07 Attack From Mars pinball machine

Attack From Mars

Rules to Bally's "Attack From Mars"

By Brian Dominy

Last Modified October 21, 1997

Introduction

This is yet another rules sheet for Attack from Mars, a Bally/Williams pinball machine released in late winter 1996. I originally wrote it for my own use, but decided that maybe others would be interested in it as well. Your comments and suggestions for improvements are most certainly welcome.

Attack From Mars was released immediately after Whodunnit, and early versions of the software support the novice mode feature. This has since been removed. AFM continues to support player-enabled tournament mode. Hold down a flipper for several seconds, wait for the message about tournament mode, and then start the game to enable tournament mode settings. The software supports the Extra Ball buy-in, even though the Buy-in button has been removed. (If you find a machine with an Extra Ball buy-in button, it is one of the early prototypes!)

Credits

Design: Brian Eddy, who formerly created The Shadow, has most recently given us Medieval Madness, and worked with Mark Ritchie before his departure on Indiana Jones.

Software: Lyman Sheats, former world champion and former Sega employee.

Playfield Layout

Click here for a large picture of the playfield. (Courtesy of the Williams pinball homepage)

• Left Outlane: Standard. This and the other inlanes/outlane each has a yellow lamp with no text; completing all four lights Stroke of Luck.
• Left Inlane: Standard. Balls can roll up the inlane beyond the switch and find the outlane.
• Left Slingshot: Standard. Scores a whopping 3,570 points.
• M-A-R Targets: A three-bank of standups with those fat green plastic covers, located along the lower left side of the playfield. A martian figure stands above this and every other martian target bank; during Martian Attack, these martians bounce like the "Boogie Men" from Elvira.
• Left Loop: Also called the Capture Loop. This is a TA shot, and has three yellow lamps to indicate your progress towards completing it. It is also a jackpot/Super jackpot shot, and a Combo shot. It is a single rollover switch. The ball leads over the Bonus X lanes, where it may be stopped or it may continue on out the right loop if the right gate is open.
• Left Ramp: Also called the Big-O-Beam ramp. Has lamps for the same features as the left loop, except the lamps are orange instead of yellow. It has an entry gate at the bottom, and a made switch at the top. It returns the ball to the left flipper. This is the easier ramp of the two.
• Lock Ramp/Hole: Normally this is a ramp shot which feeds the right habitrail and returns the ball to the right flipper. When Lock is lit, a diverter opens and catches shots, sending them into the Lock hole. The Lock hole is just a popper that kicks balls out onto the left ramp habitrail, returning the ball to the left flipper. This shot can be lit for lock 1, lock 2, lock 3, Light Lock, a Combo, or a Jackpot/Super Jackpot. The ramp entrance is narrow and steep, and requires a solid shot to make it all the way. The ramp has a gate, and shares its made switch with the right ramp.
• T Target: Like the other martian standups, this one is between the lock ramp and the saucer. A martian figure stands above it.
• Forcefield/Saucer: There is a motorized 3-bank of standups, like in "Whodunnit", that can raise and lower. When lowered, it reveals behind it a drop target in front of a hole, and two standups on either side of it. The saucer targets are used during Attack Waves. The Forcefield targets are also used during Strobe Multiball.
• I Target: On the right side of the forcefield, just to the left of the Stroke of Luck scoop, with another martian figure above it.
• Stroke of Luck Scoop: A narrow scoop, at an angle similar to that of Final Draw in World Cup Soccer, but much farther back. It can be shot from the front directly, or balls may fall in here from the back when exiting the jet bumpers. The game sometimes discriminates between front and back shots; it is a back shot if a jet bumper or bonus X lane was last touched, and a front shot otherwise. (This can be fooled by airborne balls.) The shot can be lit for a pseudorandom Stroke of Luck award (yellow light), an Extra Ball (orange light), Martian Attack (white light), and Rule the Universe (blue light).
• Jet Bumpers: The usual three in formation similar to those on World Cup Soccer, lit by GI and not controlled lamps. These are used during the Super Jets feature. Balls can exit below into the Stroke of Luck scoop, or between the two rightmost bumpers into the right loop. Also, balls very likely will enter back into the Bonus X Lanes a few times while balls are a-popping.
• Bonus X Lanes: Two rollovers directly above the jets, that can be fed by either loop. These advance the bonusmultiplier, advance the scoring of the jet bumpers, and award the regular Skill Shot.
• Right Ramp: Also called the Tractor Beam. Has lamps for the same features as the left ramp. It dumps the ball onto the right habitrail and sends the ball back to the right flipper. This is the smallest ramp, and reminds me of the right ramp from Johnny Mnemonic. It has a gate switch, and shares its made switch with the lock ramp.
• Right Loop: Also called the Atomic Blaster loop. Has lamps for the same features as the left loop. It sends the ball over the Bonus X lanes, and if the left gate is open, the ball should whiz out the other side; otherwise, the ball will land in the lanes/jet bumpers.
• A-N Targets: Two more standups along the lower right side of the playfield, with a martian figure above them.
• Right Slingshot: Standard.
• Right Inlane: Standard.
• Right Outlane: Standard.
• Plunger Lane: Autoplunger only. Sends balls into the top of the right loop, towards the bonus X lanes.
• Launch Button: Obviously, it launches the ball, but it can also be lit for a Martian Bomb, and will flash when it is available. It is also used during the Video Mode, but does not flash then.

Objectives

The main objective of AFM is to Rule the Universe. In order to begin this feature, you must complete 6 objectives: (1) Collect at least one Super Jackpot. (2) Start Total Annihilation at least once. (3) Start Martian Attack Multiball at least once. (4) Conquer Mars by completing all 6 Attack Waves. (5) Start Super Jets, by completing a certain number of jet bumpers. (6) Complete at least one 5-Way Combo.

Your progress towards completion of these six features is denoted by six blue lights just above the flippers. When the sixth feature is completed, Rule the Universe is lit at the Stroke of Luck hole. If any multiball is in progress, Rule the Universe will not be lit until multiball finishes. Shoot the SoL hole to start. See the section on Rule the Universe for details on that feature.

Skill Shots

There are two skill shots available at the start of each ball, and immediately after Ruling the Universe. Pressing the launch button without pressing the left flipper button will launch the ball into the Bonus X Lanes, and one of the two lanes will be flashing. Use the flippers to switch the flashing lane. Passing the ball through the flashing lane scores a normal Skill Shot, worth 10M points and +5X to your bonus multiplier. Each successive Skill Shot is worth 10M more points than the previous.

Holding the left flipper button down while pressing the launch button qualifies you for a Super Skill Shot. The left loop gate will raise and allow the ball to whiz pass the Bonus X lanes and exit down the left loop. Shooting any ramp or loop will award 50M points and spot all 3 Total Annihilation lamps for that shot. Shooting any Forcefield target will score 50M and lower the Forcefield. Shooting the saucer hole, the Stroke of Luck hole, or the lock ramp/hole awards nothing for the skill shot. The value of the Super Skill Shot is fixed and does not increase. It can be scored on a shot even if all 3 TA shots have already been completed. The Hurry-Up associated with completing the third TA shot is not awarded when it is completed by the Super Skill Shot.

