners
Text on it
- HEAVY
- METAL
- Bally
- MIDWAY
- MELTDOWN
- TM
- RUSH
- 4468303
- Tony Truman
- MCMLXXX BALLY MIDWAY MFG. CO. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
- 4
- PL
- FREE
How it plays
-
Multiballs 1
- Meltdown Multiball
-
Goals 5
- Playfield Multiplier
- Level targets
- Heavy
- Metal
- Collect Bonus
Made by
- Design
- Dan Langlois
- Art
- Tony Ramunni
- Software
- Rehman Merchant
- Sound
- Neil Falconer
Reference
Linked terms
- Power Booster also called Main ramp also called Left ramp also called Power Amp ramp
- Power Amp also called Power Amp locks
- Right saucer also called Meltdown start saucer
- Jam top lanes also called Jam
- Lone top lane also called 50,000 top lane
- Heavy target also called Left standup target
- Metal target also called Right standup target
- Mini-loops also called Left mini-loop also called Right mini-loop
- Meltdown Multiball also called Meltdown
- Level targets also called Level
Playfield vision analysis
Written by a machine from the photos, so details may be off.
Playfield
- orange
- blue
- yellow
- black
Fingerprint: Meltdown solid-state, bare-chested headbanded hero at center mouth open in shout, diagonal cluster red-white score reel number tiles, two mirrored v-shaped colored lanes spelling n-m-e and s-t-a, top arch with jester figure and pow starbursts under clear plastic guards
The bare-chested, headbanded long-haired hero rendered in bold comic airbrush at dead centre, mouth open in a shout, arm cocked as if firing a slingshot. A diagonal cluster of red-and-white score reel-style number tiles climbing the right of centre, reading SPECIAL STAKES BONUS. Two mirrored V-shaped coloured lanes, one teal-blue with the letters N-M-E and one orange with S-T-A, forming a chevron pointing down at the hero. The top arch packed with a jester-like figure and POw starbursts under clear plastic ramp guards, all slicked with mirror reflections from the lacquer.
Setting
- Radiating yellow-and-black sunburst rays
- Starburst and lightning-bolt motifs over black
- Upper playfield arch with cloud and star art
- Blue and orange diagonal lane panels
Symbols
- Yellow lightning bolts
- Yellow starburst explosions
- Playing-card suits
- Circles marked pow
- Multiplier discs 2x to 6x
- Jousting knight on a horse on the right
- Black tribal swirls
- Chain and dice
- Stars
Notable shapes
- Two mirrored v-shaped coloured lane chevrons
- Diagonal lightning-bolt lettering on the apron
- Starburst-shaped lane guides
- A large multi-pointed star relief shape on the lower left apron
Art motifs
- Radiating sunburst background
- Halftone comic shading
- Chevron lane chevrons
- Jousting knight
- Outlined comic figures
Themes
- Melee
- Martial-arts
- Gambling stakes
- Comic-book
- Surreal 1970s airbrush
Title on it
- Meltdown
Text on it
- MELTDOWN
- SPECIAL STAKES BONUS
- LIGHTS LOCK FOR BONUS
- BEAT THE JAM FOR BONUS
- BEAT THE CLOCK FOR BONUS
- POWER BOOST
- JAM
- POW
- 25K
- 2X
- 3X
- 4X
- 5X
- 6X
- MULTI-BALL
- GUTTER SNOW
- GUTTER BOMB HELD
- ROCK
- ROLL
- Bally
- MIDWAY
- TILT - PENALTY
- TO CRANK IT UP
- SHOOT AGAIN
- MORE BALL
- 1 TO 4 CAN PLAY
- FOR AMUSEMENT ONLY
- INSTRUCTIONS
- LOAD BALLS INTO POWER AMP TO ADVANCE LEVEL
- HIT FLASHING LEVEL TARGET TO LIGHT 1000 FLAMP
- LOAD 3 BALLS FOR MELTDOWN TO RELEASE ALL BALLS
- POWER AMP SHOT ADVANCES PLAYFIELD VALUE MULTIPLIER
- SPELL H-E-A-W OR M-E-T-A-L TO LIGHT EXTRA BALL TIMER
- LOAD 4 BALLS TO LIGHT SPECIAL
- SPELL JAM TO ADVANCE BONUS MULTIPLIER
| Kind | Description |
|---|---|
| Man | Centre: muscular bare-chested male with long brown hair and yellow headband, thick black comic outline, open shouting mouth, left arm cocked back holding a slingshot band, wearing a wide studded wrist cuff |
| Man | Upper left of centre: a second muscular male figure in red and white, arm raised, drawn smaller, partly under the clear ramp |
| Other | Top arch: a jester or clown-like figure in orange and yellow with a starburst behind, surrounded by pow starbursts |
A tall, glossy, mirror-lacquered playfield shot from above in a dim room, its surface crowded with comic-book art in hot orange, teal-blue, yellow and black. The centre is dominated by a muscular, bare-armed long-haired man with a headband, drawn in a thick black-outlined 1970s airbrushed comic style, gripping a slingshot-like launcher. Above him a red script logo reads MELTDOWN on a cream plaque, flanked by a blue V-shaped lane on the left and an orange V-shaped lane on the right, each carrying round white letter discs (N, M, E on the blue; S, T, A on the orange) and small bumper caps. A red-and-white vertical file marked SPECIAL STAKES BONUS runs up the right of centre. Circular starburst targets read POW, 25K, 2X, 3X, 4X, 5X, 6X and MULTI-BALL, with yellow arrow signs reading LIGHTS LOCK FOR BONUS and BEAT THE JAM FOR BONUS. Lower left carries a cream INSTRUCTIONS card, a Bally MIDWAY script logo, and big yellow lightning-bolt lettering spelling ROCK and ROLL. Pop bumpers have translucent caps lit red and blue.
