This is a page dedicated to the Twilight Zone pinball game. The FAQ contained within this page will explain a lot of details about the game, and give some helpful hints. Watch your step, you never know what might happen...
Released by Midway, the Twilight Zone pinball game represents the finest in pinball games today. Excellent sounds, great dot-matrix graphics, and a well planned playfield. I don't know who they found to do the voice of Rod Serling, but he's a dead ringer.
Note: The Twilight Zone pinball game is property of Bally/Midway. All rights reserved, etc. The Twilight Zone TV show is property of it's owner company (who's name temporarily escapes me, and I will look up). So in other words, don't rip them off.
This officially begins my FAQ. Before I begin, I will give my disclaimers:
This FAQ is property of Steven E. Beres. It may be reproduced in electronic form or in hardcopy form as long as this disclaimer is included AND proper credit is given to me. It may not be sold at all.There, now that I've have gotten done with that, you can go on to the FAQ.
Table of Contents:
The TZ pinball game is one of the largest pinball machines I have seen, playfield-wise. Here is a rough description of it:
Starting from the bottom, you have the drain slots and the flippers. On the right side of the right flipper are two drain slot. The closest lights Dead End (when lit), and lights the left ramp for multiplier shots for a short time. The far drain slot will drain the ball out of play, and will award special (a replay) if lit. There are three drain slots to the left of the left flipper. The closest lights the slot machine when lit. The second slot lights the right spiral. The furthest slot drains the ball out of play and awards extra ball if lit.
Moving futher, on the left side of the play field is the jet bumpers and town square. Town square is located directly under the Powerfield, which should be easily located (it's the large thing with the spirals drawn on it, located above the jet bumpers).
The slot machine is located on the right side, directly across from the jet bumpers. Located further back on the playfield on the right side is the player piano, which is right behind the slot machine. Directly to the right of the slot machine is a flipper, and below that is a jet. Landing the ball here will shoot it (most of the time) up the hitchhiker ramp, which is located below the camera slot and underneath the powerfield. Behind the hitchhiker ramp and behind the upper-left flipper is the Camera. The left and right ramps are self explanitory. The left ramp, when shot, awards robots, lights the player piano and the slot machine, and is also used to advance multiplier and award Super Skill Shot.
That probably sounds very confusing (it sure does to me) but it really isn't important. Now on to the game.
There are 14 different door panels in the game. Each one takes you into a different event, where you can rack up muchos points. Here are all of them (and related events).
Rod Serling: "There's madness in town square."
Lights more or less everything on the board. Hitting anything adds to the town square bonus. Hitting the jet bumpers increases the value of each target. During this event, a spiral helper will be available (Spiral Helper: Shoot hitchhiker ramp for Town Square). The event ends when you lose the ball or time runs out.
Rod Serling: "An opportunity awaits you in the form...of an extra ball."
Lights the extra ball slot (located between the slot machine and right ramp; also the lock slot). Note: if you light the extra ball using robots before you light this door panel, the door panel will be lit automatically.
Rod Serling: "Time is a one-way street except in the Twilight Zone."
Really fun event (and my personal favorite). Green clock target (located between
left and right ramps) is lit. The clock rewinds to one, then starts counting down.
Hitting the target awards points, and rewinds the clock to give you more time. However,
every time you hit the clock, it winds faster. Hitting the clock about 9 times will give
you a special sound:
Man: "Stop playing with the clock!"
I believe this came from the Midway pinball game Funhouse. The event ends when the clock
hits midnight.
Rod Serling: "This clock is worth millions."
Similar to Clock Chaos. Lights green clock target, and winds the clock to midnight. It then begins counting down. Everytime you hit the clock, you are awarded points, plus it stops time for a little bit. Hit the clock enough times for clock destruction bonus. Clock 10 Millions (camera award) is the same, except it will always award 10 million every time you hit it. The event ends when time runs out.
Rod Serling: "This shot requires skill...super skill."