There is a brief ball saver available at the beginning of each ball. Scoring a Super Skill Shot, or making a shot which does not award Super Skill Shot, turns off the ball saver immediately. When going for the normal Skill Shot, the ball saver remains active as long as the ball is in the jets/bonus X lanes and remains on a little longer after the SoL kickout. The display will read "Ball Saved / Return To Battle" and the quote "Return to battle, soldier" will signify that a ball is being returned into play.

A jet lane will be flashing even if Super Skill Shot is selected. If Super Skill Shot is selected but the ball does not make it all the way around and lands in that flashing jet lane, a normal Skill Shot will be awarded. If the autoplunger is really weak and the ball doesn't even make it over the bumper area at all, then the Skill Shot will remain lit for about 5 seconds and you can collect it during that time by shooting either of the loops to get to the lit lane.

When any Skill Shot is awarded by traversing the flashing lane, that lane is also lit towards advancement of the Bonus X on the same shot.

Total Annihilation

Four shots, the two ramps and the two loops, each have 3 lights in front of them. The left loop shots are labelled "Capture". The left ramp shots are labelled "Big-O-Beam". The right ramp shots are labelled "Tractor Beam". The right loop shots are labelled "Atomic Blaster".

At the beginning of the game and immediately after Total Annihilation, all 12 of these lamps will be turned off, and the next lamp to be awarded will flash. Making a shot lights the flashing lamp and flashes the next lamp in sequence. The first shot is worth 20M; the second is worth 25M; and the third is worth 30M. These awards are available during regular, non-multiball play, except that they are available during Martian Multiball.

Cow Video Mode can be started by watching the animations on the Big-O-Beam and Tractor Beam; see "Cows" for more details.

Making the third lamp on any given shot starts a Hurry-Up sequence. The saucer/forcefield is lit for 100M for a brief time, and then rapidly starts to count down, to a minimum of 25M. Shoot the saucer or forcefield (depending on whether or not the forcefield is up or down) to collect the Hurry-Up value.

The third shot to either loop will open the controlled gate to allow shots to that loop to exit out the other gate. This starts as soon as the third shot is made, and remains in effect until Total Annihilation is started, or Super Jets is started. The choice of skill shot is the only other overriding effect on this behavior.

After a shot has been completed three times, until Total Annihilation begins, shooting that shot again scores a "Fleeing Bonus" of 10M.

Starting another Hurry-Up while Hurry-Up is already in progress increases the value of the Hurry-Up to 300M; starting a third increases it to 500M; and starting all four simultaneously awards 1B immediately and also starts Total Annihilation. In general, when the last of the four TA shots is completed, the Hurry-Up is automatically awarded without having to shoot the saucer or forcefield, and Total Annihilation Multiball begins. The Hurry-Up does not count down any faster if more than one is lit, so when two or three are running concurrently, you have plenty of time to collect it.

During Total Annihilation, the four shots are all lit for jackpots throughout the round. The jackpot value begins at 50M and increases by 5M each time a jackpot is collected. In addition, an Annihilation Jackpot is lit at the lock ramp whose value increases each time a jackpot is collected. After collected, the Annihilation Jackpot returns to its base value. If no jackpots have been added into the Annihilation Jackpot, then shooting the lock ramp awards a regular Jackpot like the other four shots.

Each successive start of Total Annihilation starts with a base value of 25M more than before. For example, the second Total Annihilation starts at 75M per shot.

Total Annihilation is a four-ball multiball. Play continues until down to one ball. The forcefield cannot be lowered during TA. Regular multiball cannot be started during TA. Combos cannot be scored either. Also, the controlled gates remain closed so that all loop shots are kept in the bumper area during Total Annihilation. The maximum Annihilation Award is 200M.

When TA ends, the 12 TA lamps all reset, and you can begin progress towards another Total Annihilation.

Saucer Attack Waves

There are five countries under attack: the U.S., Italy, Germany, France, and England. You must first defend these five countries against the Martians; then in the final attack wave, you Conquer Mars yourself. When an Attack Wave is not in progress, pressing either flipper button will change the next country to be saved, which will be flashing.

The artifacts under attack are:

At the beginning of the game, or immediately after an Attack Wave is completed, the Forcefield will be raised. Shoot the three Forcefield targets to lower it and reveal the Saucer behind it. The Forcefield can also be lowered by a Super Skill Shotor a Stroke of Luck award. On normal difficulty settings, shooting the center Forcefield target when it is already lit will spot one of the other two targets.

When the saucer is revealed, shooting the drop target or the two side standup targets scores hits on the flying saucer. (If the drop target is broken, shooting the hole behind the target will score hits instead.) After a certain number of hits, the drop target will remain down, and you can shoot the hole to destroy the saucer. Destroying the saucer saves the country and light that country's lamp permanently.

You can score multiple hits on a single shot; the display will show the number of hits and the total number of damage points scored.

For the first Attack Wave, it takes 4 hits at 50M each to open the saucer, and destroying the saucer scores 200M. On each successive Attack Wave, the number of hits goes up by 4, the value of each hit goes up by 10M, and the bonus for destroying the saucer goes up by 100M. For the fifth Attack Wave, that means 90M per hit, and 20 hits to destroy the saucer for 600M.

An Extra Ball is lit when the second Saucer is defeated. Shoot the Stroke of Luck hole to collect.

Shooting either of the two standups when the saucer is open scores 5M.

If you are in a multi-player game, and you had the saucer hole revealed on your last ball, and on the next ball, the player before you drains with the drop target up, it will remain up for you as well. Hitting it will score 5M like the side targets and reveal the hole (again).

After completing the first five Attack Waves, Conquer Mars is next. Open the Forcefield as before. This time, the drop target will remain down, and you must shoot the hole 10 times to Conquer Mars. Each shot is worth 100M (consistent with the scoring as before), and the final shot conquers Mars and scores 2.5B.

You can only Conquer Mars once per game. For the rest of the game, the drop target will remain up, and hits on the drop target (and not the side standups) will score 100M. The Forcefield will remain down for the rest of the game unless Strobe Multiball is started. The blue Conquer Mars lamp remains lit after Rule the Universe is finished, so you only need to collect the other five awards to start Rule the Universe a second time.

Multiball

To start regular multiball, you must lock three balls at the lock hole. Depending on the difficulty level of the machine, it will take a certain number of lock ramp shots to open the lock hole. These rules will describe default settings first.

For the first multiball, shoot the lock ramp once to light locks one, two, and three at the hole; the next three shots will go to the hole, with the third starting multiball. After multiball #1, you must shoot the lock ramp once per lock. The Stroke of Luckaward "Light Lock" will do whatever would have happened if you had actually shot the lock ramp.

Balls aren't actually locked; the same ball is immediately returned to the player and merely a count is made of the number of locks. It isn't possible to steal or lose locked balls.

