1984 · Zaccaria
Magic Castle
Known for Blue drop targets, Orange drop targets, Tunnel and React!. Black and purple night sky, red magenta and orange comet ray streaks, grinning yellow crescent moon with a human face, flock of green bats, flames and orange cloud at the right, gravestones and green grass at lower left, leafless thorn trees in red side borders and orange stone castle with four turrets.
- Year
- 1984
- Maker
- Zaccaria
- Type
- Solid state
- Display
- Alphanumeric
- Players
- 4
Known for
- Target
Blue drop targets
- Target
Orange drop targets
- Lane
Tunnel
- extra flipper
React!
On the playfield
Targets 5
- Blue drop targets
- Orange drop targets
- Center drop target
- Advance Orange standup
- ABC targets
Lane 1
- Tunnel
Flippers 2
- Upper right flipper
- React! extra flipper
On the backglass
Who and what
- skeleton One full standing skeleton at bottom centre, cream-white bone, facing forward, arms raised holding a tilted wooden signboard reading back home, with a clear skull and ribcage, standing before a heap of skulls
- skeleton A heap of skulls and scattered loose bones across the bottom centre-left in front of the castle ramp
- other A dark brown coffin lying tilted at the lower left of the castle ramp, with a small pale nameplate on its lid
- other A grinning human face on the yellow crescent moon at upper left, closed smiling eyes and a wide toothy smile
- animal A flock of small green bats flying in an arc between the moon and the castle turrets
- creature A dragon or winged serpent head painted in red and green at the left border above the gravestones, partly cut by the frame
Setting
- Black and purple night sky
- Red magenta and orange comet ray streaks
- Grinning yellow crescent moon with a human face
- Flock of green bats
- Flames and orange cloud at the right
- Gravestones and green grass at lower left
- Leafless thorn trees in red side borders
- Orange stone castle with four turrets
Text on it
- MAGIC CASTLE
- GAME
- TIME BONUS
- SAME PLAYER SHOOTS AGAIN
- 1 TO 4 CAN PLAY
- BACK HOME
- 002849540
- 00000000
- 000000000
- 015000000
How it plays
-
Awards 1
- Red Special
Made by
- Art
- Lorenzo Rimondini
The cast
- Zekyll
- Zankenstein
- Zaccula
- Castle windows
Reference
Linked terms
- Blue drop targets also called letter banks also called MAGIC / CASTLE banks
- Orange drop targets also called orange three-bank also called Orange target bank
- Tunnel also called Mystery Tunnel
- Advance Orange standup also called middle right standup
- ABC targets also called ABC
- React! also called REACT outlane save
- Zekyll also called Dr. Zekyll
Playfield vision analysis
Written by a machine from the photos, so details may be off.
Playfield
- red
- orange
- blue
- yellow
Fingerprint: Scaly orange dragon head with green eye in upper left near purple-hatted wizard, two large red mushroom pop bumpers in center of dragon-castle mural, semicircle of twenty cream numbered inserts 1-20 as stone stairway, bonus multiplier shield, red castle-arch wall with dragon-scale roofing
The overwhelming density of overlapping red hardware on a riotously busy orange-and-green fantasy painting - two huge red pop bumpers sitting in the middle of a dragon-and-castle mural. A semicircle of twenty round cream numbered inserts (1-20) forming a stone stairway up the centre of the lower playfield, with a 'BONUS MULTIPLIER' shield reading 20 / 40 / 80 / 10 directly below it. A scaly orange dragon head with a green eye and gaping red mouth in the upper left, pressed against a purple-hatted wizard. A printed crimson castle-arch wall with red dragon-scale roofing running across the top of the playfield. Two large white 'MAGIC CASTLE' instruction cards printed straight onto the blue-and-white castle-wall apron.
Setting
- Medieval castle courtyard and battlements painted under a blue sky
- Rocky grey stone walls and a stone stairway in the lower centre
- Printed blue-and-white crenellated castle wall across the apron
- Red dragon-scale roof arches across the top
Symbols
- Round cream numbered inserts 1 to 20
- Red playing-card style suit icons near the lower centre
- Crenellated castle battlements
- Yellow sunburst disc on the left
- Stone arch and keyhole shapes
- Red rubber rings on the bumpers
Notable shapes
- Shield-shaped bonus multiplier plaque with four numbered windows
- Semicircular stone stairway of 20 round inserts
- Printed castle-arch cutout across the top
- Red dragon head jutting in from the left rail
- Oval 3 balls per game / free play medallion on the apron
Art motifs
- Stone masonry and castle walls
- Fire and orange flame washes
- Green dragon scales
- Sunburst rays
- Blue steel ramps and rails over the artwork
Themes
- Medieval fantasy
- Castle
- Dragons
- Wizard and magic
- Mounted knights
- Treasure
Title on it
- Magic castle
Text on it
- MAGIC CASTLE
- 3 BALLS PER GAME
- FREE PLAY
- COPYRIGHT 1984
- BONUS MULTIPLIER
- CASTLE GATE
- MYSTERY BONUS
- RED DRAGON MOBILE
- RED DRAGON MOBILE - A CASTLE
- CRIMSON GORGON
- GRAB A BAG
- A-Z-Z-A
- TALISMAN TUNNEL
| Kind | Description |
|---|---|
| Creature | Large scaly orange dragon head with a bright green eye, gaping red mouth and white fangs, upper left of the playfield |
| Man | Wizard in a tall purple conical hat and robe printed beside the dragon head on the left side |
| Animal | Red dragon motif repeated in printed standup target artwork on the upper right |
| Other | Printed stone castle gate arch with red dragon-scale roof spanning the top of the playfield |
A photographed solid-state electro-mechanical playfield seen under glass, with visible glare streaks and the metal ball guides and lane rails catching light. The lower third is a pale blue and white apron printed with a crenellated castle wall, blue crenellation shapes and yellow banners; two large white instruction cards sit left and right of a central oval that reads '3 BALLS PER GAME' and 'FREE PLAY'. Above them the lower playfield is a cluttered medieval-fantasy scene in hot orange, red, brown and green: a yellow 'BONUS MULTIPLIER' shield showing 20, 40, 80 and 10, a semicircle of round cream numbered inserts 1 through 20 climbing a rocky path, and small printed captions 'CASTLE GATE' and 'MYSTERY BONUS'. The mid-playfield is dominated by two large glossy red mushroom pop bumpers with translucent red caps, a cluster of red rubber-ringed drop targets and standup targets on the right, a yellow sunburst disc and blue metal ramps on the left. A scaly orange dragon head with a green eye and open jaw occupies the upper left beside a wizard figure, and a crimson stone castle arch spans the very top. Dominant colours are red, orange, blue, yellow and cream. Art style is dense, cartoonish hand-painted fantasy illustration with heavy black outlines.
