It has now been four or five trips to Pinball Pete's to play South Park. I have not gotten anywhere close to the high-score, which I don't believe is real. The highest score registered by a human on this machine is one tenth of the score needed for a free game. The jokes are old, the machine is loud, and I'm pretty sure the goal is impossible.
I've done some serious thinking. I'm not enjoying my trips to Pinball Pete's, knowing that I am no where close to achieving my goal. Knowing that even though my scores are going up each time I play, I've managed to turn a fun game into a horrible slog. So, I've decided to modify my quest. At first I considered finding a pinball machine not a Pinball Pete's, and substituting that for South Park. But, what if that game was super-easy like Shrek? No, I need to make sure that I'm not cutting out a difficult challenge, and replacing it with a piece of cake. I've decided that instead of beating South Park, I am going to both (a) advance Medieval Madness until I've beaten all of the King's Men and the King of Payne, and (b) advance Attack From Mars all the way until I conquer Mars. Both of these goals are actually more difficult than winning a free game on points, and I know that I like both of these machines. Plus, they're not ear-shatteringly loud, and their jokes are likely to age better.
[Edit: I've since looked up the Guinness Book of World Records score for South Park. As of 2007, the world record is 456,968,070. The score to win a free game on South Park is 4.25 times higher than the world record. I feel vindicated in my decision, and wish I would have looked up the high score sooner.]
Saturday, May 29, 2010
South Park
http://www.ipdb.org/showpic.pl?id=4444&picno=13203
High 400,000,000
Replay at 1,945,000,000
3 plays for $1.00
I went to a small, private, Catholic college. Strangely, watching South Park turned into an event night in the basement of my dorm, and if you wanted to hang out with people on Thursday night you'd be watching South Park. I enjoyed it at the time, but since then I don't really find myself watching it, so I'm not sure if I really like South Park or if I just liked hanging out with friends. Probably I liked it but it got old. Whatever my feelings are, I've seen all of the episodes referenced by this game.
Each of the main characters gets its own target, and hitting the ramp/hole three times lites a huge red arrow. A fourth hit starts that characters mode, which is either to hit the character again within a timed period or, in the case of Chef, to hit all of the other characters. Not too bad, the ramps are pretty large and the game is rather forgiving. The fun part, however, is five-ball multiball. Strangely, almost every time I get multiball, two balls hit each other and one drains almost immediately, leaving me with essentially a 4-ball multiball. It's still pretty exciting to keep three or four balls going on this table. You have to keep your eyes on the flippers, but because all of the ramps are at the top you can't see what you're shooting at or hitting until you're down to two balls. And there's no point aiming, since what you hit will bounce off another ball anyway.
I'm somewhat concerned with the required score to win a free game, you'll notice that it is almost five times the high score. Even worse, high scores 1-8 are all 400,000,000 - (25,000,000 x Rank-1). There isn't a score with values in the thousands column until number 8, at around 223 million.
http://www.pinballhighscores.org/highscores.php?filter_game=south+park&filter_country=+&filter_tm=+&filter_tilt=+&filter_outlanes=+&filter_diff=+&filter_bpg=+&filter_buyin=+&filter_bbds=+&filter_home=+&filter_image=+&hs_type=Sega&sort=&filter_on=yes&show_all_games=&page=
High 400,000,000
Replay at 1,945,000,000
3 plays for $1.00
I went to a small, private, Catholic college. Strangely, watching South Park turned into an event night in the basement of my dorm, and if you wanted to hang out with people on Thursday night you'd be watching South Park. I enjoyed it at the time, but since then I don't really find myself watching it, so I'm not sure if I really like South Park or if I just liked hanging out with friends. Probably I liked it but it got old. Whatever my feelings are, I've seen all of the episodes referenced by this game.
Each of the main characters gets its own target, and hitting the ramp/hole three times lites a huge red arrow. A fourth hit starts that characters mode, which is either to hit the character again within a timed period or, in the case of Chef, to hit all of the other characters. Not too bad, the ramps are pretty large and the game is rather forgiving. The fun part, however, is five-ball multiball. Strangely, almost every time I get multiball, two balls hit each other and one drains almost immediately, leaving me with essentially a 4-ball multiball. It's still pretty exciting to keep three or four balls going on this table. You have to keep your eyes on the flippers, but because all of the ramps are at the top you can't see what you're shooting at or hitting until you're down to two balls. And there's no point aiming, since what you hit will bounce off another ball anyway.
