ATTACK FROM MARS RULE SHEET
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Compiled by : Robert Macauley
Version 2.0 10 April 1998
HTML conversion by Chris Bonney
The following is an attempt to make sense of the Bally pinball game
Attack From Mars. Most of the information contained here was compiled
from limited access to an early ROM (p-3 I think) but as of late last
year I finally get to play this fantastic game again. The version I
now play is a L-1 rom.
Now the legal stuff. Attack from Mars and many other terms used here
are copyrighted by Bally, Williams, and for all I know the Easter
Bunny. This is none of my business.
This sheet is posted as freeware and may be used as such as long as I
still retain some credit for it and no-one else makes any profit from
its use.
This was my first attempt at a rulesheet and at the time of writing
this (late 1996) I was under the impression that no-one else had done
one yet. Boy was I wrong. Anyway, why should Cameron Silver have all
the glory. Oh well here goes nothing...
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PLAYFIELD LAYOUT
Outlanes/Inlanes : The usual type. Each lane has a yellow light above
it. Lighting all 4 relights Stroke of luck. completing them a set
number of times also lights Extra Ball.
Slingshots : The usual. No strange shapes here.
Flippers : Only 2. the usual size.
Martian Targets : Spread about the lower half of the playfield are 7
targets spelling Martian. Lighting all 7 lights Martian Attack.
Left Orbit : Awards Capture and jackpots. This orbit can only be
completed as a combo when Capture is completed. A bit like World Cup
Soccer.
Left Ramp : Feeds the ball to the left flipper, awards Big-O-Beam and
jackpots. Can also start a combo.
Center Ramp: Lights locks, awards jackpots and can start a combo if
lock is not lit. This ramp is up a laneway behind the Martian saucer.
Feeds to the right flipper unless lock is lit in which case the ball
is diverted to the center sinkhole.
Martian Saucer: Kinda strange this one. There is a motorised bank of
three targets known as the forcefield. Hitting all 3 lowers the
forcefield and starts an Attack Wave. Behind the forcefield is a drop
target with 1 target on each side at an angle. Behind the drop target
is the center sinkhole. Above all this is a large Martian Saucer which
flashes and shakes during waves.
Right sinkhole : This can be accessed either from the bumpers above it
or from a shot from below. The awards are: Extra Ball, Stroke of Luck,
Martian Attack and Rule the Universe. Only Martian Attack can be
collected from above with one exception. During multiball an extra
ball can be collected from either direction.
Bumpers : 3 bumpers identical to World Cup.
Bonus X Lanes : Once again, the same position as World Cup. There
seems to be no max. bonus.
Right Ramp : Feeds to the right flipper. Awards Tractor Beam and
jackpot. can also start a combo.
Right Orbit : Awards Atomic Blaster and jackpot. Like the left orbit
this can't be completed unless Atomic Blaster is completed.
Scattered about the playfield are 5 small saucers which flash strobe
lights and 4 tacky green Martians which jump during Martian multiball.
Just like the boogie monsters on Elvira.
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OBJECTIVE
The main objective is to follow Man's basic instincts: Rule the
Universe. This is achieved by completing the 6 tasks displayed between
the slingshots. 5 Way Combo; Total Annihilation; Martian Attack
Multiball; Super Jackpot; Super Jets; Conquer Mars. These can be
completed in any order. Some are harder than others.
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RULES
Skill Shot : There are 2 skill shots. The basic skill shot launches
the ball to above the bumpers. You have to collect the flashing lane
like on Corvette or Flintstones. This is worth 10M + 10M for each
successful shot. This also increases the bonus X by 5X.
Super Skill Shot : Holding in the left flipper when launching the ball
enables super skill shot. The ball continues around the orbit and the
object is to hit a ramp, orbit or the gate for 50M. This also
completes the feature on a ramp or orbit and starts an attack wave if
you hit the forcefield.
Attack Waves : Opening the forcefield starts one of 5 Attack Waves.
The object is to protect one of 5 countries from alien attack by
hitting the drop target repeatedly. The countries are: France;
Germany; Italy; England; USA. The display shows a saucer damaging one
of that countries National Treasures, e.g. stealing the Statue of
Liberty. The display also shows a damage meter which decreases each
time you hit the drop target. Hitting the targets beside the drop
target multiplies the damage caused and the points awarded. The drop
target is worth 50M per hit 1st wave, 60M 2nd wave and so on. When the
damage meter is empty the drop target stays down and a shot to the
center sinkhole destroys the saucer. This is worth 200M 1st wave, 300M
2nd wave and so on. Completing the 2nd wave lights Extra Ball. Each
wave has an assortment of quotes in that countries accent.
Attack Mars : The 6th wave is an attack on Mars. First you lower the
forcefield as normal. This time the drop target stays down and you
have to hit the sinkhole 10 times. Each shot takes a chunk out of Mars
on the display. On the 10th hit Mars explodes and you are awarded
2.5B. After conquering Mars, each shot to the center drop target
scores 100M for the rest of the game.
Multiball : Shooting the center ramp lights locks. Lock 3 for
multiball. All ramps and orbits are lit for jackpot starting at 60M
and increasing by 10M for each hit. After hitting all 5 jackpots a
traveling super jackpot is lit worth 250M. After super jackpot, all
jackpots are re-lit. After each super jackpot the value increases by
250M to a maximum of 1B. This value is held for the entire game.
