Star Wars: Darth Vader

"If only you knew the power of the Dark Side..."

- Darth Vader

Star Wars: Darth Vader
Date available	October 15, 2013
Category	Star Wars
Based on	Darth Vader created by George Lucas
Plunger mechanism	Straight into miniloop
Skill shot type	Flipper-assisted (regular and super)
Number of return lanes	5
Number of flippers	4
Outlane protection	2 low-power spring-loaded kickbacks
Number of main missions	6
Wizard mode type	Final multiball mission
Number of side modes	5
Number of multiball modes	4 (1 mandatory, 3 optional)

Star Wars: Darth Vader is a pinball table based on the iconic Sith Lord Darth Vader as one of a multitude of Star Wars Zen Pinball tables available for Zen Pinball 2, Pinball FX 2 and Pinball FX 3. This table is one of the three tables in the Balance of the Force pack and covers the history of the galaxy's most feared and infamous Sith Lord, from the completion of his life support armor to his eventual redemption by his son, Luke Skywalker.

Table overview

The upper half of the table

The mask portion of Darth Vader's helmet conceals an dynamic, animated diorama in the backglass, depending on which mission or mode is currently active. The diorama contains animated models of characters involved with Anakin Skywalker's later life as Darth Vader. The mask cover obstructs a bridge of sorts used by the figures, with much of it folded out of the way when the mask is up. A large table orbit wraps around most of the table's major lanes, with the habitrail of a rear right crossramp spelling BASE running along the backglass over the orbit's apex. The right orbit, which spells SITH, is blocked off by a gate that diverts balls through a small miniloop that merges into the right orbit, with a outward left entrance spelling POD.

Next to the left orbit, which spells TIEX1, the model of Vader's starfighter, is a ramp that spells FORCE, the power that Darth Vader wields. It is shaped into a question mark, with its exit habitrail winding its way to the leftmost inlane. The corners of its entrance have targets labeled with “S” and “A”, the first half of the word SAVE. To the right of this ramp is a sinkhole for starting missions that is blocked a cylinder containing two rows of several roto-targets; when these targets are struck six times, the sinkhole can then be opened. Two more sinkholes lie to the right of the mission sinkhole. One is a vertical upkicker spelling RESOLVE that pops the ball through a habitrail that curves right to a right mini-flipper further down the table; every other shot will block the VUK entrance and act as an orbit that sends the ball to the upper left flipper. Another is used to access the Trench Run video mode.

The right side of the main orbit's apex opens to bumper rollovers spelling EMPIRE, with two letters per lane. Balls that pass through these rollovers drop right into the bumper area, exiting either down the right orbit or the left entrance of a miniloop that merges into and gates off the right orbit, pushing through the tension spring gates of the mini-loop wall. Between and above the bumper rollovers and the bumpers is the entrance of the abovementioned upper crossramp that spells BASE. In front of the bumpers, but to the right of the miniloop is a right ramp marked with five inserts corresponding to target drills, with a path shaped into a question mark that leads to the right inlane. Like the Force ramp, both sides of its entrance have “V” and “E” targets spelling the latter half of the word SAVE. A right-facing target bank occupies the left outer wall of the ramp's entrance.

Darth Vader is one of the very few Zen tables to include a pair of crossramps near the top of the playfield, with one ramp spelling REBEL and the other spelling BASE. A pair of upper flippers - one to the left and near the top of the game, and one to the right between the two miniloop entrances - are used to chain alternating cross-shots between them. To the left of the left orbit is a short crescent-shaped crossramp that spells REBEL. It wraps around and feeds the upper left flipper, which is used to reach the BASE crossramp that crosses the Force ramp en route to the upper right flipper. The upper right flipper can then be used to hit the REBEL crossramp once again, allowing a skilled player to chain together a big combo of alternating crossramp shots and activate the Rebel Base Hurry-Up with ease. A diverter mechanism is also installed at the intersection between the longer rebel base crossramp's habitrail and that of the Force ramp, which can divert balls on one habitrail to the other.

The lower half of the table

Further down the table, there is a small replica of the cylindrical control panel for the first Death Star's tractor beam, which the Force ramp passes through. It sits above a larger circular area that is sealed by a gate that lowers. This area acts as a funnel; a strong shot to the funnel will send the ball spinning about three or four times, while a weak shot might only score one spin. The sinkhole in the middle of the funnel functions as a VUK to pop the ball onto the end of the Force ramp's exit habitrail. A jump ramp can pop up next to this structure in the middle of the playfield. There is also another side-facing target bank behind this same structure.

