World War Hulk

"I am the Green Scar! I am the Worldbreaker! I AM THE HULK!"

- Hulk

World War Hulk
Date available	June 19, 2012
Category	Marvel
Based on	World War Hulk written by Greg Pak
Designed by	Ivan "Mad_Boy" Nicoara
Plunger mechanism	Diagonal
Skill shot type	Plunger strength
Number of return lanes	5
Number of flippers	5 (3 on main playfield, 2 on mini-playfield)
Outlane protection	2 low power spring-loaded kickbacks
Number of main missions	7
Wizard mode type	Final multiball mission
Number of side modes	1
Number of multiball modes	3 (all mandatory)

World War Hulk is one of the four Marvel pinball tables that are part of the Avengers Chronicles Pack, released in 2012 and available for Zen Pinball 2, Pinball FX 2 and Pinball FX 3. The table is based on the eponymous 2007 comic book series in which an enraged Hulk, exiled into space by fellow superheroes to keep him from endangering others, returns with an army to wreck vengeance on them.

Table overview

The upper half of the table

The back table wall reflects the ruins of New York City, devastated by the wrath of the Hulk and his Warbound. The back left corner of the table is the site of a big left hairpin turn of a high-rising ramp marked RAGE, which takes the ball along a exit habitrail running along the left table wall en route to the left inlane. Part of it resembles Brooklyn Bridge, a famous bridge of the city. The center of the back table wall is an electronic sign, possibly from Times Square. Near and front of it, is the start of the table's right exit habitrail, originating from a crossramp labelled HIVELING, referring to the bug-like appearance of the Sakaarans. Multiple lanes merge into this exit habitrail ramp that travels all the way to the right inlane.

A scale model of a Sakaaran stone ship floats near the back right corner of the table, prominently looming over the table's right two lanes. It has a ball locker and a tractor beam. To the right of the crossramp is a platform comprising of crumbling asphalt where a figure of the Hulk stands after his exile in Sakaar. The severed torch-holding hand of the Statue of Liberty lays further to the back left of the platform. Three major lanes pass under this platform, which are the left orbit marked with inserts spelling SAKAAR, the entrance to the left ramp, and the left end of the mini-orbit. These two ramp shots can be blocked with drop targets representing Wolverine's adamantium claws. The left ramp's entry can also be blocked by a pop-up sinkhole.

The table's main orbit wraps around a number of table lanes, though not most of them. There is also another, smaller orbit that spells WARBOUND through shots up either end. The inside wall of the mini-orbit's apex opens to a bumper area. Balls that enter this bumper area can exit either left out of the left entry of the Warbound mini-orbit or right in front of the mission sinkhole, which sits directly to the right of the rightmost bumper, and is shaped into the entrance of a New York subway station that is blocked by a drop target that can be removed after multiple hits. In front of the frontmost bumper is the reverse scoop, marked with inserts spelling ARENA, leading into an exit habitrail that merges with that of the table's leftmost ramp, dedicated to the Hulk himself and spelling his name.

The reverse scoop can be blocked by an adamantium claw drop target, or by a pop-up sinkhole that diverts the ball to the Arena mini-playfield. To the right of the mission sinkhole is the right entry of the mini-orbit. There are two more lanes directly to the right of this lane. The first is the entrance of the right ramp, marked STRENGTH, which merges with the exit of the crossramp. The second is the table's right orbit, which spells SHIP and refers to the spacecraft the Hulk used to return to Earth. Adamantium claw drop targets can block the right ramp, which can also be blocked by a pop-up sinkhole, just like the left ramp. The right orbit is gated by a spinner marked by the insignia of the SHIELD agency.

The lower half of the table

To the right of where the left exit habitrail passes through the Brooklyn Bridge is the leftmost ramp. After a short rise, it takes a right turn into an exit habitrail that immediately forks into two paths: a shorter looping path that dumps the ball in the left inlane, or a longer path that travels across the table (which the reverse scoop's exit habitrail merges into) to merge with the right exit habitrail. Ahead of that junction, there is a dropdown that can be operated manually with the launch button or automatically to drop the ball to the mini-flipper.

Directly to the right of the leftmost ramp is the entrance to a saucer marked with the letters in GAMMA. Balls that enter the saucer exit through a gate directly above the left inlane, and are sent to the left flipper. A figure of Wolverine may stand in front of this sinkhole. A right-facing standup target bank used for random awards sits to the right of the saucer entrance, and is best accessed with the upper flipper on the right side of the table. In front of it is a left-facing target bank marked SAVE, with two targets scoring two letters each. A figure of The Thing stands near these features. The front half of each table wall also has a pop-out laser beam that can rotate to hit the Hulk figure. Behind the plunger's diagonal turn is a VUK, which pops the ball up a short habitrail merging with the right exit habitrail.

