Neha Patil (Editor)

Creature from the Black Lagoon (pinball)

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Manufacturer
  
Midway

Design
  
John Trudeau

Artwork
  
Kevin O'Connor

Release date
  
December 1992

Programming
  
Jeff Johnson

System
  
Midway WPC (Fliptronics II)

Creature from the Black Lagoon is a pinball machine designed by John Trudeau ("Dr. Flash") and released by Midway (under the Bally brand name). It is loosely based on the movie of the same name. The game's theme is 1950's drive-in theater. The pinball machine was licensed from Universal Studios by Bally so that the backglass artwork, the cabinet artwork, and the creature looked like the original movie actors and monsters.

Contents

Hologram

The table's major feature is a holographic creature, set in the middle of the playfield, that lights up and waves its "hand" back and forth during multiball play. The green hologram was produced by Polaroid and is affixed to a metal plate that is divided into 3 "floating" sections. A cam behind one of sections presses against the back of the plate, flexing the hologram's surface, so that the monster's claw appears to 'swipe' at the player. A 2nd motor (mounted in the bottom of the cabinet), oscillates the light reflecting mirror (changing the direction of the light source) and causing the image of the creature to gently sway from side to side.

The modes

This game has five modes. They are started at the right lane. After the mode has begun, the ball is shot around the left lane.

Mega Menu: The four menu targets are lit. They are worth 5M, then 10M, then 15M, and finally 20M. Hit all four of them to complete the mode. This mode lasts 20 seconds.

Playground Award: The game picks from three modes at random. Modes marked with a dot are Playground Award modes.

  • Unlimited Millions: The left ramp is worth 3M,6M,9M and so on until the timer expires. This mode lasts for 25 seconds.
  • Fighter Jets: The bumpers are 1M a hit. This mode lasts for 25 seconds.
  • Intermission: Both ramps are 5M a hit. This lasts for 15 seconds

    • Big Millions: The wizard mode. The right ramp is worth 5M, 10M, 15M and so on for 10 seconds.

    Songs

    There were five 1950's songs put in the game. These are:

  • "Rock Around the Clock"
  • "Get a Job"
  • "Summertime Blues"
  • "Willie and the Hand Jive"
  • "Red River Rock" (Johnny and the Hurricanes version)

    • All of the songs are instrumental versions, except for "Red River Rock", which was originally an instrumental. The songs are played by the game's sound hardware.

    Digital versions

    Creature from the Black Lagoon is available as a licensed table of The Pinball Arcade for several platforms. Due to licensing issues however only four of the five songs have been kept intact for this version. This table is also included in Williams Pinball Classics (2001) for PC.

    References

    Creature from the Black Lagoon (pinball) Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA