Guardians of the Galaxy

"My name is Peter Quill. There's one other name you may know me by...Star-Lord, legendary outlaw."

- Star-Lord

Guardians of the Galaxy
Date available	July 29, 2014
Category	Marvel
Based on	Guardians of the Galaxy directed by James Gunn
Designed by	Thomas Crofts
Plunger mechanism	Straight into orbit
Skill shot type	Plunger timing, flipper-assisted
Number of return lanes	4
Number of flippers	5 (3 on main playfield, 2 on mini-playfield
Outlane protection	2 low-power spring-loaded kickbacks
Number of main missions	6
Wizard mode type	Final multiball mission and final mission
Number of multiball modes	4 (2 mandatory and 2 optional)

Guardians of the Galaxy is one of the three Marvel pinball tables that are part of the Cinematic Pack, released in 2014 and available for Zen Pinball 2, Pinball FX 2 and Pinball FX 3. Based on the 2014 Marvel Cinematic Universe film of the same name, directed by James Gunn and featuring characters from the 2008 incarnation of the Guardians of the Galaxy, this pinball table focuses on the Guardians of the Galaxy, a band of former galactic criminals, and their mission to stop the Kree extremist Ronan.

A few years after this table was released, Stern produced a physical pinball adaptation of the film.

Table overview

The upper half of the table

Much of the upper half of the table is designed to resemble the Kyln, a prison run by the Nova Corps, which became the unlikely birthplace of the Guardians of the Galaxy. The back left corner of the table features a scale model of the prison's overseer tower, used to keep watch over the prison's inmates, and the back walls of the table are reminiscent of that of the prison facility. A scale model of the Milano, the personal spaceship of the Guardians, appears at the back center part of the table. It is placed directly in the middle of a crossramp that spells DRAX, a mutant warrior Guardian seeking to avenge his family, and can briefly trap balls that travel through it in some modes. Past the locker, this crossramp splits into two habitrails leading to the inlanes, with a diverter gate deciding which exit habitrail any ball going up the crossramp would travel through.

A large orbit wraps around much of the table's lanes, with the left orbit spelling YONDU, an alien Ravager that took care of Star-Lord in his childhood, and the right orbit spelling GAMORA, a Zen-Whoberi warrior among the Guardians. The right orbit can also divert the ball into a hidden mini-playfield described separately later in this section. At the apex of the left orbit is a bumper area representing the cities of the planet Xandar, accessed by an incomplete orbit shot that drops the ball out of the orbit and through one of three bumper rollover lanes spelling the name of the planet, with 2 letters per lane. Balls that pass through the bumper area go down the left orbit.

Between the left orbit and the Drax crossramp is a long, orange spiral ramp that spells GUARDIANS. Its exit habitrail eventually leads to either the left inlane or the left plunger lane, described further in detail in the next section. In the space between the Guardians ramp and the Drax crossramp, a single target facing right is installed, representing the Orb containing the Power Stone that the Guardians seek to protect. To the right of the crossramp is a miniloop spelling ROCKET, an anthropomorphic racoon who is part of the Guardians, wrapping around a platform and going down Gamora's right orbit. Figures of characters of the film can jump right atop this small platform, which is fronted by a target bank that can collapse to reveal a sinkhole. Between this platform and Gamora's right orbit is a ramp spelling COLLECTOR, an eccentric individual specializing in collecting artifacts from throughout the Marvel universe. It loops around and connects with Drax's right inlane exit habitrail. A mini-flipper is installed on the right side of the table, in front of Gamora's right orbit, used to make cross-shots up Drax's ramp or towards the Orb target.

The lower half of the table

In contrast to the upper half of the table, the lower half of the table appears to resemble more of the main deck of the Milano. To the left of Yondu's left orbit is a sinkhole where characters can be switched. Near it is a habitrail junction where the left inlane exit habitrail of Drax's crossramp and the exit habitrail of the Guardians ramp intersect, with a diverter installed that usually diverts the ball to the left inlane, but can be switched over to drop the ball into the special left plunger. Conversely, on the other side of the table, to the right of Gamora's orbit and in front of the mini-flipper is a sinkhole that's framed by the open case of one of the Collector's exhibits.

