Space Jam (pinball)
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| Manufacturer | Sega Pinball |
|---|---|
| Release date | December 1996 |
| System | Sega WhiteStar |
| Design | Joe Kaminkow, Orin Day, Lonnie D. Ropp |
| Programming | Lonnie D. Ropp, Orin Day |
| Artwork | Morgan Weistling |
| Music | Brian Schmidt |
| Sound | Brian Schmidt |
| Production run | 7,019 |
Space Jam is a 1996 pinball machine released by Sega Pinball. It is based on the film of the same name.
Features
The Space Jam pinball machine has many noteworthy features that make up its pinball experience. On the main playfield, there are six red arrows pointing to critical targets. From left to right, they are as follows: Left Loop, Captive Ball, Basket, Jump Ball, Ramp, and Right Loop. These targets help players complete some of the seven planets surrounding Michael Jordan as well as score jackpots in Multiball mode. There is also a basket at the end of the launch ramp for skill shot opportunities. Before launching the ball with the plunger, players can choose an award to receive upon a successful skill shot into the launch basket: 300,000 points, Lite Lock / Lock Ball (advances one level up in the Jump Ball), Wabbit Hole (randomly selects a mystery prize or minigame to be played), or Super Pops (increases the bumper threshold's strength). If the player does not make the basket, 50,000 points will still be awarded. However, if the player does make the basket and had selected 300,000 points, Lite Lock / Lock Ball, or Super Pops, he will be given a few seconds to try to shoot the left basket ramp for 10 basketball points and earn a super skill shot.
Objectives
One of the main objectives of Space Jam, like any other pinball game, is to score a lot of points by manipulating the ball's movements on the playfield with the flippers to hit various targets. A second but important objective of the game is to enter Final Jam mode, which helps increase players' scores significantly. In order to lite Final Jam, players must complete the seven planets that surround Michael Jordan in the middle of the playfield: Fast Break, Fire, In Yer Face, Rebounds, Slam, Space Jam, and Super Jackpot. As soon as all 7 planets are lit, the Final Jam light will blink, signaling players to shoot the basket to play Final Jam. After Final Jam is over, players can attempt to go through this cycle as many times as they can until Ball 3 ends.
Fast Break (Fast Break Minigame)
To lite the Fast Break planet, players must shoot the Left and Right Loops to complete each of their series of lights. The Left Loop features Road Runner whose famous phrase "Beep! Beep!" is inscribed on the 4 yellow lights. The Right Loop has the Tasmanian Devil; rather than words, random symbols particularly used to censor inappropriate language are written on the 4 yellow lights. When the final light is complete, the Fast Break minigame will begin.
The Fast Break minigame requires players to shoot the Ramp as many times as possible within a certain amount of time, which is indicated not by seconds but by the jackpot counter. The jackpot starts at 200,000 and works its way up to 700,000. The game ends 5 seconds after the jackpot stops at 700,000.
Fire (On Fire Minigame)
To lite the Fire planet, players must shoot the Ramp four times to spell F-I-R-E. As soon as the E is complete, the Basket arrow will flash, and the sirens will indicate the beginning of the On Fire minigame.
The objective of On Fire is to shoot the Basket as many times as possible within 24 seconds. The first shot is worth 50,000 points, the second is worth 150,000, the third is worth 250,000, and so on. In addition to these points, players can earn 10 basketball points for each shot made and advance closer toward the 300,000 and Extra Ball Lit bonuses.
In Yer Face (In Yer Face Minigame)
There are two ways to lite the In Yer Face planet. The first is shooting the Captive Ball 3 times during regular play to complete the In-Yer-Face lights. The second way is playing the In Yer Face minigame. To enter this game, players can hit the three drop targets near the Pop Bumpers; they have pictures of Sylvester, Tweety Bird, and Lola. Hitting all 3 of them will make a Monstar appear. Initially, players must make 2 Monstars appear to play the minigame. After the minigame is over, players must make 1 additional Monstar appear in order to play the game again.
The objective of the In Yer Face minigame is to shoot the Captive Ball 3 times within 30 seconds. The first shot is worth 200,000 points, the second is worth 300,000, and the last is worth 400,000 points. Unlike the On Fire minigame, players cannot earn basketball points for each Captive Ball shot. However, if the player can shoot the Captive Ball 3 times before time is up, an Extra Ball Lit will be awarded. Afterward, he can shoot the Jump Ball to activate the Extra Ball.
Rebounds (Super Pops)
To lite the Rebounds planet, players must hit the Pop Bumpers a certain number of times. Players can increase their chances of getting Rebounds by selecting Super Pops prior to launching the ball. Super Pops enhances the strength of the bumpers, which will usually keep the ball inside the threshold for a longer period of time than under normal conditions. During Super Pops, the orange lights on top of the 3 bumpers will blink.
