(Topic ID: 32845)

Preferred/favorite multi-ball (number of balls) -- poll

By Pinball-is-great

11 years ago


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    Topic poll

    “When it comes to multi-ball, which do you like best, 2/3/4/5/6-ball?”

    • 2-ball, That's about all I can handle 5 votes
      6%
    • 3-ball, Just right for me, I can keep 3 going. 28 votes
      33%
    • 4-ball, 4 is awesome and exciting! 37 votes
      44%
    • 5-ball, I need 5 so that when 2 drain instantly, I'm still in multi-ball mode. 8 votes
      10%
    • 6-ball, Bring it on! I will show you who is boss! 6 votes
      7%

    (84 votes)

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    #1 11 years ago

    When it comes to multi-ball, which do you like best, 2/3/4/5/6-ball?
    Vote in the poll, and feel free to add comments/clarifications.

    4-ball multi-ball is more than good enough for me.

    #2 11 years ago

    torn between 3 and 4... depends on the machine.

    #3 11 years ago

    I like 13 !

    Jim

    #4 11 years ago

    3 for me!

    #5 11 years ago

    The more the merrier! TFTC 6 balls baby! It Also has 3 multiball and add a ball during play.

    #6 11 years ago

    I listed the more common choices for multi-ball in the poll (2/3/4/5/6).

    However, per McCune's comment, and per further investigation,
    I could have also listed two other multi-ball choices (8 & 13).
    * Indiana Jones (Stern 2008) has an 8-ball multi-ball
    * Apollo 13 (Sega 1995) has a 13-ball multi-ball {the most of any pin}
    So, for those two choices, if either is your favorite, then you will need to do a write-in vote.

    Is there any pins that have other qty of balls for multi-ball (7/9/10/11/12)?

    #6 11 years ago

    There are lots of good reasons for two through four ball multiball. Anything higher for me tends to be too much as you can't make controlled shots as you're constantly colliding with balls occupying the center of the playfield. And of course you should mention the Apollo 13, 13 ball multiball, as being the most absurd example of over-the-top multiball pin action.

    Bride of Pinbot's 2 ball multiball is a great example of when less is more. The control and patience you need to repeatedly get those balls up the shuttle ramp is significant. You need to master the return from the left side immediately and not brick your cradle separations as there is no ball saver nor an easy restart should you drain late into your progress.

    Medieval Madness has two, three, and four ball modes. Depending on how many Madness Lights you have you'll get two or four. Castle Multiball is always three. I think Barnyard is four, it's been a while since I've seen that mode. Medieval Madness's multiballs have great variety to them. Five for any mode would be too much and even four is a bit overwhelming because MM requires often fast shots to get the ball all of the way up the ramps or through the lanes.

    Theater of Magic has two, three, and four ball modes as well. Tiger Saw and Vanish/Reappear are two ball modes. Trunk Multiball is three or four depending on how you locked the balls. The only problem with Theater of Magic is that there are no ball savers and I hilariously drain almost instantly ever time as I get psyched out.

    Monster Bash for me is the king of multiball. Mosh Pit starts with two and allows for 'add a balls' through the Mosh Pit lane (tough center shot). Frankenstein has is three with a short ball saver. Bash and Rock are four ball with an enormous ball saver (like 30-60 seconds on most machines).

    The point is that there is no one right answer. Clever software can put two through four ball modes in the game and give you lots of variety. Not making every multiball mode the same amount of balls is a great way to give your game some added fun without having to create extra hardware and make the game more expensive to produce. I love starting Joust Madness and Trolls on MM, beating Trolls, and adding another ball plus some more ball saver, so rewarding.

    #7 11 years ago

    Just some added info for your amusement,

    some of the machines w/ 6-ball multi-ball:
    TZ, IJ, STTNG, GNR, JD, TPW, TFTC, LAH, JP, MSF, Popeye, WWF

    some of the machines w/ 5-ball multi-ball:
    TSPP, TS, TF, FGY & SHREK, Baywatch, Congo, DM, SP, WCS, NASCAR & Gran Prix,
    Centaur & Centaur II, Goldeneye, HMM, Strange Science, Twister

    ...and a machine I just found with 9-ball multi-ball: Balls-a-Poppin, 1956 Bally,
    1st flipper pinball machine w/ multi-ball. This pin also inspired Centaur designer Jim Patla.
    How about that pinball trivia pinheads?

    #8 11 years ago

    I can't really say which amount makes up a "perfect" multiball.

    I like the TZ 3-ball multiball modes, but I also like the 6-ball Lost In The Zone.

    I like playing supergame on Judge Dredd because it essentially starts out with multiball, and can progress during play.

    I like Tron's stackable Quorra and Light Cycle modes, and the Quorra add-a-ball feature is the closest thing to a wizard mode during regular gameplay if you have the light cycle mode going at the same time.

    #9 11 years ago

    Multiballs have become jackpot whore-fests. I like the good ole days where a jackpot actually meant something. All these new stern games light pretty much every shot for jackpots right at the start. I miss multiballs like IJ where you have to collect it and then relight it each time to collect it again. Enough of the light everything and collect. LOTR Fellowship multiball is excellent in this regard as it follows the old 90's style multiball where you light the jackpot first and then collect.