There are five return lanes, three left and two right, that spell DARTH VADER, with two letters per lane. There are two slingshots, two lower flippers and two spring-loaded kickbacks (one per outlane). The left apron resembles an Imperial hangar and features a toy model of Darth Vader's TIE Advanced x1, while the right outlane resembles a Rebel hangar with a toy model of an X-wing fighter. Lamps for bonus multipliers are located near the left flipper.

The plunger

The plunger is a spring-loaded mechanism themed after the Death Star's superlaser tunnels that launches the ball up a short straight shaft that merges into the right entry of the pod miniloop, with the right orbit blocked by the erect mini-orbit wall. The goal of the skill shot is to launch the ball to the right mini-flipper with a small amount of strength, and use it to hit the REBEL crossramp on the left side of the table for 500,000 points. A successful skill shot immediately brings the ball to the left mini-flipper for a chance to hit the BASE crossramp for a super skill shot worth 1 million points.

Objective and missions

The goal of this table is to re-enact major moments in Darth Vader's history as a Sith Lord during the reign of the Empire through six missions, including one mandatory minigame. One of the five missions of the player's choice begins when the roto-target cylinder at the mission hole is struck six times, with the last shot dropping the ball into the sinkhole. A mission can then be chosen with flippers and the launch button Missions must be completed without losing the ball.

The following missions that must be completed to unlock the wizard mode are as follows. Each successfully completed mission (outside of Trench Run) scores 25 million points. Five of the missions are started by the aforementioned method, while Trench Run is started through completing the TIEX1 Hurry-Up and then shooting the center VUK. The game doesn’t officially name these missions, but they represent certain aspects of Darth Vader’s story and are listed in the order they occurred in the films:

• In Pursuit of Plans (Mission 1): Following the battle of Scarif, in which rebels against the Galactic Empire steal plans for the Death Star, Darth Vader fiercely pursues the Tanitive IV rebel blockade runner to try and take the plans back before any other rebels know. The player must shoot two lit lanes (one on each side of the playfield) and then the center VUK, repeating this procedure a total of three times (with a 30 second timer that resets when the center VUK is shot to complete the section) to shoot the rebel blockade runner’s engines. The player must then spell TRACTOR BEAM on the tractor beam spinner to capture the ship; this phase doesn’t have a timer. Finally, the player has to use the Force to interrogate Captain Raymus Antilles by shooting the Force ramp to activate a jump ramp in front of the roto-target cylinder that launches the ball through a hologram. This procedure must be repeated three times, with a 30 second timer resetting each time the hologram is shot.
• Now I Am the Master (Mission 2): After the Millennium Falcon crew accidentally end up in the Death Star, Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi, whom Vader was once an apprentice of as a Jedi Knight, disables the tractor beam and decides to draw out and hold off Vader to help the rebels escape at the cost of his life. In this mission, the player must magnetize three balls to locations in front of the SAVE targets. To activate one of the three spots used to magnetize the balls, the player must shoot two randomly lit lanes. It is possible to knock magnetized balls loose, leading to a multiball; if any ball is lost or the 120 second timer expires, the mission fails. After three balls are magnetized to all but one SAVE target, a fourth ball will come into play and the player must duel and defeat Obi-Wan in a 4-ball multiball, shooting all lit lanes once. After that, the player must destroy all of the balls by hitting a SAVE target with each one to finish off Obi-Wan Kenobi.
• Trench Run: Shortly after the rebels escape from the Death Star, the battle of Yavin begins as the Death Star advances to a rebel base on Yavin to exterminate it with the superlaser before the rebels strike at its fatal weakness, and Darth Vader uses his starpilot skills to lead the Imperial forces defending the Death Star. This mission starts by completing the TIEX1 Hurry-Up described in the side modes section, then shooting the trench run sinkhole. This begins a video mode where the player must use the flippers to steer Vader's TIE x1 advanced starfighter as it speeds through the Death Star's trenches to pick off X-wing fighters chasing towards its exhaust port. The first X-wing chase will have no obstacles to avoid, while every other chase will have several pillars that need to be avoided. The player must press the launch button to fire at the X-Wing fighters. Each fighter requires several hits to destroy and the player must avoid obstacles that can damage the TIE x1; three hits will end the mode. The mode also ends if the player takes too long to shoot down an X-Wing; the timer becomes more strict with each successful X-Wing destroyed. Each destroyed X-Wing scores a bonus starting at 1 million increasing by 100,000 each time one is defeated, meaning skilled players can keep this mode going for quite a while. At least one attempt of this minigame is required to access the wizard mode.
• Cloud City Duel (Mission 3): After setting a trap for the Millennium Falcon rebels at Bespin, Darth Vader proceeds to personally confront his son, Luke Skywalker, and try to turn him to the dark side. The player must use the Force to throw objects at Luke to knock him through a window three times; this is each done by hitting any target on the left target bank once and then any target on the right target bank in 60 seconds per attempt, then locking the ball into a red flashing area in the middle of the main play area, where Vader will Force grip the ball to throw at Luke. For a successful hit, the player must aim the ball with the flipper buttons, then press the launch button to hit Luke's figure while he is looking away. After three hits, Luke will be defeated and the mission will be completed successfully.
• Father vs. Son (Mission 4): Onboard the second Death Star, Emperor Palpatine goads Luke Skywalker into dueling Darth Vader again in hopes of killing him and taking his place as his new apprentice. This mission involves helping Vader draw Luke into unleashing his aggression through the following procedure: 1) shoot two lit lanes, 2) hit the mission roto-target cylinder twice, 3) repeat steps 1 and 2 again, 4) shoot the left end of the pod miniloop thrice and then finally, 5) shoot the center VUK three times. Each phase has a 30 second timer outside of phase 4, which lacks a timer.
• Vader's Redemption (Mission 5): After Luke overpowers Vader and declares that he won't turn to the dark side and kill him, an infuriated Palpatine assaults him with Force Lightning, drawing Vader to finally turn on his master and save his son. The player must repeat the following procedure 3 times: shoot the Force ramp, the REBEL crossramp, the BASE crossramp and then the trench run sinkhole. After that, the player must hit the bumpers 50 times to get Vader to recover and with one last ounce of strength, hurl Palpatine to his death. To light the bumpers, the player must shoot both the Force and Target Drill ramps to unblock the right orbit, then make incomplete shots up the orbits to hit the bumpers. Enough hits must be made to raise a power meter that slowly drains on the scoring display until it is full. The player has 60 seconds to clear the first phase of the mission successfully, and a longer timer for the second phase.