There are five return lanes that spell the phrase SMASH AGAIN, with each lane collecting one letter in each word. There are also two slingshots, marked with inserts for the bonus multipliers, and two flippers. Midway through both return lanes are pop-up posts that hold the ball just before they reach either flipper. Each outlane is guarded by a standard kickback. The aprons appear to represent the Upper Bay, with the left apron containing the head of the Statue of Liberty and the right apron featuring a fallen ship turned on its side. Both landmarks are used to indicate kickbacks.

The arena mini-playfield

Underneath the table is a mini-playfield that represents the arena. It is highly symmetrical and comprises of a major orbit wrapping around the entrances of two dueling ramps, which wrap around a miniloop; in the center of the miniloop is a central sinkhole used to exit the mini-playfield. The dueling ramps rise and intersect at a point behind the central miniloop, before forming loops that dump the ball down one of the mini-playfield's two return inlanes that is closer to the entrance of the ramp that was just used. (The left ramp takes the ball to the left inlane and vice versa.) The entrances to each ramp can raise, in which case they need to be hit with the ball to lower.

Four of these lanes each represent superheroes who had to fight in the arena: the left orbit represents Iron Man, the right orbit represents Doctor Strange, the left miniloop entry represents Mr. Fantastic and the right miniloop entry represents Black Bolt. There are two slingshots, two return lanes and two mini-flippers. Balls that enter the mini-playfield do so through a door in the wall of the left return lane. They also re-enter there if the player drains within 15 seconds of activating the mini-playfield. A center post lies between the flippers.

The plunger

The plunger is a spring-loaded mechanism that launches the ball up a straight shaft that takes a diagonally left turn. To enter the main playfield, the ball exits the plunger shaft through a thin one-way gate that separates the plunger shaft from the right outlane. The plunger is themed off of a ship harbor, with a rotating crane gauging the strength of the plunger. A strong shot will take the ball up the crossramp, while weaker shots can strike the left standup target bank.

Skill shots worth 500,000 points can be scored by plunging with minimal strength, such that the ball hits one of the three lit targets in the standup target bank.

Main & side missions

As the Hulk, take revenge on the superheroes who exiled you to space, and thwart efforts to evacuate innocent civilians in the chaos that ensues.

Main missions

The four main missions are qualified by shooting the gate target in front of the mission sinkhole five times, and are started by shooting the ball into the mission sinkhole. The player can select a mission upon shooting the sinkhole using the flippers and launch button. Main missions can't be repeated until the final mission has been won. Missions score 25 million points upon completion.

• Hulkbuster: To defeat the Hulkbuster, the Hulk must land six devastating attacks, three per side. Attack the left side by shooting the reverse scoop then shooting the hole under the left ramp; and attack the right side by shooting the leftmost ramp followed by a shot to the hole under the right ramp. The holes under each ramp only raise for 15 seconds.
• The Thing: Land three blows on the Thing by making the following shot sequence three times: reverse scoop, leftmost ramp, crossramp. If the player shoots the leftmost ramp, but fails to make the crossramp, the sequence will time out and the reverse scoop must be shot. If the player fails to land three hits before the 90 second timer depletes, the mission fails; 10 seconds of time can be added by shooting the mini-orbit.
• Wolverine: Destroy four adamantium claw drop targets, then shoot the four ramps that they block. The color of the claws indicate how to destroy them: green claw targets must be destroyed with a gamma ball and blue claw targets must be destroyed with an adamantium ball. The former can be obtained for 20 seconds by shooting the saucer, while the latter can be obtained for 20 seconds by shooting the leftmost ramp.
• Doctor Strange: Shoot the left and right ramps to summon two additional balls for 3-ball multiball, then shoot six lit lanes to defend against Doctor Strange's attacks while keeping at least two balls in play. After the requisite lanes are shot, lock the remaining balls in the ship for 3, 2, and 1 million points each by shooting either the left or right orbit.

Side missions

The three required side missions can be started during normal play; they only need to be started to complete them, and must all be started to unlock the final mission. If the ball drains while a side mission is available to start, they must be qualified again on the next ball; otherwise, progress is retained between balls.