There are two rebounds, two flippers and 4 return lanes that spell GROOT, with the double O's being assigned to the right inlane and lit as one lamp. There are two low-power spring-loaded kickbacks, one in each outlane. The aprons appears to be textured off of the actual floor of the ship, with the left apron containing a compartment of 5 special balls, representing each of the 5 major members of the Guardians of the Galaxy. The team's badge is placed at the outhole. A figure of Star-Lord may usually stand on the left apron as well.

The mini-playfield

This table has a hidden mini-playfield representing the rivalry between Gamora and her stepsister, Nebula, who are both raised by Thanos, soon to be responsible for carrying out a plan to destroy half of all sentient life in the universe. This table has two orbits, one for each half of the mini-playfield. One of each orbit's termini intersect with a terminus from the other orbit. Each orbit also wraps around a ramp that leads into a tunnel habitail shaped like some of the weapons Gamora and Nebula used to spar each other. They drop the ball onto the habitrail. There are three targets placed throughout this mini-playfield, one between the left orbit and the left ramp, one in front of the intersection of the orbits and one between the right ramp and right orbit. There are two flippers and two inlane return lanes at the bottom of the mini-playfield. The leftmost and rightmost lanes also each have a trapdoor that can open up and capture the ball as well.

The plungers

The table's two plungers are control panels that operate the forward blaster batteries of the Milano. Star-Lord operates the left one, while Rocket operates the right one.

The right plunger is used at the start of balls, and shoots the ball up a straight shaft up into Gamora's orbit. This gunner control panel also has a small targeting system screen where a crosshair moves sideways and occasionally points at an enemy. If the player presses the launch button to plunge the ball at the moment the crosshair meets the enemy, the ball will shoot up to Gamora's orbit and drop down to the upper flipper for a chance to make a cross-shot up Drax's crossramp to pull off a skill shot for 500,000 points, which can increase by 500,000 through one of the Collector awards.

The left plunger launches the ball up Yondu's orbit and is operated by Star-Lord. It is used at the end of the prologue mode at the beginning of a session, and launches balls at the start of multiball modes.

Objective and missions

Prologue

At the start of each session, a mandatory time-limited 4-ball multiball will begin reflecting the origins of the Guardians of the Galaxy as inmates of the Kyln who stage a prison riot and escape. The player can shoot any lane for jackpots, but can score greater points if a ball depicting a particular character is shot up a lit lane marked with their portrait. This multiball continues for one minute, with unlimited ball saver and kickbacks, before all balls automatically drain as the newly founded Guardians make their escape. The prologue will then end with one ball going to the left plunger, which will shoot the ball automatically up the Yondu orbit and towards the mini-flipper for one chance to make a shot up Drax's ramp to get Star-Lord's Awesome Music Volume 1 mixtape for 5 million points. If this shot is successful, the ball will be locked into the Milano toy and the film's title logo will appear. If the shot is missed, the ball will drain and be diverted to the right plunger to begin the first ball.

Missions

The goal of the table is to help the Guardians of the Galaxy battle Ronan the Accuser, a Kree extremist, through six battle missions. Each mission has a unique method of activation, assigned to a particular lane, and must be at least started up to access the wizard mode. Missions will end whenever the battle represented is won or lost, or whenever the ball is drained, and missions can be repeated as many times as desired, with great score rewards granted for successful completions.

The following six battle missions must be started up to access the wizard mode:

