VP9 Bally SS Recreation Party Zone, The (Midway, 1991) VP9 v1.1 2020-01-28

Rulesheet

Colin's Guide to
Party Zone
Author: Colin McHale
Version: 1.07​

Bally 1988 - Licensed to "The Party Zone" & "Captain Bizarre"

Thanks for any assistance in the compiling/re-compiling of this rule sheet.

Disclaimer/Apology: Some of the figures quoted, may not be entirely accurate and invariably differ from machine to machine.

What & Where

The following are all in standard configuration :

• 2 x Flippers
• 1 x Plunger (mechanical)
• 2 x Slingshots
• 2 x Inlanes
• 2 x Outlanes

There are also the following:

Landmarks/gimmicks :

Rocket perched on ramp Dancer metal/plastic 'body' that 'dances' during Dance Contest Captain the head that 'watches' where the ball is Cosmic Cottage purple hut situated top right Comic robot head top right
Lanes :

Cottage entry lane beneath the Cosmic Cottage Comic entry to the left of Cosmic Cottage B-O-P 3 rollover lanes situated top centre Door the entry to the right of the B-O-P lanes Payoff lane behind way-out-of-control targets Back-2-Bop lane to the right of ramp, feeds back to B-O-P lanes
Saucers :

Comic Saucer top right CB Saucer (Captain Bizarre) in middle of playfield
Targets :

Boppers 3 Jet Bumpers in a Y shape beneath B-O-P lanes Ha-Ha-Ha 3 targets below comic saucer Advance EZB (End Zone Bonus) Target at base of ramp Request 2 yellow targets on either side of CB saucer E-D-B-M (Eat, Drink & Be Merry) 5 green targets on left of playfield W-O-O-C (Way Out of Control) 4 targets on right of playfield
Indicators:

Extra Ball Yellow light at base of ramp Party Passes (Party Animals/Monsters/Dudes) 3 Yellow lights by the Cottage Eat Green light at base of ramp Drink Green light by Comic Saucer Merry Green light by CB Saucer Big Bang White light at base of ramp Rocket Fuel red lights in middle of playfield Bop Millions white light below B-O-P lanes Comic Lit flashing yellow and red lights around robot head
Awards:

Most awards are incremental, where known I have included, initial values, increment amounts and maximums. These may vary from machine to machine.

End Zone Bonus

Incremented by 100K for each hit of a lit Advance End Zone Bonus Target. This target becomes lit when the ball passes through the Right inlane. The points are awarded when the ball goes down either outlane.

Request Time

Both 'Request' targets must be lit, and the ball in the CB saucer to get a 250K award, plus the chance to select the music being played from the following:- Chicken Feet, Pinball Wizard, Defunkt, and Safe Sax

Party Saver

After a long spell without a request being made Captain Bizarre may start playing "one of his faves" e.g. Feelings, Come Fly With Me ..... Making a request at this time awards the Party Saver award of 5M. Note: the Party Saver is incremental and goes up 5M each time, and as yet I don't know how high it goes.

On some ROM's this feature is not operational, although I don't know which.

Door Prize

Awarded for each new ball plunged through the door. (Skill plunge) Initial value 1M, increment 1M, maximum at least 10M.

Lighting B-O-P

When all three light are lit adds 2x to bonus multiplier (Maximum 8x) This also lights the Dance Contest.

Back-2-Bop

Starts Dance Contest if lit
or
awards Back-2-Bop award

Initial value 50K, increment 50K, maximum ?

Dance Contest

Accumulative award lasts until the Boppers have not been hit for N-seconds where N is about 10. During this time each Bopper hit adds to the Dance Total. The amount added is incremental.

Initial value 50K, increment 50K, maximum ?

Eat Drink & Be Merry Targets

Hitting all these lights EAT which can be then collected by shooting the ramp. This awards 1M and lights DRINK for 10 seconds (or so).

Hitting the Comic Saucer via the comic entry within this time awards 2M and lights BE MERRY for 10 seconds (or so). Hitting the CB Saucer within this time awards 3M.

Way Out Of Control Targets

Hitting all these lights one of the following awards which can be collected by passing through the PayOff lane.



5 Million Millions Per Bop Every Bopper is worth 1M for the duration of the ball 10 x Playfield Lasts for approximately 10 seconds and affects everything on the playfield except The Big Bang Special (Extra Game)
Once one award is lit, hitting the Way Out Of Control Targets is a waste of effort, until the first award has been collected. The award stays lit until collected (see below), although the special will be exchanged for one of the other three awards if you drain a ball before collecting.