When ball three is locked, multiball begins. The ball is popped from the lock hole and two more balls are launched into play automatically. Five shots, the four TA shots and the lock ramp, are all lit for jackpots, and each can be collected only once. The first jackpot is worth 60M; the value increases by 10M per jackpot.

As balls are autolaunched, some legitimate shots to the right loop may not score jackpots.

When all five shots have been made, a Super Jackpot is lit at the left loop. Shooting the Super Jackpot scores 250M points and relights all five jackpots again. However, the Super Jackpot moves about every 5 seconds, sweeping across the five shots from left to right, then right to left, etc. Every time it moves you will hear a distinctive "blip" sound. Once collected, the five Jackpots relight, and it all starts over again. The jackpot value continues to increase by 10M per shot (so after the first Super Jackpot, it is worth 110M) until it maxes at 200M. Play continues in this fashion until down to one ball. The second Super Jackpot per game scores 500M; the third is worth 750M; and then it maxes out at 1B. On some versions of the software, it maxes at 750M and then returns to 250M for the next Super Jackpot.

If Super Jackpot is lit when multiball ends, it will continue to be lit as a "Last Chance" for another 10 seconds and continue to move as well. There is a short grace period at the end of the 10 seconds during which the Super Jackpot can still be collected.

Also, there is a very brief period before and after the Super moves that either of the two shots will score the Super Jackpot. In other words, if you shoot the next shot just before it moves, or you shoot the previous shot just after it moves, you will still get the Super Jackpot.

Even more, there is a short grace period at the end of multiball in which you can still collect one, or even two regular jackpots. If you manage to collect your fifth jackpot this way, you still get the "Last Chance" 10 seconds for a chance at the Super Jackpot.

On default 5-ball play, you must shoot the Lock Ramp to light each Lock separately for each Lock, like the second multiball on 3-ball settings.

You can continue to collect damage points on the Saucer during this and all other multiballs, except Strobe Multiball. After destroying the saucer, however, the Forcefield will raise, and you cannot begin the next Attack Wave until the multiball ends. On newer software revisions, there is a trick to be tried here: it is possible for a second ball to get stuck behind the Forcefield as it is raising. You can attempt this to park a ball out of the way during the multiball. When all other balls drain, a ball search will occur in about fifteen seconds and lower the Forcefield, returning the ball into play. Be careful, though, as it has a tendency to go straight down the middle.

Even better, while the ball is trapped behind the Forcefield, the Saucer drop target remains down (it is reset only when the next Attack Wave is started). If you manage to newton the ball into the saucer hole, by hitting the Forcefield with a second ball, the game will automatically spot the next Attack Wave. I have never done this personally, so I do not know if this works during any multiball, what points it awards, and if it spots Conquer Mars.

Jet Bumpers

At the beginning of each ball, jet bumpers score 1M each. Each time the bonus multiplier is increased, the jet value increases by 50K for the duration of the ball. +5X bonus increases the value by 250K. I am not sure if the jet value is held between balls when the bonus multiplier is held.

After 100 jet hits, Super Jets is awarded. The jets will score 3M each for the rest of the ball. At the beginning of the next ball, Super Jets will go unlit, and it take 125 hits to get Super Jets again. The third time will take 150, etc.

Super Jets tends to happen naturally over the course of a good game, especially when there are lots of multiballs.

Once Super Jets is active, left and right loops are always held in the Bonus X lanes, and never loop all the way around. This makes it harder to collect Combos, but it does allow you to score lots of points off the jets.

After finishing Rule the Universe, the blue Super Jets lamp will remain lit (on latest ROM levels) if Super Jets is still active, to allow you to start Rule the Universe again on the same ball. In that case, at the end of the ball in which Rule the Universe was started, the Super Jets lamp will be turned off. If Super Jets was started on a different ball, then the lamp is turned off as soon as Rule the Universe ends, and you can start Super Jets again on that same ball.

Combos

Consecutive ramp/loop shots during single-ball play are counted as Combos. Combos can be scored on any of the ramps, loops, or the lock hole. A 2-Way combo scores 25M, a 3-Way scores 30M, and so on. There is no known maximum. Continuous shots to the same loop are especially satisfying.

If a loop shot stops in the Bonus X lanes, the Combo sequence is stopped. The Combo sequence continues on loop shots only when all 3 TA lamps are complete (the third shot counts, too) and the controlled gate is open to allow the ball to exit the other side of the loop, and when Super Jets is not running.

The combo shots remain lit for a fixed time interval regardless of any other shots made in the interim.

Combos are not available during any multiball unless Martian Multiball is the only multiball running.

Stroke of Luck

The scoop is lit to award "Stroke of Luck" at the beginning of the game, and remains lit across balls. Stroke of Luck can be relit by completing the four rollover lights in the inlanes and outlanes. Use the flipper buttons to move the lights left and right (each button moves the lights in a different direction), so that balls will roll in an unlit lane, which will then light up. When all four are lit, they all go unlit and Stroke of Luck becomes lit. If Stroke of Luck is already lit, nothing happens; the award is not stackable.

The number of times the rollovers are completed is counted across the game (regardless of how many times you actually collect the Stroke of Luck at the scoop). At 10, an Extra Ball is lit at the scoop. The animation and sound effect for this are easy to miss.

On 5-ball games, the Stroke of Luck EB is lit at 14 instead of 10.

The Stroke of Luck is a pseudo-random award. Possibilities are:

• 25,000,000 points. Awarded immediately.
• 50,000,000 points. Ditto.
• Light Extra Ball. Shoot Stroke of Luck again to collect.
• Light Lock. For the first multiball, this will light all three locks. After that, it will light one additional lock, regardless if lock is already lit or not.
• Award Lock. If Lock is already lit, then that lock is awarded and no lock will be lit. Otherwise the next unlit lock is awarded.
• Multiball. Forget the locks, just start multiball.
• Lite Martian Attack. Shoot Stroke of Luck again to collect.
• +5 Bonus X. Same award as regular skill shot.
• Hold Bonus X. Bonus X will not reset to 1X at the end of this ball.
• Strobe Multiball. Starts immediately. See below for more details.
• Video Mode. Starts immediately. See below for more details.
• Sneak Attack. One of the four martians will begin jumping. Shoot immediately to score 150M; the value counts down quickly. Hitting the martian also awards 2 additional Martian Bombs and lights Martian Attack if it isn't already lit.
• 1 Martian Bomb. Added to any you already have.

The award is pseudorandom, because sometimes it can be predicted. The third Stroke of Luck award will normally be Strobe Multiball. Stroke of Luck will award Video Mode the first time it is hit after Super Jets has been completed, even if it is the third time. Strobe Multiball will then be the next Stroke of Luck award given.

Stroke of Luck will normally award (regular) Multiball on the last ball of the game if multiball has not yet been started.

Stroke of Luck will normally award 1 Martian Bomb if it is collected during Martian Attack, before Martian Multiball.

Stroke of Luck is not available during any multiball. The award can only be collected from the front entrance to the scoop.

If tournament mode is enabled, then Stroke of Luck always awards 50M and nothing else, in order to de-randomize the games.

