VP8 Bally SS Recreation Judge Dredd (Bally, 1993) VP8 v1.5

Playfield Description
I'll start in the lower left, and go around to the lower right. Note: Crime Scenes will be described in the Rules section!

Flippers
There are four. Two regular (i.e.: BIG) ones in the usual place; and another one half way up the left side (very much like Street Fighter II). There is also a tiny flipper in the top right of the machine, that faces the back; imagine a small flipper mounted behind the slot machine on TZ, now move that up a bit, and you've got it.

Diamond Buttons
Two of these and they're next to the flipper buttons. They are large, and red; the machine calls them 'Fire' buttons, but they have a '!' on them. The right one launches the ball, and lights the next un-lit Chain Link More Later!. The left one fires the ball during an Air Raid More Later!, and lights the previous un-lit Chain Link More Later!.

Left Lanes
There is a kickback, but it's not an outlane, more of another automatic plunger lane on the left of the machine. Any ball in this lane will be kicked out, except during an Air Raid. More Later! This will reset the JUDGE drop targets More Later!. To the right of this is the outlane which is quite vicious, as shipped from Bally, (with the post in the middle position), but I'm sure that when I move it down it will be better. I don't even want to think about what operators will do with this. It's a pitty because in my opinion it brings the whole game down. The inlane is the usual type. The left in/out lanes do not light anything (as far as I could tell.)

'?' I'll just call this the Bonus target
It's blue a round stand-up target with a large '?' in the playfield. It is in a similar position as The Lost Mine on White Water. When lit (during a Chain Link More Later!) it's gives bonuses related to each Link. I'll explain it in more detail later.

Left Orbit (Crime Scene)
It is a standard orbit that starts in the same place as Party Zone's Rocket ramp. After a Left orbit shot, the ball will usually come screaming out of the right orbit, but beware: this can lead to an instant left drain. (The upper right mini flipper is located just at the entrance to the right orbit, so I just keep it raised, which prevents the left drain - This is believed to have been designed like this). A slow shot around here that doesn't trickle out, will probably come out of the entrance to the Small Loop More Later!

Extra Ball target
A small stand up target between the Left Orbit, and the Left Ramp. (There is also another EB target .. see below.)

Left Ramp (Or Lock Ramp)
Balls put here will be fed to the right-most right in-lane. When lock is lit, a shot up here will register as one lock, but the ball will not physically be locked! The third ball 'locked' will start multi-ball. This ball will be diverted into the planet; meanwhile three other balls will be launched. A soft shot up this ramp will fall into the planet, but the machine will unlock it - the annoying thing is that mode timers DO NOT STOP!

Planet [Dead World]
You can't miss this. It is used to lock balls for multiball. It spins, and flashes and looks really pretty. At the start of multiball, balls are unlocked by a magnetic crane (like a record player). The only thing I don't like is that fact that there is no setting to unlock balls between games; balls don't even get unlocked after a Slam Tilt, which is stupid when you consider the fact that the Slam resets everything and the machine forgets how many balls are there! I also found that sometimes the crane didn't pick the balls up, but at least the machine realized, and tried again. In Production machines, the planet is disabled, and only the third ball locked will go there. The first two balls will just be fed back to the right inlanes (this makes multiball really easy to start once lock is lit - Just three ramp shots). Physical changes to the planet make it impossible for balls to remain there.

JUDGE
5 drop targets covering a hole. (Actually, only 'D' covers the hole. It is wider than the other targets.) Lock is lit by spelling JUDGE (i.e: hitting them down in order...). Shooting the hole will spot the next letter. Be carefull, as a hard shot into the targets can send the ball up onto the Air Raid habitrail More Later!, which can lead to a left drain. The Drop Targets are also used in some Chain Links

Subway Entrance
The hole behind the wide D drop target. Any ball in here will be popped into the left inlane. This hole is lit for various things during various Chain Links and multiballs. On prototype machines, this is labeled as Pick A Prize.

Small Loop (Crime Scene)
A small orbit that goes under the Center Ramp More Later!, joins the Left orbit to feed balls to the mini-flipper. It's impossible to describe, but it seems to be the only obscured part of the playfield. The player must really look to see if it's lit. A small loop scores 3 million for the first shot, then an additional 3 million for each consecutive shot. (I.e: 3, 6, 9 ..) If this crime scene is lit, it will be collected regardless of the balls direction. In fact, this was once the last CS lit when the ball slowly rolled into the orbit. I was credited for the CS and bumped up to the next level. The CS was re-lit for this level too. When the ball rolled rown, I recollected it.