I'm somewhat concerned with the required score to win a free game, you'll notice that it is almost five times the high score. Even worse, high scores 1-8 are all 400,000,000 - (25,000,000 x Rank-1). There isn't a score with values in the thousands column until number 8, at around 223 million.
http://www.pinballhighscores.org/highscores.php?filter_game=south+park&filter_country=+&filter_tm=+&filter_tilt=+&filter_outlanes=+&filter_diff=+&filter_bpg=+&filter_buyin=+&filter_bbds=+&filter_home=+&filter_image=+&hs_type=Sega&sort=&filter_on=yes&show_all_games=&page=
Medieval Madness
http://www.pinballdiaries.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/img_2605.jpg
(this picture does is of a partially disassembled playing field, but the major points are there)
2 plays for $1.00 | 5 for $2.00
High 365,393,330
Replay 42,000,000
This is one of my favorite machines, and Rebecca's too. The Quest to beat all of the machines at Pinball Pete's actually began with this one, which both Rebecca and I love to play. According to the Internet Pinball Machine Database, it is the 5th most-popular solid-state game (i.e. post-1977). ST:TNG, which I gave a lukewarm review last week, is number four. When this quest is over, I'll have to revisit ST:TNG and see if it really is better than MM. I doubt it, but name-recognition with ST probably swings the internet's opinion. Finding the list of the top-ten SS pinball machines was pretty nice; six of the top-10 are just chillin' at Pete's waiting for me. Like venus flytraps for my quarters.
The goal of Medieval Madness is to destroy the castle. Hitting the drawbridge to the castle enough times will cause it to lower, revealing a portcullis inside. Hit that enough, and it will open your way to victory. A great feature of this game is that after destroying the castle, it resets and you are battling a new minion of the King of Payne. They came up with six different characters to taunt you, and it really feels like you're progressing through the game in a way that Star Trek doesn't.
Rebecca's favorite feature is the trolls that pop up from little trap doors. There aren't very many machines that are able to add features to the playfield during play, and it adds quite a bit to the experience. If only the ball didn't occasionally get caught behind the right-hand troll's head, it makes me extra-cautious during "Trolls!" mode.
Since I played this machine quite a few times prior to The Quest, I got a quick and respectable score of 54.1 million, and will be moving on to South Park. The Troll Multiball mode is broken, but because this post is a little delayed, it has since been fixed. Having played and paid attention to these games, I've noticed that Pinball Pete is pretty timely about repairing the machines.
(this picture does is of a partially disassembled playing field, but the major points are there)
2 plays for $1.00 | 5 for $2.00
High 365,393,330
Replay 42,000,000
This is one of my favorite machines, and Rebecca's too. The Quest to beat all of the machines at Pinball Pete's actually began with this one, which both Rebecca and I love to play. According to the Internet Pinball Machine Database, it is the 5th most-popular solid-state game (i.e. post-1977). ST:TNG, which I gave a lukewarm review last week, is number four. When this quest is over, I'll have to revisit ST:TNG and see if it really is better than MM. I doubt it, but name-recognition with ST probably swings the internet's opinion. Finding the list of the top-ten SS pinball machines was pretty nice; six of the top-10 are just chillin' at Pete's waiting for me. Like venus flytraps for my quarters.
The goal of Medieval Madness is to destroy the castle. Hitting the drawbridge to the castle enough times will cause it to lower, revealing a portcullis inside. Hit that enough, and it will open your way to victory. A great feature of this game is that after destroying the castle, it resets and you are battling a new minion of the King of Payne. They came up with six different characters to taunt you, and it really feels like you're progressing through the game in a way that Star Trek doesn't.
Rebecca's favorite feature is the trolls that pop up from little trap doors. There aren't very many machines that are able to add features to the playfield during play, and it adds quite a bit to the experience. If only the ball didn't occasionally get caught behind the right-hand troll's head, it makes me extra-cautious during "Trolls!" mode.
Since I played this machine quite a few times prior to The Quest, I got a quick and respectable score of 54.1 million, and will be moving on to South Park. The Troll Multiball mode is broken, but because this post is a little delayed, it has since been fixed. Having played and paid attention to these games, I've noticed that Pinball Pete is pretty timely about repairing the machines.