Martian Attack

At the beginning of the game, the seven M-A-R-T-I-A-N targets are all flashing. Completing all seven targets lights the SoL scoop for Martian Attack. The award can be collected from the front or back of the scoop the first time, but then must be collected from the front every other time.

During Martian Attack, all four martians begin jumping up and down, and you must shoot each of the four martians to start Martian Multiball. You can shoot any of the M-A-R targets to kill the lower left martian, and likewise either of the A-N targets to kill the lower right one. You have 30 seconds to kill all four.

Each killed martian is worth 20M, and killing all four starts Martian Multiball. Another ball is launched into play, and the four shots remain lit throughout the multiball for 20M each.

The number of martians killed is counted throughout game. The martians killed during the Attack phase count as well. The game displays the name of the person who has killed the most martians in attract mode.

Everytime the seven targets are completed during regular play, the value of each Martian increases, to 30M, 40M, and finally a max of 50M per Martian. If the targets are completed while Martian Attack is already lit (but not started), then a Martian Bomb is also awarded.

Martian Bombs can also be awarded via Stroke of Luck and Sneak Attack. These are used during the Attack phase only (i.e. not during martian multiball, and they are NOT used during Video Mode either). The launch button will flash when you have at least one martian bomb. Pressing the launch button will then kill one of the remaining flashing martians for you, to help you to complete all four of them. You can do this safely after the ball has gone down an outlane, but not after the ball has landed in the trough. If your fourth martian is killed this way, then Martian Multiball is still started, and two balls are launched back into play.

Martian Bombs are stackable and carry across Martian Attacks. Save bombs that you don't need or that won't help you complete all four for the next Attack. There is no known maximum to the number of Martian Bombs you can collect. The number of total Bombs is displayed each time Martian Bombs are awarded, and it is also available in the Status Report. Unless used, Martian Bombs saved are not worth anything.

If one of the Martian targets is known to be bad, the game will spot that target for you automatically in all circumstances. The "T" and "I" targets are likely to go bad at some point, since they take quite a beating.

Total Annihilation shots can be made both during Martian Attack and during Martian Multiball itself. If all 12 TA shots are completed while Martian Multiball is running, Total Annihilation begins as well, so that both multiballs are running.

Strobe Multiball

Strobe Multiball is only available as an award from the Stroke of Luck. The Forcefield will raise if it is lowered, all playfield lamps will be turned off, the strobe lamp will begin to flash along with the three Forcefield targets, and two more balls are sent into play. The objective is to hit the Forcefield as many times as possible, until back to one ball.

Each shot scores 50M. On the 10th hit, an Extra Ball is lit. Collecting the Extra Ball will temporarily illuminate the playfield for the Extra Ball lamp effect. On the 20th hit, a 250M bonus is awarded, but without any fanfare or additional lighting. Bonus is also awarded at 30. The display will always tell you the number of total hits, and the next award to be given.

If Martian Attack or Martian Multiball is running during Strobe Multiball, then the Martian targets will be flashing. If a Hurry-Upis active at the start of Strobe Multiball, then the Hurry-Up arrow will flash. These are the only other situations in which other playfield lights can be flashing.

The inlane/outlane rollovers and Bonus X lanes remain active during the round, even though you can't see which ones are lit. You will be able to tell briefly which ones are lit when the playfield is lit for the Extra Ball animation.

There is a lengthy ball saver at the beginning of Strobe Multiball, and a brief ball saver after it ends. If no balls are in play when the game recognizes the end of Strobe Multiball, another ball is launched into play. Basically, your ball cannot end because of Strobe Multiball.

Video Mode

Video Mode is only available as an award from the Stroke of Luck, and it is only given out once per game, per player. The objective is to shoot as many saucers as possible. Your shooter is positioned in the center and fires automatically. Use the left and right buttons to control the direction of the shots. Each saucer hit is worth 3M.

Once, and only once, you may press the launch button to fire a "Smart Bomb", which will destroy all the saucers on the screen. This has absolutely nothing to do with Martian bombs.

At 30 saucers, a percentaged Extra Ball will descend; shoot it to collect an Extra Ball immediately. If the game has been awarding too many extra balls recently, then it may not appear at all.

At 40 or 50 saucers, the Mothership will approach. The regular saucers stop landing, and the big Mothership starts descending. You must shoot the Mothership before it lands. It is a rather large ship, which zigs and zags quickly to make it more difficult to hit. It takes 80 hits to destroy it; the lower right corner of the display will tell you how many remaining hits are needed. Completing video mode in its entirety is worth a total of 635M points, and displays the message "You Have Won; The World Is Safe".

You can use the Smart Bomb to kill the Mothership as well.

This same video mode is available in the game "Junkyard", including the Smart Bomb and Mothership features.

Bonus

At the end of the ball, bonus is awarded. Your bonus consists of some random point value based on how many shots you hit during play, with a base value of 5M, plus 250K for each Martian you've destroyed. This is all then multiplied by your bonus multiplier. It is possible to have very big bonuses, in the billions. The bonus multiplier maxes out at 250X; at that level, each Martian you hit is worth 62.5M.

Rule the Universe

After completing all 6 major objectives, shoot the SoL scoop to start Rule the Universe. When Rule the Universe becomes lit,Martian Attack and Stroke of Luck become unlit if they were previously lit. Rule the Universe is a 5-ball multiball with about a 30 second ball saver in which nearly all playfield features are lit. Total Annihilation runs, with the base value of each jackpot worth 100M. The saucer drop target scores 100M. The roaming Super Jackpot is lit and scores the same as it does during regular multiball, for an unlimited number of times. Martian Multiball is active at 50M per martian. The Annihilation Jackpot is lit at the lock ramp.

If you score 5 billion points, the playfield will go dark, the flippers will be disabled, and the round will end. You just ruled the universe! An extra 5 billion points is awarded, and your initials and the time of election will be displayed in attract mode later on. After a brief animation, a ball will be returned to the plunger lane and you can continue play. You can also go for one of the Skill Shots at this point, too. (The regular ballsaver is also active.)

Plus, for the rest of the ball after Ruling the Universe, you can collect Victory Laps by shooting any of the five combo shots. The Combo arrows will be solidly lit. Shooting any arrow unlights that arrow and awards a Victory Lap (complete with whooshing sound effect), initially worth 100M. Shooting the saucer drop target relights all five Victory Lap shots (if any are unlit) and increases the value of the shots by 10M each. The saucer target itself scores 100M per hit for the rest of the game. This is an excellent time to start a multiball, especially Total Annihilation.

The Victory Lap value can increase up to 500M. Maximizing Laps is the key to getting a really high score.

If you lose all balls before scoring 5 billion, then nothing else really happens and normal play resumes. This is very depressing.

After RTU multiball, the Conquer Mars lamp remains lit. The Super Jets lamp remains lit for the remainder of the current ball if Super Jets is still active. This allows you to Rule the Universe again on the same ball. With early ROMs, the Super Jets lamp was cleared after RTU which made this impossible, since Super Jets continued to be active on that ball, and couldn't be restarted until the next ball.