The first Rebounds award is worth 100,000. Each successive award adds 100,000 to the previous amount. Players will know they have achieved the award when they see a large piece of metal fall on Daffy Duck's head on the screen and hear him say, "You're despicable!"
Slam (Bonus Multiplier)
To lite the Slam planet, players must lite the S-L-A-M lanes located near the flippers. Players can rotate the configuration of the lights with the flipper buttons in order to allow the ball to pass over an unlit lane. When the fourth light is complete, the End-of-Ball Bonus will be doubled. Each successive completion will increase the multiplier by 1 until the multiplier reaches its maximum of 6. An Extra Ball Lit will be awarded to the player who can get the multiplier to 6 within one ball of play. Even if a player can get the multiplier to 6 in another ball, the Extra Ball Lit will not be awarded again; it occurs only once per game. After the maximum multiplier is attained, each successive Slam completion will add 200,000 points to the player's score. The multiplier resets to 1 for the next ball or extra ball.
Space Jam (Super Jam Minigame)
To lite the Space Jam planet, players must hit the tiny basketball targets on the side of the playfield to spell S-P-A-C-E J-A-M. Once the final target is hit, all 6 red arrows will flash, and the player thus enters the Super Jam minigame.
In Super Jam, players have to complete the 6 shots in any order within 30 seconds. The first shot is worth 50,000 points, the second is 150,000, the third 250,000, the fourth, 350,000, the fifth 450,000, and the sixth 550,000. In all the timed minigames, the clock pauses whenever the ball hits the Pop Bumper threshold.
Super Jackpot (Multiball Mode)
To lite the Super Jackpot planet, players must enter Multiball mode and complete the series of jackpots. To enter Multiball, players can shoot the Wabbit Hole where Bugs Bunny randomly chooses from a list of 3 events, or they can lock all 3 balls in the Jump Ball. When Multiball begins, there will be a total of 3 balls on the playfield. In order to keep playing Multiball, players must keep at least 2 of the balls on the playfield at all times. As soon as 1 ball remains, Multiball ends.
The jackpots start around 500,000 points and increase by 2,000 for any target the balls hit on the playfield. The jackpot also increases by the same amount each time a ball passes over one of the lane sensors. The first shot players go for is either the Basket (for a higher jackpot) or the Ramp (for a regular jackpot). If the player successfully shoots only the Basket (not the Ramp) before the allotted time on the shot clock expires, all subsequent jackpots will be doubled, and the shot clock resets to its original time. If the player can shoot the Basket or the Ramp before the time expires a second time, the 3 subsequent jackpots will be tripled from the regular value, and the shot clock resets. If the player shoots the Basket or the Ramp before the clock runs out for a third time, the 3 subsequent jackpots will be quadrupled from the regular value. This can only be done if the three subsequent shots are not achieved within the time frame.
After shooting the Basket or the Ramp, the arrows will change configuration and begin to flash toward the Left Loop, Jump Ball, and Right Loop. Once these shots are cleared, an arrow will flash toward the Captive Ball for the Super Jackpot. The Super Jackpot is double the value of the jackpot last attained (from either the Left Loop, Jump Ball, or Right Loop). If the player successfully shoots the Captive Ball, the Super Jackpot will be awarded, and the planet will be complete, advancing the player one step closer to Final Jam. There is yet another jackpot after the Super Jackpot. Players must shoot the Ramp to lite the Super Duper Jackpot, which is triple the value of the Super Jackpot earned. Upon shooting the Ramp, players will be given a certain amount of time to shoot the Super Duper Jackpot. Unlike the other jackpots, the Super Duper Jackpot is not designated by any of the six red arrows. Rather, it is a small red square behind the cross-bumper threshold in the back of the playfield. If the player fails to achieve the Super Duper Jackpot in the allotted time, he will have a chance to shoot the Ramp again to lite it. Once the Super Duper Jackpot is earned, Multiball restarts from the beginning jackpots (the Basket and the Ramp) valued at 530,000 points. It is important to note that, after the first Multiball cycle, the shot clock will not turn on for an opportunity to double, triple, or quadruple the jackpot. Instead, players will have to shoot the Basket and Ramp one time only, proceed to the Left Loop, Jump Ball, and Right Loop in any order, and continue from there.
