Gameplay
After starting a game, you have a choice of "Regular" or "Novice" mode. "Regular" is the normal 3-ball arrangement. "Novice" is timed play; the player has 2 minutes when any drained balls are autoplunged, and after the 2 minutes expires, the game is over when the ball(s) on the field drains.
You can start a game in "League" mode by holding the left flipper button in while starting a game, and "Wizard" mode by holding the right flipper button in.
There are 9 Missions; after doing all of them, Master Alarm is lit at the right saucer. The Missions are:
- Orbiter
- CO2
- Manual Burn
- Rocket 2-Ball
- Moon's Gravity
- Under Volt
- Life Support
- Docking
- Lite Extra Ball
Once the 9 missions have finished, the wizard mode Master Alarm will start. It's a 40-second frenzy where every target scores 1 million and adds 1 million to a Jackpot that is lit at the Blastoff ramp. The Jackpot does not reset after collecting it, and does not have a limit. This round can be worth many points if the player has mastered the ramp shot.
Multiball modes
Apollo 13 has a number of pinball modes:
- Regular Multiball (5-balls)
- 13-ball (13 balls): When the 8 BLASTOFF letters (shown below the score display) are completed (they then flash), the next multiball will be 13 BALL.
When 13-ball starts, the bottom post raises and stays up for about 10 seconds. Five balls are launched, and after about 5 seconds the 8 balls in the 8-ball holder are released, all at once. There is no ball saver. During 13-ball, the Rocket is lit for Jackpots. After a Jackpot, the bottom post is not raised, increasing the difficulty of play.
After 5 Jackpots have been collected, the Super 13-Ball Jackpot is lit.
A glossary of terms, commonly used in discussing pinball machines.
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. As of April 3, 2022, the Pinside pinball community lists it as the #2 highest-ranked pinball machine ; many adherents consider it the greatest of all time.
The Addams Family is a pinball machine released in March 1992. It was designed by Pat Lawlor and Larry DeMar and released by Midway. It was based on the 1991 film of the same name, and features custom speech by the stars of the film, Anjelica Huston and Raul Julia. It is the best-selling solid state pinball machine of all time with 20,270 units sold.
Star Trek: The Next Generation is a widebody pinball game, designed by Steve Ritchie and released in November 1993 by Williams Electronics. It was part of WMS' SuperPin series, and was based on the TV series. It is the only pinball machine that features three separate highscore-lists. Apart from the regular highscore-list and the buy-in-list, it also features a reminiscence to The Machine: Bride of Pin*Bot billionaires club. It is also the third pinball game overall based on the Star Trek franchise, following the 1979 pinball game by Bally, and the 1991 game by Data East, and preceding the 2013 pinball game by Stern.
Twilight Zone is a widebody pinball machine, designed by Pat Lawlor and based on the TV series of the same name. It was first released in 1993 by Midway. This game is part of WMS' SuperPin line of widebody games alongside Star Trek: The Next Generation and Indiana Jones: The Pinball Adventure.
Cirqus Voltaire is a 1997 pinball game, designed by John Popadiuk and released by Williams Electronics Games. The theme involves the player performing many different marvels in order to join the circus. Some of the game's distinctive features include a neon light running along the right-hand ramp, a pop bumper that rises up from the middle of the playfield at certain times, and a magnet at the top of the left ramp that can catch balls and divert them into the locks. The most notable feature is the Ringmaster, a head that rises at certain times and taunts the player.
Attack from Mars is a 1995 pinball game designed by Brian Eddy, and released by Midway.
The Getaway: High Speed II is a 1992 pinball game by Steve Ritchie. It is a sequel to 1986's High Speed.
Indiana Jones: The Pinball Adventure is a 1993 widebody pinball game designed by Mark Ritchie and released by Williams. It was based on the Indiana Jones movies. It was also part of WMS' SuperPin series of widebody games.
Demolition Man is a Williams pinball machine released in February 1994. It is based on the motion picture of the same name. It is part of WMS' SuperPin line of widebody games.
Fish Tales is a fishing-themed pinball game released by Williams in 1992. It is one of the top 20 most produced pinball machines of all time, selling more than 13,000 units.
The Flintstones is a pinball game released by Williams in 1994 and based on the movie of the same name which is based on 1960–1966 animated television series of the same name. This machine is not to be confused with another pinball machine, a redemption game, based on the TV series and also released in 1994, manufactured by Innovative Concepts in Entertainment (ICE).
No Fear: Dangerous Sports is a 1995 pinball game designed by Steve Ritchie and released by Williams. It is based on the clothing line. This game has an extreme sports theme and features skydiving, free climbing, water skiing, extreme skiing, supercross and car racing. This was the last game Steve Ritchie designed for Williams.
Star Wars Trilogy is a 1997 pinball machine released by Sega Pinball. It is based in the Star Wars original trilogy. It was released in the year of the release of the special editions of the films. The backbox features an optional lenticular lens 3D image, a pinball industry first.
Monster Bash is a pinball machine produced by Williams. The game features some Universal Monsters including The Creature from the Black Lagoon, The Wolf Man, Frankenstein's monster, the Bride of Frankenstein, Dracula and The Mummy.
Creature from the Black Lagoon is a pinball machine designed by John Trudeau and released by Midway. It is loosely based on the movie of the same name. The game's theme is 1950s 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.
There have been four pinball adaptations of the film Jurassic Park franchise: a physical table released by Data East the same year the film came out, Sega's 1997 The Lost World which is based on the second movie of the series, a virtual table developed by Zen Studios on the franchise's 25th anniversary and a new physical table released by Stern Pinball a year after. All four tables behave differently.
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is a 1995 pinball machine released by Sega Pinball. It is based in the film of the same name.
The Who's Tommy Pinball Wizard is a pinball machine based on the rock musical The Who's Tommy, based upon the band's 1969 rock opera album of the same name, which was also adapted into a 1975 motion picture. The machine features twenty-one songs from the musical sung by original Broadway cast members. The game was designed by Joe Kaminkow, Ed Cebula, Lonnie D. Ropp, and Lyman F. Sheats Jr. The machine was built using Solid-state electronics type components. The backbox of the machine has a dot matrix display with animations by Kurt Andersen and Markus Rothkranz. 4,700 machines were manufactured by Data East in January 1994.
The Champion Pub is a pinball game released by Williams Electronics Games in 1998. The theme of the game revolves around boxing in a 1920s pub.