Backglass vision analysis
Written by a machine from the photos, so details may be off.
Backglass
- orange
- yellow
- black
- red
Fingerprint: MAGIC CASTLE: enormous orange-bronze castle facade with four turrets and giant arched studded portcullis in steep perspective; grinning yellow crescent moon with human face at upper left with green bats; standing skeleton at bottom centre raising tilted signboard before skull heap
An enormous orange-bronze castle facade with four turrets and a giant arched studded portcullis fills almost the whole backglass in steep three-quarter perspective. Second, a grinning yellow crescent moon with a human face floats at the upper left with green bats flying from it. Third, a single standing skeleton at the bottom centre raising a tilted wooden signboard, backed by a heap of skulls. Fourth, the rainbow-gradient arched title lettering over a black-and-purple sky streaked with red comet rays, flanked by leafless thorn trees in red side borders.
Setting
- Black and purple night sky
- Red magenta and orange comet ray streaks
- Grinning yellow crescent moon with a human face
- Flock of green bats
- Flames and orange cloud at the right
- Gravestones and green grass at lower left
- Leafless thorn trees in red side borders
- Orange stone castle with four turrets
Symbols
- Playing-card rank panels numbered 1 2 3 4
- Gravestones
- Coffin
- Skull heap
- Portcullis
- Crenellated battlements and turrets
- Crescent moon
- Bats
- Thorn trees
- Down arrows flanking the bonus box
- Coloured rectangular bonus windows
Lettering
- Large arched uppercase slab-serif block letters, each letter filled with a red, green, blue and yellow rainbow gradient, heavy black outline with a cream-white inner keyline; smaller instruction text in plain condensed uppercase white on yellow and on pale blue panels
Themes
- Castle
- Graveyard
- Skeletons
- Bats
- Moon
- Haunted
- Fantasy
- Medieval
- Comet
- Fire
Title on it
- Magic castle
Text on it
- MAGIC CASTLE
- GAME
- TIME BONUS
- SAME PLAYER SHOOTS AGAIN
- 1 TO 4 CAN PLAY
- BACK HOME
- 002849540
- 00000000
- 000000000
- 015000000
| Kind | Description |
|---|---|
| Skeleton | One full standing skeleton at bottom centre, cream-white bone, facing forward, arms raised holding a tilted wooden signboard reading back home, with a clear skull and ribcage, standing before a heap of skulls |
| Skeleton | A heap of skulls and scattered loose bones across the bottom centre-left in front of the castle ramp |
| Other | A dark brown coffin lying tilted at the lower left of the castle ramp, with a small pale nameplate on its lid |
| Other | A grinning human face on the yellow crescent moon at upper left, closed smiling eyes and a wide toothy smile |
| Animal | A flock of small green bats flying in an arc between the moon and the castle turrets |
| Creature | A dragon or winged serpent head painted in red and green at the left border above the gravestones, partly cut by the frame |
| Vehicle | A grey stone arch entrance with wooden drawbridge ramp and heavy studded portcullis forming the castle doorway |
A painted fantasy-horror backglass set inside a scuffed grey metal cabinet edge. The dominant element is a vast orange-gold stone castle with four tall crenellated turrets and a great arched wooden portcullis doorway, drawn in exaggerated three-quarter perspective with a drawbridge ramp leading towards the viewer. Behind and above the castle is a black-and-purple night sky streaked with red, magenta and orange comet rays, with a grinning yellow crescent moon bearing a human face at upper left and a flock of green bats flying beside it. A red-bordered vertical panel down each side carries gnarled, leafless yellow-brown thorn trees; green grass and white gravestones appear at the bottom left, flames and orange cloud at the right. The top title reads MAGIC CASTLE in large arched block letters filled with a red, green, blue and yellow rainbow gradient, heavy black outline and cream-white keyline. Four amber seven-segment score windows in chrome bezels show orange digits, with coloured player numbers 1 (green), 2 (blue), 3 (pink) and 4 (grey). A pile of skulls and bones lies at bottom centre beneath a standing skeleton holding a tilted signboard.