• Star-Lord vs. Ronan: Star-Lord looks to take on Ronan himself to prevent the Power Stone from falling into his hands. This battle begins when the player hits all 3 targets at the target bank to open up a hidden sinkhole, then shoots the ball inside it. This battle switches between attack and defense as the two take turns shooting at each other, starting on defense. On defense, the player has 20 seconds to shoot a lit lane to evade Ronan's attack, if it fails, Star-Lord will take damage. On offense, the player must shoot a lit target at the target bank to deal damage to Ronan. Every time Ronan is damaged, the number of lit lanes needed to be shot to evade Ronan during defense phase increases by 1, and Ronan requires 4 hits to defeat and can only be hit once per attack phase.
• Drax vs. Ronan: Drax has a personal score to settle against Ronan for the deaths of his wife and child, and confronts him in melee combat. This battle begins when the player spells DRAX at the side ramp, and is divided into 2 phases:
  • In the first phase, the player must help Drax counter-attack against Ronan by shooting 3 combos that can start from one of three lanes: the Guardians ramp, the Rocket miniloop or the Collector ramp. The second lane to shoot to complete the counterattack, depending on which lane was chosen, would be the Gamora orbit, the Drax side ramp or the Yondu orbit, respectively. At least 2 unique combos must be performed, meaning that the same pair of lanes cannot be used for all 3 counterattacks against Ronan.
  • In the second phase, Drax and Ronan will get into a very close clash and the player must help Drax overpower Ronan by quickly shooting lit lanes to win a tug-of-war battle, with a gauge on the scoring display showing who has the advantage. The battle is won once this meter increases fully to the right.
• Guardians vs. Necrocrafts Multiball: After the Guardians of the Galaxy escaped from Klyn, Ronan dispatches a squadron of Necrocrafts, piloted by the Sakaarans, to hunt them down and the Guardians must fight back against them. A 3-ball multiball battle against the Necrocrafts begins when the player spells GUARDIANS on the orange spiral ramp. 3 randomly selected character balls will be deployed into play and the player must shoot lit lanes to destroy the Necrocrafts. The player must destroy the entire squadron of 20 ships before the Milano's health fully depletes, but can speed up the process and destroy 2 ships simultaneously if a character ball is shot through a lit lane with a portrait that matches the character. Characters can be switched by shooting the left sinkhole.
• Rocket & Groot vs. Ronan: Rocket and Groot work closely with each other and Groot must protect Rocket as he fights back against Ronan. This battle begins when Rocket's miniloop is shot 6 times to spell his name. The player can attack Ronan and reduce his health by shooting a lane marked with Rocket's portrait, but Ronan will constantly attack Rocket as he hides behind a bark shield generated by Groot, which will be damaged gradually and render Rocket vulnerable once it is destroyed. The bark shield can be repaired by shooting a lane marked with Groot's portrait, functioning as a time extender. Once Rocket lands enough hits on Ronan, the player must finish off Ronan by shooting the sinkhole exposed by the target bank.
• Star-Lord vs. Yondu: Furious over issues arising from Star-Lord obtaining the Orb and Power Stone for the first time, Yondu issues a bounty on him and pursues him in hopes of capturing him. The race to escape Yondu and get to Knowhere begins when the player spells his name with 5 shots up the left orbit. The player has 20 seconds to shoot 4 lit lanes to evade Yondu's periodic attacks; if the Milano takes too much damage, it will be disabled and Yondu will capture the Guardians, resulting in mission failure. The player must evade at least one of Yondu's 5 attacks to win the mission.
• Gamora vs. Nebula: Gamora has been sparring Nebula, who continued to ally with Ronan, over which sister would be the strongest. This battle begins when the player spells GAMORA with 6 shots up the right orbit, with the sixth shot diverting the ball into the mini-playfield. To defeat Nebula, the player must hit the 3 targets in the mini-playfield to get a chance to attack her, then shoot all the blue flashing shots; 30 seconds will be given to make these shots, increasing by 3 seconds per target hit, and the orbits must be unlocked by shooting them first. 10 successful attacks on Nebula will be enough to defeat her.

Orb Bonus Round

The first time a mission is completed before the wizard mode has been attempted, the player will have a 30-second opportunity to score bonus points in the Orb Bonus Round. The ball will become the Orb, all switches will score 10,000 points, and all major shots will score 50,000 points. The multiplier for the Orb Bonus Round increases every time one is activated in the current wizard mode run (to a maximum of 100x), and the total points from Orb Bonus Round attempts are scored at the end of a successful wizard mode multiplied by the current bonus multiplier value.

Guardians vs. Ronan

Once all 6 missions are attempted, Guardians vs. Ronan will be available to start at the left sinkhole, in which the Guardians and the Nova Corps work together to prevent Ronan, who now possesses the Power Stone, from landing his ship, the Dark Aster, on the surface of Xandar to kill many there. This wizard mode is a 4-ball multiball mission, and is divided into 3 phases:

• The first phase involves fighting off the Necrocraft deployed from the Dark Aster to attack Xandar. The player must juggle 4 character balls to shoot lit lanes to shoot down the squadron of 20 Necrocraft ships before Xandar is destroyed, but can destroy 2 ships at once if a character ball is shot up a lane lit with its matching portrait. Characters can be switched by shooting the left sinkhole, and once the entire squadron is defeated, all balls will drain.
• The second phase involves Drax taking on Ronan one last time aboard the Dark Aster. This is fought as a repeat of the mission Drax vs. Ronan.
• The final phase involves Star Lord's final struggle with Ronan over the Power Stone on the ground of Xandar after the Dark Aster crash-lands. This is fought as a repeat of the mission Star-Lord vs. Ronan. Winning the final phase will finish the wizard mode, score the total points from Orb Bonus Round times the bonus multiplier, and reset all table progress.

