The Limited Edition of Stern’s Black Knight: Sword of Rage is the most lavish form of Steve Ritchie’s 2019 sequel — the long-awaited third chapter in a saga the Master of Flow began with the original Black Knight back in 1980. The LE turns everything up, adding a shaker motor, a six-ball multiball, and the ability to choose whether to plunge into the upper or lower playfield, alongside the returning Magna-Save magnet that can yank a doomed ball from the outlane or snatch a super jackpot right off the ramp wireform.
The theme is medieval menace at full roar. The Black Knight jeers through a thrash-metal score, while a motorized gate shaped like his flail and another styled as his shield physically block and redirect your shots. Three vertical up-kickers and a trio of pop bumpers keep the ball ricocheting through a layout built, as Ritchie’s always are, for speed and long, smooth lines.
The competitive heart is in the combos and stacks. Nearly every shot can be backhanded, opening up controlled, repeatable lock sequences, and the real points come from stacking the multiball on top of a started mode — best set up by powering up your modes with the drop targets before launching them, especially against the brutal Hydra. Loud, fast, and unapologetically old-school, the Black Knight: Sword of Rage LE is a worthy heir to one of pinball’s great grudge matches, and proof the King of Flow still rules his castle.