Lights left ramp. Shooting it up the left ramp sends the ball to the plunger where
you can shoot a skill shot. Awards are as follows:
Red award: Battle the Power
Orange award: Light outlanes (far left and right drain slots)
Yellow award: Light extra ball
When you shoot it up the left ramp...
Rod Serling: "Be careful."
Rod Serling: "It seems that one of life's payoffs is at hand."
Light the slot machine. Awards a random value from between 10 and 20 million when you shoot it into the slot machine. The event ends when time runs out.
Power: "Are you ready to battle? Feel lucky?"
Lights one battle the power, which can be collected by shooting the right ramp. If you should light the power first by collecting enough hitchhikers, this door panel will be lit automatically.
Rod Serling: "Note the hitchhiker there by the side of the road."
Awards 2 million points for every hitchhiker you have picked up. Also makes all hitchhikers that ball worth 2 million.
Rod Serling: "The spiral awaits you."
Lights the left and right spirals. The left spiral is between the upper-left flipper and the left ramp. The right spiral is between the slot machine and the upper-right flipper. Shoot either spiral for 10 million. After collecting 3 spirals, you will start getting spiral breakthrough bonuses, which starts at 15 million and gets higher. Event ends when time runs out.
Robot: "1!" "2!" "3!" "Breakthrough!"
Rod Serling: "This is a most unusual camera."
Robot: "Look to the future!"
Two two two cameras for the price of one! What I mean is, two camera awards will be lit. Just shoot the camera twice. Camera awards are as follows:
Rod Serling: "The stakes are higher in the Twilight Zone."
Lights all the yellow 5 million targets. Hitting them adds to greed bonus. Event ends when time runs out. Collect 25 million or more for a special reward:
Rod Serling: "There...see what greed will get you?"
Rod Serling: "It's time to tune into the Twilight Zone."
Starts the timer at 15 million. Timer begins to count down. Shoot lock before the timer reaches 5 millions for the fast lock multiball. During this multiball, shoot the lock for fast lock awards.
Various sounds based on how fast you got the award, and some that appear during the event:
"Go for the hills!" "Ooh..gimme shelter!" "Do not panic!" "Hey, it's only pinball!" "It's sunny drive time!" "Welcome race fans!"
Rod Serling: "10 Million Points"
Guess what you get? If you should shoot a normal skill shot at the beginning of a ball and get the yellow award, the door panel will light automatically.
Rod Serling: "This is no ordinary gumball machine."
Lights the gumball ramp once (the gumball ramp is also the right spiral).
This section covers how to start the various multiball events in the game, and certain other events.
To activate multiball, shoot the left and right lamps to load gumball, then shoot lock. Then either shoot lock or shoot the left ramp. Multiple multiballs in one games get progressively harder to start.
Once multiball begins, the player piano will be lit. Shoot the player piano to collect the jackpot. Shoot the powerball into the player piano to DOUBLE your jackpot. Increase the jackpot by shooting greed targets. Once you collect the jackpot, shoot the camera the relight the jackpot. The event ends if you lose 2 balls, with one exception: if you have not collected a jackpot yet, and you lose 2 balls, the lock will be lit for 10 seconds. Shoot it to restart multiball. This can only be done once per multiball.
Various sounds:See the ceramic ball? That is the powerball. If you load the gumball machine enough
times, it will eventually be put into play. This ball acts quite a bit differently
than your ordinary pinball. Various sounds during the event:
"Don't miss!" "Give it back!" "It's not yours!" "Miss, and you lose it all!"
"Powerball!" (collected Powerball Payoff)
Once you give back the powerball, you will enter Powerball Mania. During this multiball event, your objective is to shoot the right ramp and defeat the power. Do so and you collect 50 million points. You can then shoot the left ramp and relight the jackpot. Repeat as neccessary. The event ends when you lose two balls.
Rod Serling: "You have come to the end of your journey. Survival is everything."