If a player rules the universe when he/she is already ruler, then the display will show "Re-Election #1", and so on until someone else rules the universe, during Attract Mode. (It can't know this until the end of a game, when you enter your initials, unless you happen to RTU twice in the same game, in which case it will display "Re-Election".

If multiple players Rule the Universe in the same game, then only the last player to Rule will get to enter initials. In no way does any scoring affect whether or not you become the new Ruler.

Concurrent Multiballs

Attack From Mars supports concurrent multiballs to some extent. This is a feature I can't recall any other game having ever since, dare I say it, Dr*c*l*. There are four different multiballs in this game: regular multiball, Martian Multiball, Total Annihilation, and Strobe Multiball (plus Rule the Universe, but that's a totally different beast). Here's how it all fits together:

Regular multiball, Total Annihilation, and Strobe Multiball are all mutually exclusive; only one of these can run at a time.Martian Multiball can run concurrently with any one of them, as long as the two are started in the right order.

In the case of regular multiball or Strobe Multiball, you must start Martian Attack first, and then start the OTHER multiball. (Once the other multiball is started, you cannot start Martian Attack.) Martian Attack continues to run with the same timer, and completing the martians will add Martian Multiball to your current multiball. That means a ball saver will be active for a while. No additional balls are added into play; you must have two for Martian MB, but if you have fewer than two, then you wouldn't be playing another multiball, would you? If your other multiball ends, and you didn't start Martian Multiball, Martian Attack will continue to run as it did before multiball.

In the case of Total Annihilation, you can either start TA first like in the above case, or you can start Martian Multiball first and then start TA, as Total Annihilation shots are awarded during Martian Multiball. In that case, two more balls are added into play to make it a 4-ball multiball, along the normal TA ballsaver.

Concurrent multiballs are lucrative, because with 3 or 4 balls in play, you are likely to hit a lot of the Martian targets without really trying. You will always get more points, though, by concentrating on the major multiball instead. (Unless you have a high bonus multiplier, since each martian is worth something in bonus.)

Extra Balls

There are five ways to get an Extra Ball in AFM:

1. Complete the second Attack Wave. On five-ball games, this defaults to the third Attack Wave instead.
2. Complete the inlane/outlane lamps 10 times. For 5-ball, it takes 14 completions of the rollovers.
3. Shoot the EB in Video Mode.
4. Hit the Forcefield 10 times in Strobe Multiball.
5. Via a Stroke of Luck, literally.

Extra balls are all lit at the Stroke of Luck hole, except for the Video Mode EB which is awarded immediately. Each of these can only be collected once per game.

Extra balls are the only awards that can be collected at the scoop even during any multiball. Normally only front shots to the scoop will award the EB, but during multiball, you can collect it from the front or back, since the game can't always tell which direction you shot it from with absolute certainty. So it just gives it to you either way. This works with any legitimate multiball but not when you have two balls in normal play because of a missing pinball suddenly appearing on the playfield. In that case, you may get cheated out of an extra ball shot from the front legitimately.

The game seems to detect back shots into Stroke of Luck based on jet bumper hits and rollovers. All other shots are considered front shots. Thus, it is possible for a ball to "air" over the hole, not touch a jet bumper, fall into the back of the hole, and award a front Stroke of Luck shot.

Attack from Mars also supports the Buy-In feature at the end of the game. Unlike many previous games, there is no separate Buy-In button; the Start button will buy an extra ball for 1 credit. So don't press Start to abort the 7 sec. buy-in countdown -- use the flippers or launch button (or off switch) instead. Depending on the settings of your machine, buy-in may be disabled completely, or there may be a fixed or unlimited number of times you can buy-in. Buy-in can also be enabled for 1/2 credit. There is an extra long ballsaver at the beginning of every ball bought-in, but once used, it is gone. There is nothing else special about the buy-in ball.

Replays and High Scores

The replay value will fluctuate widely among different machines, but it is most definitely going to be in the several billion range, at least. After collecting a replay, the replay value will grow by 50% of its original, base value, until more coins are inserted (not counting buy-ins).

There are two high score lists, one for no buyins and one for buyins. The Grand Champion is also maintained, which is the highest score attained regardless of buyins. The game also keeps track of the person who destroyed the most martians, and the last person to Rule the Universe.

I've heard that the software will support scores up to 1 trillion, but I have NO way of knowing whether or not this is true.

Software Compensation

There is no compensation for a broken loop or ramp switch. This is most frustrating, as you won't be able to start Total Annihilation, collect a Super Jackpot, and of course, Rule the Universe.

If you try for a Super Skill Shot but the ball falls into the lit Bonus X lane, you will be awarded the Super Skill Shot of 50M and the Saucer will open, as if you had hit the Forcefield.

If the drop target becomes stuck down, you will not be able to score Saucer hits for a while. (You can still score hits from the two side standups.) After so many shots to the saucer hole, the game will flag the drop target as bad, and the hole will spot 1 drop target hit. Once the drop target is hit again, though, the compensation is turned off, so an intermittent target is worse than a totally hosed target.

A bad Stroke of Luck kicker is bad news. If only the SoL switch is stuck open or closed (but not intermittent), then there is some compensation for balls that fall in from the back. If a ball trips one of the Bonus X lanes, and no jet bumpers or the right loop switch isn't triggered in about 3 seconds, the game assumes the ball fell into the SoL hole, and since there is no way to detect front shots, it awards a front SoL shot, then kicks out the ball.

If the right ramp entrance gate switch and the lock ramp gate switch are bad, then shooting the Lock ramp will count as both a Lock ramp and a right ramp shot. (The game cannot tell the difference between the two, so it awards both.)

Cows

Occasionally after shooting the Big-O-Beam or Tractor Beam, you will see and/or hear a reference to a cow. When this happens, hit the launch button repeatedly to hear lots of mooing sounds. If you do this for both of the ramps, you are qualified to play Cow Video Mode. You must still start Video Mode in the regular way, by completing Super Jets and then shooting Stroke of Luck. But instead of saucers landing, it will be big mooing cows! There are no special points for playing with cows instead of saucers, but because they are larger than the saucers, the cows are much easier to hit.

Really High Scores

Scores rollover at 100B; that score is then displayed as 00,000,000,000. The game remembers that you surpassed 100B, though, and will put the score in the right place in the high score list (assuming 100B is enough for a high score!)

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Attack From Mars

Attack From Mars

Rule Sheet Version 2.3

Authored by: Bob McCann (mccannr1@pilot.msu.edu)

With help from:

Dan Wilson (wilso142@pilot.msu.edu)

Scott Tiesma (tiesmasc@pilot.msu.edu)

Mark Phaedrus (phaedrus@coho.halcyon.com)

Steve Baumgarden (sbb@panix.com)

Lots of stuff contained in this document is copywrited by Williams Electronic Games, so don't sue me...

This rule sheet can be downloaded at my pinball page loacated at: http://pilot.msu.edu/~mccannr1 Or e-mail me and I'll send you a copy.