Centre Ramp
A tiny ramp to the right of the small loop (It's in a similar position as the Power ramp on Twilight Zone). The player can shoot this ramp from the lower left flipper, but it's a HARD shot. It's much easier from the mini flipper. It feeds to the entrance of the left orbit, much like Disaster Drop in White Water. This is the Jackpot ramp during the Blackout, and Battle Tank link.

Sniper Tower (Crime Scene)
A ball popper situated in the same place as Twilight Zone's Lock but much easier to hit from the lower left flipper, or the mini flipper. Balls Popped from here are fed via habitrail to the left inlane. This can also be used to start Chain Links

Air Raid
Ramp to the right of the Sniper Tower. It faces the upper left flipper, but it's a hard shot. There is a light at the base, but it seems to always be lit. It feeds the ball into the kickback/plunger lane. The drop targets will reset, and each one will be lit in turn. You have to hit the left Fire button to fire the ball so that it hits the lit target - I.e: Terminator 2 skill shot. (The ramp actually stops before the lane, and the speed of the ball makes it land in the right spot; however a ball that's going slowly (which only happens when it pops up there from the drop targets) can be fed to the outlane instead. NOT a good design.)

Extra Ball target
Another small orange stand up target that is wedged between the Air Raid ramp, and the Large Loop. The two targets are identical.

Large Loop (Crime Scene)
Right orbit. Just to the right of the Air Raid ramp. Hit this from the upper left flipper. It feeds the ball back to the upper left flipper for 3 Million (Increases with every consecutive shot). This is the skill-shot. A slow shot around here will come out of the small loop.

Advance Crime Level
A bank of three stand-up targets in the same position as the BigFoot HotFoot targets on White Water (except facing the left.) When lit, (only one hit is necessary - like the Cousin It targets on TAF) advances the crimes from Warning -> Misdemeanor -> Felony -> Class X Felony More Later!; accompanied by a really cool Boom sound! This target bank is easy to hit just by holding the left flipper up when the ball comes screaming out of the orbit.

Right Ramp (Crime Scene)
This is the Stake Out ramp. It is in the same place as the ramp on Banzai Run. It feeds back to the left inlane on the right side. Some people seem to think that this ramp is too steep, but on the machine I played the ball made it most of the time.

Reactors
Three captive balls (one per nuclear reactor) are in a line. (In a similar place to Extra Ball on White Water). There is a roll-over between the first two, and a target at the end. I'm not sure how the scoring works during normal play, but I found out that after 7 Targets (getting the last captive ball to hit the target), extra balls was lit. Also, getting the third ball to hit the target will double your end of ball bonus for that ball. These are used during the 'Melt Down' Chain Link. Don't be too distressed if you never get the last ball to move, it's a very bad shot. I can't understand why they made a playfield feature only used in one Chain Link.

This has been changed a little bit in production ROMs. The 2nd target hit (all the way at the back) will award 2x bonus. This includes everything that could be counted as bonus, including mode and Ultimate Challenge points!! But since hits are cumulative through the game, I'm not sure if you can get this again. I need to get the glass off! The 4th target hit awards something amazingly stupid like 5M.

Drain Shield
Ball saver. The light is in the playfield above the flippers, so this seems like an appropriate place for it in the rules! The factory default is 5 seconds, I extended it to 10 on the machine at work. While 5 seconds is acceptable, it can be just that little bit too short as there isn't even a hint of a grace period. The 'Drain Shield' sign in the playfield, flashes and when it times out, you hear "Drain Shield, De-Activated". This can get annoying, but I no-longer even hear it!

It's worth pointing out that the Drain Shield isn't even activated until some major shot is made, or 4-5 switches. If you hit the EB target instead of the skill shot, you can let it drain as long as you don't hit too many other switches without the Drain Shield coming on. When the ball is saved, it will continue to be kicked out until you hit a switch.