Martian Multiball : Lighting all 7 Martian targets lights Martian
Attack at the right sinkhole. You have 30 seconds to hit each bank of
Martian targets to start Martian multiball. This is a 2 ball Multiball
in which the object is to hit as many Martians as possible. Each
Martian is worth 250K which is added on during the bonus count.
Martian Attack Champion is displayed in attract mode.
5-Way Combo: Shooting any ramp starts the combo lights flashing. shoot
any arrow to continue the combo sequence. combos are worth 10M+10M for
each successive shot.
Total Annihilation : Shooting any ramp or orbit spots one of the
features below it. The first shot is worth 20M, the 2nd is worth 25M
and the 3rd shot lights hurry-up at the gate for 100M. completing all
ramps and orbits starts Total annihilation 4 ball multiball. All
jackpots are lit starting at 50M and increasing by 5M for each shot.
The center ramp is the Annihilation Jackpot and is worth 100M + 15M
for each other jackpot made like Cryoprison on Demo Man.
Super Jets : Each bumper hit counts down from 100. Reaching 0 starts
super jets for 3M per hit. A subsequent super jets will require an
extra 25 bumper hits.
Stroke of Luck : A random award collected at the right sinkhole. The
awards are: Start Attack Wave, Light Extra Ball, Video Mode,
Light/Award Lock, Strobe Multiball, Multiball, Hold Bonus, 25M or 50M.
Stroke of Luck is re-lit by lighting all 4 inlanes and outlanes.
Strobe Multiball : A 3 ball multiball. All playfield lights are off
except the strobe lights and the forcefield. The aim is to hit the
forcefield as many times as possible. 10 hits lights extra ball and 20
hits awards 250M.(??)
Video Mode : You control a cannon and have to shoot at decending
saucers. The flippers control the direction of your shots. If a saucer
reaches the ground the mode ends. If you shoot enough saucers, you
have to take on an alien mothership. 80 hits will destroy the
mothership. Pressing the launch button activates a smart bomb which
destroys every saucer in the display. Only 1 smart bomb can be used.
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Rule the Universe
A 5 ball (??) multiball with everything major lit. Total Annihilation
and Martian Multiball are running and the super jackpot is lit . The
object is to score 5 Billion points during multiball. If you get the
5B the game goes dark and kills the flippers. You are then awarded an
additional 5B and the title "Ruler of the Universe". The current
ruler's initials are displayed in attract mode. For the rest of that
ball, all 5 arrow shots are lit for a victory lap. This starts at 100M
and increases by 10M each time. Shooting the saucer relights the arrow
shots. Failing to achieve 5B is fairly depressing. The game just
continues on as if nothing has happened, leaving you to wallow in your
sorrow.
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TIPS AND TACTICS
The Importance of Multiball
On later attack wave it takes quite a few hits to destroy the saucer.
Starting multiball after you start an attack wave gives you 3 balls to
attack the saucer with instead of 1. Starting Martian attack can also
work in the same way. Always remember to start the attack wave before
multiball otherwise you will not be able to start the wave.
Another variation of this is to start Total annihilation while Martian
attack is going which gives you 4 balls instead of 2 to build up huge
Martian totals.
Skill Shot vs. Super Skill Shot
Avoid the temptation to use Super Skill Shot. 50M looks tempting but
5X bonus + 10M increasing with each ball can add up to a lot more.
Also there is a good chance that the ball will go back up the lane off
the bumpers. What goes up must come down and the lane change is very
useful here. Also super skill shot lights all 3 features if you hit a
ramp but you miss out on hurry-up which means 100M down the toilet.
It's just not worth the effort.
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COWS
There are 3 cows to my knowledge. 1 is a cow drawing on the right
ramp, cows sometimes appear when you spot big-o-beam or tractor beam.
Pressing the launch button when any of these cows appear gives a sound
effect. Doing it for both cows enables Cow Video Mode. The next video
mode will feature cows instead of saucers.
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RANDOM NOTES
Attack from Mars is IMHO the one of the top games of all time.
It's not a hard game to get into but reaching Rule the Universe
is a challenge even for the best players. I'm no wizard by any means
and due to an enforced layoff (couldn't find a machine) it took nearly
18 months before I finally made it to Rule the Universe.
The sound is nothing special, but the quotes fit the theme of the game
very well, even if some of them are very corny. The graphics are good
especially attacking Mars and the start of multiball.
On the gameplay side, most shots can be made without too much
difficulty but the right sinkhole can be a bitch. My main gripes are
the very greedy outlanes and the fact that the drop target can send
the ball straight down the middle. I really miss the kickback too.
All in all Attack from Mars should offer enough challenge for players
of all skill levels (no this is not an ad). The scoring is fairly high
so expect scores in the high billions. The replay boost is around 1.5B
which isn't really as bad as it sounds. One thing I don't
miss is the extra ball buy in, which is turned off by default.
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Bragging
Highest game so far 51B including 2 Rule the Universes (both won!!!)
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THANKS TO
Chris Bonney chrisb@enternet.com.au
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SUGGESTIONS AND COMMENTS
Any suggestions, comments and insults can be e-mailed to me at
chris@enternet.com.au
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