    #10 11 years ago

    In general, I feel that 3 balls is enough for multiball. However, I can also see using more than 3 balls to make a multiball seem "special" (e.g., Lost in the Zone from TZ) or because there is a specific rule set that takes advantage of the greater number of balls (as in Alien Invasion from TSPP). I voted for 3 balls, but I guess my answer is more precisely, 3 balls...but not always!

    #11 11 years ago

    I prefer 3 balls. Just got a JD and find it really difficult just to get shots past all the other balls bouncing around. 3 gives you enough to make it exciting but not so many that it makes it too tough to hit the jackpot shot!

    #12 11 years ago

    My wife settles for 2

    #13 11 years ago

    I guess the poll results thus far sort of match up in that which ball count multi-balls are the most common are also the most preferred. Perhaps a few more Pinsiders will cast their votes this weekend for this poll.

    I found that there are over 50 pinball machines designed w/ a 4-ball multi-ball (max), and the 4-ball multi-ball choice above has the most votes thus far.
    As mentioned before, software code in most modern machines typically now has some modes w/ 2-ball, some w/ 3-ball, and other modes w/ 4-ball (or more) to help differentiate the modes, mix it up a bit and keeps things interesting.

    3-ball multi-ball seems to be the 2nd most common choice by pinball designers.
    Although it appears that 3-ball multi-ball (max) was more common in the 80's and 90's, but also in some pins since yr 2000.

    Merry Christmas Pinsiders!

    #14 11 years ago

    Tough choice, I choose three because I really think it's the number that makes sense for most games. Any more than that (and I have a 5 and 6 ball machines) and it's pretty chaotic. Yes, it's fun and I enjoy it, but to me, three balls is the limit where you can still have control rather than chaos.

    #15 11 years ago

    More info on pinball machines w/ multi-ball for those that are interested:

    It appears that Bally started incorporating multi-ball game play before the other major pinball machine manufacturers.
    (Balls-a-Poppin - 1956, Circus - 1957, Star Jet - 1963, Capersville - 1966, The Wiggler - 1967,
    Big Valley - 1970, Four Million B.C. - 1971, Fireball - 1972, Nip-It - 1973, Xenon - 1980, 5 or 6 in 1981, ...and so on).

    Williams: Beat the Clock -late 1963, then 3 from 1980 (Firepower, Scorpion, & Black Knight),
    all their models in 1981, ...and so on.

    Gottlieb's earliest multi-ball games were in 1981 (Force II {Gottlieb's 1st}, Pink Panther, Mars God of War, Volcano, & Black Hole).

    Stern Electronics [1977-1984] => Had 8 pins from late 1980 to 1982 w/ multi-ball:
    (Flight 2000, Nine Ball, Freefall, Lightning, Split Second, Catacomb, Viper, & Orbitor 1)

    Data East Pinball ==> almost every game DEP produced from '87 - '94 was a multi-ball design.
    Sega Pinball Inc. ==> every game SPI produced from '94 - '99 was a multi-ball design.
    Stern Pinball Inc => I believe all pinball machines by Stern are multi-ball type, yr 2000 - present.

    Zaccaria [1967-1988, Italy] => only a few for ZAC. 1st was in 1982 - Pinball Champ '82, and remake Pinball Champ in '83, then in 1987 they had Star's Phoenix and New Star's Phoenix.

    And of course both Capcom and Alvin G & Co. in the 90's came out with some multi-ball games.

    Some other manuf's:
    Allied Leisure Ind. (ALI) ==> 0 multi-ball pins.
    Atari ==> basically 0 multi-ball pins.
    Chicago Coin Manuf ==> 0 multi-ball pins.
    Game Plan [1978-1985] => only had 2 or 3 multi-ball pins which were in their last year '85.
    Inder [1972-1993, Spain] => only 1 multi-ball pin, Bushido, which was in their last yr '93.
    Playmatic [1971-1986, Spain] ==> only 2 pins {Zira 1980, & Mad Race '84} had multi-ball.
    Rally [1961 - 1968, France] => 0 multi-ball pins.
    Recel & Petaco [Spain] => 0 multi-ball pins.
    Sega [Japan, 1970's] ==> 0 multiball pins.
    Segasa [Spain, 1970's] => 0 multi-ball pins.
    Taito [Brazil, 1979-1985] => Approx 10 pins w/ multi-ball from 1980 - 1985, but many were copies of popular U.S.-made games.

    Seems like multi-ball style machines were rather slow to catch on in the 50's thru late 70's.
    But after a few years of utilizing the early solid state technology, then multi-ball became much more common in pinball machine design.

    #16 11 years ago

    I think 3-balls are the best IMO.

    #17 11 years ago

    You need to stop dippin' your "boys", into Lake Springfield there KwiKi!

    Doctor:
    "Now turn your head and cough-ough-ough."

    images.jpegimages.jpeg

    #18 11 years ago
    Quoted from NimblePin:

    You need to stop dippin' your "boys", into Lake Springfield there KwiKi!

    Yeah, I'm currently dating the 3-breasted lady from Total Recall.

    We need to hang out sometime in 2013 NimblePin.

    1 year later
    #20 10 years ago

    Revival bump just for fun for the newbies to Pinside and anyone that missed this last year.
    Cheers!

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