• Evacuate Manhattan: Shoot the left ramp five times followed by the pop-up hole under it to start this side mission. Assist Iron Man in evacuating civilians by the truckload. Each truck can hold up to 50 civilians - 5 can be loaded onto the truck by shooting any major shot, and 10 can be loaded by shooting the leftmost ramp or the crossramp. Shooting the reverse scoop evacuates the current truck so that more evacuees can be collected, while shots to the mini-orbit extend the timer by 10 seconds. The player can rescue as many civilians as possible before time expires to end the mode for a bonus of 100,000 x the number of civilians collected. Subsequent attempts at this side mission will be a 2 or 3-ball multiball; the player will only collect the bonus if the timer runs out.
• Sakaar Multiball: Spell SAKAAR at the left orbit and SHIP at the right orbit to light the lock at both orbits, then lock 3 balls into the toy Sakaar ship model hovering over the right orbit to start Sakaar Multiball. 3-ball multiball will begin with the locked balls launching out of the ship. All major shots award jackpots worth 250,000, and must each be collected once to relight the jackpots and increase their value by 100,000.
• Maximum Strength: Five shots to the right ramp followed by a shot to the pop-up hole under it will start a quick 3-ball multiball. During this multiball, the mini-orbit will always send balls to the bumpers, and each bumper hit will score a jackpot starting at 2,000 points increasing by 2,000 points for each major lane shot. Bumper hits during this multiball will also defeat Hivelings and advance the bonus multiplier as usual.

Final Mission

Once all seven listed missions have been completed, the next shot to the mission sinkhole will start the final mission, a 4-ball multiball with a very short ball saver. The player must shoot as many lit lanes as possible without draining to a single ball to build up the Hulk's rage for a final attack - but the shots will only relight after all other shots have been made. Failing to hit lit lanes quickly will cause the rage meter to decrease, though if all lit lanes are hit and the Hulk still does not have full rage, more lanes will light to hit. Once the rage meter is completely full, the player can finish the mission for 50 million points by locking all remaining balls in the pop-up sinkhole in front of the reverse scoop. The player is only allowed one attempt at this mode before the table resets.

Side modes

• The Arena: Spell ARENA at the reverse scoop, then shoot the sinkhole in front of it to access the mini-playfield. In the mini-playfield, shoot all four lanes marked with a superhero once, knock down the targets blocking the two ramps followed by the ramps themselves, and finally shoot the exit sinkhole at the center, all without losing the ball. If the side mode is won, the next activation of the mini-playfield will start a 3-ball multiball where all lanes score jackpots worth 500,000 points.
• Double Scoring: Shooting the saucer five times to spell GAMMA lights the leftmost ramp to double all scoring for 30 seconds, indicated by the flashing "double scoring" insert near the mission lights. Double scoring can be qualified during main play and can be activated during any mission, though The Thing will disable this feature due to the leftmost ramp being used in the mission.

Perks

• Ball Saver: At the start of each ball and multiball, a 15-second ball saver will activate. Once it expires, it can be reactivated as a random award, or by shooting the leftmost ramp and then shooting both targets in the SAVE target bank. Only one target can be collected per leftmost ramp shot. If more than one ball is in play, the ball saver will only save the first ball that drains.
• Kickbacks: Spelling SMASH on the return lanes will activate the left kickback, while spelling AGAIN on the same lanes will activate the right kickback. Both kickbacks are only good for the current ball. The lit letters for each word can be cycled with the flippers.
• Hivelings & Bonus Multiplier: Every bumper hit kills 1 hiveling, while every crossramp shot kills 5 hivelings. Every 30 hivelings killed increases the bonus multiplier by +2x up to 10x, and killing 200 hivelings resets the counter and awards an extra ball. If bonus X is already maxed, then 1 million points is awarded instead.
• Combos: Shooting any lane awards a base value of 50,000 points + 50,000 points for a 2-way combo + 100,000 points for each combo thereafter, up to 6-way before the combos reset.
• Random Award: Striking all three targets in the left target bank scores a random award: 1 or 5 million points, activating the ball saver, advancing the bonus multiplier, or an extra ball.
• Warbound: Spelling WARBOUND with shots up either end of the Warbound miniloop will collect one of the five Warbound members. Each member scores 250,000 points and adds 1 million points to end-of-ball bonus.
• Extra Balls: Extra balls can be collected instantly by killing 200 hivelings or from a random award.

Tips

• Like in many of Mad_Boy's tables, missions are the highest scoring feature in the game - 25 million points per main mission, and 50 million points for winning the final mission. The points for completing Doctor Strange and the final mission are easier to double than those for the other missions.
• The toughest of the four main missions is arguably Hulkbuster due to the six shots required and the return lane posts getting in the way. If the posts throw you off, press the launch button to deactivate them so you can make the shots easier, and be sure to light the kickbacks before starting this mission.
• The bumpers are integral to killing hivelings and collecting the extra ball for killing 200 of them. The easiest way to access the bumpers is to start Maximum Strength by shooting the right ramp five times, then shooting the bumpers as many times as possible.

External links

• Official table trailer
• Table walkthrough by ShoryukenToTheChin (PDF)
• Official table soundtrack on Bandcamp (tracks 1 - 5 in the Marvel Pinball: Avengers Chronicles Soundtrack)