And finally, the update. There are a few new factoids here and there, but mainly this is just to merge the new information into the updated guide. I stripped out most of the HTML that is not compatible with Pinside, but there may still be a few stray tags. Please let me know if you find any errors or omissions.
The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends
Keefer's Guide to
The Adventures of Rocky and
Bullwinkle and Friends
V 1.2 - 31-May-1993
V 1.3 - 05-Jan-2014
This rules compilation is freely distributable. I retain any and all rights to this guide. You may even take this guide and change it or use it in other manners and then redistribute it as long as it remains freely distributable and this policy is stated at the beginning of it. No charge may ever be made for distributing this guide and no one may make a profit from it. Please send any comments/updates/suggestions/corrections to:
Keith Johnson
Most of the playfield and art and stuff are probably copyrighted by Data East. However, since it is a licensed theme, most of the stuff is undoubtedly copyrighted by some Higher Authority.
[v1.3 Update Notes: Per allowed use in Keefer’s distribution notes, I am modifying his excellent guide to clarify and expand a few points. His original distribution notes also apply to this update. All of my updates are based on v1.30 of the USA CPU code as that is the version available on the web from Stern, which owns the relevant Data East intellectual property. Note that there is also a later 3.20 version of the main CPU code which appears to be legitimate, but which may primarily add printing support for operator logs and doesn’t appear to be as widely used. There are also earlier versions commonly found. Other versions should be largely similar, but may have subtle (or not so subtle) differences. I have attempted to keep Keefer’s original style and comments intact as much as possible. However, the context and even meaning may be informed based on the presentation of my understanding of the v1.30 rules and I may have had to edit the text to reflect these rules.
January, 2014 - JS]
Important Things
This section describes key elements and/or shots to be made in Rocky & Bullwinkle. They will be constantly referred to in the play discussion.
Abbreviations
K = 1000; M = 1,000,000; B = 1,000,000,000; R&B = Rocky & Bullwinkle; DE = Data East; SDTM = straight down the middle, MS = Mystery Select, SMS = Super Mystery Select.
Timers
Like most modern pinball machines, many modes and features in R&B have timers. Most of these are displayed to the user, but some are “hidden” from the user (e.g., super pops and lost ball search). For the displayed timers, timer defaults listed in this document are the starting displayed value. However, since the timers display 0 for approximately one full second before expiring, this is normally 1 second less than the actual timer value. For example, if a timer starts at 2 seconds: it will take 1 second to go from 2 to 1, another second to go from 1 to 0, and then will display 0 for a full second before expiring. Therefore, a “2” second timer actually takes 3 seconds to expire. Except where noted, timer values listed in this document are for the “Moderate” game difficulty setting. Some timers may have different starting or reset values depending on game difficulty settings (or other game factors). Where known, these alternate timer values will be listed in the text and/or an Appendix.
Bonus-X lanes
The 3 lanes at the top of the playfield. Completing all 3 increases your bonus multiplier (2X-4X-6X-8X-10X-Bonus hold), scores 125,230 points, and spots the next letter in SELECT toward Mystery Select or Super Mystery Select. You can steer the lights with the flippers. These lanes are also used for the skill shot, described below. I am not sure of the award after bonus hold.Once the bonus multiplier is maxed out at 10X, subsequent completions will award 1M on top of the normal 125,230.
Pop bumpers
There are 3 just under the bonus-x lanes. They are not worth much (only 3,330 points) unless you have Pops going (500K, 1M, or 2M).
Center shot
This is the little opening in the middle of the playfield, between the O and M BOMB targets that leads to a subway feeding the Aesop & Son kickout (see below). Shoot this center shot to light the WABAC value on the left ramp, to collect (super) mystery select (when lit), and to complete the next puzzle piece. The puzzle piece is always active except during Tri-Ball, but collecting the WABAC value and collecting mystery select are only enabled when indicated by the “Mystery Select” rocket and “LITE WABAC Value” playfield insert lamps in front of the center shot. Note there is a hole on the top side of the center shot, where the ball usually comes down after leaving the upper pop bumper area, though often it will shoot from the bottommost pop bumper right into the hole at the end of the center shot. Occasionally, center shots will end up in the pop bumpers instead of in the scoop and in that case will not collect the lit center shot values.
Left ramp
This is the big R ramp on the left. You can easily hit it from the right flipper, and usually from the left flipper as well. The flashing WABAC Machine value (if any) is collected from the left ramp. During Tri-Ball, this ramp increases the jackpot by 1M. Weak shots may tend to drain, depending on your machine.
Right ramp
This ramp features a steep entrance, a left-flipper only shot, and a highly annoying U-turn at the peak. Half-shots usually don't end in a drain, thankfully.
Pie
This is the big wheel near the U-turn of the right ramp. There are 12 lights to complete (3 for each BOMB letter). Completing the Pie lights the right ramp to start Tri-Ball. Completing the Pie during Tri-Ball lights the right ramp for the 100M Super Jackpot! It also circles around during Spin-n-Win showing you the value that you'll get when you hit the ramp.
BOMB targets
These are 4 stand-up targets with 1 on either side of a ramp entrance. It seems that on some machines they're fairly easy to hit, and on others they require dead-on shots. Some may also need to be hit fairly hard to register. The insert lamp in front of a BOMB target indicates that the next matching Pie light will be lit if the target is hit. If the insert is not lit, then hitting a bomb target may randomly trigger the Bomb Extinguisher mode.
Aesop & Son
This is the kickout on the extreme left side. Any shot into this hole or the center shot will clear another puzzle piece, light the WABAC value on the left ramp when the “LITE WABAC Value” insert is lit, then kick the ball back out, often to the right flipper. However, the kickout motion is pretty unreliable, sometimes kicking very softly to the LEFT flipper, and sometimes SDTM. I would forget about trying to catch it on a regular basis, though. You can light this shot for the extra ball via the Mystery Select. It's not that hard to shoot. (The one time I lit it, I took one shot at it and made it.)
