[[quoteright:343:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/empire-strikes-back-pinball_5093.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:343:The Force was not with Hankin.]]

->"The movie of the year is now the pinball of the year."
-->--Advertising flyer

''The Empire Strikes Back'' is a PhysicalPinballTable produced by Hankin Manufacturing. It was released in 1980 exclusively in Australia, and is believed to be the very first ''Franchise/StarWars'' [[LicensedPinballTables licensed pinball game]] ever.

The game depicts several key scenes from the movie, with particular focus on the Imperial assault on Hoth. Guide the Snowspeeders against the [=AT-ATs=] looming overhead, hit the Rebel insignias to increase the value of playfield targets, then shoot down the four TIE Fighter rollovers to increase the bonus multiplier. Hit the Darth Vader drop targets on the two sides of the playfield to raise the value for Dagobah and Bespin, then visit Yoda and Lando to claim the points.

Pinball buffs will recognize the playfield as a hybrid of Creator/WilliamsElectronics' ''Pinball/{{Firepower}}'' and Creator/{{Bally}}'s ''Pinball/SpaceInvaders''. The game plays reasonably well, though weak flippers (a common problem for Hankin games) mar the experience somewhat. Unfortunately, the license was not enough to save the company; ''Empire'' became the last game Hankin released before closing its doors.

With only 350 tables produced and distributed in Australia, it is an ''extremely'' rare treasure for die-hard collectors.

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!!''The Empire Strikes Back'' pinball demonstrates the following tropes:

* IncendiaryExponent: Nearly everything on the playfield is in flames, including the clouds of Hoth.
* MalevolentMugshot: Darth Vader's masked visage appears all over the game -- on the pop bumper caps, the playfield drop targets, the sides of the cabinet, and the mirrored backglass itself.
* SerialNumbersFiledOff: Blatantly invoked with the playfield layout, which uses the top half of Williams' ''Pinball/{{Firepower}}'' and the bottom half of Bally's ''Pinball/SpaceInvaders''.
* SpaceIsAir: Every single spaceship is shown leaving a swooping red-and-orange exhaust trail, including the Rebel Snowspeeders, Imperial TIE Fighters, Luke's X-Wing, and the ''Millennium Falcon''.
* StuffBlowingUp: Cartoonish explosions liberally pepper the playfield.
* UnitsNotToScale: The [=AT-ATs=], which tower over the horizon and appear capable of circumnavigating Hoth with just a few dozen steps.
* WreathedInFlames: On the backglass, Darth Vader is standing in front of a set of flames.