BATMAN

[bounceback]

anyone know how to light bruce wayne and whether there's a wizard mode? how to start/complete the added multiballs that didn't use to be there?

BB

[ROM]

dunno, but the full .

[bounceback]

AARRGH. i totally read that, felt better, went out to shanghai to rip their batman, and CANNOT figure out what i'm missing. i just feel like stern has duped me again. they seem to have the latest software because the bat signal mode is implemented and they wiped the scores yet again as of the last time i was there about a week ago, so it seems the only reason they'd do that would be after a software update. mystery occasionally gives you something different, etc.-- i managed to complete the whole wheel of characters EXCEPT for the joker, however, which i've never had a problem with before. i got bruce, completed everything, played and completed (collected super jackpots, etc.) all the modes and multiballs, including playing bat signal multiball 3 separate times. all the multiballs are basically the same, and not a huge amount of fun. the best part of batman is probably just getting the joker and scarecrow modes running together. the glitch they mention in the review, of scarecrow super jackpots not registering when the ball is in the pop bumpers, is actually a major bummer, i got denied numerous scarecrow SJ's because of that.

anyway-- according to the review, to collect the joker light you're supposed to only need to START joker multiball 3 times. i played joker multiball FIVE times and the joker light never came on. in fact i went through the whole wheel and was halfway through the joker and scarecrow multiballs again before i ended things. i made especially sure to restart joker and collect super jackpot after i wasn't sure i'd gotten it the 3rd time because i couldn't tell if that was needed to complete the light. anyway-- i ended up with only somewhere around 225mil, which is pretty much nothing. there's plenty i could've done to increase that score (shooting the gordon standups more often to light mini-mines comes to mind first,) but that alleged 100mil bonus for completing the "final battle" sure would've helped things...

will have to go back and try some more. anyone else had any better luck than this since they updated this bullshit?

[revtest]

i think the one at green dragon is updated and i seemed to have the same trouble with the joker light i also thought you just had to start it 3 times but it was not lighting, oddly though the one at tanker not updated was lighting after 3rd start so whatever that means who knows. on that note kickback showed me the scarecrow launch which came in handy imagine spider hole launch on Elvira SS same concept kinda cool word to kickback for the heads up on that.

[bounceback]

scarecrow launch? i don't know that one-- can you really hit the scarecrow shot from the launch without going through the lanes first?

[ROM]

I'm guessing yes, given that those two say so. That's a great way to start scarecrow right off the bat. But since every shot on this game is totally easy, it's not too tough to just flip a ball to the scarecrow hole within the first few seconds. I say!

Beulahland added Batman: DK. Maybe we need a second impression here to back me up, but I felt like theirs was playing a little faster/steeper than others. I actually almost had fun on it. It was still major easy, though - got 150m on my one game, without even stacking a multiball.

[revtest]

ya it works but like ROM said it such an easy shot i'd rather have the skillshot multiplier. The game is fun but I feel it gets boring to fast, to many toys not enough pinball.

[bounceback]

i'm still waiting for someone to put up a killer score deliberately using the multipliers. it's true that all the shots are easy, but i feel like now that there are more features to go for, i score worse because i'm rushing more to make shots. there are big boints available if you can get all your multipliers (commissioner gordon standups to light) and stack both multiballs with a mode. multipliers count for jackpots and super jackpots as well. plus if you do things in the right order you can get the bat signal multiball after each of the other multiballs, so at least three times if you make it all the way to the end of the game, which i haven't done. i have a hard time making the batpod hurry up consistently, but luckily it's easy to relight. it's also pretty safe to pass on this game to set up shots. for some reason i still end up not having the batman standups lit to start all the modes very often. i want to see someone rip this game a new one, i was getting lots higher scores before the software update and now i enjoy the game more.