Rhino shot
This is the right orbit shot, starting to the right of the right ramp and looping all the way around the back, eventually back to the flippers. Which flipper it heads towards is fairly random. It SHOULD go to the left flipper for repeated orbit shots. You can light the special via the Mystery Select, then shoot the Rhino for the special. (There is a big red arrow indicating the special.)
Left orbit
This is the shot opposite of the Rhino (right orbit) shot. When the Hat Trick is lit, though, the gate should trigger the diverter and the ball will go into the Hat Trick hole, instead. If the diverter is broken, newer ROMs compensate and award you the Hat Trick if you make the left orbit shot.
Hat Targets
These are 3 touch targets just above the Aesop & Son kickout. Each one has a different character on it, representing each of the 3 possible animals Bullwinkle can pull out of his hat. Hitting all 3 lights the Hat Trick, adds 5M to the Hat Trick bonus if Hat Trick is already lit, or scores 5M immediately if the Hat Trick bonus is already maxed out at 50M. Hitting all 3 during Tri-Ball relaunches the 3rd ball if one drained!
Hat Trick
This shot is lit during Tri-Ball and after hitting all 3 hats. During Tri-Ball, the first shot lights the jackpot, and the 2nd lights the double jackpot for about 8 seconds. Hitting it again before a jackpot is collected will relight the double for 8 seconds (non-cumulative; it just restarts the timer). Shooting this shot while Tri-Ball is not running and with Hat Trick lit results in Bullwinkle pulling an animal out of his hat, you getting an award based on the animal, and collecting the Hat Trick bonus (if any). (Discussed in more detail below.) With the diverter working, this shot feeds back to the left flipper for a shot at anything it may light.
SAVED
These are the 5 drop targets on the middle right side of the playfield. Knocking all of them down the required number of times lights Save Nell, where you hit 1 (or more) of the reset drop targets for 25M+ within the required time (15 seconds with default settings). They are also used during the 2M Drops mode.
SELECT
These are the daisy letter lights in the middle of the playfield. (They're kinda hard to miss.) Shoot the Rhino and left orbit shots or complete all three rollover lanes to spot letters. Lighting all letters lights the Mystery Select rocket at the center shot. However, you can KEEP shooting orbits, and get every letter flashing. When SELECT is flashing, the SUPER Mystery Select is lit (the center shot rocket insert will flash). Super Mystery Select will often give higher value award than Mystery Select, but MS awards are sometimes better. The SMS and MS awards are detailed below.)
Laser Kick
This is a kickback in the left outlane. Of course, there's a nice big hole to go with it, so the ball has plenty of room to pass through it easily. It can be worth 1M, 3M, 5M, or Adv. Bonus-X. The value is changed by the return lanes and the right outlane. Steer the "Advance Laser Kick" lights with the flippers. If the ball passes over the lit lane switch, the Laser Kick value advances to the next one. The kickback award starts each ball lit at 1M unless by some miracle (or even worse luck) you DIDN'T use it up last ball, in which case it stays lit at whatever it was before. It will wrap around from Adv-X to 1M. Adv. X progresses the bonus as follows (1X) to 2X to 4X to 6X to 8X to 10X to Hold Bonus to Super Bonus (maximize the base bonus to 2M). If the bonus is already at 10X, held, and at the 2M max then it will award 20M immediately!
The Skill Shot
Well, on a normal machine, this shot just doesn't require very much skill at all. The auto-plunger can be pretty flaky, though, and for some reason it will sometimes just go around the Rhino loop, not stopping at the top lanes, or brick off the left side gate and come back down the right side. Usually a little nudging will keep the ball in the upper area.
If the ball comes down the right side again, and doesn't hit ANYTHING else, you can let it go and the game will give you another crack at the skill shot, forever (or until you finally DO hit something else).
Now, for the skill shot, all you have to do is make sure the ball goes into the flashing lane, which you steer with your flippers. On a lot of machines, it always goes down the left lane (usually: Lite Select). At any rate, you'll see that each lane has its own award shown on the DMD. If the ball goes down the flashing lane before hitting any other playfield switch except the orbit switches, then your award is whatever was shown for that lane.
The awards are usually:
- Left lane
Lite Select. If the Mystery Select was already lit, then this award will light the Super Mystery Select. If the Super Mystery Select was already lit, then this award will be either Extra Ball (rare) or points (2M + 1M * the ball number).
-
Middle lane
Super Pops. However, if Super Pops is already ready, then this lane will change to Lite Looping unless that is already ready. Lite Looping is the same as the WABAC award. If both of these are ready, the lane award will be points (3M + 1M * the ball number). Note that either Super Pops or Lite Looping can appear even if they are already completed (lit) at the WABAC machine. They will not be available only if they are currently ready (starting the mode is pending a pop bumper or ramp shot respectively). See the puzzles section below for explanations.
-
Right lane
Unlike the left and middle lane, the right lane typically defaults to points: 4M + 1M * the ball number. Oh boy. However, if the middle lane is points, then the right lane will be Lite Hat Track if Hat Trick is not already lit or may randomly (and rarely) be Extra Ball if Hat Trick is already lit.
Personally, I'd PREFER it always went down the lite select lane... (except on those rare occasions when Extra Ball is lit)
The WABAC Machine
As stated, the WABAC is the left ramp. If there is a value flashing under the entrance, then you may shoot the ramp for that value. Otherwise, the center shot should be lit to light the WABAC. Shooting Aesop & Son will also light the next WABAC value when the “Lite WABAC ???” insert in front of the entrance is lit.
There seems to be no way to change the WABAC value. Whatever the machine picks next, you're stuck with it. The current WABAC value and completed WABAC values are rembered between balls.
[BTW - That's Way-Back if you haven't figured it out yet! 
]
Once you get a WABAC value, you won't be able to get it again from the WABAC until you've completed the WABAC ramp mode. Note that if you get a WABAC award from something else (like the skill shot or mystery select), then it'll be lit on the WABAC indicating you've already gotten it.