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation
http://www.ipdb.org/showpic.pl?id=2357&picno=19076
1 play for $0.50 | 5 for $2.00
High Score: 7,030,426,690 RML
Replay at 271,000,000
Perhaps, unlike me, you were not raised by a computer programmer. And, perhaps, you were not fortunate enough to watch Star Trek growing up. Perhaps you don't have fond memories of being allowed to stay up until Midnight on Saturdays so you could recored (on VHS!) a rerun of Star Trek, back before it was "The Original Series", to help your dad complete his collection. Perhaps you don't remember when The Next Generation premiered, or watching Captain Picard in his brother's vineyard during the final episode. Perhaps you don't remember the premier of spin-off Deep Space Nine, being disappointed by Voyager, or when Enterprise became the first (only?) Star Trek series to have sung lyrics in its themesong. Yes, I may be a huge nerd; but you're reading a blog some guy playing pinball.
My wife and I have been watching The Next Generation via Netflix. She was fairly resistant to watching it in the beginning, but she's since turned into a Trekker. So, I think by now, I've made my point that I'm pretty excited about this one.
Stepping up to the machine, the first thing you notice is that your hands are slightly farther apart. ST:TNG is a W?idebody, and is 25" wide instead of the more-standard 22.5". It feels very "open", especially because there are few targets in the lower half of the playfield. The plunger is actually a phase-pistol handle attached to the machine; it feels out-of-place on a ST:TNG machine, very few episodes begin with violence.
There are quite a few ramps to shoot here, and quite a few lights to let you know where you should be shooting. There are sink-holes near the center for "Command Decision" and "Star Mission", and you can choose to what mode to start. These modes are generally timed and will light certain ramps, daring you to collect the whole set. I think an experienced player would earn a lot of points by picking the right mode, but since the rules scorecard didn't list how the modes work, I picked at random. I scored most of my points via destroying asteroids and banishing that dastardly Q. And by advancing rank, which is somewhat nice because it carries over from ball to ball.
This is a complex game, and I think you could play it for a long time before discovering all of its nooks and crannies. On my sixth game I scored 339,106,750 and gave my free game to Rebecca. I was a little disappointed with this machine for a couple of reasons. First, it was relatively easy; there is a lot more to the machine than I had to figure out to get my free game. And to figure it out, you need to make semi-arbitrary decisions about what mode to choose. This is a problem with many pinball machines, but seemed moreso here. My feeling are somewhat conflicted here, because I like that the ramps-to-hit for that mode light up, but on the other hand it makes the machine feel condescending. I also didn't like the widebody design; the machine was very sparse at the bottom and didn't seem to take advantage of the space that being wide-body allowed. It did have several ramps at the top, however. Finally, this machine suffers from being between the loud Lord of The Rings and the loud South Park.
http://www.ipdb.org/showpic.pl?id=2357&picno=19076
1 play for $0.50 | 5 for $2.00
High Score: 7,030,426,690 RML
Replay at 271,000,000
Perhaps, unlike me, you were not raised by a computer programmer. And, perhaps, you were not fortunate enough to watch Star Trek growing up. Perhaps you don't have fond memories of being allowed to stay up until Midnight on Saturdays so you could recored (on VHS!) a rerun of Star Trek, back before it was "The Original Series", to help your dad complete his collection. Perhaps you don't remember when The Next Generation premiered, or watching Captain Picard in his brother's vineyard during the final episode. Perhaps you don't remember the premier of spin-off Deep Space Nine, being disappointed by Voyager, or when Enterprise became the first (only?) Star Trek series to have sung lyrics in its themesong. Yes, I may be a huge nerd; but you're reading a blog some guy playing pinball.
My wife and I have been watching The Next Generation via Netflix. She was fairly resistant to watching it in the beginning, but she's since turned into a Trekker. So, I think by now, I've made my point that I'm pretty excited about this one.
Stepping up to the machine, the first thing you notice is that your hands are slightly farther apart. ST:TNG is a W?idebody, and is 25" wide instead of the more-standard 22.5". It feels very "open", especially because there are few targets in the lower half of the playfield. The plunger is actually a phase-pistol handle attached to the machine; it feels out-of-place on a ST:TNG machine, very few episodes begin with violence.
There are quite a few ramps to shoot here, and quite a few lights to let you know where you should be shooting. There are sink-holes near the center for "Command Decision" and "Star Mission", and you can choose to what mode to start. These modes are generally timed and will light certain ramps, daring you to collect the whole set. I think an experienced player would earn a lot of points by picking the right mode, but since the rules scorecard didn't list how the modes work, I picked at random. I scored most of my points via destroying asteroids and banishing that dastardly Q. And by advancing rank, which is somewhat nice because it carries over from ball to ball.