Backglass vision analysis
Written by a machine from the photos, so details may be off.
Backglass
- yellow
- black
- orange
- blue
Fingerprint: 'HEAVY METAL MELTDOWN' with 'RUSH' on front man's tank, three long-haired rock guitarists bursting from yellow-orange lightning starburst, central figure in white vest holding red-white-blue V-shaped guitar, two other musicians with dark and acoustic guitars, airbrushed comic-fantasy style.
Three 1980s-style long-haired rock guitarists bursting outward from a bright yellow lightning starburst, with the front man in a white tank top printed RUSH holding a red-white-and-blue V-shaped guitar. The title is split so HEAVY sits top-left and METAL top-right, arched around the centre figure's head, with MELTDOWN arcing below. A small red serial number 4468303 is stencilled in the sky below the HEAVY lettering. A yellow cursive manufacturer logo sits between the two upper title words. The bottom black band holds four separate rectangular amber-glowing score windows rather than a single display.
Setting
- Black field with radiating yellow lightning starburst
- Purple and grey jagged rock or smoke shapes
- Dark silhouette of conifer trees low left behind the figures
- Brown striped stone-textured wedges in the lower corners
Symbols
- Electric guitar
- Acoustic guitar
- Yellow lightning bolts
- Jagged explosive starburst rays
- Silhouette of pine trees
- Black starfield speckles
- Striped stone-textured corner wedges
Lettering
- Curved heavy sans-serif block capitals with cream-to-orange vertical gradient, thick black keyline and orange outer outline for the upper title; very large italicised orange-to-yellow gradient capitals with white highlights and black outline for the lower title; yellow cursive script with a small sans-serif maker line beneath; small white script signature at right.
Themes
- Rock music
- Heavy metal
- Concert
- Guitars
- Lightning
- Airbrushed fantasy
- Shockwave blast
Title on it
- Heavy metal meltdown
Text on it
- HEAVY
- METAL
- Bally
- MIDWAY
- MELTDOWN
- TM
- RUSH
- 4468303
- Tony Truman
- MCMLXXX BALLY MIDWAY MFG. CO. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
- 4
- PL
- FREE
| Kind | Description |
|---|---|
| Man | Central foreground musician: adult male, tanned skin, enormous curly dark-brown or black mane, wide open-mouthed grin, bare muscular arms, black studded wristbands, white sleeveless tank top with red script rush, blue jeans, red-and-white high-top shoes. holds a red, white and blue v-shaped electric guitar with a rainbow-gradient neck, picking with his right hand while his left hand grips the neck high. |
| Man | Left figure: slim adult male with long dark curly hair, wearing dark sunglasses, sleeveless blue top and blue jeans, in a dynamic leap with legs thrown apart and feet pointed. holds a dark blue angular electric guitar with a yellow lightning-bolt shape behind him. |
| Man | Right figure: adult male with long wavy auburn hair, bare chest, brown fringed trousers with hanging tassels, bent forward in a crouch with mouth open as if singing. plays a brown acoustic guitar with a dark pickguard. |
A backlit backglass dominated by a large jagged yellow-and-orange starburst of lightning bolts radiating from the centre against black, purple and grey rock-like shapes. Three long-haired male rock musicians are painted in a comic-book airbrushed style. The central figure is a grinning, tanned, bare-armed man with a huge dark curly mane, wearing a white sleeveless tank top with the red script word RUSH across the chest, black studded wristbands, blue jeans, and a red-white-blue V-shaped electric guitar held low; his head and body are the largest element. At left a slim guitarist in blue clothing and sunglasses leaps with legs splayed, playing a dark angular guitar. At right a bare-chested long-haired man in brown fringed trousers crouches playing a brown acoustic guitar, mouth open as if singing. Curved block lettering HEAVY sits upper left and METAL upper right, each in cream-to-orange gradient capitals with black and orange outlines, split by a yellow script logo. MELTDOWN arcs across the lower centre in huge orange-to-yellow gradient capitals. Four amber-bordered score windows run along the bottom in a black band.