The player is only allowed one attempt at this wizard mode. Regardless of its success or failure, the table will reset.

Side modes

There are no proper side modes on this table.

Multiball

The following multiball modes can be started:

• Collector Multiball: The Collector collects priceless artifacts. The right ramp is labeled with nine inserts, each spelling COLLECTOR. Every three shots to the right ramp will light the lock at the Collector sinkhole at the right, and a ball must be locked to collect the next 3 letters and light the next lock. Once 3 balls are locked this way, a 3-ball multiball will begin, and 3 lit jackpot lanes will be available for jackpots. Super jackpots are available by shooting hitting lanes marked with a character's portrait with the ball corresponding to that character.
• Sparring Multiball: Star-Lord & Drax participate in a sparring match, which goes about as well as you'd expect. If the player shoots the left swap sinkhole 4 times, the player will be sent to the mini-playfield for a 2-ball multiball. Lit lanes can be shot for jackpots, which can be increased by hitting targets.

Perks

The following perks can be obtained during play:

• Ball Saver: A 30-second ball saver is available at the start of each ball and multiball mode. Once it expires, the player can activate it again as a Collector random award.
• Kickbacks & GROOT Hurry-Up: Groot is a Flora Colossus and a fierce protector of the Guardians, and serves as Rocket's personal bodyguard. Spelling GROOT on the return rollovers will activate the left kickback and spelling it again will activate the right kickback. Both kickbacks are low-power spring-loaded kickbacks, and activated kickbacks stay on until they are used. If GROOT is spelled when both kickbacks are activated, a random lane will light to score 200,000 points for 20 seconds.
• Bonus Multiplier: The Orb, containing the Power Stone, is a highly valuable quarry. If the player hits the Orb target 5 times, the bonus multiplier will increase by +2x up to 10x; it can also be maxed from a random Collector Award. Advancing the bonus multiplier while maxed will award an extra ball. The bonus multiplier is only good for the current ball, unless a bonus hold has been collected from the Collector Award, and it also applies to the final score given from beating the wizard mode.
• Xandar Jackpot Increase: The Guardians will stop at nothing to protect Xandar. If the player spells XANDAR on the bumper rollovers, the jackpots for multiball modes will permanently increase.
• Collector Award: The Collector has various invaluable items that could be of good use. If the player shoots the right sinkhole 4 times, a prize roulette on the scoring display will begin and the player taps the launch button to stop the roulette and claim a random prize. Prizes can range from points (random values between 5 million - 10 million), lighting one of the six main missions, activating the ball save or either kickback, increasing the skill shot value by 500,000 points, maxing or holding the bonus multiplier, or an extra ball hurry-up.
• Extra Ball: Extra balls can be awarded by increasing the bonus multiplier while already at 10x, or by starting an extra ball hurry-up from the Collector Award and shooting a lit lane to claim the extra ball within 20 seconds.

Tips

• It is very difficult to earn extra balls, so take great care to protect balls from draining by taking advantage of the table's easy-to-earn persistent kickbacks. Even better, if you turn both kickbacks on, every time you spell GROOT again will give you a chance to reactivate the ball saver.
• If you're getting close to starting one of the six missions and you've already collected the Orb Bonus Round for that mission, don't bother with continuing to go for it. Save it for after you've played the wizard mode, so you can play through the missions quickly.
• Above all, it always helps to pay a visit to the Collector for a random award, accessed with 4 shots to his sinkhole at the right of the table - an easy feed to recover from by dead bouncing the ball, then shooting the sinkhole again with a late shot from the left flipper. The Collector Awards include two opportunities for easy extra balls and are the most practical way to increase the valuable bonus multiplier, which impacts the final score of the wizard mode.

References & Easter Eggs

• Data East's Guns N' Roses pinball machine has a "G"-shaped ramp in a similar position to the left ramp in this game, which even feeds a plunger on the left side of the table.

External links

• Official table trailer
• Table walkthrough by ShoryukenToTheChin (PDF)
• Official table soundtrack by Bandcamp