This is a complex game, and I think you could play it for a long time before discovering all of its nooks and crannies. On my sixth game I scored 339,106,750 and gave my free game to Rebecca. I was a little disappointed with this machine for a couple of reasons. First, it was relatively easy; there is a lot more to the machine than I had to figure out to get my free game. And to figure it out, you need to make semi-arbitrary decisions about what mode to choose. This is a problem with many pinball machines, but seemed moreso here. My feeling are somewhat conflicted here, because I like that the ramps-to-hit for that mode light up, but on the other hand it makes the machine feel condescending. I also didn't like the widebody design; the machine was very sparse at the bottom and didn't seem to take advantage of the space that being wide-body allowed. It did have several ramps at the top, however. Finally, this machine suffers from being between the loud Lord of The Rings and the loud South Park.
Shrek
http://www.sternpinball.com/shrek_playfield.html
Replay: 19.5 million
Ah, vacation. This week my wife and I went to Florida with my mom+stepdad. It rained and was overcast the entire week, which wasn't really how I hoped a trip to Florida would be. BUT, while we were at Universal Studios, drenched, we popped into the arcade and found "Shrek". It's a new machine, based on the movie(s) of the same name. You know, about a green ogre. How else could you justify putting green legs on a pinball machine?
I only played a pair of games, so didn't get a great feel for it. It has targets and bumpers and ramps and talking characters and lights and colors. One new-to-me feature of this machine are "captive pinballs", which are basically enclosed pinballs that move along a short path when you hit them with your pinball. I thought they were going to do something cool like multiball, but no. Like a normal target, with false promise.
The coolest feature of Shrek is that it has an inset "Donkey Pinball" machine. Hit the right series of targets, and it will shrink your ball and put it into a smaller pinball machine at the top. I think they use the technology from Honey I Shrunk The Kids. Because the balls in donkey pinball are smaller, it seems to have a faster pace, and a few times the small balls had so much speed they bounced over the flippers, ending Donkey Pinball mode. I scored over 22 million, so happily I beat it. I didn't particularly love this machine, but didn't get time to really love it since we had to get going to wait in line for The Simpsons Ride. Definitely worth the wait.
Replay: 19.5 million
Ah, vacation. This week my wife and I went to Florida with my mom+stepdad. It rained and was overcast the entire week, which wasn't really how I hoped a trip to Florida would be. BUT, while we were at Universal Studios, drenched, we popped into the arcade and found "Shrek". It's a new machine, based on the movie(s) of the same name. You know, about a green ogre. How else could you justify putting green legs on a pinball machine?
I only played a pair of games, so didn't get a great feel for it. It has targets and bumpers and ramps and talking characters and lights and colors. One new-to-me feature of this machine are "captive pinballs", which are basically enclosed pinballs that move along a short path when you hit them with your pinball. I thought they were going to do something cool like multiball, but no. Like a normal target, with false promise.
The coolest feature of Shrek is that it has an inset "Donkey Pinball" machine. Hit the right series of targets, and it will shrink your ball and put it into a smaller pinball machine at the top. I think they use the technology from Honey I Shrunk The Kids. Because the balls in donkey pinball are smaller, it seems to have a faster pace, and a few times the small balls had so much speed they bounced over the flippers, ending Donkey Pinball mode. I scored over 22 million, so happily I beat it. I didn't particularly love this machine, but didn't get time to really love it since we had to get going to wait in line for The Simpsons Ride. Definitely worth the wait.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Pirates II
Pirates of the Caribbean
Vacation accomplished, it's back to the grind of my Quest. Pirates of the Caribbean. I enjoyed playing much more today, perhaps because I Accomplished My Goal with 47,519,680 points. But more likely, because I figured out the ball-return after hitting the ship. Remember, the gate after hitting the ship would occassionally drop the ball right between the flippers. Last time I made the problem worse by deciding to bump the machine as the gate opened. Really, what you should do, is nothing. If the ball is completely stopped it will hit the back of the green target as it exists and be sent towards your flipper. If the ball has some motion on it, there's a chance it will drain, so you might as well bump the machine and give it a little more motion to give it a better chance of not going straight down.
I got multiball, and it was Everything that pinball should be. There are about three multiball modes, and I think I got one (Kraken Multiball) followed directly by another (Tortuga Multiball). PotC multiball is exhilirating, there is enough space down at the bottom that you can still play while your 2nd ball is bouncing around the top. No weird two-ball-collisions which send them both down the drain. No panic-ed just trying to flip but not having time to aim. But, there was definitely a rush to get your shot off before another ball came flying down. Then I started collecting crew members and the game began sinking a lively version of yo-ho, yo-ho, a pirate's life for me. The music was great, the gameplay was rushed and exciting, and I had a great time. I kind of want to play again, but the quest must go on.