[bounceback]

i'm having lower scores on batman again. if the tilt is set tight on this game it gets harder again. i hate that it's so bouncy. i just had a breakthrough on my strategy on indy, so i'm going back to batman to see if i can get more consistent.

basically i just try to lock 2 balls on joker, get the batmobile lit (batpod hurry up), and then start scarecrow, on every ball, ideally more than once.) start joker during scarecrow multiball. shoot multipliers as much as possible during MB to build them up. then run batsignal challenge to batsignal multiball, then start over. i also go for batman targets during MB to try to get modes lit. preferably have a mode running during the MBs. repeat ad nauseum.

my problem lately is that on a lot of machines the joker shot is a drain shot, if the game's not totally level, or if it's having problems locking balls. the scarecrow crane can be a risky one too, at times. if the tilt is sensitive, it's not nearly as easy to save the balls that are often around the outlanes or headed down the middle. on a machine with a more liberal tilt, you can play forever, because the ball rarely gets blasted out the outlanes. it's easier to save balls headed for the outlanes with a nudge than it is on other machines. on indy i figured out a few bouncepasses and things that don't put the ball in harm's way nearly as often. i'm trying to figure out what these are on batman.

i noticed you can dead flip when the ball is coming out of the orbits without too much hassle. and it's possible to back hand the joker and scarecrow shots, sometimes even the left loop to the mode start can be backhanded. i'm draining often when the ball goes into the pop bumpers, and instead of exiting the right side of the bumpers and coming from the orbit, it gets shot out the inside SDTM. bonus is too big to tilt away most of the time, so i'm less likely to go for it if my bonus is big and i know the game is giving warnings. also the ramp shot is easy, but a drain shot if it's off target.

last-- what are people's strategies during multiball? i'm trying to get better at controlling multiball and picking out targets, so i'm working on trapping multiple balls. on batman, if you're lucky and everything stays in play you can score big, but with all the riccochets of the stacked multiball, sometimes i lose a lot of balls early and then it can feel like i wasted my big scoring chance. has anyone tried cradling a couple of balls and playing with just one? is it better to do this with the right or the left flipper, or does it matter? i tried this on indy during ark multiball and it does help-- since jackpots are switch based, if you can stack up some balls on one flipper and just shoot either spinner with the other, then hit the center, you can keep that multiball going a lot longer than usual. obviously there's a risk of knocking all your stacked up balls down the drain, but getting a few more jackpots than usual is a worthwhile payoff. i'm doing this with some success on FG during FART MB, same idea. stack balls on the right flipper, hit the spinner with the left for jackpots. you can back hand the ramp, too, so if you manage to get crazy chris running before FART, then only shoot with the left flipper, you get simultaneous spinner switch hits, crazy chris jackpots, and setup the evil monkey jackpot. this is even bigger if you're ALSO running a mode like sexy party or good ol boys where lois is a jackpot shot.

what do you thinK?

[Dropshot]

I've got pretty much the same strategy for both games, Batman you need both MB's going at the same time to do any real damage to the game. I am not sure if you have noticed but during the bat signal MB you need to hit scarecrow, center ramp and joker and then finally wrap it bat around to start, but if you just keep hitting those three shots over and over it will increase the jackpot, I have often told myself to keep going for a higher jackpot but get afraid of draining and losing the MB all together. I am not sure what it tops out at but it starts at like 300,000 or so. If it were possible to get that MB up to say 1 mil I have no doubt it could easily turn in to a 50 mil pay off. I have yet to complete the game, I have heard that it just gives you 75 mil, is that true?

On Family guy the only real way to get a decent score in my mind is to have Sexy Party, or Good Ol' Boys going during a multiball, and crazy chris helps a lot too. I think that game frustrates me because you never really know when you are going to get your multiball, I am never able to look up and see how many hits to the can to start the next bonus and then hit it into the bumpers and get the right one, fart multiball is kinda random because its not always easy to go knock down 4 drop shots 4 times, like it is Stugots in Sopranos, or Joker in DK. Not to mention Stewie, there have been so many times when I have good modes going and I think okay, now all I need to do is put it into stewie and then make 24 shots in time without draining and I could have a great game. And you don't get a second chance at those modes.

I came home and Sara asked me how everything went and I said it was good but I learned alot. She then said what do you mean "but"? Well I basically learned I am playing pinball completely the wrong way, and I have gotten away with it for understanding the games and have good hand eye coordination. I play the game way to fast off of shitty bounces just knowing i can hit that ramp and do most of the time, but they are risky low percentage shots and they do bite me in the ass. Slowing the game down and concentrating on one thing at a time or two depending on wanting to switch flippers all the time is the way to go, I think. In MM for example, the way i put that score up at alleyway with no peasant ramps was the hurry up awards. After completing a shot consecutive times it awards the MB light. Here after until you start the MB every time you complete the shot entirely you get a hurry up that counts down starting at 1mil, if you complete it or any other again ( i am sure i am preaching to the choir here) it goes up to a 3 mil count down, then 5 i believe, 8.5, and then 12. Which is as far as I have dared to go. But if you can dial in the peasants ramp, or say peasants and damsel to keep a flow why not max it out or just keep going with it. I think I will head down to Ship this evening and see what I can do. I love playing MM at a fast pace never catching or passing, (which is one game I think you can get away with on because of the ramps and center castle, a lot like Attack, or Scared) it will be interesting to see what can be done if I just slow it down and take my time a bit more. Who knows maybe it will back fire, I can be very impatient and I like blinking lights!!