There are 8 different WABAC awards that can be gotten. In the order which they appear on the game, they are:
Super Pops
Lights the 3 pop bumpers just under the bonus-x lanes for high scoring and disables opening the ball gate on a right orbit (Rhino) shot to make it easier to get into the pop bumpers. This is a timed mode, but the timer is not visible to the player. Once any bumper has been hit, a hidden timer starts with a duration of 10 seconds and all pop bumpers (and slingshots) score the current pops value. The first 10 hits score 500K each in Super Pops mode, the next 10 hits score 1M each in Duper Pops mode, and any additional hits score 2M each in Super Duper Pops mode until the (hidden) timer expires. Scores per hit do not go higher than 2M (Super Duper). Once the timer falls below about 3 to 4 seconds, any pop bumper (or slingshot) hits will reset the timer to 3 or 4 seconds. If enough bumpers are hit to initiate the next pops level (e.g., the 11th hit will transition the mode from 500K per hit Super Pops to 1M per hit Duper Pops), then the hidden timer will reset to 10 seconds. Once 24 bumpers/slingshots have been hit in Super Duper mode (44 hits overall including the 10 in Super Pops and the 10 hits in Duper Pops), the hidden timer will no longer reset and the mode will end when the hidden timer expires.
Super Pops is lit by either the skill shot or as a random award from Mystery Select (not SMS). The game will flash "Super Pops Ready" over the score display at various times when Super Pops (or higher) is ready, but has not yet been started. Once Super Pops is ready, it will stay ready without the timer running until you hit a jet bumper to start the mode. Super Pops Ready persists from ball to ball until started. If Super Pops is started, but the ball ends BEFORE the hidden timer expires or the 11th pop bumper/slingshot hit (transitioning to Duper Pops) then Super Pops will be ready on the next ball as if it had never started.
???
Also called the Mystery Award (not to be confused with Mystery Score which is one of the possible awards for this mode and for Mystery Select), this yields a random award. Collecting the Mystery Award most often gives a mystery score (of 5M, 10M, 15M, 20M, 25M, or 30M). The other possible awards are: award extra ball, light special, double score, and enable laser kick.
Bomb Millions
This award is pretty simple: You get 1M for each light you currently have lit on the Pie. This does NOT include the currently flashing light(s). But here's the nice thing: If you have under 4 lights lit on the Pie, it will AUGMENT your current Tri-Ball lighting progress to 4 lights. So if you've just had a Tri-Ball, scoring Bomb Millions spots your first 4 targets towards the next Tri-Ball. Note that this can be worth up to 12M (if Tri-Ball is lit).
Looping
A timed award that starts when you shoot a ramp. When you do, you have 15 seconds to keep shooting ramps for millions of points. The base ramp value is 2M. If you shoot the ramp opposite the one the ball just left, the value for the next ramp will increase by 1M. If you take too long, shoot it up the SAME ramp you last shot, or hit any playfield switches other than the ramp or inlane switches, then the next ramp value stays the same. The maximum value per ramp shot is 10M (after 8 successful alternating ramp shots). In any case, as soon as you start this mode, you get 5M points. The total you have earned in Looping mode is showed at the bottom of the display, but you are awarded the points as you go along. As long as you keep shooting ramps, you'll have at least 3-4 seconds to shoot the next one (the timer is reset to that if you shoot a ramp before the mode ends). The timer stops resetting on ramp shots once your cumulative score from the current instance of this mode reaches 50M. [See also RAMP LOOPING in Misc. Scoring.]
Loose Moose
A 15 second frenzy round, with every switch adding 500K to your Loose Moose bonus (which starts at 3M). Note that at least the ramp gates on R&B swing a lot, so half-shooting the ramps is a great way to increase your Loose Moose score. Loose Moose will also leave the top gate closed on a Rhino orbit shot allowing you to get the ball into the pop bumpers. The Loose Moose value IS awarded as part of your end-of-ball bonus, so DON'T TILT! (But Loose Moose is not subject to the bonus multiplier or bonus hold.) When Loose Moose is restarted subsequent times during a ball, it will add 5M to your previous Loose Moose bonus and restart the mode with the timer at 15 seconds. Loose Moose maxes out at 50M (in which case, the mode will end immediately). Any subsequent Loose Moose restart with the Loose Moose bonus maximized awards 20M to your score immediately, but does NOT restart the timed frenzy.
Instant TriBall
Amazingly enough, starts Tri-Ball (c) (r) TM.
Lite Mystery
Lights the Mystery Select award in the center shot. (Or the Super Mystery Select if Mystery Select was already lit.)
10M
YOU figure it out...
After all 8 awards are earned, the left ramp is lit for Back in Time. Shoot the ramp to start it. Then, for 15 seconds, every shot up the ramp takes you back 100 years. If you make a ramp shot and have less than 4 seconds remaining, the timer is reset to 4 seconds. Thus, you could shoot this shot all day (almost) if you never missed. (Ha!) You do get 3M for each WABAC (let ramp) shot during this time (including 3M for the first shot starting the mode). There is also a WABAC Champion separate from the games other high scores to which you can record your initials at the end of the game if you manage to beat the previous WABAC record.
Your back in time progress is saved throughout the game between mode restarts and ball to ball. There are milestone awards every 10 loops: 50M at 10 [993 A.D.] and 20 [07 B.C.]; 75M at 30 [1007 B.C.], 40 and 50; and 100M at 60, 70, 80, and 90. If you miraculously make it back to 8007 BC (the 100th WABAC shot!) the game awards an Extra Ball (or a paltry 20M if no extra ball awards remain according to the operator settings). Along the way, you will have scored more than 1B! [3M*100 + 50M*2 + 75M*3 + 100M*5 = 1.125B] If you were to restart Back In Time after getting all the way to 8007 BC, it will start at 7907 BC and complete on the first shot to award another extra ball or 20M if no extra ball awards remain. (As far as I know, 8007 BC will never be shown as the award value is shown instead.)