New to this version:

• Rule The Universe rules explained better
• Spelled Robert Friesl's name right in the game credits
• "Attack From The Pasture" video mode explained
• Corrected the address of my web page where this rule sheet can be found.

Contents

1. Introduction
2. Playfield Layout
3. Skill Shot
4. Attack Phase
5. Multiball
6. Stroke of Luck
7. Total Annihilation
8. Martian Attack
9. Rule The Universe
10. Misc
11. End Stuff

1. Introduction

Attack From Mars is the latest in the line of pinball games from Williams. It features a nice open playfield, and easy to understand rules. The theme is basically what it sounds, defending the Earth from attacking Martians. The credits for the game are as follows:

Design: Brian Eddy

Software: Lyman Sheats

Artwork: Doug Watson

Music & Sounds: Dan Forden

Mechanical Engineer: Robert C. Friesl

Dots: Adam Rhine & Brian Morris

Blatent Editorial - This is one of the best games to come out in a LONG time.

2. Playfield Layout

Here is the basic layout of the playfield starting just above the left outlane and going clockwise around.

MAR Targets - 3 targets of which are the first the letters of the word martian.

Left Orbit - Loops the ball up to the top rollovers and bumpers. Lights a "capture". If capture is complete, loops ball all the way around.

Left Ramp - Sends ball back to left return lane. Lights a "Big-O-Beam".

Middle Orbit - Locks ball when lock is lit. Otherwise sends ball back around to right return lane and lights lock.

T Target - 1 target which is the next letter in the word martian.

Flying Saucer- The main toy in the game. Knock down the forcefield in front of it to gain access to the three targets inside. Described in more detail in the Attack Phase section.

I Target - 1 target which is yet another letter in martian.

Scoop - Used to start Martian Attack, and Rule The Universe. Also awards Stroke of Luck and Extra Ball when lit.

Upper Lanes - Used for regular skill shot, also increase bonus x.

Bumpers - 3 bumpers. Certain # of hits starts super jets.

Right Ramp - Sends ball back to right return lane. Lights a "Tractor Beam".

Right Orbit - Sends ball up to the top rollovers. Lights an "Atomic Blaster". If Atomic Blaster is complete, sends ball all the way around.

AN Targets - 2 targets which are the last 2 letters in Martian.

3. Skill Shot

The game has a fairly easy skill shot which simply involves you shooting the ball and then moving the flashing light to the correct rollever lane that the ball is going through. It awards a point value and gives +5x bonus. There is also a super skill shot which sends the ball around, down the left orbit. The game then gives the player a few seconds to hit any major shot, which will score 50 million, plus complete whatever you hit. Therefore, if you hit the right ramp, you will get 50 million, and it will finish the tractor beam. To activate the super skill shot, hold down the left flipper when shooting the ball.

4. Attack Phase

The Attack Phase is the heart and soul of the game. It involves the player protecting a certain country from the martians. The countries are France, Italy, Germany, United States, & England. To start an attack phase, all 3 targets which make up the force field in front of the flying saucer must be hit. The forcefield will then lower opening up the 3 targets behind. Here's an attempt at a diagram to better explain this.

H H = Hole / D \ D = Drop Target /T T\ T = Side Targets / \ F = Targets on force field ========= F F F

When the force field goes down, the attack phase starts. The object is then to hit any of the targets inside. When a target is hit, it puts some damage on the attacking saucer and scores points. If more than one target is hit in a shot, it will multiply the damage and points by the number of hits (i.e. 2 targets hit = 2X damage). When the saucer has taken enough damage, the drop target in the back will stay down and a shot into the hole will destroy the saucer. The first saucer destroyed is worth 200 million, and goes up 100 million each time. This is not a timed mode, and will not end until the saucer is destroyed, not even if you lose your ball. The amount of hits required to take a shot at destroying the saucer goes up each time.

Once you defend all of the countries, you steal one of the flying saucers and start Attack Mars mode. First the force field must be knocked down, then the object is to hit the ball into the hole (the drop target will not come back up). Every shot into the hole takes a chunk out of Mars and awards 50 million points. The 10th shot into the hole destroys Mars and awards 2.5 billion points.

5. Multiball

The middle orbit is used to light lock and to lock balls. If lock is not lit, the ball will be sent back around to the right return lane and lock will then light. Hit the shot again and it will lock a ball. Locking 3 balls starts multiball. In multiball, the left orbit, left ramp, middle orbit, right ramp, and right orbit all light up for jackpots. Hit all of the jackpots to light super jackpot. The super jackpot starts at the left orbit, and moves around every few of seconds. It moves to the different jackpot shots back and forth across the playfield. Once the super jackpot is collected, it starts all over again. Multiball ends when less than 2 balls are left. If Super Jackpot is lit when multiball ends, it will give you a 10 second countdown in which you can still collect the Super Jackpot. The game allows a pretty long "grace" period after multiball ends as well, meaning that remaining jackpots can still be collected after multiball ends. If you do finish off all of the jackpots after multiball ends, you still get the 10 second Super Jackpot countdown.

6. Stroke of Luck

Stroke of luck is lit by lighting all of the lights in the outlanes and return lanes (just like lighting Khan multiball in The Shadow). It is collected by shooting the scoop. It awards a random award by putting 4 on the screen and having a flying saucer shooting them away until one is left. Some of the awards include multiball, strobe multiball, light EB, start attack phase, light martian attack, points, bonus X, Video Mode & Sneak Attack.

Features started only by Stroke of Luck:

• Video mode is like an old Apple ][ computer game called Sabotage. You control a cannon in the center and move it left and right (it is constantly shooting). Your goal is to shoot the flying saucers that are trying to land. You get points for every saucer you shoot, and the mode ends when a saucer reaches the ground. Once per video mode, the launch button can be pressed and will destroy all of the saucers on the screen. This is useful for when a saucer is about to hit the ground and it is too late to shoot it. After 30 saucers are destroyed, an Extra Ball pod is sent down, shooting it awards an Extra Ball. After all of the saucers are destroyed (40 or 50 of them), the mothership comes down. It moves left and right trying to avoid your cannon fire. Hitting it 80 times destroys it. Finishing video mode gives a total of around 635 million points. There is also a way to turn the flying saucers into cows! To do it you have to get the cow off of the big-o-beam and the tractor beam and while it is showing the animation of the cow hit the launch button (you will hear a strange noise if you do it right). If you get video mode after doing this it will change video mode into a sort of "Attack From the Pasture!"
• Strobe Multiball is one of the coolest things in the game. When this starts, everything that was going on in the game stops. The force field comes up (if it was down) and all of the lights shut off. A strobe light by the flying saucer then starts flashing, and this is the only light coming from the game. 3 balls are then kicked out, and the object is to hit the force field as many times as as possible. The game awards 50 million per hit, and awards a bonus after a certain number of hits (Light EB at 10 hits, 250 million at 20). This ends when less than 2 balls are left, and the game goes back to what was going on before this started. An interesting note about this is that because of the Strobe Multiball, this is the first pinball game to come with an Epilepsy warning on it.
• Sneak Attack lights one of the martian target banks up at random. A hurry up value starts at 150 million and counts down. If you hit the lit target bank, it awards the value, gives you 2 martian bombs, and lights Martian Attack.

