Data East’s The Who’s Tommy Pinball Wizard, released in 1994, ties pinball back to its most famous cultural touchstone — the deaf, dumb, and blind boy who plays a “mean pinball” in The Who’s rock opera. Designed by a team led by Joe Kaminkow and Ed Cebula, it captures the story with a wild gimmick that no other machine dares: flipper blinders that physically extend from beneath the apron to cover the flipper area from your view, forcing you to play the way Tommy did — by feel.
The scoring builds toward becoming the Pinball Wizard. Spinner shots light the modes and a vertical up-kicker starts them — most safely struck with a backhand off the right flipper — and lighting all the modes qualifies the Pinball Wizard wizard mode. The six-ball multiball escalates through jackpot stages, climaxing with the blinders deployed and the ramp worth a massive 250 million (the side ramp 500 million). Some modes far outshine others, with Silver Ball Millions, Cousin Kevin, and Acid Queen among the most lucrative.
You can even hold the extra-ball button at the start to play blind the entire game — a true test of touch and a nod to the source material. Atmospheric, gutsy, and unlike anything else, The Who’s Tommy is one of Data East’s most inventive machines — a table that asks you to trust your hands and feel the music.