Vacation accomplished, it's back to the grind of my Quest. Pirates of the Caribbean. I enjoyed playing much more today, perhaps because I Accomplished My Goal with 47,519,680 points. But more likely, because I figured out the ball-return after hitting the ship. Remember, the gate after hitting the ship would occassionally drop the ball right between the flippers. Last time I made the problem worse by deciding to bump the machine as the gate opened. Really, what you should do, is nothing. If the ball is completely stopped it will hit the back of the green target as it exists and be sent towards your flipper. If the ball has some motion on it, there's a chance it will drain, so you might as well bump the machine and give it a little more motion to give it a better chance of not going straight down.
I got multiball, and it was Everything that pinball should be. There are about three multiball modes, and I think I got one (Kraken Multiball) followed directly by another (Tortuga Multiball). PotC multiball is exhilirating, there is enough space down at the bottom that you can still play while your 2nd ball is bouncing around the top. No weird two-ball-collisions which send them both down the drain. No panic-ed just trying to flip but not having time to aim. But, there was definitely a rush to get your shot off before another ball came flying down. Then I started collecting crew members and the game began sinking a lively version of yo-ho, yo-ho, a pirate's life for me. The music was great, the gameplay was rushed and exciting, and I had a great time. I kind of want to play again, but the quest must go on.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Pirates of the Caribbean / Simpsons Day II
Pirates of the Caribbean
High: 20,697,600 TOW
Replay at 47,050,000
50 cents for one game, two dollars for five games
http://www.sternpinball.com/POTC.shtml
http://www.sternpinball.com/POTC/POTC-PLAYFIELD-SHOT-MAP.html
PIRATES! It's a whole game about Pirates! Will the pirate meme ever die? I hope not, ninja-impersonation is much less fun than calling people Scurvy 'lubbers.
I've played this one a few times before, and did absolutely horribly. Today, slightly better. The main point is either to find treasure or to sink the pirate ship(s). I chose to focus on sinking the pirate ship, which points-wise may or may not have been the best decision. Visually, sinking the ship is really cool and leads to Kraken Multiball, wherein you have multiple balls to fight the Kraken. Sinking the ship also opens up the center lane which adds a shot which isn't there when you first start the playing; a nice surprise. The most frustrating bit is that, after hitting the ship, the ball is stopped by a gate so an animation can run. Which would be fine except if the ball still has any motion to it when the gate releases it, the ball goes directly between the flippers. 1) Make the shot you're supposed to make, 2) Lose your ball.
The Simpsons Pinball Party - Day II
This round of Simpsons went much better. With the goal of spending more time on the couch (the upper level), my scores went up by an average of one million. I cleared the 4 mil. for an extra game, with a respectable 4,888,860. I had more fun this time, knowing where the ball was likely to go. The upper couch-area, which I initially thought was going to be impossible because of the angle of the flippers, turned out being alright. There's a large barrier between the two flippers which gives you a good opportunity to lock the ball up there. Overall, the Simpsons Pinball Party was an alright table, made much more player-friendly because on the third ball you can get a Special just by going out the proper out-lane.
High: 20,697,600 TOW
Replay at 47,050,000
50 cents for one game, two dollars for five games
http://www.sternpinball.com/POTC.shtml
http://www.sternpinball.com/POTC/POTC-PLAYFIELD-SHOT-MAP.html
PIRATES! It's a whole game about Pirates! Will the pirate meme ever die? I hope not, ninja-impersonation is much less fun than calling people Scurvy 'lubbers.
I've played this one a few times before, and did absolutely horribly. Today, slightly better. The main point is either to find treasure or to sink the pirate ship(s). I chose to focus on sinking the pirate ship, which points-wise may or may not have been the best decision. Visually, sinking the ship is really cool and leads to Kraken Multiball, wherein you have multiple balls to fight the Kraken. Sinking the ship also opens up the center lane which adds a shot which isn't there when you first start the playing; a nice surprise. The most frustrating bit is that, after hitting the ship, the ball is stopped by a gate so an animation can run. Which would be fine except if the ball still has any motion to it when the gate releases it, the ball goes directly between the flippers. 1) Make the shot you're supposed to make, 2) Lose your ball.