The Puzzles
Shooting the center shot or Aesop & Son during regular play takes away another piece of the puzzle. Behind all the puzzle pieces is the first frame of an animation, which is the introduction to a point-scoring sequence of some kind. You also score 250K each time you remove a piece of the puzzle. The first puzzle has 2 to 4 pieces blocking it depending on the difficulty setting, and subsequent puzzles have more blocked pieces which again vary based on the game difficulty setting, up to the maximum of 6 pieces where the picture is completely covered.
So you clear the last piece, then the animation starts (some are OK, some will get old real quick), then the ball gets kicked out, then you are told what you are supposed to do. That's why it's very important that you know what you are shooting for and what will happen when the puzzle round starts, because you won't have a chance to see it during play! Pretty poor planning on DE's part, IMHO, but that's only one small problem, and there aren't that many in R&B compared to older games. (5M is also silently awarded in addition to the base score for any of the rounds when you complete a puzzle.)
If you get tired of watching the animations over and over again, you can abort them by hitting the launch button (it's blinking). Thank God!
The first four puzzles listed below are always presented in rotation. The starting puzzle is determined randomly at the beginning of the game and the others follow in a fixed order and will be the same for all players. Extra Ball and Special puzzles will be available in the fifth and sixth rotation spots IF those awards are still available. The first four puzzles will then repeat for the remainder of the game in the order already established (followed again by Extra Ball and/or Special if still available). Anyway, here are the various rounds, with a description of their first pictures (I won't describe the animations; I'll let you see them yourself):
Rocket Squirrel Scoring
The first picture has R&B sitting on top of a rocket with Rocky holding a map. On the right are Boris and Natasha getting ready to light the rocket. The goal of this round is to shoot orbits, holes, and ramps. Each one you hit is worth 5M and it lasts for 20 seconds. There is no timer restart on this round and you are spotted 5M points to start. The total is shown on the bottom for the round, but you get the points as you go.
2M Drops
This frame shows Snidely tying Nell up to railroad tracks. You immediately start off with 10M points, and every drop target you hit during this round scores 2M points. It lasts for 20 seconds. Again, the total is displayed at the top, but you get the points right away. Also, every time you hit the drop targets, they are immediately reset, so you always have a shot at all 5 of them. Makes it much easier to constantly take out 2-3 per hit. Caution: If you complete the 2M Drops puzzle while Save Nell (see below) is already running, then 2M Drops will not start and you will just be awarded 5M points.
Spin-n-Win
The first frame shows Bullwinkle on the left side of the screen and a steam roller on the right side. This round lasts for 20 seconds as well. The goal is to keep hitting the right ramp. The Pie will keep changing, and the color that is lit at the time you hit the switch is the value you get. The first two times Spin-n-Win is run per game, it's 5M, 15M, 10M, or 20M in that order. On the third and subsequent runs, values are doubled to 10M, 30M, 20M, and 40M. The ramp diverter will NOT divert the ball this round, enabling you to keep shooting the right ramp over and over. Hitting it resets the timer to 4 seconds for unlimited shots. The total is displayed here too, but it is awarded as you go. This mode spots 5M points to start (on top of the 5M for completing the puzzle). This round can actually be pretty lucrative if you can keep hitting the ramp, esp. with an average value of 12.5M or 25M per ramp shot!
Back in Time
This frame shows Sherman and Peabody being growled at by a dinosaur. The only thing it does is light the WABAC machine for Back in Time right away, regardless of where you were on the WABAC awards. You have 15 seconds to nail the left ramp, as described above. At the end of the round, the WABAC values are re-initialized (with one random value blinking and the rest unlit).
Extra Ball
This image shows a rocket on the right and the Moon Men on the left. Extra Ball will be the fifth puzzle if, after the fourth puzzle, an extra ball is permitted based on game state and settings. The Extra Ball puzzle awards an extra ball immediately upon completion (it does not light extra ball). If there are not any extra ball awards remaining once completed, this will award 20M instead.
Special
This image shows the word SPECIAL in large type across the display. If, after the fourth or fifth puzzle, a Special award is permitted based on game state and settings, this will be either the fifth puzzle (if an Extra Ball award was not available) or sixth puzzle (if it was). This awards a Special immediately upon completion (it does not light special for collection). The Special awarded depends on Adjustment 04 (Extra Ball if set to EB; 20M if set to NONE or if set to EB and an EB is not available; or Credit if set to Credit or Special).
The Hat Trick
During non-Tri-Ball play, you hit the 3 hat targets just above the Aesop & Son entrance to light the Hat Trick. Then, shooting the Lion shot should cause the diverter to open, and the ball will sit in the kickout hole while Bullwinkle pulls something out of his hat. ("But that trick NEVER works!") The award you get depends on what comes up. ("I hafta get me another hat!") You can watch the backglass to see what he's pulling out.
If the Hat Trick is lit, completing the Hat targets again adds 5M points to the Hat Trick Bonus, but does NOT collect the bonus. Although it is unlikely you would complete the Hat Target bank 11 times without collecting a Hat Trick, once the Hat Trick Bonus is maxed out at 50M, any subsequent Hat Target bank completions will award an immediate 5M.
The Hat Trick award is random. (It doesn't have anything to do with the first or last target you hit to light it, etc.)
Just as a side note, you'll probably find Rocky saying "Wrong hat!" fairly annoying after a short period of time. (He says it when you hit a Hat target that's already lit.)
So, just what ARE these stupid awards, you are wondering... They are:
Lion
You get 15 seconds to shoot the right ramp for 15M points. Decent.
Rhino
This is a hurry-up mode. The Rhino shot starts with 20 seconds on the timer and at 20M points. As time goes on, the 20M starts counting down at 1M per second. Your first Rhino shot sets the value of it (and awards you those points). The timer then IMMEDIATELY goes to 4 seconds for repeated shots at that same value. Every shot resets the timer to 4 seconds. If you somehow manage to score 100M or more points in this mode, the timer will no longer reset on completed shots (so you will at best get a chance for one more shot). The orbit value does NOT go below 3M. When the hurry-up value hits 3M, it goes right to the display showing the “Orbits=3,000,000” value and the cumulative points total for the mode. The cumulative total is displayed for informational purposes only, you are awarded the points right away, not at end-of-ball. Left orbits will NOT collect the Rhino value.
