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Attack From Mars
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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)
Lot's 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
========
I. Introduction
II. Playfield Layout
III. Skill Shot
IV. Attack Phase
V. Multiball
VI. Stroke of Luck
VII. Total Annihilation
VIII. Martian Attack
IX. Rule The Universe
X. Misc
XI. End Stuff
I. 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 followed:
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.
II. 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.
III. 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.
IV. 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.
V. 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.
VI. 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.
VII. 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.
VIII. 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.
IX. 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.
X. 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!
XI. 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.