The Simpsons Pinball Party - Day II
This round of Simpsons went much better. With the goal of spending more time on the couch (the upper level), my scores went up by an average of one million. I cleared the 4 mil. for an extra game, with a respectable 4,888,860. I had more fun this time, knowing where the ball was likely to go. The upper couch-area, which I initially thought was going to be impossible because of the angle of the flippers, turned out being alright. There's a large barrier between the two flippers which gives you a good opportunity to lock the ball up there. Overall, the Simpsons Pinball Party was an alright table, made much more player-friendly because on the third ball you can get a Special just by going out the proper out-lane.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
The Simpsons Pinball Party
The Simpsons Pinball Party
board layout | More Pictures
Free Game at 4,000,000
Current High Score
This is the first pinball machine I've played from the company Stern. In keeping with its comic-book theme, it is a cacophony of primary and secondary colors and is very busy. You'd have to be busy to get in references to as many characters as the inspiring TV show has. I had serious misgivings about this machine being too crowded, but those quickly melted away when I started playing. A great deal of the busy-ness comes from the painting of the playing field. It has a lot of cartoon-flames painted on it, which in actuality are helpful trajectories for aiming the ball. As per the rules, I haven't looked up any instructions for this game and don't really know what I'm doing. Since I haven't discovered the best way to score points, I didn't win my free game.
The Simpsons theme provides a lot of material for this table. I'm sure a lot of great ideas never made it out of the creator's sketchbook. Ultimately, The Comic-Book Guy and Otto the Bus Driver are over-represented while Lisa and Marge are underrepresented. Unfortunately, all of the material they had to include means that there wasn't a way to tell a simple, cohesive story. I think the goal is to get through the garage into the living room, but of all the crazy things the Simpsons have done over the years, coming home to watch TV is pretty mundane. I feel they really missed out by not bringing Mr. Burns in as the bad guy. It would have provided some much-needed Conflict and villany and created a story. I still have my fingers crossed that one of the Multiball modes will begin with him saying "Release the hounds".
Playing Tip:
So far I've scored the most points when I've gotten the ball into the upper-deck playing field, the Living Room. There's a bumper between the two useless looking flippers in the living room, which give you a decent chance of getting something good once you get up there. And having Homer's head rotate so you know you the ball will come out there is great. Next session my plan is to figure out a way to consistently get into the living room. There is an extra-flipper on the right-hand side of the machine which may be useful for that, but I've had the most luck simply bashing the garage a bunch of times.
board layout | More Pictures
Free Game at 4,000,000
Current High Score
This is the first pinball machine I've played from the company Stern. In keeping with its comic-book theme, it is a cacophony of primary and secondary colors and is very busy. You'd have to be busy to get in references to as many characters as the inspiring TV show has. I had serious misgivings about this machine being too crowded, but those quickly melted away when I started playing. A great deal of the busy-ness comes from the painting of the playing field. It has a lot of cartoon-flames painted on it, which in actuality are helpful trajectories for aiming the ball. As per the rules, I haven't looked up any instructions for this game and don't really know what I'm doing. Since I haven't discovered the best way to score points, I didn't win my free game.
The Simpsons theme provides a lot of material for this table. I'm sure a lot of great ideas never made it out of the creator's sketchbook. Ultimately, The Comic-Book Guy and Otto the Bus Driver are over-represented while Lisa and Marge are underrepresented. Unfortunately, all of the material they had to include means that there wasn't a way to tell a simple, cohesive story. I think the goal is to get through the garage into the living room, but of all the crazy things the Simpsons have done over the years, coming home to watch TV is pretty mundane. I feel they really missed out by not bringing Mr. Burns in as the bad guy. It would have provided some much-needed Conflict and villany and created a story. I still have my fingers crossed that one of the Multiball modes will begin with him saying "Release the hounds".
Playing Tip:
So far I've scored the most points when I've gotten the ball into the upper-deck playing field, the Living Room. There's a bumper between the two useless looking flippers in the living room, which give you a decent chance of getting something good once you get up there. And having Homer's head rotate so you know you the ball will come out there is great. Next session my plan is to figure out a way to consistently get into the living room. There is an extra-flipper on the right-hand side of the machine which may be useful for that, but I've had the most luck simply bashing the garage a bunch of times.
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Funhouse
Funhouse
Board layout | Detail Pictures
Free game at 5,100,000
Current High Score: 23,531,190 (JCN)
50 cents for one game, 75 cents for two games, and $1.00 for three games
The idea for this quest began with Funhouse. When I was growing up, the arcade near my house had Funhouse. I generally played "Twister" instead, for a lot of reasons. First, Funhouse eats your quarters pretty quickly if you don't know where the ball is coming out of next. Second, the rules are more complicated than you'd expect. Finally, and worst of all, it has a little plastic midget's head stuck inside the machine to taunt you.
