Dr. Dude and His Excellent Ray
| Company type | Pinball machine |
|---|---|
| Industry | Arcade games |
| Founded | 1990 |
| Founder | Dennis Nordman |
| Parent | Midway Games (Bally brand) |
Dr. Dude and His Excellent Ray is a pinball game developed by Dennis Nordman and launched in 1990 by Midway Games under the Bally brand. The central theme revolves around the pursuit of coolness.
Gameplay
The objective for players is to transform into a Super Dude by undergoing treatment at the kinetic clinic using the excellent ray. This involves gathering components of ultimate hipness to fill the Dude-O-Meter: these include the Heart of Rock 'n' Roll, a Magnetic Personality, and the Gift of gab. Notable gameplay elements feature the Excellent Ray which triggers multiball, Big Shot, a bully character who mocks players, the Molecular Mixmaster, a rotating disc encircled by targets, and a lucrative Gazillion point shot capable of scoring millions.
Description
This machine is distinguished by its vibrant cartoonish design, numerous interactive playfield features, 1980s-inspired soundtrack, concealed magnet, and an alpha-numeric display—one of the final models before pinball machines adopted dot-matrix screens. The backbox displays a lenticular flip image depicting Ben A. Glich before and after his coolness transformation.
Digital versions
The table was available as an officially licensed title within The Pinball Arcade on various platforms until 2018 when the WMS license expired. Subsequently, after licensing rights moved to Zen Studios, it was announced in 2020 that this table would be part of the sixth wave of Williams pinball tables released as downloadable content for Pinball FX 3. A remastered edition launched on June 30, 2022, for Pinball FX.