Jurassic Park: Pinball Mayhem

"Okay, folks, top brass thought sending in unarmed civilians to rebuild their park would be the greatest idea of the century, only to be proven wrong by some nasty dinosaurs. Our job is to fix this mess, and evacuate the whole island as fast as we can."

- Construction worker

Jurassic Park: Pinball Mayhem is a pinball table inspired by the 1993 film Jurassic Park, released as part of the Jurassic World DLC pack for Pinball FX 3 in February 2018. Taking place directly after the events of the film, the table tells an original story about construction workers rescuing a team sent in to evacuate four districts of the failed dinosaur park.

Stern's 2019 Jurassic Park pinball machine features a similar premise, but both machines are otherwise unrelated.

Table overview[]

The upper half of the table[]

The table is designed to look like a naturally-built pinball machine, in front of a large tree stump. An animated waterfall can be seen at the back wall of the table, accompanied by a large model of the entrance gate to Jurassic Park to its left, and a replica of the Visitor's Center to its right. The entrance gate is a simple model that doesn't effect the ball, but the Visitor's Center has six windows covering its entrance, each of which corresponds to one of the different main missions and has a red alarm light above it; each window can have a raptor standup target that spawns during a certain mission. The ball can only break through the Visitor's Center windows if it is held on the magnet on the lower half of the table. An animated figure of the infamous T-Rex is seen further to the front of the gate model, standing on top of a spin-disk that the ball can be shot into if the standup target bank in front of it is lowered.

The upper half of the table is wrapped by the table's orbit shot, with gates that either send the ball into the bumper area at the top left of the table or send the ball out the exit of the opposite orbit. The bumper area itself can be accessed either by orbit shots or by a shot to the pop bumper lane near the top of the table from the upper flipper, to the right of the bumper area; balls exit the bumper area towards either the left slingshot or flipper. Directly underneath the pop bumper lane is a sinkhole that can be shot either from the upper flipper or from a lucky bounce from the lower right flipper, and further below the sinkhole is a "hidden shot" that kicks the ball back to the upper flipper if the ball lands in there.

The standup target bank blocking the aforementioned T-Rex and spin-disk are to the right of the entrance to the pop bumper lane, and further to the right of this target bank is a bank of three linear drop targets between a captive ball and a scoop representing a sewer. When the first drop target is shot, the ball will be locked and act as a captive ball that can be released for Sewer Multiball once shot into the scoop. The table's right ramp is directly to the right of the sewer lock, which can only be shot with a strong shot from the left flipper and enters between the six windows of the Visitor's Center before either feeding the left or right flipper. Flush with the right orbit shot is the table's only upper flipper, and directly in front of the right orbit entrance is a spinner marked with a picture of an evacuee van.

The lower half of the table[]

To the left of the table, directly above the left inlane, is a scale model of an evacuee bus used to lock balls when the right ramp or left scoop is hit; at the beginning of Evacuation Multiball, the balls will exit the front door of the bus and enter the left habitrail of the right ramp. The left scoop itself is located directly right of the left orbit entrance, and kicks the ball onto the right ramp exit via a VUK. Right of this scoop is the table's left ramp, which can be shot from either lower flipper, but always feeds the upper flipper and curves around the top half of the table.

The entrance to the left ramp is flush with a set of three standup targets, each marked with a raptor symbol, and a yellow magnet symbol. An animated figure of a Stegosaurus can be seen above the platform containing the standup targets. Once three shots to the standup targets are made, the ball will be magnetized to the end of the Stegosaurus' tail, and it will throw the ball into one of the Visitor's Center windows where it will be kicked out via either sewer kickout or the left scoop.

Directly right of the right orbit shot is the crane saucer, which kicks balls out towards the right flipper or holds them so they can be magnetized by a crane model that extends out of a truck seen on the right side of the table. Shots to the ball on the crane count down towards starting Crane Multiball, and the ball on the crane will only demagnetize if the player drains down to a single ball during the multiball mode. All major shots are lit with a green evacuee insert (which can also become orange or blue during certain side modes), a Jackpot insert, and an insert unique to each shot that corresponds to the side mode that starts after making the shot enough times.

There are five return lanes spelling "EVAC!", two slingshots, and two lower flippers. In the space above the flipper area is a hidden mini-playfield featuring a Triceratops and a gate in front of it, that can only be accessed during a certain mission. The left slingshot is marked with a flashlight, while the right slingshot is marked with a communicator that animates at certain times during play. A drop target indentation for the raptor drop target can be seen in the space above the right flipper; smaller drop target indentations can also be seen in front of the major shots. At the entry point of both inlanes are sewer kickouts, which eject balls that use either kickback or fall into the sewer sinkhole directly in front of the entrance to either lower flipper.