Rules:

Chain Links
A chain link is like a Door Panel / Mansion Room / Mode / Computer Screen etc. To start a Link you simply need to shoot the Left ramp, or Sniper Tower when lit ('Build Up Chain Feature'), they alternate; the Left Ramp is lit first. Note that when lock is lit, only the Sniper Tower will start Links. Total score from each Link is added in Fun With Bonus. Most of the Chain Links last 30 seconds, and you get 3 million just for starting them! I found an adjustment in the menus, Shots for Mode: 2; so maybe more shots to 'Build Up Chain Feature' will be necessary on some machines. Perhaps it's self-adjusting?

Actually, all modes are 20 seconds long, unless noted.

There are nine (9) chain links. It's good to see that they didn't go balistic on JD like they did on Indi. The modes are less repetitive, and only three involve shooting the ramps (and only one of those involve shooting both ramps - but there's a twist so it's ok).

The modes are 30 seconds each, unless stated otherwise:
Pursuit -> Black Out -> Sniper -> Battle Tank -> Bad Impression -> Melt Down -> Safe Cracker -> Manhunt Millions -> Stake Out => Ultimate Challenge.

(I listed them in the order they cycle through. I'm unsure as to which one is lit at the start of a game.)

Seems to be random.

Pursuit
This, I believe, is a nice marriage between a video mode, and a pinball game. The display shows a car speeding along (similar to The Getaway's Video Mode, except that the animation is better) with a police car following. The 'Pursuit' lights will flash at the entrance to the right and left ramps. By shooting either ramp, the police car will shoot a missile at the car. The car swerves all over the road so you have to time the ramp shot so that the missile will hit the car. If you hit the car you get 35 million - But I'm not sure where 35 came from.

I believe you also get some small amount of points for each shot you make that misses. Still, the only way to score well is to get lucky and actually HIT the thing.

Black Out
Two ball multiball, and all playfield scores are doubled. The centre ramp is lit for as many 10 Million shots as you like, until 1 or both balls drain. But don't fool yourself, it's not an easy shot.

I like to use this mode after the first multiball to just shoot JUDGE. Another strategy is to hold a ball on the left flipper and shoot the left ramp over and over for doubles points (effectviely 1M+1M). Perhaps after you've spelled JUDGE all you need to.

Sniper
Display shows someone looking down from the tower on people below. Occasionally you see a person get shot! Meanwhile 20 Million is counting down. Shoot the Sniper Tower to collect the lit value. The guy on the tower will fall (gets shot!). Shoot the Sniper Tower again to re-collect the same value. You have 11 seconds while he falls. For more info on the amuzing quotes (if you really want it), see the spoilers!

Battle Tank
The display shows a VERY mean and destructive looking device. You have to destroy it, but it's far too big to get rid of with one hit, so you need three. The Left Orbit, Centre Ramp, and Advance Crime Level are lit; shoot all three for 33 million. (I don't know where they got 33 from, I think it's 10 million per shot + the 3 million for starting the link.) There is a great feminine/computer sounding voice giving a rundown on how much is destroyed.

Yes, 3M+10M/shot.

Bad Impersonator
This is great. The display shows a guy dancing on a stage. The drop targets are lit two at a time in a T2-like manner, (J+U, then U+D etc). You have to hit the lit targets to through things at the guy on the stage. After the the 3 million for starting the round, it's 5 Million for every target hit. If the two lit targets are hit , 10 Million is awarded.

Melt Down
Hit The captive balls to stabilize the three reactors. Three hits are necessary - That is, three switch closures; so if you smack the first captive ball so hard that it hits the second and third, then you stabilize all three reactors. Alternatively, you can just hit the first captive ball three times. The total is 33 Million. Again I think it's 10 million for each reactor, and 3 million for starting it.

Yup, this also is 3M+10M/shot.

Safe Cracker
It's good to see they continued the humor displayed in CFBL's 'Move Your Car'! The display shows a guy sleeping by a safe, while someone yells "Open that safe!". You have to get the ball into the Subway enough times to wake the guy up, and open the safe. After four attempts the guy wakes up and opens the safe. See the spoilers if you really want to know what happens, but you really should wait! The scoring works like Move Your Car in CFBL, it starts at 8 Million and counts down to 3 Million; the second and later shots award that value again. The maximum amount for this is 8 Mill * 4 Shots = 32 Million.