"Rabbit"
The rabbit isn't a rabbit, just Rocky dressed up as one (look at the Hat targets to see what he looks like). At any rate, getting Rocky earns an extra ball.
As mentioned, the Hat Trick award is random, but the Extra Ball is much less likely than the other two. Lion and Rhino should be equally likely over time but, much like flipping a quarter, you can get either multiple times in a row.
Mystery Select and Super Mystery Select
The Mystery Select is lit by one of 3 ways: The left lane skill shot, the WABAC machine, and lighting all the letters in SELECT. Individual letters in SELECT can be lit by shooting orbits and by completing all three rollover lanes. Lighting this a second time (by any of these 3 ways) while Mystery Select is still lit lights the Super Mystery Select. Strangely enough, though, one of the Mystery Select awards is "Light Super Mystery Select"!
When lighting SELECT via the Rhino and left orbit shots, consecutive shots will light 2 letters, as opposed to 1. So if you started from scratch, 7 consecutive orbit shots would light the Super Mystery Select. When lighting the (Super) Mystery Select via the skill shot or WABAC, it will NOT award you 6 letters. Rather, it will augment your current daisy count to light the next award. An example would be if you had SELEC lit, then shot the WABAC for "light mystery." You would only get 1 letter for that. Therefore, it would be a lot better to get that last daisy off the orbit shots before shooting for the WABAC.
Shooting the center shot when SELECT is lit (or flashing) will give you the (Super) Mystery Select choice ("I can't make up my mind!"). It's pretty simple: You have a few seconds (no visible countdown) to hit the flipper button corresponding to the side that the choice you want is on. Some choices are pretty close in value, but some far out-do the other one (5M or light extra ball???). If you fail to choose in time, one will be selected for you.
The possible Mystery Select awards are:
10M Points
- Completes and blocks 10M on the WABAC
Mystery Score (5M, 10M, 15M, or 20M)
Tri-Ball
- Also completes and blocks Instant Tri-Ball on the WABAC
(Light) Extra Ball
- Must shoot Aesop & Son to collect
(Light) Special
- Must shoot the Rhino shot to collect before end of ball
Light Hat Trick
Save Nell (described below in Misc. Scoring)
Any of the following WABAC machine awards (completing/blocking it off on the WABAC) [Not available via SMS]:
- Super Pops
- Lite Looping
- Loose Moose
- Lite Mystery (will light Super Mystery Select)
Laser Kick Enable
Bonus modifiers [not available via SMS]:
- 10X Bonus
- Hold Bonus (holds both base bonus and bonus-X)
Double Score (only if your score is below 100M. See description below.)
-End of standard Mystery Select Awards-
The possible SUPER Mystery Select awards are:
20M Points
- Does NOT complete the 10M feature
Mystery Score
- 15M, 20M, 25M, or 30M
- On average, almost double the value via SMS vs. via MS
Tri-Ball
- About half as likely to be offered via SMS vs. MS
(Light) Extra ball
- Must shoot Aesop & Son to collect
- About twice as likely to be offered via SMS vs. MS
(Light) Special
- Must shoot the Rhino shot to collect before end of ball
- About twice as likely to be offered via SMS vs. MS
Any of the standard puzzle rounds [Offered via SMS, but not via MS]
- Rocket Squirrel Scoring
- Spin-n-Win
- 2M Drops
- Back in Time [Half as likely to be offered as the other three puzzle rounds]
Laser Kick Enable
Double Score
- Only offered if your score is below 300M. See description below.
- About twice as likely to be offered via SMS vs. via MS
-End of Super Mystery Select Awards-
As you can see, the Super Mystery Select awards may be nicer or higher scoring than the normal ones, but there may be instances where you would prefer to take a chance on getting a standard Mystery Select award you want. For example, if you have already collected Save Nell once during the ball, it would be great to get Save Nell again for a quick 50M via Mystery Select instead of having to knock down multiple banks of drop targets and Save Nell is NOT an SMS award.
The extra ball will stay lit if you don't get it that ball. However, you MUST get the special on that ball, or it goes away.
Double Score
Double score can be downright nice, sometimes, depending on the circumstances. For instance, at the PAPA 3 tournament, I doubled a 150M score once! It was during practice, though, but during a competition, that can be pretty frustrating (to say the least) to competitors.
Double Score can be randomly offered as an award choice from either Mystery Select or Super Mystery Select. It can also be awarded automatically as a ‘random’ award from the ??? (Mystery Award) at the WABAC machine. Double Score is disabled for the rest of the game from all sources once you have collected a Replay or a Special. Double Score is disabled as a Mystery Select choice once your score reaches 100M and as a Super Mystery Select choice once your score reaches 300M. The Mystery Award will also not award Double Score if your score is 300M or greater. Therefore, Double Score is most likely to be offered early in the game while your score is relatively low (although a 300M score isn’t bad).
You should be aware of your score until you have a few tens of millions to avoid choosing to double a paltry few million points when the other option may offer tens of millions and the chance to advance closer to Tri-ball or other more lucrative modes. Similarly, if you have (Super) Mystery Select or ??? lit and you are getting close to crossing the first replay score threshold, then you may want to collect the lit Mystery Select or ??? award first to give yourself one last chance to double your score.
Misc. Scoring
There are lots of little things that are worth points but just aren't worth mentioning (slingshots, etc.). Most of the major scoring rounds have already been described. There are a couple more, along with a couple of undocumented features.
Save Nell
Hitting all the drop targets on the right starts a timed round where all you have to do is hit a SINGLE drop target to score 25M. ("Just in the nick of time!") Not bad. The number of times you must complete the drop targets before the Save Nell round is started is indicated by the flashing number in front of the targets. (If the "2" is flashing, you need to complete the bank 2 times to start the round.)