Note: If you have been through all 4 awards, or collected The Big Bang, a time limit of 10 seconds is allowed to collect each award.

PayOff Lane

If no awards have been lit by hitting the Way Out Of Control Targets, then this will award an incremental score of Initial value 1M, increment 1M, maximum (reportedly 10, I've only made 9 !)

Rocket Ramp

Awards Ozone Bonus.

Initial value 100K, increment 100K, maximum 2M (or 5M on some machines)

Awards 1M if EAT lit.

Awards EXTRA BALL if lit.

Lights Extra Ball after a sequence of ramp shots have been made

Extra Ball	ramps needed
First	5 + 1 = 6 ramps
Second	7 + 1 = 8 ramps
Third	10 + 1 = 11 ramps
Fourth	13 + 1 = 14 ramps
Fifth	17 + 1 = 18 ramps
......

Ha-Ha-Ha Targets

If the Comic is not currently lit then hitting all three Ha targets re-lights the comic for about 10 seconds. You may also hear something like: "Now appearing the robotic comic"

Comic Saucer

The Comic is always lit at the start of each ball.

If DRINK is lit

• Awards 2M if DRINK lit.
• If the Comic is lit as well then you get the Comic Award worth between 100K and 900K.

If DRINK is not lit

• An unlit Comic gives an award of Initial value 10K, increment 10K, maximum ?
• A lit comic awards one of the following:
  • Adds 2x to bonus multiplier
  • Starts 'Its a Laff attack'
  • Surprise - two ball multiball (see Happy Hour)

Laff Attack

Frenzy mode lasting about 20 seconds, all targets are worth 100K.

Cottage

If Party Passes are flashing then passing through the Cosmic Cottage and into the Comic Saucer awards

• Party Animals - 250K
• Party Monsters - 250K
• Party Dudez - 250K + Happy Hour Two Ball Multiball

if no passes available then you get "da big bouncer" who advises you to "get a pass from the captain", do this by making a request.
Happy Hour

2 Ball Multiball.

Usually starts with 5M's worth of Rocket Fuel, unless you have already had a Big Bang in which case it gives you 1M's worth.

Multiball always starts with one ball in the comic saucer and one in the plunger lane. The Comic Saucer ball is released only when the other ball has scored some points or during a ball search

Shooting the ramp awards whatever the current rocket fuel value 1-7 Million. Shooting the Comic Saucer or Back-2-Bop lane increases your rocket fuel, by 1M each shot.

When sufficient fuel has been collected, "Big Bang" is lit, and a subsequent ramp shot will award 10M and lock the 1st ball, while inviting you to send the 2nd ball up the ramp to collect the Big Bang.

If the Big Bang is not collected before draining a ball, the remaining rocket fuel score can be collected by shooting the ramp. This score counts down 1M at a time whilst the game screams "Head For The Rocket" at you.

After draining one of the balls 2x Playfield is lit for the duration of the remaining ball, unless you get another Happy Hour.

After the 1st multiball, Request Time is lit and you only have to shoot the CB Saucer to relight the Cosmic Cottage passes.

After the 2nd multiball, Request Time is NOT lit, and needs re-lighting.

The Big Bang

An award between 10M and 99,999,999 The amount depends on how long since the last Big Bang was awarded. Note: You can still match even if your score winds up ending in a 9.

On collecting the Big Bang award the game goes into a frenzy mode with all targets worth 250K. This lasts until a ball is drained.

Revised Game Strategy

Not mine originally, but I now employ it (at least I try)

1. Keep shooting the PayOff Lane, up to its maximum worth 10M a shot.
2. Use Way Out Of Control to light 10x playfield If this is on the same ball as Boppers Millions then hitting the Bopper is worth 10M a time.
3. The ball should eventually fall to the left flipper and shoot ball through PayOff lane for 100M
4. Repeat as necessary

I have been told that getting a Warning (not quite a tilt) will stop the 10x Playfield timer counting down, although I've never used this to good effect. The time will re-start as soon as you hit something anyway.

I also alternate between Ramp and Comic Saucer shots, this results in lots of extra balls, plus the Comic awards. If the comic is not lit then you invariably re-light it by catching the Ha-Ha-Ha targets on the way to the saucer.

Getting Multiball leaves the game with 2X playfield which is useful.

I try for the Door Entry as often as possible to rack up millions quicker. There is a danger of instadrain (TM) when the ball falls through the boppers and back down the Back-2-Bop lane towards that gaping hole between the flippers

The Party Saver is well worth getting, theoretically it can be got with 10x Playfield lit, but it would take some planning.

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