Medieval Madness

Medieval Madness
Manufacturer Williams
Release date June 1997
System Williams WPC-95
Design Brian Eddy
Programming Lyman Sheats
Artwork
  • Greg Freres
  • John Youssi
Mechanics Robert C. Friesl
Music Dan Forden
Sound Dan Forden
Voices
Production run 4,016

Medieval Madness is a Williams pinball machine released in June 1997. Designed by Brian Eddy and programmed by Lyman Sheats, it had a production run of 4,016 units.[1]

On October 18, 2013, Planetary Pinball Supply announced that they would be taking $1,000 pre-order deposits for a reproduction run of Medieval Madness.[2]

Playfield

The centerpiece of the playfield is an animated castle with a solenoid-controlled portcullis and motorized drawbridge. One of the game's primary objectives is to "destroy" six castles by hitting the castle's entryway with the pinball. A specific number of hits will lower the drawbridge, exposing the portcullis; additional hits will cause the portcullis to rise, and shooting the ball into the castle entrance generates an explosion effect on the dot matrix display, a lightshow, and a sizable award of points. Medieval Madness also features two Trolls, animated targets that are normally concealed below the playfield, but can pop up during certain gameplay modes. Other objectives can be scored by shooting the left and right ramps, the left and right orbits, and the catapult ramp in the lower left corner of the playfield. The game's ramps introduced a patented feature that would prevent a failed ramp shot from draining straight down the middle between the flippers.[3]

Gameplay

Missions: In order to get to the Wizard Mode "Battle for the Kingdom" one has to achieve the following goals:

All these goals have to be repeated several times to get the corresponding insert in front of the castle to light up.

Multiballs:

Music and voices

The music and sounds for this game were composed by Dan Forden. Much of the game's dialogue was written by Scott Adsit and Kevin Dorff, at the time members of The Second City in Chicago. Adsit also provided voice work alongside fellow Second City member Tina Fey.

Tina Fey and Andrea Farrell provided the voices of the various princesses (one of which has a "valley girl" accent), while Greg Freres provided the voices of the jousting announcer and one of the trolls, and Vince Pontarelli provided the voices of Francois Du Grimm and the other troll. The rest of the male voices, including the various knights and the Wizard were provided by Scott Adsit and Kevin Dorff.[4]

Reception

It was an immediate critical success, earning well on location and achieving widespread popularity among collectors. Demand for the machine soon outstripped supply significantly; as of 2005, Medieval Madness machines often sell for prices well in excess of $8,000,[5] sometimes much higher if in pristine condition (when purchased new in 1997, the machine cost approximately $3,000). It is considered by many to be the greatest pinball machine of all time. [6]

Digital versions

Medieval Madness is available as a licensed table of The Pinball Arcade for several platforms. Medieval Madness is also a playable table in Pinball Hall of Fame: The Williams Collection on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions. Medieval Madness was also included in the arcade game UltraPin.

See also

References

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