When you start the round, the announcer will start commenting on the action (he says "Meanwhile" and starts discussing Nell's predicament). On the playfield, the saw spins while Nell moves toward it strapped to the log. You should miss saving Nell at least once in order to see the closing animation. Snidely laughs at you and says "It's curtains." The display goes back to Nell, and as the timer reaches 0, down comes the curtain. If you Save Nell, the number of banks required to start Save Nell will increase by one up to the maximum of five (i.e., one less bank is spotted until eventually no banks are spotted). If you miss her, then you only need to complete the previously required number of banks to re-start Save Nell.
WORTHY OF NOTE: Completing Save Nell more than once IN THE SAME BALL scores 50M each time after the first. Unlike the Puzzle rounds and WABAC awards, you can start Save Nell during Tri-Ball.
At default settings, a single drop target saves Nell as mentioned. However, if Adjustment 51 “Any Drop Wins Nell” is set to NO, then the entire bank of 5 targets (ouch!) must be dropped to Save Nell. To compensate somewhat for this much greater difficulty, an extra 10 seconds is added to the starting mode timer (which itself varies based on game difficulty).
FAST SAVE!: This is almost impossible, but knocking down all five (5) targets within about 2-3 seconds of starting Save Nell (possible regardless of the “Any Drop” setting) provides enhanced scoring. In addition to the normal score you will get either light Extra Ball (if extra balls are still available, extra ball is not already lit, and you have no extra balls in reserve) or, if not, 25M added to the Save Nell score (making it either 50M or 75M)! (Note: You have until the "Time ticking away on our hero!" quote starts to Fast Save Nell.)
Alternating Ramps
During normal play, Alternating Ramps is always available. Basically, shooting one ramp, then sending the ball up the other one, etc. is alternating ramps. On each consecutive shot you make without missing you will score 1M multiplied by the total number of consecutive alternating ramp shots. (You can only touch the return lanes and the ramp gates and sensors.) There doesn't seem to be a hard limit (I've gotten it to 6M, which means I netted 21M if accounting for the 5 scores leading up to 6M), but you are typically practically limited to a max of around 15-16 consecutive alternating ramps by other game features. Though alternating ramps may be worth a decent amount of points if you are able to chain several together, there is a far more important reason to go for looping ramps:
Alternating Ramps is one of the few modes (along with Save Nell) you can start during Tri-Ball. However, sustaining this would be difficult since any other switch closures resets alternate ramps scoring.
Spot Bombs!
Starting with the second or third alternating ramp shot, every alternating ramp shot SPOTS ONE BOMB TARGET! So getting it to 6M (on easy spot bombs settings) spotted 5 BOMB letters. This can be invaluable as you get to the harder- to-light Tri-Ball rounds. Spot Bombs is controlled by Adjustment 48 “Spot Bomb Style”. “Easy” spots bombs starting with the 2nd alternating ramp, “normal” spots a bomb starting with the 3rd alternating ramp, and hard never spots bombs for alternating ramps. Although largely academic for all but the best players, Spot Bombs creates the practical limit of around 15-16 Alternating Ramps since it will enable Tri-Ball by the 14th consecutive Alternating Ramp shot and Tri-Ball will be started by the next right ramp shot (you might be able to sneak in one or two more ramp shots). However, if Spot Bomb Style is set to Hard then there is no practical limit to the number of Alternating Ramps that can be chained.
Bonus
The end-of-ball bonus goes up by 7500 for each playfield switch during the ball, and is multiplied by 1 (default), 2, 4, 6, 8, or 10. The multiplier is advanced by completing the 3 top lanes and by the Adv. X award for the laser kick. After getting 10X, the next laser kick Adv. X will award bonus-hold, which holds the bonus AND the multiplier. The maximum base bonus is only 2M (a total bonus of up to 20M when you have 10X) and would require 267 switch closures. As noted previously, you can also get 10X or Hold Bonus as a Mystery Select award (but not via SMS). If you have “Bonus Held” on your last ball, then you will collect your multiplied bonus TWICE (up to 40M total instead of 20M).
The Loose Moose total is added if you had one that ball, but is NOT multiplied. Also, the Loose Moose Bonus is NOT held.
Fortunately, the rather tedious bonus counting can be aborted by hitting a flipper button ("Thank you Mr. Know-It-All!" or "Awww, Mr. PEAbody!").
Victory Lap
A typical DE award, which is lit after getting a replay from your score. Hit the right ramp for 25M bonus within around 15 seconds after earning the replay. Victory Lap is only enabled if Adjustment 04 (Game Award) is set to Credit.
Bomb extinguisher
Like the Star Wars shootout (and LW3 for that matter), there is a time when you'll have to pound on the launch button 5 times for 5M points. There's a brief siren-type noise before the round starts, but you have to be paying pretty close attention to notice. Also, the launch button starts blinking and there is an animation of Bullwinkle poised to throw a bucket of water on the fuse. It starts randomly upon hitting an UNLIT BOMB target. The animation shows 1M points for each button press, but the points aren’t actually awarded unless you get all five button presses in time. Bomb Extinguisher will only run up to twice per ball and will not start again during the ball once successfully completed.
Combo Shots
There is a 3-way combo in R&B. It is the Rhino orbit -> left orbit -> Aesop & Son. It is worth 5M the first time, 10M the second time, and 15M each additional time for the remainder of the game. This is a difficult combo because of the likelihood of hitting an extraneous target on the orbit returns.
Alternating Ramps (covered earlier) are also combos.
You also get an additional 100K for consecutive orbit shots (either/both directions) after the first, but the combo value does not go up after the second orbit shot so it is not very significant.
Nice Death Save?!?
This is the first game in existence that recognizes a death save (getting the ball back in play after a right outlane drain) and CONGRATULATES you for doing it! This is totally cool. In fact, it now takes first place on my Way-Cool- That-They-Even-Thought-To-Put-That-Into-A-Game list, just barely edging out "Dirty pool" in The Addam's Family. Anyway, to see the animation, you need to get the ball to hit another target after going down the RIGHT outlane (you get an automatic 1.5M for a drain out the left outlane, but no death save possibility). When you do hit something after the danger sign goes away, you'll see the “Nice Death Save” message, then "Good work Sherman" and a very amusing animation with Sherman and Peabody. If you first got the "Danger" (tilt warning) animation by nudging a little too aggressively trying to avoid the drain you may not see the full “Death Save” animation and you'll just hear some bars of the Death March, which also play during the animation. The Death Save is worth 3M. Not bad considering the programmer originally wanted to make it -10M.
