Centaur is a Physical Pinball Table released by Bally in 1981. It was designed by Jim Patla and illustrated by Paul Faris.
The first and most defining aspect of Centaur is its striking visual design, with its predominantly black and white art punctuated by bursts of red and amber. The backglass is dominated by the game's Centaur, a hulking half-man half-motorcycle creature carrying a leather-clad punk woman on his back. Between the artwork and dark theme, reverberating background, and Machine Monotone voice, this is a hauntingly memorable table, reminiscent of Heavy Metal or Bio Punk.
Centaur was only a modest success for Bally, selling around 3,700 tables, but there was enough demand that the company released Centaur II in 1985. Despite the name change, the game was the same, except for the cabinetnote and some internal changes.
A digital version of Centaur was formerly available on The Pinball Arcade until the license to all WMS tables expired on July 1, 2018.
Centaur demonstrates the following tropes:
- Antagonist Title: The titular Centaur is set up as the player's enemy.
- Call a Hit Point a "Smeerp": Pinballs are called "Power Orbs" here.
- Deliberately Monochrome: The cabinet, backglass, and playfield art are almost entirely in black and white, with slight hints of red and amber.
- Dominatrix: The Rider is implied to be one, with her leather outfit and bullwhip.
- Echoing Acoustics: Centaur featured an echo/reverb board attached to its sound card, which added echo effects to the sound.
- Excuse Plot: The game instructs you to "destroy Centaur" at the beginning, which is the only plot the player is given.
- Machine Monotone: Downplayed - the synthetic voice the game uses is not completely robotic, but still clearly mechanical enough to qualify for the trope.
- Non-Standard Game Over: Unlike almost every other game of the solid-state era, by default, a tilt ends the entire game for that player rather than just the current ball.
- Numbered Sequel: Subverted: Though there is a Centaur II, it's more of an Updated Re-release than a true sequel.
- Our Centaurs Are Different: Centaur is a predominant mix of human, horse, and motorcycle, but there are some other odds and ends as well (in particular, that hind leg/kickstand doesn't have a hoof but clawed toes).
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Recycled Set: It used spare backboxes from Rapid Fire. - Red Eyes, Take Warning: Centaur, the game's antagonist, has small red eyes.
- Savage Piercings: Centaur sports a nose ring, adding to his bestial appearance.
- Spelling Bonus: The right 1-2-3-4 sequence enables multiball, while O-R-B-S can reward points or add an additional ball, depending on whether it was spelled in sequence or not.
- Take That, Audience!: Centaur will taunt, "Slow, aren't you?" or, "Bad move, human," if you send the ball down a lane that's already lit.
- What the Hell, Player?: Tilting the machine causes Centaur to remark "No class, human."
- Whip of Dominance: The Rider carries a large leather bullwhip which gives her a Dominatrix overtone when combined with her Hell-Bent for Leather outfit.