The scoring is almost like Move Your Car. In Move Your Car, you actually GOT 2x, 3x, and 4x the values (for a maximum of 80M). In this mode, you only get the same points for each shot.

There's also something weird about this mode. If you hit it during the opening animation, your score will be 8M. If you wait just a little bit, when it starts counting down, the value will be over 8M, like it started at 9M or something. Weird.

Manhunt Millions
A very disappointing round. The left ramp is lit for 6 million a shot. You can hit for as long as you like for the amount of time (20 seconds). Once you get in the rhythm, this can lead up to huge scores.

Stake Out
Display shows Judge Dredd using binoculars to look into an apartment window (see the spoilers for what he sees/says!). Shoot the right ramp for 5 million a shot. This was also a little disappointing, but the animation was so good that the simplicity of the round didn't bother me.

Ultimate Challenge
See the spoilers.

I've already mentioned the Bonus ('?') target. During each mode this is lit, and once it's hit, it's no longer lit. Hitting it is in the players best interest, I'll describe the effects below: [Note: A * means that there is more info in the Spoilers]

# Pursuit - Shoots two missiles at the car.
# Black Out - Gives you a once off 10 million.
# Sniper - The display says 'Hang up on fence, use red buttons'.*
# Battle Tank - Extends the timer *** (by 10 seconds) ***
# Impersonator - Three drop targets will be lit at a time instead of two
# Melt Down - Secures all reactors, and awards the points too
# Safe Cracker - Another message: 'When you're hungry press red buttons'.*
# Millions - Extends timer *** (by 10 seconds) ***
# Stake Out - Increases ramp value from 5 to 10 Million.

Crime Scenes
There are 5 Crime Scenes scattered around the playfield. The only analogy I can think of is that they're like Hazards in While Water. Crime Scenes are the left Orbit, Small Loop, Sniper Tower, Large Loop, and right Ramp.

Shooting a crime scene will sentance a criminal..

* Warning for Smoking
* Warning for Spitting
* 1 year for Littering
* 1 year for Flatulism (!)
* 2 years for Speeding
* 15 years for Assult
* 23 years for Extortion
* 25 years for Arms Dealing (it's the girl from CFBL!)
* 35 years for Armed Robbery (the 'snackbar' guy from CFBL)
* 85 years for Kidnapping
* Life for Murder
* Life for Terrorism
* Life for Treason
* Life for Cannibilism (mmmm donuts!)

Most of this section is rather wrong, so I'm rewriting most of it (and deleting the old stuff).

At the start of the game, there are usually 4 Crime Scenes lit. The crime level associated with them is random, AFAIK, but is usually either Warning or Misdemeanor. Different scenes can be at different levels.

The levels are:

Level Name Colour Millions of points per scene
Warning Green 1
Misdemeanor Yellow 2
Felony Red 3
Class X Felony White 4

Hitting the Advance Crime Level target advances all scenes one level up from what they were, to a maximum of Class X Felony. It also scores 1M. After ALL lit Crime Scenes are at Class X, the Advance Crime Level target unlights.

The Crime Scenes stay lit until you shoot them. After you've shot them all, another 3 or 4 will randomly light up at random levels.

That's all there is to it! The bottom lights depicting the Crime Levels are actually mostly useless. They only light up when a scene is at that level. Since scenes can start at different levels, that's why more than one can be lit at a time. The only real useful use of these lights are during SuperGame.

On our machine, extra ball was lit at both targets after 7 crime scenes, and the next at 22.

And every 15 Scenes after that, pretty much forever. I've gotten the 82 Crime Scene extra ball before, and the next one was indeed lit at 97. Didn't light the 97 one, though. Drained with like 95.

The actual crimes get worse at the higher levels, e.g.: "Life for Cannibalism". The animation is nice, and the quotes make it clear that a Crime Scene has been hit. Be careful of burned out globes, and remember to check the Small loop, as it tends to hide a bit under the planet. Perhaps the next software release could include a list of lit Crime Scenes, and the current level, in the status report.

Multiball
Knock down the 'JUDGE' drop targets to light lock. This is an unmistakable event, as flashers start flashing (not as bad as CFBL) and the planet starts to rotate. Shoot the left ramp, and the ball will be diverted to the planet. Check out the ball locked animation. A new ball is served to the plunger before the other-one is even in the planet, so there are no delays there. [Note: a soft shot up the ramp when lock isn't lit, can cause the ball to end up at the planet. The problem with this is that the timers for a Link don't stop, and it takes a while for the ball to be unlocked.]