"Stay tuned, there's more!"
You'll hear/see this if you lose the ball very soon after launching. There's no way to tell for sure if it's still lit or not, though. You'll also get balls back that drain fairly soon after Tri-Ball starts.
Tri-Ball
Tri-Ball can be started in a number of ways: Getting it via Mystery Select (not available via Super Mystery Select), by completing the Pie by shooting BOMB or spotting it then shooting the right ramp, it'll be lit on the third ball if you haven't gotten one yet (also on the right ramp), and by shooting the WABAC when Instant Tri-Ball is lit.
The game will spot up to 4 targets (just the first one of each color) at the start of the second ball. As mentioned, Tri-Ball will be lit on your third ball if you've not yet had it.
The opening animation is pretty amazing. (You should watch someone else start Tri-Ball sometime.) The other amazing thing is that it DOESN'T interfere with play, unlike the animation in, say, Star Wars.
During Tri-Ball, you shoot the Hat Trick (left orbit) to light the jackpot. The first jackpot is 20M points. Every time you shoot the left ramp, you increase the jackpot by 1M. This goes on without practical limit. Collect the jackpot by shooting the right ramp. If the jackpot is lit, then you can shoot the Hat Trick again to light the double jackpot for about 7 seconds. There appears to be a very slight grace period on the double jackpot, but you have to at least be on the ramp when it hits 0 to get it. Repeatedly shooting the Hat Trick resets the timer to 7.
I can safely say now that there is NO quadruple jackpot in R&B.
After collecting the jackpot, light it again by shooting the Hat Trick. The next jackpot base value, though, goes up by 5M, again without practical limit. (Any 1M increments from shooting the left ramp are NOT held over from jackpot to jackpot, but the 5M increments from collecting a jackpot ARE.) It goes back to 20M with the start of the next Tri-Ball.
The big thing in Tri-Ball is the new addition of a Super Jackpot in DE games. This is also called Bullwinkle’s Treasure in the manual. All you have to do is complete the Pie during Tri-Ball. Although it’s much more difficult with multiple balls in play, Alternating Ramps will still spot targets. Otherwise you have to nail each BOMB letter 3 times. If you actually manage to do this, then shoot the right ramp for 100M points! You only have 15 seconds to do this, so do it quick. Beware! If you end Tri-Ball (drain 2 balls), then the SJ will become UNlit (and so will the jackpot, but NOT the double jackpot... weird). There is no way to pause or reset the Super Jackpot timer.
One interesting thing is that the Pie will KEEP its progress towards the SJ for the duration of the game IF game difficulty is moderate or easier! So if you missed the Pie by that one last letter, well, you have a chance to get it again if you start Tri-Ball again. Also if Game Difficulty is Moderate or easier and Super Jackpot is LIT when Tri-Ball ends then the first two lamps of each color will be lit at start of next Tri-Ball.
Later, Tri-Balls are harder to light. The first one, all BOMB targets are lit until you complete that color. The second one, you have to get BOMB once (all 4 shots) before you can shoot BOMB again. Basically, you have to get all 4, then all 4 again, then all 4 again. The 3rd time, you have to get the blue B 3 times, then the O 3 times, etc. The 4th time, you have to hit 1 B, then 1 O, then 1 M, etc. I'm not sure after that. I think that's the highest difficulty.
You cannot start WABAC rounds or complete puzzles during Tri-Ball. However, any round that was started before Tri-Ball will continue to operate normally. Also, Pops will start and advance if it was ready before Tri-Ball was started. Looping can also be started if ready. Save Nell can be advanced and started during Tri-Ball and the Laser Kick can be relit if it is otherwise allowed be the game settings and state.
2-Ball to 3-Ball IMPORTANT INFORMATION: If you complete the Hat Target bank during Tri-Ball, and you only have 2 balls in play, then the game will relaunch the 3rd ball for you! This makes it a LOT easier to keep your Tri-Ball an actual tri-ball (as opposed to a bi-ball). This is most certainly worth shooting for, as it will give you longer time to try to light the Super Jackpot, and keep your current jackpot value growing. What a great feature!
Tri-Ball Rerace
If 2 of the 3 balls drain quickly during Tri-Ball, you may get a Tri-Ball Restart (Rerace) where you have 5 to 25 seconds (depending on Adj 07: Game Difficulty) to shoot the right ramp to relaunch the other 2 balls. Whether you have the opportunity to restart Triball may depend on how long Triball has been running (a hidden rerace timer whose length is also determined by Adjustment 7). If the hidden rerace timer has expired before draining two of the three balls or if a jackpot has been collected then Triball Restart may be disabled depending on Adjustment 49 (Rerace Criterion). If set to Extra Easy, then Rerace will run unless both the hidden rerace timer has expired AND a jackpot has been collected. If set to Easy, then rerace will run as long as a jackpot has not been collected regardless of the hidden rerace timer. If set to Medium (listed as Factory in the manual, but in v1.30 Hard appears to be the actual factory default), then Rerace will run as long as the hidden rerace timer has not expired (regardless of whether a jackpot has been collected). If set to Hard, then the rerace will only run as long as the hidden rerace timer has not expired AND a jackpot has not been collected. If set to Extra Hard, then the Rerace will NEVER run.
Other
Kudos: Yay to Brian Schmidt (sp?), the sound/music guy for DE... The music after you get a jackpot is just tremendous. I love it.
Strategies
The outlanes are pretty vicious in R&B. You're going to have to do a bit of nudging in order to have a halfway decent ball-length time.