Funhouse is one of the pinball games that was digitized for the Wii game "Pinball Hall Of Fame - The Williams Collection". My wife and I played through the Wii game, and managed to "unlock" most of the goals. We had a great time playing it, and so did our friends. So we gave copies of PHoF to my brother and dad for their birthdays. When my dad came to town a few weeks ago, my wife and I took him to Pinball Pete's and played several games of Funhouse. The version of Funhouse in PHoF comes with 82 pages of instructions, so we knew exactly what we were doing. Sure, sure, you're thinking, "The Rules say you're not allowed to read more than the card posted on the machine". Unfortunately, I already knew the objectives before making The Rules, and can't un-remember them.
The most intriguing part of Funhouse is Rudy, the mechanical head. He can't decide if he's on your side. Sometimes it's "You Can Have it Back" and "Have Yourself a Hot Dog", but other times it's "Stay AWAY From the Clock" and "That Was No Accident". When you're doing poorly he's all peaches and cream, but the minute you get to 11:30 he doesn't want to cooperate and simply won't go to bed. Even though it creeps me out that they embedded an uppity midget (dwarf? Can't see his fingers) in a pinball machine, I like the reasons that they did it. The funhouse theme is well tied together through the hot dog targets, the bright colors, the "mechanical man", and the trap-door. Once you figure out what the table wants you to do, Rudy's chatter turns from heckling to advice on what you should be shooting for next.
Because I had read the rules and played the Wii version, I beat Funhouse on the third game with a score of 7,222,690. You need to progress the clock to score the Big Points, so over half of those were scored on the final ball.
Here is an interview with Pat Lawlor who helped design Funhouse.
Playing Tip:
The key to not losing at Funhouse is to remember that when you hit the ball into the Wind Tunnel, it will come out of the Gangway. Evil. The key to winning at Funhouse is to Understand The Clock. Most things will advance the clock a small amount, but once you're at 11:30 you need to go directly up the Hidden Hallway to advance it farther. And the Hidden Hallway can't be easily hit with the right flipper. To give yourself the best shot at it, you can use the right-flipper to get up the center ramp, which sends the ball around to the left flipper where you need it.
Board layout | Detail Pictures
Free game at 5,100,000
Current High Score: 23,531,190 (JCN)
50 cents for one game, 75 cents for two games, and $1.00 for three games
The idea for this quest began with Funhouse. When I was growing up, the arcade near my house had Funhouse. I generally played "Twister" instead, for a lot of reasons. First, Funhouse eats your quarters pretty quickly if you don't know where the ball is coming out of next. Second, the rules are more complicated than you'd expect. Finally, and worst of all, it has a little plastic midget's head stuck inside the machine to taunt you.
Funhouse is one of the pinball games that was digitized for the Wii game "Pinball Hall Of Fame - The Williams Collection". My wife and I played through the Wii game, and managed to "unlock" most of the goals. We had a great time playing it, and so did our friends. So we gave copies of PHoF to my brother and dad for their birthdays. When my dad came to town a few weeks ago, my wife and I took him to Pinball Pete's and played several games of Funhouse. The version of Funhouse in PHoF comes with 82 pages of instructions, so we knew exactly what we were doing. Sure, sure, you're thinking, "The Rules say you're not allowed to read more than the card posted on the machine". Unfortunately, I already knew the objectives before making The Rules, and can't un-remember them.
The most intriguing part of Funhouse is Rudy, the mechanical head. He can't decide if he's on your side. Sometimes it's "You Can Have it Back" and "Have Yourself a Hot Dog", but other times it's "Stay AWAY From the Clock" and "That Was No Accident". When you're doing poorly he's all peaches and cream, but the minute you get to 11:30 he doesn't want to cooperate and simply won't go to bed. Even though it creeps me out that they embedded an uppity midget (dwarf? Can't see his fingers) in a pinball machine, I like the reasons that they did it. The funhouse theme is well tied together through the hot dog targets, the bright colors, the "mechanical man", and the trap-door. Once you figure out what the table wants you to do, Rudy's chatter turns from heckling to advice on what you should be shooting for next.
Because I had read the rules and played the Wii version, I beat Funhouse on the third game with a score of 7,222,690. You need to progress the clock to score the Big Points, so over half of those were scored on the final ball.
Here is an interview with Pat Lawlor who helped design Funhouse.