7. Total Annihilation

Total Annihilation involves collecting the awards from the orbits and ramps. The left orbit is Capture, the left ramp is the Big-O-Beam, the right ramp is the Tractor Beam, and the right orbit is the Atomic Blaster. It takes 3 shots to complete one of these, unless you complete it using the super skill shot. Once one of them is completed, it starts a hurry-up in which the flying saucer (inner targets or force field) starts at 100 million and counts down. If you finish another one of the ramp/loop awards while the other one is counting down, the hurry up will reset at a higher point value. If all 4 awards are completed during the countdown, the game will award 1 billion points.

Once you complete all 4 things, Total Annihilation starts. It is a 4 ball multiball in which every major shot awards the Annihilation value. The lock shot awards an Annihilation jackpot, which is increased by hitting the other shots. Therefore, if you collect a lot of annihilation values, you get the points for hitting it and they are also put into the jackpot making it worth quite a large amount. Once the jackpot is collected it resets back down to it's base value an can be built up again.

8. Martian Attack

Martian Attack is lit by hitting all of the martian targets (or can be lit by Stroke of Luck). It is collected by hitting the scoop. Once started, all 4 martians must be hit within a time limit. The martians are above each of the 4 martian target banks (They start dancing around when this mode starts like the Boogie Men in Elvira). To hit them, just hit a target in the target bank below them. If Stroke of Luck gave you a martian bomb, you can hit the launch button and it will award you one of the martians. Once you hit all 4 martians, Martian 2-ball starts. During this you just want to hit the martian targets as many times as possible. Each hit is worth 20 million, but can be increased if you hit all of martian targets again while Martian Attack is lit. 2-ball ends when 1 ball drains. The game records how many martians you killed during this, and there is a listing on the high score table for the person who killed the most.

9. Rule The Universe

Rule The Universe is the "wizard" award in the game. It is a pretty hard thing to achieve. To get it, the following things have to have been done:

1. At least 1 Super Jackpot must have been collected during multiball.
2. Super Jets must have been started at one point during the game.
3. Martian Attack multiball has to have been started.
4. Total Annihilation must have been played.
5. Mars has to have been conquered in the Mars Attack phase.
6. 5-way combo must have been done.

When Rule The Universe is started, everything becomes lit. Total Annihilation starts up, the martian targets are worth 50 million, pretty much everything awards points. You get a multiball with the ball saver lit for awhile. The object is to collect 5 billion points while multiball is still going. Once the 5 billion points have been collected, everything stops. The game awards you an extra 5 billion points as well as putting your name in the high score list as the last person to rule.

10. Misc

• One of the best things about this game is that features don't end when something else is started up. If you have an Attack Phase going and you start multiball, it keeps going. Very good idea. Many things can be going on at once.
• Cows are present in this game. Sometimes when you hit the Big-O-Beam, a cow is enlarged and the lady says "Would you look at the size of that cow?!" and it moos. The cow is sometimes tractor beamed up as well. There is also a picture of a cow on the right ramp.
• Once Rule the Universe has been played once, you don't have to conquer mars again in order to light Rule the Universe again (but you do have to do all of the other things).
• Bonus can be very big in this game. I've seen bonus multipliers as large as 42X! Awarded almost 4 billion just in bonus!

11. End Stuff

If you have anything to add, or correct, please e-mail me at the following address: mccannr1@pilot.msu.edu This rule sheet is available at my pinball page (http://pilot.msu.edu/~mccannr1) and possibly at the other pinball sites.

HTML Conversion by David Gersic dgersic@niu.edu

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Attack From Mars

ATTACK FROM MARS RULE SHEET

Compiled by : Robert Macauley

Version 2.0 10 April 1998

HTML conversion by Chris Bonney

The following is an attempt to make sense of the Bally pinball game Attack From Mars. Most of the information contained here was compiled from limited access to an early ROM (p-3 I think) but as of late last year I finally get to play this fantastic game again. The version I now play is a L-1 rom.

Now the legal stuff. Attack from Mars and many other terms used here are copyrighted by Bally, Williams, and for all I know the Easter Bunny. This is none of my business.

This sheet is posted as freeware and may be used as such as long as I still retain some credit for it and no-one else makes any profit from its use.

This was my first attempt at a rulesheet and at the time of writing this (late 1996) I was under the impression that no-one else had done one yet. Boy was I wrong. Anyway, why should Cameron Silver have all the glory. Oh well here goes nothing..

PLAYFIELD LAYOUT

Outlanes/Inlanes : The usual type. Each lane has a yellow light above it. Lighting all 4 relights Stroke of luck. completing them a set number of times also lights Extra Ball.

Slingshots : The usual. No strange shapes here.

Flippers : Only 2. the usual size.

Martian Targets : Spread about the lower half of the playfield are 7 targets spelling Martian. Lighting all 7 lights Martian Attack.

Left Orbit : Awards Capture and jackpots. This orbit can only be completed as a combo when Capture is completed. A bit like World Cup Soccer.

Left Ramp : Feeds the ball to the left flipper, awards Big-O-Beam and jackpots. Can also start a combo.

Center Ramp: Lights locks, awards jackpots and can start a combo if lock is not lit. This ramp is up a laneway behind the Martian saucer. Feeds to the right flipper unless lock is lit in which case the ball is diverted to the center sinkhole.

Martian Saucer: Kinda strange this one. There is a motorised bank of three targets known as the forcefield. Hitting all 3 lowers the forcefield and starts an Attack Wave. Behind the forcefield is a drop target with 1 target on each side at an angle. Behind the drop target is the center sinkhole. Above all this is a large Martian Saucer which flashes and shakes during waves.

Right sinkhole : This can be accessed either from the bumpers above it or from a shot from below. The awards are: Extra Ball, Stroke of Luck, Martian Attack and Rule the Universe. Only Martian Attack can be collected from above with one exception. During multiball an extra ball can be collected from either direction.

Bumpers : 3 bumpers identical to World Cup.

Bonus X Lanes : Once again, the same position as World Cup. There seems to be no max. bonus.

Right Ramp : Feeds to the right flipper. Awards Tractor Beam and jackpot. can also start a combo.

Right Orbit : Awards Atomic Blaster and jackpot. Like the left orbit this can’t be completed unless Atomic Blaster is completed.

Scattered about the playfield are 5 small saucers which flash strobe lights and 4 tacky green Martians which jump during Martian multiball. Just like the boogie monsters on Elvira.

OBJECTIVE

The main objective is to follow Man’s basic instincts: Rule the Universe. This is achieved by completing the 6 tasks displayed between the slingshots. 5 Way Combo; Total Annihilation; Martian Attack Multiball; Super Jackpot; Super Jets; Conquer Mars. These can be completed in any order. Some are harder than others.

RULES

Skill Shot : There are 2 skill shots. The basic skill shot launches the ball to above the bumpers. You have to collect the flashing lane like on Corvette or Flintstones. This is worth 10M + 10M for each successful shot. This also increases the bonus X by 5X.