I usually try to keep the kickback at 5M points with the return lane value advances unless I'm already at 10X bonus, when bonus-hold would be worth quite a few points (20M). Other than that 1 time, 5M is usually worth the most and it can’t be tilted away, but bonus X advances can be worth up to 4M if the base bonus is maxed out (i.e., 2x2M after 267 switch closures). If you have already gotten Bonus Hold or 10X then going for Advance X will normally be the best choice when looking at long term scoring. Also, if the bonus is held and maxed, then Advance Bonus X will be worth an instant 20M.
There is apparently a trick ("It's not a bug, it's a FEATURE!!!") that if you get a ball to roll over a lit "Adv kickback value" light just while the kickback is still flashing for the grace period, it WILL advance the kickback value, in the process, keeping it lit!
Always try to go for the ramp looping. It'll get you to Tri-Ball a LOT faster and get you higher scores in the long run.
The hardest shot to master, IMHO, is the right ramp. On most machines, there seems to be a fairly narrow sweet spot to it, compared to how wide the entrance to it is. It's pretty important that you be able to hit it without much trouble, though.
I usually just go for the Mystery Select as soon as it's lit unless I'm really close to lighting the Super (1 or 2 letters). The reason is, the awards just aren't all that much better for the SMS than the MS. If you're lucky enough, you'll usually be offered pretty nice awards through the plain Mystery Select.
The center shot is fairly important to get the hang of, too. You can easily hit it from either flipper, though from the right flipper it's a bit of a backhanded shot.
Know which puzzle you are going for and what it'll do. And avoid finishing it, if you can, while other things are going on (e.g. Loose Moose). I personally like to concentrate on one thing at a time.
If you are going for the Back in Time puzzle, try to avoid finishing it until you've gotten some of the nicer awards off of the WABAC, like Tri-Ball and the ??? award.
Get the Rhino shot down! That's the shot that relights your Laser Kick (first lighting “Lite Laser Kick” which is the same shot). You can find out how many shots total are required to relight it by looking at the "Instant Info" by holding down a flipper. Well, you have to catch a ball and hold it, because it won't show it to you while it's waiting for you to launch the ball. It should, though. (Note that Instant Info shows the total number of Rhino orbits initially required, not the number remaining.) There's a big yellow arrow near the right orbit entry that blinks when the next Rhino shot will relight the Laser Kick. How many orbits are required to relight the Laser Kick is NOT a direct operator adjustment and can vary between balls and from game to game. However, if Adjustment 45 (Tournament Style) is set to anything other than None, it will be 2 orbits (the first Rhino (right) orbit lights “Lite Laser Kick” and the second Rhino orbit lights the actual Laser Kick). If Adjustment 45 is set to NONE, then the number of orbits is primarily determined by average ball time. Please note that it is possible for relighting the Laser Kick via the Rihino orbit to be disabled. In this case, Instant Info will not show the number of orbits required to relight Laser Kick. It appears that the trigger to disable relighting the Laser Kick is an average ball time of 1 minute 30 seconds greater. It is still possible to relight the laser kick randomly via Mystery Select or Super Mystery Select even when lighting via the Rhino orbit is disabled.
Know your mystery awards, and how easy they are to finish. For example, a choice of 10M & Save Nell, you should choose Save Nell because it's *easy* to get that 25M or 50M (if Adjustment 51: Any Drop Saves Nell is set to YES).
In Tri-Ball, you may not want to worry about double jackpots. Shooting the jackpot right away will just let you hit the Hat Trick again for the jackpot, at 5M higher, and unlimited time rather than the pressure of 8 seconds to shoot the double. In the long run, it would actually be worth more NOT to shoot for the double jackpot. However, if you have a ball on each flipper, you might as well take a shot at lighting the double, because you'll have 2 chances to get it. Certainly don't forget to try to relaunch that 3rd ball when you can!
Trivia and Random Observations (New to v1.3)
Is that a Delorean on the playfield near the WABAC machine? Is this a BTTF reference (which is also a licensed DE pin)? [Credit for pointing this out to Russ Meyers.]
R&B may have one of the longest attract modes I’m aware of. Although many items repeat on the order of once per minute, to see every attract mode message will take about 20(??) minutes.
False Death Save: If Bomb Extinguisher is running when you drain out the right outlane, pressing the button will award a death save (sound and points). Of course, you won’t get the ball back so this is a false save (almost certainly a bug).
The “Wards” listed in the attract mode credits are family members of R&B producer Jay Ward.
One conceivable method for completing “Fast” Save Nell is during Tri-Ball with 2 balls cradled on the left flipper and one on the right. Start Save Nell by banking the ball off the left slingshot from the right flipper into the last drop and as soon as the bank resets shoot the balls from the left flipper at the drop targets. With a well placed shot, you will drop several targets immediately and hopefully get the remaining drops from slingshot rebounds within the one second window.
Keep an eye on the back of train during the 2M Drops intro animation for a nice touch and an explanation of why the train is on the track it is on.
The two Moon Men that appear when you get an extra ball are named Gidney and Cloyd.
Thanks!
Kevin Martin for providing a magazine that had the R&B playfield on it, and later helping me to figure out some stuff while we played it the day after I posted the sheet! (We found one way out in the boonies.)
Bowen for a little Hat Trick help, and some more help regarding "defuse the bomb."
Felix Lee for quite a bit of useful information that we later confirmed, and the kickback relight trick.
John Yeates for a pointing out a minor faux pas. %)
This is my fourth rule sheet, now. Be sure if you have a question/comment/ answer to one of my questions/correction that you mail it to me, or post it on r.g.p. Thanks a lot and enjoy the guide. -- Keith Johnson
v1.3 Update Thanks:
Thanks to Keith Johnson for writing the original guide and for all the amazing pinball rules he's conceived and the games he's since programmed in the intervening years. I wonder if he knew when he wrote this original rule sheet as a fan what an impact he'd have later as an industry professional.
Also, thanks to all the folks formerly at Data East that made this great pinball!
-- JS
Editor's Notes
- HTML added by David Gersic dgersic_@_niu.edu
- E-mail addresses have been expunged to prevent web-bot spamming, and Web links have been updated where possible.
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