The coolest multiball bonus in pinball, Lost in the Zone is obtained by lighting EVERY door panel, then opening the big door (when you light all of the door panels, the doorknob will light up. Obtain a door panel to get it).
What does this do for you? After watching the graphical displays, it will display the bonuses. I don't remember offhand everything, but I do know that some of them are:
And so forth. It will then unload all 7 balls in the machine into play. For the next 60 seconds, you have UNLIMITED balls to use. If you lose one, it'll shoot it back into play for you. Your objective? Earn as many points as possible. When the event ends, the door panels will be cleared, and you will be put back into normal game play where you left off.
Shooting spiral loops when lit awards progressively higher values.
I probably got those wrong (I hope not), so don't trust me on that. Most machines will start at the 4 million spiral.
Robots are useful little buggers. Whenever you shoot the left ramp or the lock, you will get 1 added to your current amount. Collecting enough robots gives either an extra ball, a camera, or in some cases both. The amount of robots required to collect either award varies, depending on settings and (believe it or not) how many of the various awards have been collected lately. On the current machine in the local arcade, my brother and I have managed to get it up to 9 robots for the camera, and 10 robots for light extra ball (as starting values). Note: I have heard of a super robot that can be obtained if you get a buttload of robots. This was confirmed for me by Eric Tozzato. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to determine what happens with it. Anyone willing to supply that information? :)
Town Square is located behind the jet bumpers. It's a hard place to shoot at, but usually worth the rewards. Hitting the jet bumpers increase the town square award, and shooting Town Square gives you the points. If Dead End is lit, you'll earn 2 times Town Square, plus one Dead End. 3 Dead Ends lights an extra ball.
If you beat the power, the yellow target below the player piano will light. This is the power payoff. Shoot it while it is lit for 10 million points.
When you lose your last ball, you will be given the chance to buy an extra ball for one credit. Greed targets will be lit, and you'll have a ball save for about 20 seconds. Shoot carefully, for you can only do this once per game.
Rod Serling: "Greed."
There are several 3 and 4 way combos in the game:
It is hard to give tips for pinball, but I will try.
First off, practice makes perfect. After a while, it will be easier to make your shots.
Door panels should be your primary target. Lost in the Zone is well worth the trouble you'll have to go to, considering you can earn more than 300 million points in one minute.
Powerball is also a good way to earn lots of points. Loading gumballs gives you progressively higher points. Powerball payoff and Powerball mania are two other ways to get big points.
Get the combos when possible. Several combos not only award points, but lead straight to a door panel (as long as the player piano is lit).
Unfortunately, no game is perfect. Twilight Zone does have several bugs (a couple of which are useful).
First off, the clock is a complex piece of machinery. This leads to a lot of problems. Many times the game will screw up entirely for no reason. Mainly this is caused by the clock overheating. Luckily, someone seems to have disconnected the clock on our local machine, but the machine up in Clovis has this problem. :( This causes a variety of problems, and occasionally will cause the machine to freeze (have your arcade manager reboot the game and refund your credits if this occurs. Most will).
Known bug concerning Powerball Mania: If you have a ball in the powerfield, and you shoot a ball into the camera, you will occasionally be awarded the powerball mania jackpot (50 million). Cool bug. :)
Occasionally it will shoot too many balls into play. Luckily, the machine has excellent error trapping, and will keep track of how many balls are in play. If you lose one, and there is still one in play, the game will keep going (unlike the Stargate pinball game).
Big thanks to Eric Tozzato (tozzato@omega.iut-rodez.fr) for confirming the exitance of the super robot.
I hope this FAQ has been beneficial. I know I couldn't have gotten everything in this complex game. If you notice that I have missed something, or you notice a typo (I'm sure there is plenty of them), mail me and I'll add it to the FAQ when I get around to it.
Back to the Main MenuThis page was written by Steven E. Beres
Last modified 6-15-97