Farfalla is a Physical Pinball Table released in 1983 by Italian pinball maker Zaccaria.
In this game, players are challenged to find love (and a high score) in a colorful flower garden filled with butterflies. Knock down the orange, blue, and red butterfly drop targets to collect the corresponding colored flower specials, then lower the Ramp and shoot for the upper playfield for a chance at the yellow butterflies there. Find love to increase the bonus multiplier, test your reflexes with the React Feature to prevent draining the ball, then advance the colored flower specials to unleash the Multi Special — all while the butterfly nymph on the backbox smiles and watches...
Among enthusiasts, Farfalla is one of Zaccaria's most memorable games, both for its colorfully unconventional theme and its sexy, eye-catching backbox, illustrated by Lorenzo Rimondini. Instead of being painted on a flat sheet of glass, the fairy art was painted on molded semitranslucent plastic, giving it a three-dimensional look that attracted passersby. But even without the Fanservice, Farfalla is a respectable pinball table; underneath the tranquil theme is a shooter's challenge that tests the player's aim, ball-handling skills, and reflexes.
A digital version is available for Zaccaria Pinball.
Farfalla demonstrates the following tropes:
- All Your Colors Combined: The Multi Special, which is worth a staggering 1,000,000 points, and is only available after advancing the Blue, Red, and Yellow flower specials to their maximum.
- Down to the Last Play: As with many other Zaccaria pinballs, Farfalla has a "Game Time Bonus" feature: during the player's last ball, a timer is incremented as he plays. After the ball drains, the player can keep playing until the timer counts down to zero.
- Everything's Better with Rainbows: The bonus tracker is a long rainbow path from the flippers to the upper playfield ramp.
- Rainbow Lite: The rainbow path only shows six colors.
- Fairy Sexy/Ms. Fanservice: The butterfly fairy, who's wearing nothing but a gossamer robe and a smile.
- Flowers of Romance: This is the overall theme of the game: the playfield full of flowers is the backdrop to the various symbols of love, such as the lovestruck couple on the bridge, the swans on the lake, and the LOVE Spelling Bonus.
- Just in Time: When the ball goes down an outlane, the player can use the "React Feature" for a split-second chance to use a smaller flipper to knock it back into play.
- Meaningful Name: "Farfalla" is Italian for "butterfly".
- Navel-Deep Neckline: The fairy is wearing a dress with a neckline that plunges to her navel.
- Nipple and Dimed: The American versions of Farfalla replaced the nymph's low-cut translucent robe with a modest red-and-green short dress.
- Pretty Butterflies: All over the playfield.
- Sex Sells: How do you sell a pinball game about butterflies and flowers to European players? Why, put a near-naked sexy fairy on it...
- Spelling Bonus: Spelling L-O-V-E increases the bonus multiplier.
- Vapor Wear: The nymph's translucent gown is a textbook example.