[ROM]

I'm at work at the mo' and can't type much. But I definitely wouldn't go so far as to say you've been playing the wrong way. You frequently put up huge scores. And to do that you aren't simply shooting react shots and hitting whatever's lit.

It's kind of like bowling. I bowl with zero spin - just straight rolls - but I can aim well and bowl 200 games (not often... but you know what I mean). But to get to the next level you need, I suppose, to master spin.

With pinball, I think a big part is to simplify things and learn all the quick and individual ways to get lots of boints. If there's a quicker way to get to wizard mode, just focus only on that. If completing a hurry-up is risky and isn't going to get you closer, then don't even worry about it. That's why so many of the A class guys focus on trapping during multiballs - because while it's possible to get a bunch of jackpots while wacking all the balls all over the place, there's really only one or two shots that you need to hit in order to light and get jackpot. And it's simpler to hit one or two shots with just one ball. We get excited when all the balls are bouncing all over the place and hitting everything, but we also lose track of what we're going for.

One thing I like about NBA Fastbreak is that there aren't superfluous flashy shots to distract us from the main goal - hitting the basket. That turns a lot of people off, though, because it makes it seem like they aren't doing anything when they aren't making baskets. I think we need to look at more games through the Fastbreak filter. Filter out the spinners and little targets, and simplify the board to the key shots.

[Dropshot]

thats a very good point, I tried on MM tonight to get the hurry up castle bonus as high as i could, collect on 12 a couple times, 16 and drained. I was able to get to 70-100 mil a couple times but never was really able to beat the game or come close to making the board, while it can pay off it can't always be the thing to go for. I was taking 15-20 made shots to build it up only to have it drain and have nothing to show for it. If i would have just collected the Madness I could have had it relight with those shots and well on my way into the mid 100's.

[deathsave]

i have never focused on stacking hurry-ups in MM, although i definitely see how it could work if the ramp shots are solid. i wanna give it a shot if i find one where i don't have to default to castle rape.

[bounceback]

i never knew that you were collecting the hurryups BEFORE collecting the madness MB-- is that the only way stacking the hurryups work? and does it only work if you only stack one specific hurryup? and does it reset if you collect the hurryup, or keep going? i've never tried this strategy. i heard you say that was what you were doing but i didn't understand it.

let me get it straight, here's a couple of questions: i get hurryups most often on joust and peasant-- do you have to light the hurryup and NOT collect it, then relight it by shooting the joust loops another three times, not collect it, and so on to advance the hurryup bonus? or, do you light the hurryup, collect, then relight, it goes up, collect that, then relight, collect, and keep going?

next question: does this only work BEFORE you collect madness? because i never really went for hurryups until AFTER starting madness. if you don't light absolutely everything before you start (i often fail to light catapult or damsel,) then after you run the multiball everything becomes lit for hurryups when you repeat them. i frequently play a madness consisting of joust, peasant, and maybe one other (though i always try to set them all up at once,) and try to wait to start trolls at the same time as madness-- then start killing the super jackpots, finish trolls, and get the multiball restarted with a new ball saver and the added troll madness, to extend the MB. if i get a bad bounce and start madness with only one mode lit, i just go for castles. but anyway, after you run madness, everything you had lit for madness becomes lit for a hurryup every time you complete it AFTER the multiball, until you play royal madness and start over. since i've never paid attention, do you know if the values of the hurryups continue to stack AFTER the madness also? i would assume they work the same way, so there's no reason to avoid playing the multiball if it's risky. i've never tried just going for hurryups because i eventually drain off the castle. i don't know what i'm doing wrong there, either-- i've never gotten castle crusher, even on games where all i'm trying to focus on is shooting the castle. do you get a better bounce if you shoot from the left vs. the right? or does it not matter, or does it just depend on the machine? the center shot scares me on that game, so i usually try to light everything for madness, play madness, play royal madness, finish and collect the EB if i can, then try to relight everything again. this is how i've gotten my best games, but my high on MM is only 130, and i've never played battle for the kingdom.

