Hit the mean streets — Bally’s City Slicker is a solid-state four-player wrapped in a cops-and-robbers theme, designed by the talented Greg Kmiec with art by Pat McMahon. A genuine rarity with a confirmed run of just 300 and an alphanumeric display, it’s a scarce mid-’80s Bally with a clever multiball-and-orbit game and a distinctive two-level playfield twist.
The strategy has real depth. The core move is to shoot the left orbit all day — it spots one, then two, then three letters per shot, though the count slips back if you’re too slow shoot it fast enough. The right orbit also spots CITY SLICKER letters, and collecting the “$” rollovers plus shooting the top-right scoop takes you “uptown,” where you shoot balls on an upper playfield for a while before earning multiball. Your bonus runs 10K per CITY SLICKER letter, maxing around 400K, and the center saucer is the hidden points — scoring 5K, then spotting a letter, then collecting bonus, so shoot it all day during multiball. Two warnings: remember the center post, and beware the cops firing back from the saucer kickout, where a computer-run flipper up there typically fires the ball to the bottom left.
City Slicker is a smartly designed, scarce Bally that packs a genuinely clever “uptown” multiball and orbit-driven letter collection into its crime-fighting package. With only 300 built, it’s a real find for the collector who prizes rarity, and that two-level uptown feature gives a thoughtful player something distinctive to chase. Work the left orbit for letters, go uptown for multiball, and shoot that center saucer for the hidden points. Some machines reward learning a clever system, and this Bally cops-and-robbers gem is one of them. Hit the streets and drop a coin.