The plunger[]

The plunger is a straight shaft that sends the ball diagonally onto the playfield, with the plunger replaced by one of the evacuee vans and a large bar of lights indicating the strength of the current plunge.

After choosing the desired district, the player will be able to make a skill shot worth 1 million points by plunging the ball with medium strength to magnetize the ball in front of the Stegosaurus. After the Stegosaurus catches the ball, it will kick the ball up the right ramp with its tail and an opportunity for a super skill shot worth 2,500,000 points will be lit in front of the T-Rex standup target bank.

A hidden skill shot, worth 1.5 times the skill shot value, is also available by plunging the ball directly into the hidden shot under the upper sinkhole.

Choosing your district & evacuation[]

At the start of a new game, the player will be given a choice of which of the four districts of the park they want to start evacuating first. Each district starts at 0% evacuation; if the player desires to switch districts, they can do so by locking the first or second ball for Evacuation Multiball when no other modes are running. The four districts also slightly increase the scoring of several playfield features, which are as follows:

East Dock - ramp shots
North Dock - target shots
Hammond's Lodge - bumper and scoop shots
Visitor's Center - spin-disk and saucer shots

The evacuation percentage of each district can be increased by 20% for completing the main missions, 5% for completing side modes, and 1% for every 50 spins of the spinner in front of the right orbit. Once the evacuation percentage for an area reaches 75%, a 7,500,000 point bonus will be scored (and an extra ball will be lit the first time); evacuating all areas to 75% in a single game will score an additional 50 million point bonus. The evacuation percentage also directly impacts playfield scoring; each 75% evacuated district multiplies the general scoring by 1.25x, meaning that with all four districts evacuated, all scores will be doubled.

Objective and missions[]

The goal of the table is to help fully evacuate the park while avoiding its many dangerous predators through six missions, with a Total Evacuation wizard mode for completing all six. To start a mission, the player must hit any of the three standup targets under the Stegosaurus figure a total of three times. Once the third shot is made, the ball will be magnetized to the tail of the Stegosaurus, and a mission can be selected by using the flippers and launch button, which will launch the ball into the corresponding window. All missions score small points for making the required shots, and 5 million points & 20% evacuation for successfully completing the mission. Missions cannot be replayed until the wizard mode has been played, and all missions have a timer of 60 seconds.

Any of the three Multiball modes can be activated during the (non-video mode) single-ball missions. Completing three of the missions will light an extra ball.

The following six missions must be completed in order to reach the wizard mode, listed in order from the left to right window of the Visitor's Center:

Regal Fury: Scare away the T-Rex by igniting the linkage with the ball. The player must hit the bumpers a total of 30 times, scoring 10x the normal bumper value for each hit. As soon as the player makes all 30 hits, the ball will catch on fire, and must be shot up the left ramp to ignite the linkage and finish the mission.
Stegosaurus Challenge: The Stegosaurus seems to hate the raptors as much as the workers do, so support its efforts by sending the ball to the magnet insert in front of the standup targets. Raptor standup targets will spawn in front of the windows of the Visitor's Center, and the player must quickly use the flippers to select the window with a raptor in it, then use the launch button to defeat the raptor for 500,000 points each. The player must defeat 5 raptors this way without failing 3 attempts to win the mission, which scores only 2.5 million for completion.
Raging Fire: Wash out the park's remaining wildfires with the fire truck. Fires will spawn in front of either ramp, the right orbit, or the pop bumper lane; rolling them over with the ball will put out each fire. 8 fires must be put out with the ball for 250,000 points each to finish the mission.
Triceratops Mode: The raptors are attacking the Triceratops. Help it repel their attacks on the mini-playfield above the flippers. The player must memorize the sequence of lights on the mini-playfield (starts at 1 flash, and increases up to 4 for the final sequence), then use the flippers to move the Triceratops so it repels each attack for 500,000 points each. The Triceratops must repel 10 attacks to finish the mission successfully.
Demolition Scare: The T-Rex makes a last second attempt to destroy the evacuation routes. To evacuate the remaining personnel, the player must shoot both orbit shots, both ramps, and the pop bumper lane once for 250,000 points each without repeating a shot (as the T-Rex will quickly notice). The spin-disk under the T-Rex can be shot at any time to relight all five shots. Repeating a shot three times will fail the mission, but rescuing 10 personnel will finish the mission successfully.
Diversion: Escape the T-Rex and trap her. The orbits and pop bumper lane are lit to score 250,000 points and make a turn; the ramps are off by default, but once the blue and orange lights flash in front of the shot, they will turn on to score 500,000 points and 2 turns. Making 3 unlit ramp shots will fail the mission, and the player must make 10 successful turns to finish the mission successfully.