lastly: has anyone tried or seen anyone cradle balls on one flipper on MM? if so, what are they shooting for? i can see the benefit of this if you're going for castles only-- also, if you're playing castle multiball and you have super jackpots lit, it makes sense to hold balls on the left and hit the super with the right, but it's a tough shot-- and don't you have to relight super by shooting both ramps? seems like the best way to do it is if you're down to two balls, and you shoot, for example, peasant ramp with the right, IMMEDIATELY shoot damsel with the ball you're holding on the left, then roll-pass the ball coming down the left habitrail to the right flipper, and hit the SJ. this still leaves a lot of bouncing balls in play, because you have the other ball coming down out of the bumpers, and the ball that just hit the super coming down from the left, so it seems tricky. i don't know-- do you think it's worth it to try to hold balls during multiball in this game?

BB

[bounceback]

also i have to agree with ROM, aaron-- no way you've been playing pinball "wrong." i'm scared to think of what you're going to do with your new knowledge. you're better than i am at making shots without even thinking about it. i'm sure when you combine that ability to actually aim (which i suck at,) with a new ability to totally control the ball, you'll be deadly.

[Dropshot]

To start the hurry-ups a certain shot needs to be collected once (the playfield will be light for MB), once it is light its a go for hurry-ups, ideally you would have all of them light so you can use all of them to your advantage. Finish all 3-4 shots on a target and the hurry up will start at a million, DO NOT collect, finish 3-4 shots on the same or ANY other shot to make it go up to 3 mil. Once you get it up to say 5.5 or 8.5 it gets a lot easier because you have more time. The orbitals are nice because it only takes three from either side and I can normally hit the in succession, but i usually just use damsel and peasants back and forth. I have the game pretty dialed in where i will only miss 1-3 shots in the 20 or so to get it up to 16 mil. Then when ever you feel like it just hit the castle to collect. It will also count as 4 or 5 or whatever hurry-ups on your way to 10 for that EB. Also, it gives an extra ball at 40, which I haven't gotten to yet but i have had 28, so I am getting closer. Other EB's in the game. VIDEO MODE- everytime I have had VM it has given me an extra ball, so easy. To start it just light all 4 lane lights 10 or 12 times or something, very simple, then it is randomly award by Merlin, but you will always get it. Castle MB, 1st one for completing the 5 ramp shots and the final super jackpot shot. The second time around on CM you need to hit all 5 ramp shots, the jackpot shot and then every shot on the board to recieve another EB. RM just make every shot twice, and I am sure we all know that destroying the second castle as well as randomly from Merlin will do the trick as well. I tried stalling my MB last night and it just seemed stupid to me on this game, the shots are to easy and I just shoot for peasants and damsel which bring it right back to the flippers. Another thing about what Cayle was doing during the Arc MB. He had all the balls on the right side and was shooting the ramp from the left, but i know it was his intention to slowly start passing all the balls over to get all of them going up that ramp. How cool would that be to have 3 balls making that same shot, say 10 times each.

[ROM]

dropshot: On the MM hurry-ups, if you have one lit (say, at 1 million), do you have to light the next one before the timer runs out in order for them to stack?

That's possibly the stupidest question ever... but I just want to be sure!

[Dropshot]

yes, and that is why it gets a lot easier the more you build up, you just have more time to get them all going. And once again, damsel and peasant is the easiest way to do it, the occasional catapult brings it back to the flipper as well but is a risky shot, and looping the orbitals is pretty quick too. I am going to go over to the Ship again tonight around 4 or so and probably be there for a few hours if any one wants to join me. Scared Stiff is another good ball control game to practice as well. I can try to show my method on getting the spider wheel too, not to mention the 6 games right across the street.

[PinBrawler]

we just got a batman back into the shop from Belmont Inn and I looked at the version and I think we are behind 2-3 versions, so I will update QE's batman and I believe Mike is going to put the machine at Triple Nickle on Belmont.

[bounceback]

awesome, does that mean that spiderman is going in at billy ray's? please please please?