Not to be confused with Ballyhoo (Bally, 1932), a flipperless pinball game considered to be one of the first major successes in the history of North American coin-operated gaming.
Try to land in the top saucer on the plunge. Continue to try to put the ball into the top saucer during gameplay, either by nudging around the pop bumpers or shooting the right kickback lane to get the ball to the top of the table, unless the bonus is high and the left saucer is lit for 10x value. The top saucer value, the 10x bonus light, the extra ball, and the left kicker all change whether or not they are lit with 1-point switch hits.
The rollover buttons at the top of the game score 1 points, and are largely just there to change the saucer value.
The left top lane scores 10 points and lights the top green bumper. The center top lane scores 100 points. The right top lane scores 10 points and lights the red bumpers. Any top lane advances the bonus.
The top saucer scores 100, 200, 300, 400, or 500 points. Each time a switch worth 1 point is hit, the saucer value increases (or resets to 100, if it was maxed out at 500).
The white mushroom bumper scores 10 points and raises the center post between the flippers.
All bumpers score 1 point, or 10 points when lit. They are lit by going through the corresponding top lanes.
The wall directly to the right of the lower right red bumper scores 10 points and advances the bonus. Most other switches behind rubber walls in the game score 1 point.
The right kicker lane scores 100 points, scores an extra ball when lit, and fires the ball back to the top of the table.
The rollover buttons in the center of the table score 1 point each. The one nearest to the bumpers raises the center post, while the two buttons closer to the flippers lower the center post.
Each bonus advance adds 10 points to the bonus. Bonus is advanced from any top lane, the wall to the right of the lower right red bumper, and the slingshots. The bonus maxes at 100 points. It is collected by making the left saucer (from above or below). Despite its name, the bonus is NOT automatically collected at the end of the ball; it can only be collected from the left saucer, and resets to 10 points once the ball drains. Collecting the bonus at the saucer also resets it to 10 points. If the saucer is lit yellow, the bonus collect will be multiplied by 10, so each step scores 100 points instead, with a max collect being worth 1,000 points. It's not really worth trying to collect the bonus unless the 10x light is on.
The green and red bumpers are lit by going through the On Green Bumper and On Red Bumper lanes. Everything else changes whether or not it is lit with 1-point switch hits.
Each 1-point switch hit increases the value of the top saucer by 100 points. If the top saucer's value was maxed out at 500 already, the next 1-point switch hit will reset its value to 100 points.
If the saucer value is currently 300 or 400 points, the kickback in the left out lane will be lit.
If the saucer value is currently 200 or 500 points, the left saucer will be lit for 10x bonus collect.
If the saucer value is currently 500 points, the right kicker lane will be lit for an extra ball.
If the saucer value is currently 100 points, or if no 1-point switch hits have been triggered on the current ball so far, none of the aforementioned features will be lit.
Bally Hoo has no in lanes. The flippers back up directly to the slingshots. The slingshots each score 10 points and advance the bonus. The out lanes each score 100 points.
There is an automatic kickback in the left out lane that will send the ball back into play when lit. It is lit when the top saucer value is currently 300 or 400 points.
There is a center post that blocks the gap between the flippers when it is raised. The center post is raised by the white mushroom bumper in the top right of the game, or the center rollover button in the middle of the playfield. It is lowered at the start of each ball or by the rollover buttons on either side of the center playfield.
There is no end of ball bonus. The playfield feature labelled Bonus acts more like a sort of jackpot, and is only collected by making the left saucer. A tilt ends the ball in play, not the game, so there's not really anything to lose by tilting while trying to save a ball coming down the center. The 100-point out lanes can be meaningful, though, so take it a bit easier on the sides. Also, the out lane kicker does not immediately shut off when used, it is lit exclusively off the 1-point switch cycle, so don't feel the need to prevent a ball from going in the left out lane to "save" the kickback if it is on.
On an original, unmodified copy of Bally Hoo, points can be scored one at a time and the max score display is 9,999 points. However, some copies of Bally Hoo were "modified for 5-digit scoring", which really just means a dummy zero was added to the end of all scores in the game, probably so that people would still see the game as relevant during the days where higher scoring games were more lucrative to players and point inflation was in full swing. If your local Bally Hoo has this type of 5-digit scoring, know that all of the rules and mechanics mentioned in this guide still apply, just with all scoring in the game multiplied by 10.
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