Bally’s Wizard! holds a real place in pinball history as one of the medium’s first proper licensed games. Released in 1975 and capitalizing on the hit film adaptation of The Who’s rock opera Tommy, its backglass features the likenesses of the movie’s stars, Ann-Margret and Roger Daltrey. The tie-in was a sensation: Wizard! became Bally’s highest-production flipper game up to that point, with more than ten thousand machines built, helping prove that a famous license could turn a pinball into a phenomenon.

For all its pop-culture cachet, it plays as a tidy, classic mid-70s electromechanical. The flip-flag and standup targets feed an end-of-ball bonus that’s the heart of the scoring — collect the flags through specific shot sequences to light double bonus, then settle into ripping the spinner for points. Experienced hands know the wrinkles: grabbing the top hole is vital for its 3,000 points and three bonus advances, while the tempting 5,000-point shot on the right is a notorious sucker shot that often sends the ball straight down the middle. Charming, historic, and genuinely fun, Wizard! is a foundational licensed classic that still casts a spell.