Creature from the Black Lagoon (pinball)

Creature from the Black Lagoon is a pinball machine designed by John Trudeau ("Dr. Flash") and released by Midway (under the Bally brand name). It is loosely based on the movie of the same name. The game's theme is 1950's drive-in theater. The pinball game was licensed from Universal Studios by Bally so that all backglass and cabinet artwork and creature depictions would resemble those of the original movie.[1]

Creature from the Black Lagoon
ManufacturerMidway
Release dateDecember 1992
SystemMidway WPC (Fliptronics II)
DesignJohn Trudeau
ProgrammingJeff Johnson
ArtworkKevin O'Connor
MechanicsErnie Pizarro
MusicPaul Heitsch
SoundPaul Heitsch
VoicesMatt Booty, Paul Heitsch, Jeff Johnson, Allison Quant
Production run7,841

Hologram

The centerpiece of the table's playfield is a holographic depiction of the titular Creature, illuminated and in motion during multiball play within its "Black Lagoon habitat" (the space beneath the playfield visible through a customized window). The green hologram was produced by Polaroid and is affixed to a metal plate that is divided into three sections which are designed so that the hologram appears to float. A cam behind one of sections presses against the back of the plate, gently bending the hologram's surface, so that the Creature appears to "ripple" as if underwater and to swipe at the player with its claw. A 2nd motor mounted in the bottom of the cabinet oscillates the light reflecting mirror, changing the direction of the light source and causing the image of the creature to slowly turn from side to side.

Gameplay

The main objective of the game is to collect the four letters in F-I-L-M to activate the game's wizard mode, Rescue the Girl. They are, from left-to-right:

F: Shoot the ball into the left K-I-S-S scoop four times to collect the letter F. The letter F can also be collected on the skill shot.

I: Light the four menu targets to open the Snack Bar and collect the letter I. Menu targets can also be lit by shooting into the Snack Bar.

L: Complete the P-A-I-D rollovers at the top right of the playfield to collect the letter L. The letter L can also be collected on the skill shot, by shooting the ball into whichever rollover is flashing.

M: Shoot the ball into the Slide (right scoop) to collect the letter M.

F-I-L-M letters can also be collected as Snack Bar rewards. Once the four letters in F-I-L-M are collected, shoot the ball into the left or right scoop to begin a 2-ball multiball. The Creature will randomly hide the girl in one of three locations: the left scoop, the Snack Bar scoop, or the right scoop. Shooting the ball into the correct scoop, then into the Snack Bar scoop, then again into the Snack Bar scoop, scores a Jackpot. The Jackpot value starts at 40 million, but increases with each jet bumper hit. Once the Jackpot has been collected, after a certain number of jet bumper hits, the Super Jackpot will light up. Shooting into the Snack Bar scoop will score a Super Jackpot, whose value is twice the current Jackpot value, multiplied by the field multiplier currently on the board.

Additional scoring modes or methods include:

Snack Bar: When the Snack Bar is open, shooting into this scoop gives a random reward.

Mega Menu: The four menu targets are lit. These targets are worth 5, 10, 15, and 20 million.

Playground Award: The game activates one of the following three modes at random.

  • Unlimited Millions: The left ramp is worth 3, 6, 9, ... million until the timer expires. This mode lasts for 25 seconds.
  • Fighter Jets: The jet bumpers are 1 million per hit. This mode lasts for 25 seconds.
  • Intermission Time: Both ramps are worth 5 million each. This lasts for 15 seconds.

Big Millions: The right ramp is worth 5, 10, 15, ... million. This lasts for 10 seconds.

Move Your Car: After a certain number of center shots, Move Your Car is activated. A score on the display starts at 8 million and decreases rapidly until reaching 2 million. Shooting a center shot scores the current score on the display and starts a 15 second timer. Successive center shots score 2x, 3x, and 4x the score of the first center shot.

Double Feature: Shoot the left ramp several times in succession. The Double Feature score starts at 500,000 and doubles up to a maximum of 16 million for each consecutive left ramp shot. Shoot the center ramp immediately afterwards to score the Double Feature.

Snack Attack: After shooting the right scoop 4 times, Snack Attack begins. A score on the display starts at 20 million and rapidly decreases. Shooting the Snack Bar scores the amount shown on the display.

Video Mode: After shooting the right scoop 8 times, shoot either the left or right scoop to begin Video Mode. In this mode, a peeping Tom appears, and the player must engage the left or right flippers to punch the peeping Tom a certain number of times.

Super Mode: After shooting the right scoop 12 times, a 12 second timer starts. Shoot the Snack Bar scoop to begin Super Mode. In Super Mode, the Mega Menu, Big Millions, Snack Attack, Unlimited Millions, and Intermission Time scoring modes are activated. This mode lasts for 25 seconds.

Super Creature Feature: During Super Mode, shoot the ball into the left ramp within the first 10 seconds. This will send the ball into the whirlpool. Each spin in the whirlpool is worth 5, 10, 15, ... million up to a maximum of 35 million.

Songs

There were five 1950's songs put in the game. These are:

All of the songs are synthesizer-based instrumental versions played by the game's sound hardware.

Digital versions

Until 2018 the Creature from the Black Lagoon was available as a licensed table of The Pinball Arcade for several platforms[2]. Due to licensing issues however only three of the five songs have been kept intact for this version. In addition to the three songs, two Easter Eggs which refer to Mortal Kombat are disabled since the game's Family Mode is permanently activated in the Pinball Arcade incarnation. This table is also included in Williams Pinball Classics (2001) for PC.[3]

gollark: That would be wise.
gollark: No, I meant what format would the chat boxes be able to transmit to chat?
gollark: Joke's on you, I run Minecraft in Qubes OS.
gollark: Will the chatboxes send markdown or weird MC formatting or tellraw?
gollark: 🆒 ❗

References
  1. http://www.ipdb.org/machine.cgi?id=588
  2. "Pinball Arcade News & FAQ". pinballarcade.com. Retrieved 2020-07-02.
  3. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2015-09-24. Retrieved 2013-08-09.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.