Playing Tip:
The key to not losing at Funhouse is to remember that when you hit the ball into the Wind Tunnel, it will come out of the Gangway. Evil. The key to winning at Funhouse is to Understand The Clock. Most things will advance the clock a small amount, but once you're at 11:30 you need to go directly up the Hidden Hallway to advance it farther. And the Hidden Hallway can't be easily hit with the right flipper. To give yourself the best shot at it, you can use the right-flipper to get up the center ramp, which sends the ball around to the left flipper where you need it.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Welcome to Fistful of Quarters!
The South Pole. Mount Everest. The Moon. Pinball Pete's. History is full of men who dreamed large dreams, because they could. I have such a dream. Less than three miles from me there is an arcade called "Pinball Pete's" which is full of pinball machines I have not yet beaten. Sixteen machines, in fact. This blog will record my triumphs and failures as I set out to win a free game from each of these machines.
First, the rules. A) The free game must be won by points alone; special-when-lit and matches don't count. B) I can not look up the rules or tips on the internet; but I can read the instruction card which is on display at the machine. C) I must spend at least $4.00 a week on the goal. This shouldn't be hard, most of the games have a price break so $2.00 will give you five games. D) I must record if the free game was given during an Extra Ball; in case I want to go back and win without the extra ball. E) If one of the machines is traded out before I beat it, then I can play its replacement; if a machine is removed but not replaced then I must beat a machine at a different location (i.e. local movie theater) so that the final total is sixteen. F) The machines can be played in any order, but Star Wars Episode I is last. SWI was the final game produced by Williams.
Second, the machines:
Simpsons Pinball Party
Funhouse
Pirates of the Caribeen
Medeival Madness
South Park
Star Trek the Next Generation
Lord of the Rings
Elvis
Star Wars Episode I
Spiderman
Attack From Mars
Scared Stiff Hosted by Elvira
Theater of Magic
Nascar
Monster Bash
Guns & Roses
Addams' Family
Austin Powers
Third, the estimates. On average, I estimate each machine will take three sessions to beat ($2.00 x 5 games x 2 rounds per session = $4 and 10 games per session; $4 x 3 sessions = $12 per machine; $12/machine x 16 machines = around $192). A large part of the fun (and cost) will be learning what targets and combos score big points, and what bumpers will send the ball down the drain without letting me get a flipper on it. At three weeks per machine, I should finish within 48 weeks. I've spent a decent amount of time playing three of the machines (Funhouse, Medieval Madness, and Attack From Mars), and consquently should be able to finish them in one session each. The cost of parking or taking my wife out to dinner at one of the restaurants near the arcade before a session will be omitted from this blog. I'll probably end up playing on Sundays, (fewer undergraduates jaywalking, free meter parking) and the blog will be written on Sunday/Monday and updated every Tuesday.
May The Multiplier Be With you,
Mark
First, the rules. A) The free game must be won by points alone; special-when-lit and matches don't count. B) I can not look up the rules or tips on the internet; but I can read the instruction card which is on display at the machine. C) I must spend at least $4.00 a week on the goal. This shouldn't be hard, most of the games have a price break so $2.00 will give you five games. D) I must record if the free game was given during an Extra Ball; in case I want to go back and win without the extra ball. E) If one of the machines is traded out before I beat it, then I can play its replacement; if a machine is removed but not replaced then I must beat a machine at a different location (i.e. local movie theater) so that the final total is sixteen. F) The machines can be played in any order, but Star Wars Episode I is last. SWI was the final game produced by Williams.
Second, the machines:
Simpsons Pinball Party
Funhouse
Pirates of the Caribeen
Medeival Madness
South Park
Star Trek the Next Generation
Lord of the Rings
Elvis
Star Wars Episode I
Spiderman
Attack From Mars
Scared Stiff Hosted by Elvira
Theater of Magic
Nascar
Monster Bash
Guns & Roses
Addams' Family
Austin Powers
Third, the estimates. On average, I estimate each machine will take three sessions to beat ($2.00 x 5 games x 2 rounds per session = $4 and 10 games per session; $4 x 3 sessions = $12 per machine; $12/machine x 16 machines = around $192). A large part of the fun (and cost) will be learning what targets and combos score big points, and what bumpers will send the ball down the drain without letting me get a flipper on it. At three weeks per machine, I should finish within 48 weeks. I've spent a decent amount of time playing three of the machines (Funhouse, Medieval Madness, and Attack From Mars), and consquently should be able to finish them in one session each. The cost of parking or taking my wife out to dinner at one of the restaurants near the arcade before a session will be omitted from this blog. I'll probably end up playing on Sundays, (fewer undergraduates jaywalking, free meter parking) and the blog will be written on Sunday/Monday and updated every Tuesday.
May The Multiplier Be With you,
Mark
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