Earthshaker (German) (LG-1)

Pinball published 35 years ago:

Earthshaker! (c) 1989 Williams Electronics Games, Incorporated.

- TECHNICAL -

Williams System 11B
Model Number : 568

Main CPU : M6808 (@ 1 MHz)
Sound CPU : Motorola M6809 (@ 2 MHz), OKI M6808 (@ 1 MHz)
Sound chips : Yamaha YM2151 (@ 3.579545 MHz), (2x) DAC, (2x) HC55516

- TRIVIA -

* The following voices are heard during the game (M for male and F for female)...
"It's sunny drive time!" [M] : starting a game.
"They've locked on with all the hits." [M] : completing the building.
"EARTHSHAKER!!!" [M] : locking a ball for Multiball.
"Take a scenic fault drive today." [M] : starting Multiball.
"Check out the fault today." [M] : enabling the fault for Jackpot.
"Head for the shelter!" [M] : during timer for Aftershock.
"Ooh, give me shelter!" [F] : during timer for Aftershock.
"Ooh, bitchin'!" [F] : receiving or starting an extra ball, or when you receive a match at Game Over.
"Ooh, million!" [F] : million shot enabled.
"M-M-M-Million!" [F] : million shot awarded.
"Ooh, Jackpot!" [F] : jackpot enabled.
"J-J-J-Jackpot!" [F] : jackpot awarded.

- SCORING -

All bumpers (none lit) : 1,000 points.
Red bumper (red lit) : 2,000 points.
Blue bumper (red and blue lit) : 2,000 points.
Yellow bumper (all lit) : 2,000 points.
Red bumper (red blinks) : 3,000 points.
Blue bumper (red and blue blink) : 3,000 points.
All bumpers (all blink) : 5,000 points.

Captive Ball : 25K, 50K, 100K, 150K, or 250K
Center ramp : 25K, 50K, 60K, 70K, 80K, 90K, 100K, or 200K
Drop targets : 50K, 60K, 70K, 80K, 90K, or 100K
Fault trip : 50K (normal) or 250K (Multiball)
Jackpot : 500K/Special, 1M, 1.25M, 1.5M, 1.5M/Extra Ball, 2M, or 2.5M
Loop : 20K (normal) or 100K (Jet Bumpers)
Outlane : 50K
Return lane : 5000
Skill shot : 10K, 25K, 50K, or 100K
Slingshot : 110
Spinner : 1000/revolution (unlit) or 3000/revolution (lit)
Stand-up : 25K (unlit) or 40K (lit)
50K Stand-up : 25K (unlit) or 50K (lit)
Zone (lit) : 40K

- TIPS AND TRICKS -

* Master the fault trip. This is by far the most important shot of the game. Use it to accumulate miles, spot the more difficult zones (zone 6 and zone 9), and receive the Million and Jackpot scores.

* Pound the miles. This leads to extra balls and basically boosts up your score. This especially true after 99 miles, when each center ramp shot is worth 200K points and the bonus is worth up to 594K points. Work on consecutive center ramp shots to accumulate the miles faster.

* After hitting the shelter twice, the Captive Ball will stay lit at 100K. It then takes only two consecutive center ramp shots to light the 250K shot. If you feel like gambling (it's a sucker shot), go for the Captive Ball to enable Quick Multiball. Usually it's worth the gamble, since it can lead to the M-M-M-Million shot.

* On Quick Multiball, don't shoot the ball too hard to cause it to cause the ball to "overpass" into the center ramp. This puts the ball on the lower left flipper at just about the same time the second ball gets ejected past the upper left flipper, which ruins your initial chance at the Million shot.

* If possible, shoot the ball into the 'overpass' when starting Multiball (except for the Quick Multiball). This gives a good shot at the center ramp to enable the Jackpot before the other balls get in the way.

* It's almost always a good idea to shoot for the eject hole (zone 5) from the right flipper. This will eject the ball so that it rolls slowly past the upper left flipper for an attempt at the fault.

- STAFF -

Concept and Design : Pat Lawlor
Art : Timothy J. Elliott
Software : Mark Penacho
Mechanix by : John Krutsch
Sounds : Chris Granner
Music : Chris Granner, Jon Hey (JON)