Once all six missions are completed, the wizard mode, referred to here as Anakin Unmasked, will be available to start the same way as the missions, in which Luke Skywalker unmasks Darth Vader and sees the true face of his father. This is a final 4-ball multiball mission in which the player must shoot all lit lanes once, then lock all balls back into the mission sinkhole to win. This mode fails if the player loses either of the last two balls in this final lock sequence. The player is given one attempt at this wizard mode before the table resets.

Side modes

The following side modes can be activated:

• Assembly of Darth Vader: After being defeated in a lightsaber duel with his former Jedi master Obi-Wan Kenobi on Mustafar, Darth Vader is brought to Coruscant to be medically reconstructed into an intimidating life support suit. This mode is only available at the start of a session, and the player can choose whether or not to play it. If they do, the player must shoot six targets on the table that allow robotic arms to grab the ball and do the work in putting Vader's suit together; success results in a 10 million point reward.
• Force Hurry-Up: Darth Vader commands the dark side of the Force to torture and interrogate any rebel adversaries he encounters to obtain information that would aid in the apprehension and/or destruction of his enemies. If the player spells FORCE on the left ramp, a timed hurry-up will begin that challenges the player to extract as many pieces of information as possible from captured rebels, repeating a process of shooting lit ramps until the jump ramp raises, then shooting it. Each piece of information collected scores 100,000, increasing by 100,000 per shot.
• Rebel Base Hurry-Up: As a powerful enforcer of the Empire, Darth Vader seeks out and destroys rebel bases to quash a major threat to the oppressive Empire he serves. This side mode starts when the player shoots the REBEL crossramp 5 times to spell REBEL and the BASE crossramp 4 times to spell BASE. The player has to shoot both crossramps once, followed by the trench run sinkhole, to seek out and destroy hidden rebel bases with the might of the Empire. Each destroyed base scores 100,000, increasing by 100,000 per shot.
• Sith Hurry-Up: Darth Vader is an apprentice of the Sith, an ancient order of Force users who draw upon its aggressive dark side for evil purposes. He draws upon unrelenting fury to vanquish his enemies. If the player spells SITH on the right orbit when it is blocked off to divert the ball backwards through the pod miniloop, the gate that blocks the right orbit will go down for a limited time, giving the player a chance to relish the power of the dark side with unrestricted access to the right orbit, as every shot of it will redeem points from a shrinking score pool on the scoring display that starts from 5 million points. Shooting the BASE crossramp will score the value with a 2x multiplier.
• Target Drill Hurry-Up: The Empire engages in military drills to test their ruthless offensive against the fledgling rebels. This side mode starts when the player hits the right ramp six times. The player has a limited time to shoot as many lit lanes as possible to carry out attacks and earn scores starting at 100,000 and increasing by 100,000 per shot. The value resets at the end of this side mode.
• TIE-X1 Hurry-Up: Darth Vader’s TIE-X1 TIE fighter is one of the most elite ships ever devised, and was built to decimate all opposing forces. Hitting the left orbit five times to spell TIEX1 will begin a hurry-up where the bumpers need to be hit a total of 30 times in 60 seconds, with each bumper hit scoring 10,000. Completing the hurry-up will light the trench run sinkhole to start the Trench Run mission, required to start the wizard mode. If the mode is completed during Multiball, Trench Run won’t be available until you return to single ball play.