Total Evacuation[]

After completing all six missions successfully, Total Evacuation can be started the same way that the other missions are started - with three shots to the standup targets in front of the Stegosaurus. This wizard mode is a 4-ball victory multiball where all the balls turn to amber, and all shots are constantly lit to score jackpots that increase by 12,500 points per shot, starting at 500,000 points and increasing to a maximum of 2 million points per shot. Subsequent attempts at the wizard mode on the same ball will carry over the jackpot value from the previous attempt, and one ball will be added to a maximum of 6-ball multiball every time the wizard mode is started in a game. Total Evacuation ends and the mission progress is reset once the player drains down to one ball.

Side modes[]

The bulk of Pinball Mayhem are the table's side modes, which can be started at any time during play outside of Total Evacuation and involve ridding the park of hostile dinosaurs. All side modes have timers of 30 seconds (with the exceptions of Dinosaur Attack that has a 60 second timer, and the two hurry-up modes that have 10 second timers) and award 5% evacuation for completion.

EVAC! Hurry-Up: Spelling EVAC! at the return lanes, whose lights can be cycled with the flippers, will start a brief hurry-up sequence. Making shots in the sequence will add 5 seconds to the timer, and making all three shots will score 1 million points. There are two randomly selected shot sequences during this mode:
- Left ramp - upper sinkhole - right orbit
- Right ramp - left orbit - pop bumper lane
Dino Duel: The Stegosaurus and T-Rex, kings of the abandoned island, frequently battle each other. Shooting either orbit shot will briefly light the opposing orbit shot for 10 seconds to start a randomly selected Dino Duel mode, where the player must make enough of a certain shot within 20 seconds to deplete the dinosaur's health bar by 1; all the while, the opposing dinosaur will constantly attack you and deplete your health bar. Whoever has their health remaining at the end of the side mode wins; if the player wins, they will score 2,500,000 million. The two Dino Duel modes are:
- Stegosaurus vs. T-Rex - 12 pop bumper hits to deplete health bar
- T-Rex vs. Stegosaurus - 20 spin-disk hits to deplete health bar
Sentinel Escape Hurry-Up: The T-Rex crushes one of the helicopters sent to survey the area, and the workers must be freed. Shooting the left ramp 4 times will spawn the helicopter, and shooting the left ramp once more will begin a 10-second hurry-up at the right ramp. Rescuing the crew will score 750,000 points, and completing three Sentinel Escapes in a game will light an extra ball.
Dinosaur Attack: Dinosaur attacks are inevitable on an island full of them. Shooting the upper sinkhole 5 times will begin this side mode, where drop target representations of dinosaurs will lower and raise in front of either orbit or the sewer drop targets one at a time. The player must defeat 5 dinosaurs, scoring 100,000 points each, to save the evacuees and score 1 million points for completion.
Security Breach: One of the raptors has escaped! Shooting the pop bumper lane five times will begin this side mode, where a raptor drop target will move between shots on the right of the playfield and must be hit with the ball 5 times. Each shot to the target scores 100,000 points, with the final shot scoring 1 million points and finishing the mode.
T-Rex Mode: Get the T-Rex away from the park gate. This side mode begins with six shots to the standup target bank in front of the spin-disk; the target bank will then lower, and the player must make three shots to the spin-disk to score 20 spins each and threaten the T-Rex away for 1 million points.
Electric Fence Breakout: The raptors are prone to breaking free of their electric fences. Shooting the left and right ramp while their orange and blue lights are flashing (which occurs randomly during a game) will spawn dinosaur drop targets in front of the entrances of the two ramps. Both must be shot to score 500,000 points and finish this quick side mode.

Multiball[]

The following multiballs can be activated, and can all be stacked with each other:

Crane Multiball: Shooting the crane saucer near the right orbit twice will light the lock; the next shot to the crane saucer will magnetize the ball, and cause the crane to move around the right half of the playfield. Making five shots to the now-magnetized ball will launch a second ball into play and start Crane Multiball, where jackpots worth 250,000 points will be available at all scoops and saucers, and the crane will still be active to score super jackpots worth 500,000 points. If the player drains the second ball, the magnetized ball will detach and the player can shoot the crane saucer again with the second ball to start Crane Multiball again. The multiball ends when the player drains down to one ball and fails to lock the second ball back at the saucer. Subsequent activations of Crane Multiball require one more crane saucer shot to be made to light the lock.
Sewer Multiball: At the start of the game, all three drop targets in front of the sewer sinkhole will be raised. Shooting the first drop target will raise a post and cause the ball to be locked, meaning to hit the remaining drop targets, the player must hit the captive ball to lower the drop targets, then shoot it into the sinkhole. Knocking the ball into the sinkhole will start this 2-ball multiball, where all lanes score jackpots worth a base value of 500,000 points and add their values to the super jackpot available by shooting the sewer sinkhole, which can now be directly shot via the lower flippers. The super jackpot value resets to 1 million points when collected. The multiball ends when the player drains down to one ball.
Evacuation Multiball: Every four shots to the right ramp will light the lock at the same shot; shooting the right ramp or the left scoop will lock a ball in the evacuee bus, and allow the player to change districts if they want to. Once 3 balls are locked, Evacuation Multiball will begin, a 3-ball multiball where the orbit shots and pop bumper lane score jackpots. Each pop bumper hit adds 125,000 points to the super jackpot, which can be collected with a shot to the right ramp and resets to 1 million points once collected. The multiball ends when the player drains down to one ball.

Perks[]

The following perks can be acquired on this table:

Ball Saver: A 15-second ball saver will be activated at the start of each ball and multiball mode. Once it expires, it can be reactivated as a random Supply Drop award or by lighting the kickbacks when both are already lit.
Kickbacks: Shooting a 5-way combo will light the left, then the right outlane for a subway kickback that ejects the ball out either sewer kicker. Both kickbacks can also be lit as a random Supply Drop award.
Bonus Multiplier: The bonus multiplier can be increased by +2x, to a maximum of 10x, by making a total of 30 bumper hits. Subsequent bonus multiplier increases while it is already maxed score 1 million points. The bonus multiplier resets when the ball drains.
Supply Drop: Every five shots to the left scoop will start a random reward roulette on the display, which can be stopped by pressing the launch button. Awards that can be chosen include big score (around 250,000 points), activating both kickbacks, activating the ball saver, slightly boosting the scores of ramp and bumper shots, boosting evacuation by 1%, or lighting an extra ball (once per game).
We Need More Hands!: Every 50 spins of the spinner at any time during play will add 1% evacuation to the meter.
Rain Frenzy: At random times during play, rain will fall on the table, completely changing how the table looks and increasing all playfield scoring by 1.5x for 30 seconds.
Combos: Shooting ramps and orbits within 10 seconds of each other will score combos; making a 5-way combo will light the left or right kickback.
Extra Balls: Extra balls can be lit at the left scoop by completing three of the six main missions, reaching 75% evacuation for a district, completing 3 Sentinel Escape Hurry-Up side modes, shooting 20 drop targets during the Dinosaur Attack side mode, or as a random award from Supply Drop. Extra balls can only be lit once per method.

Tips[]

The easiest way to send the ball to the upper flipper, required to make several important shots during modes, is by shooting the left ramp - which can be shot from either lower flipper despite looking like it can only be made from the right flipper. Repeatedly shooting the left ramp by not using the upper flipper after making the ramp shot is also the easiest way to rack up combos, which light the kickback, and left ramp shots will also light Sentinel Escape which eventually lights an extra ball.
Multiball is the easiest way to quickly rack up the evacuation percentage and have a chance at evacuating all four districts, which will drastically boost the scoring of the table. All side modes can be started during multiball, which add 5% evacuation when completed; you can also add a more substantial 20% evacuation for each completed main mission, which will also lead to Total Evacuation, potentially the highest scoring mode in the game.
The title of the table might be Pinball Mayhem, but depending on your play style, you might be better off timing out some of the more risky side modes - particularly the Security Breach side mode, which spawns a raptor drop target that can lead to very fast drains with no ball savers active. Side modes also prevent you from starting the more valuable main missions until their timers expire.
The multiball physics in this game can take a bit to get used to, as they rapidly accelerate the more time you spend in the multiball. Try controlling the balls during multiball, especially towards the end of Total Evacuation, to guarantee you get points out of your hard work.

References & Easter Eggs[]

The T-Rex "eats" the ball after a super skill shot is performed, which she also did on Data East's original Jurassic Park table.
The layout resembles a mix of two real-life 1995 pinball machines: Bally's Indianapolis 500, and SEGA's Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Like Indy 500, the game has a left ramp feeding an upper flipper, and the shot layout from the upper flipper resembles the large variety of upper flipper shots in Frankenstein.
William's 1994 Demolition Man has a similar rule to the Visitor's Center mission select, where the player can shoot the Cryo-Claw and select the desired mission using the flippers and trigger buttons.
Total Evacuation sounds awfully similar to "Total Annihilation" from Attack from Mars.

External links[]

Jurassic World
Jurassic World · Jurassic Park · Jurassic Park: Pinball Mayhem