Because of the Deadworld changes, release ROMs do the locking differently. Now, "locks" 1 and 2 just sail around the the ramp. The 3rd ball will indeed be diverted to the Deadworld, and if the Claw can't get the ball out, it falls onto the playfield rather ungracefully. After starting Multiball with the 3rd shot, 3 more balls are autoplunged into play.

The jackpot value starts at either 20 or 25M (not sure). Each drop target hit adds 1M to the jackpot. Shoot the left ramp to light the jackpot, and hit the Subway (scoop behind the "D" target) to collect.

Collecting a jackpot does NOT reset the value; it just keeps growing and growing.

There are 4 jackpots, each 5 million more than the previous. The current jackpot is indicated on the playfield, as either Mortis, Fire, Fear or Death will flash. The order on the playfield is wrong, and the jackpots occur in the order given above. The quotes are good, taunting the player to score the jackpot; although the feminine computer voice keeps saying "Shoot left Ramp to light Jackpot" all the time . grrr.

I don't think collecting the jackpot adds anything to the value, but I'm not sure.

The jackpot animations are really nice.

After the Death Jackpot, Ultimate Challenge starts. Any balls that you lost up until that point are re-launched. Ie: If you only have 2 balls left in play when you score the Death Jackpot, 2 more will be launched.

Multiball/Ultimate Challenge end when less that 2 balls remain in play.

When starting a second multiball, 'JUDGE' must be completed for each lock. Although for the second and third locks, the machine gives you a few letters for free. Unlike FishTales/Indiana Jones, Jackpots are not held between multiballs. So if you just missed getting Death, you need to start from the beginning again. Personally, I think this is a bit rough!

Misc. Things

Skill Shot
The ball is launched into the Large loop, so when it gets around to the upper left flipper, go for another large loop. The skill shot scores 5 Million, and the quote 'Great Shot', (even though it sounds like Great Scott!).

Two way combo
Left orbit -> Small loop for 6 million.

I think it's only 3M for the 2-way combo.

Three Way Combo
Left orbit -> Small loop -> Centre ramp for 6 Million. Shooting unlit ramps will award 500k * number of ramp shots that ball. So any ramp is worth 500k 1 Million, 1.5 Million, 2 Million etc..

I guess this is the part you're all waiting for:

Rules:

The player is greated politely by Annita Mann at the start of a Super Game, and is told that they have the Drain Shield active for 10 seconds. The machine waits for a ball to be launched, and then launches a second one.

There are four different, and seemingly unrelated Super Games. All of them are two ball, but draining 1 reverts to normal play for the remainder of that ball. One game is played per ball.

However, if you hit the JUDGE drop targets within 15 seconds, you start a 6 ball frenzied multiball. Confused yet?...

There's no time limit on the JUDGE thing, AFAIK. All you need to do is get JUDGE before you have <2 balls in play.

Game 1
The player is given a quick story of what has happened, (in this case a jail break). Some Crime Scenes are lit, shoot them for a 'Super Jackpot' of 52.5 million (There are seven Crime Scenes) and a really nice animation. After a jackpot, some more Crime Scenes will be lit for another Super Jackpot. This continues until less than 2 balls remain.

Game 2
A mad bomber has escaped and you need to stop him from the Sniper Tower. Ramps build the Super Jackpot (7.5 Million each) from (I think) 7 Million; shoot the Sniper Tower to collect it. This continues until less than 2 balls remain.

I think this game just scores 7.5M/ramp, no base. If there IS a base, it is 7.5M. You have to collect it of course.

Game 3
There is a terrible traffic-jam. Shot the Subway for 25 Million, Perhaps it's 10 Million + 5 Million per down target the 'Move Your Car' quote, and some brilliantly violent animation; (See the spoilers). There is no Super Jackpot in this game. This continues until less than 2 balls remain. The drop targets reset between jackpots.

The scoring for this game is simply 5M*targets, for a maximum of 25M. The drop targets only reset when you've made a Subway shot.