Multiball

The following multiball modes are available:

• Pod Multiball: Darth Vader uses a private meditation chamber onboard the Super Star Destroyer Executor to master his unparalleled mastery of the dark side of the Force. Spelling POD on the left end of the pod miniloop will open the tractor beam saucer area on the left side of the table for a ball lock; repeating this procedure 3 times will start a 3-ball multiball where the player uses the 3 released balls coming out onto the end of the Force ramp's exit habitrail to hit the mission roto-target cylinder for jackpots, or lit ramps for double jackpots. This mode continues until all but one ball is lost.
• Faltering Resolve Multiball: Even as a Sith Lord, Darth Vader begins to feel conflict between his allegiance to the dark side of the Force, as well as his former to the light side. This is a quick 2-ball multiball mode that starts when the player spells RESOLVE on the central VUK. Shooting the central VUK will turn a ball to the light side, while shooting the blocked orbit will turn it to the dark side. Each side has its unique jackpots, which are scored when a ball of the same Force alignment hits a lit lane. This mode continues until either ball is lost.
• Tractor Beam Multiball: Imperial Star Destroyers can trap fleeing rebel ships with a powerful tractor beam. This is a 3-ball multiball mode that starts when 3 balls are locked into the tractor beam funnel. In order for a ball to be locked, it must make a total of 11 spins inside the tractor beam funnel before shooting it again to lock it. Once three balls are locked, they will come out onto the end of the Force ramp's exit habitrail. Jackpots can be scored by shooting lit ramps; shooting the tractor beam funnel at any time will charge the ball, and ramps shot with this ball will score double jackpots. This mode continues until one ball is lost.

Perks

The following perks can be activated on this table:

• Ball Saver: At the start of each ball and multiball, a 30-second ball saver will activate. Once it expires, it can be reactivated by spelling SAVE on the targets.
• Kickbacks: Spelling DARTH on the return lanes, whose lit positions can be cycled with flipper operation, activates a low-power spring-loaded kickback in the left outlane, implemented with TIE fighter blasters. Spelling VADER on the same return lanes, whose lit lanes are likewise cycled with flipper operation, does the same for the right outlane. Kickbacks are only good for the current ball.
• Bonus Multiplier: Spelling EMPIRE on the bumper rollovers, whose lit positions cycle with flipper operation, will advance the bonus multiplier up to 10x, which is only good for the current ball.
• Emperor Awards: Emperor Palpatine, also known as Darth Sidious, is Darth Vader's Sith master who trains him in the ways of the dark side of the Force in addition to ruling the Galactic Empire. If the player completes both side-facing target banks, a random award is scored. Possible awards include points (1 million or 5 million), activating either kickback, activating the ball save, or an extra ball.
• Extra Balls: Extra balls can be earned as a random award from the Emperor Awards, or by maxing out the score multiplier. Extra balls are earned immediately and only 2 extra balls can be collected per session, with each method only being usable once.

Tips

• With only two extra balls allowed per session, it is critical to light the kickbacks at the start of each ball and watch out for easy ways to lose the ball like the SAVE targets or the Pod-Sith miniloop.
• Know how to get the ball to the upper flippers, because some missions will require you to use them to hit the side-facing targets or the pair of upper crossramps. To access the right mini-flipper, shoot the center VUK. The blocked Sith right orbit can also take the ball there, as well as the Force ramp on occasion. Note that the only reliable way to access the left mini-flipper is to successfully hit the first, shorter rebel base crossramp with the right mini-flipper. To shoot the side-facing targets, flip earlier than you would if you wanted to make the crossramps.
• The missions can also be quite challenging. To succeed in them, you need to be aware of which phases of each mission have and don't have time limits, as well as be prepared to juggle a 4-ball multiball twice in all throughout your wizard mode run. If you're asked to complete a task before time runs out, make the correct shots quickly! If there isn't a time limit, you can take advantage of that to carefully take your time and make the necessary shots to advance.
• While all the side modes and multiballs can be stacked, the scoring isn’t as huge as the 25 million you get for completing missions unless you play them out particularly well. If you’re playing for score, focus exclusively on the roto-target cylinder and the left orbit to get Trench Run qualified.

External links

• Official table trailer
• Table walkthrough by ShoryukenToTheChin (PDF)
• Official table soundtrack on Bandcamp (tracks 1 - 6 of Star Wars Pinball: Balance of the Force Soundtrack)