Final Jam
After the 7 planets have been lit, players will be allowed to shoot the Basket during regular play to enter Final Jam mode. The objective of Final Jam is to shoot the Basket as many times as possible within 60 seconds to earn points. All 5 balls continuously enter the playfield upon drainage, so the game keeps going until the time runs out. The jackpot starts at 100,000 and increases whenever the balls hit other targets or pass over the lane sensors. Players can double the jackpot for a limited time by shooting either the Wabbit Hole or the Jump Ball. If the Basket is shot before the shot clock expires, the doubled jackpot will be awarded for that single shot, the jackpot will return to its previous value, and the ball will exit the Wabbit Hole or Jump Ball. If the player cannot shoot the Basket within the amount of time on the shot clock, the jackpot will still return to its previous value, and the ball will be released. However, players can triple the jackpot and gain additional time if they get one ball in the Wabbit Hole and another ball in the Jump Ball.
After the 60 seconds are up, the pinball will temporarily deactivate the flippers, bumpers, and slingshots until all 5 balls have drained. Regular play resumes with all 7 planets reset.
Other Wabbit Hole Features
In addition to the minigames associated with some of the Final Jam planets, the Wabbit Hole has plenty of other surprises.
1 on 1 Minigame
In this minigame, players must try to complete one of four permutations of the 6 main targets within 30 seconds. The first shot is worth 250,000, and each subsequent shot is 100,000 more points. The 4 possible permutations are as follows:
1. Ramp --> Basket --> Right Loop --> Jump Ball --> Left Loop --> Captive Ball
2. Jump Ball --> Basket --> Right Loop --> Ramp --> Left Loop --> Captive Ball
3. Left Loop --> Basket --> Right Loop --> Ramp --> Jump Ball --> Captive Ball
4. Right Loop --> Jump Ball --> Ramp --> Left Loop --> Basket --> Captive Ball
2 on 2 Minigame
This minigame starts off with 2 balls on the playfield. The game ends when only 1 ball remains. To begin, players must shoot either the Jump Ball or the Ramp for 100,000 points. When one of these is cleared, players must shoot the Basket within 11 seconds, as shown on the shot clock. If the Basket is not cleared within the time limit, players must shoot the Jump Ball or Ramp again for 100,000 to activate the Basket. If the Basket is cleared, 200,000 points will be earned, and a third ball will come out if the original two are still in play. Players must continue this cycle for as long as they can. All Jump Ball or Ramp shots are 100,000, while each Basket shot increases by 50,000 from the base value of 200,000 to the maximum of 500,000 and releases another ball onto the playfield. There can be a maximum of 5 balls in play at the same time for an extreme challenge.
300,000
If Bugs Bunny selects the 300,000 option, he will award 300,000 points to the player's score. This prize is awarded frequently after most of the other features have already been awarded at least once.
Defense Minigame
This minigame has 2 phases. In the first, players must shoot at least one of the 3 drop targets located next to the Monstars lights for a set jackpot. The jackpot starts at 420,000 and decreases to 100,000. If none of the drop targets are hit 5 seconds after the 100,000 appears, the minigame ends.
If the drop targets are hit in time, all 6 red arrows will flash, triggering the second phase of the minigame. Players have 20 seconds to shoot any of the 6 targets multiple times. Each shot is worth whatever jackpot was earned when the drop targets were hit.
Extra Ball Lit
This feature lites the Extra Ball in the back of the Jump Ball for an opportunity to earn an Extra Ball.
Free Game
A replay is awarded when Bugs Bunny chooses this feature. Also, an animation plays on the screen.
Full Court Minigame
This minigame is a hybrid of Multiball and Defense. Players will start with 5 balls on the playfield, and they must shoot any of the 6 main targets as indicated by the flashing red arrows to earn points. The game ends when only 1 ball remains. The jackpot starts at 200,000 and increases by 2,500 whenever a ball hits any target on the playfield or passes over the lane sensors. The maximum jackpot is 500,000, and there is no time limit.
Trivia Game
Unlike most of the other minigames, the Trivia Game is played on the screen. Players must answer one question by selecting one of the two answer choices with the left or right flipper button. Wile E. Coyote rewards 300,000 points for the correct answer. Getting the incorrect answer does not affect anything. Questions cover many things about Michael Jordan such as his height, where he played baseball, and his achievements.
Video Mode
Like the Trivia Game, Video Mode is played on the screen. Players must move the basketball hoop with the flipper buttons to the Looney Tunes character making a throw. From left to right, the order is Daffy Duck, Bugs Bunny, Michael Jordan, Sylvester the Cat, and Lola Bunny. The characters take shots slowly at the beginning but start to increase speed as the game continues. Getting all 16 shots is worth 1,000,000 points. Each missed shot costs 250,000 from the million total. A perfect run also plays an animation on the screen where Michael Jordan says, "Nuthin' but net!" The combination of shots is always the same and is as follows:
Daffy --> Michael --> Bugs --> Sylvester --> Lola --> Michael --> Daffy --> Bugs --> Michael --> Sylvester --> Lola --> Bugs --> Michael --> Daffy --> Lola --> Sylvester.