Game 4
The object is to try and destroy Dead World. Locking 2 balls causes the shields to come down, and locking the third blows up the planet for a Super Jackpot of 45 Million. This repeats. As soon as a ball is locked, it get's unlocked by the crane, so when I say 'locking the third' I mean virtual locks, OK?

In all Super Games(tm)(c)(r)(pty)(ltd)(sdtm)(etc) there is a chance to score a super jackpot of 100 million. Shoot four lit crime scenes in order, first a 'warning' (it's on the display) then Misdemeanor, Felony and then Class X Felony. Now one of the top shots (it varies between Sniper/Ramp etc) will be lit for the 100 Million - But it's only lit for 10 seconds, the computer voice counts it down - By the time it gets to '1', it has an amazingly smug tone to it too!

The 100M Super Jackpot has nothing to do with Crime Scenes. All it is is the Advance Crime Scene target. Hit it 4 times to light the 100M. It's always the same shot for each game, but I don't remember what they all are offhand. I think it's the Sniper Tower for the Traffic Jam SuperGame.

You don't need to be in 6-ball or anything to get the 100M. I've lit (and collected) the 100M in 2-ball play, while failing to get JUDGE at all.

In a 5 ball game, you get the following:

* ball 1 : game 1
* ball 2 : game 2
* ball 3 : game 3
* ball 4 : game 4
* ball 5 : game 1

Extra Ball Buy-Ins

In a regular game, the bought extra ball starts multiball, so it's a little fairer than Twilight Zone and Indiana Jones, as multiball can lead to jackpots (i.e. replays) or extra balls.

In a Super Game, game 4 starts.

General Stuff

The 'Family Mode' default is 'No'.

The sound is good. Some annoying quotes (not as bad as 'Shoot the Snackbar!), but I started to ignore them after a while so they were ok. But putting the sound aside, I thought the animation was fantastic. It wasn't just that the animation LOOKED good, it was actually clever.

The Match Sequence is fantastic. It's a little long (and I never actually saw it Match), but it's great. See the spoilers if you want a better description, but you really should wait!

No cows that I could see .. sorry.

That about covers it. I really like the game (so far) and I think that it has some really good features, it is certainly 100% more playable than Indiana Jones, and seems a heck-of-a-lot more light hearted than Twilight Zone. It's good to see that the design crew has a bit of a sence of humor!

Strategy

OK, there isn't all that much strategy per se, but here are a couple hints:

KNOW YOUR MODES! By doing this, you can maximize your effectiveness for mode scoring. Modes can be worth an awful lot if you bother to play them. I don't think you'll do very well at all if you don't, especially because the only other thing you can do during a mode is shoot for multiball (well, Crime Scenes too), and multiball can easily be worth nothing if you goof it up. Here are some ideas:

Sniper
Only start this mode from the Sniper Tower. You waste time (and thus points) if you start it from the ramp.

Manhunt Millions
Similarly, only start this from the left ramp. Then you can just shoot this over and over and over again. I usually don't worry about trying to extend the mode via the ? target if I'm on a roll.

Meltdown
I prefer to start this from the ramp so that I can (hopefully) shoot the ? right away to end the mode.

I usually don't try to do much with Bad Impersonator. Seems kind of dangerous to me.

The other modes depend on my mood. I sometimes play them if I've made the first shot or 2. Otherwise, I'll go for Crime Scenes.

I save both Safecracker and Blackout until after the first multiball. It is much easier to spell JUDGE during these modes, either by flailing during Blackout, or shooting the Subway over and over during Safecracker.

During Ultimate Challenge, try to get balls on the right flipper. You can then rape the Sniper Tower for 10M/shot with the left flipper (since Sniper feeds the left flipper).









Spoiler
======

Ultimate Challenge
Not the wizard bonus one would expect. All Crime scenes are lit for 10 million, and all of the balls in the trough get launched (the ones in lock remain there). Just keep getting 10 millions. It ends when less than two balls remain in play. I don't think there was anything for getting all of the Crime Scenes (they remain lit once you hit them), but I could be wrong. With 4-6 balls in play, this can lead to a monstrous score!

Well, there are 2 ways to get Ultimate Challenge: Getting all 4 regular multiball jackpots, and by finishing all of the modes. For the multiball UC, it is 4-ball. For the mode UC, it is 6-ball.

Click to expand...