Super Skill Shot : Holding in the left flipper when launching the ball enables super skill shot. The ball continues around the orbit and the object is to hit a ramp, orbit or the gate for 50M. This also completes the feature on a ramp or orbit and starts an attack wave if you hit the forcefield.

Attack Waves : Opening the forcefield starts one of 5 Attack Waves. The object is to protect one of 5 countries from alien attack by hitting the drop target repeatedly. The countries are: France; Germany; Italy; England; USA. The display shows a saucer damaging one of that countries National Treasures, e.g. stealing the Statue of Liberty. The display also shows a damage meter which decreases each time you hit the drop target. Hitting the targets beside the drop target multiplies the damage caused and the points awarded. The drop target is worth 50M per hit 1st wave, 60M 2nd wave and so on. When the damage meter is empty the drop target stays down and a shot to the center sinkhole destroys the saucer. This is worth 200M 1st wave, 300M 2nd wave and so on. Completing the 2nd wave lights Extra Ball. Each wave has an assortment of quotes in that countries accent.

Attack Mars : The 6th wave is an attack on Mars. First you lower the forcefield as normal. This time the drop target stays down and you have to hit the sinkhole 10 times. Each shot takes a chunk out of Mars on the display. On the 10th hit Mars explodes and you are awarded 2.5B. After conquering Mars, each shot to the center drop target scores 100M for the rest of the game.

Multiball : Shooting the center ramp lights locks. Lock 3 for multiball. All ramps and orbits are lit for jackpot starting at 60M and increasing by 10M for each hit. After hitting all 5 jackpots a traveling super jackpot is lit worth 250M. After super jackpot, all jackpots are re-lit. After each super jackpot the value increases by 250M to a maximum of 1B. This value is held for the entire game.

Martian Multiball : Lighting all 7 Martian targets lights Martian Attack at the right sinkhole. You have 30 seconds to hit each bank of Martian targets to start Martian multiball. This is a 2 ball Multiball in which the object is to hit as many Martians as possible. Each Martian is worth 250K which is added on during the bonus count. Martian Attack Champion is displayed in attract mode.

5-Way Combo: Shooting any ramp starts the combo lights flashing. shoot any arrow to continue the combo sequence. combos are worth 10M+10M for each successive shot.

Total Annihilation : Shooting any ramp or orbit spots one of the features below it. The first shot is worth 20M, the 2nd is worth 25M and the 3rd shot lights hurry-up at the gate for 100M. completing all ramps and orbits starts Total annihilation 4 ball multiball. All jackpots are lit starting at 50M and increasing by 5M for each shot. The center ramp is the Annihilation Jackpot and is worth 100M + 15M for each other jackpot made like Cryoprison on Demo Man.

Super Jets : Each bumper hit counts down from 100. Reaching 0 starts super jets for 3M per hit. A subsequent super jets will require an extra 25 bumper hits.

Stroke of Luck : A random award collected at the right sinkhole. The awards are: Start Attack Wave, Light Extra Ball, Video Mode, Light/Award Lock, Strobe Multiball, Multiball, Hold Bonus, 25M or 50M. Stroke of Luck is re-lit by lighting all 4 inlanes and outlanes.

Strobe Multiball : A 3 ball multiball. All playfield lights are off except the strobe lights and the forcefield. The aim is to hit the forcefield as many times as possible. 10 hits lights extra ball and 20 hits awards 250M.(??)

Video Mode : You control a cannon and have to shoot at descending saucers. The flippers control the direction of your shots. If a saucer reaches the ground the mode ends. If you shoot enough saucers, you have to take on an alien mothership. 80 hits will destroy the mothership. Pressing the launch button activates a smart bomb which destroys every saucer in the display. Only 1 smart bomb can be used.

Rule the Universe

A 4 ball multiball with everything major lit. Total Annihilation and Martian Multiball are running and the super jackpot is lit . The object is to score 5 Billion points during multiball. If you get the 5B the game goes dark and kills the flippers. You are then awarded an additional 5B and the title "Ruler of the Universe". The current ruler's initials are displayed in attract mode. For the rest of that ball, all 5 arrow shots are lit for a victory lap. This starts at 100M and increases by 10M each time. Shooting the saucer relights the arrow shots. Failing to achieve 5B is fairly depressing. The game just continues on as if nothing has happened, leaving you to wallow in your sorrow.

TIPS AND TACTICS

The Importance of Multiball

On later attack wave it takes quite a few hits to destroy the saucer. Starting multiball after you start an attack wave gives you 3 balls to attack the saucer with instead of 1. Starting Martian attack can also work in the same way. Always remember to start the attack wave before multiball otherwise you will not be able to start the wave.

Another variation of this is to start Total annihilation while Martian attack is going which gives you 4 balls instead of 2 to build up huge Martian totals.

A useful trick while in multiball is to try and get a ball trapped behind the forcefield. Then when another ball hits the front of the forcefield the trapped ball will (usually) bounce straight up into the hole behind the drop target. This awards you the points for the next city and displays the words "Dirty Pool" on the DMD.

Skill Shot vs. Super Skill Shot

Avoid the temptation to use Super Skill Shot. 50M looks tempting but 5X bonus + 10M increasing with each ball can add up to a lot more. Also there is a good chance that the ball will go back up the lane off the bumpers. What goes up must come down and the lane change is very useful here. Also super skill shot lights all 3 features if you hit a ramp but you miss out on hurry-up which means 100M down the toilet. It’s just not worth the effort.

COWS

There are 3 cows to my knowledge. 1 is a cow drawing on the right ramp, cows sometimes appear when you spot big-o-beam or tractor beam. Pressing the launch button when any of these cows appear gives a sound effect. Doing it for both cows enables Cow Video Mode. The next video mode will feature cows instead of saucers.

RANDOM NOTES

Attack from Mars is IMHO the one of the top games of all time. It’s not a hard game to get into but reaching Rule the Universe is a challenge even for the best players. I'm no wizard by any means and due to an enforced layoff (couldn't find a machine) it took nearly 18 months before I finally made it to Rule the Universe.

The sound is nothing special, but the quotes fit the theme of the game very well, even if some of them are very corny. The graphics are good especially attacking Mars and the start of multiball.

On the gameplay side, most shots can be made without too much difficulty but the right sinkhole can be a bitch. My main gripes are the very greedy outlanes and the fact that the drop target can send the ball straight down the middle. I really miss the kickback too.

All in all Attack from Mars should offer enough challenge for players of all skill levels (no this is not an ad). The scoring is fairly high so expect scores in the high billions. The replay boost is around 1.5B which isn’t really as bad as it sounds. One thing I don’t miss is the extra ball buy in, which is turned off by default.

Bragging

Highest score so far: 64B including 2 Rule the Universes (both won!!!). Unfortunately I drained with the 3rd RTU lit. :(

THANKS TO

Chris Bonney chrisb@enternet.com.au

SUGGESTIONS AND COMMENTS

Any suggestions, comments and insults can be e-mailed to me via Chris.

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