#pbtoots

Pinball Tutorial #6; Attack From Mars (AFM)

I’ve been practicing every day since getting back from Pinburgh and I’m feeling a bit of pinball fatigue. Including the days I was at ReplayFX, I’ve played pinball for 9 days straight and I think a recovery day is deserved.  Last night at the arcade, I was getting very discouraged because almost all of my shots were bricking and there was a real struggle to gain control. My only good games were on Game of Thrones and even then there was this odd sense of existential dread. “What’s the point when I only understand 50% of what I’m doing?” I thought. I powered through and tried to remind myself that even practice without full knowledge of the rules is still intentional and productive. At least I was able to get some flipper skills work in, right?   This toot gave me a little bit of perspective in regards to that fatigue/frustration. You can hear Bowen getting a bit frustrated with some of his shots. It was a nice reminder that even the most experienced player with an in-depth knowledge of rulesets can ride the struggle bus. Tips and Tricks:

Super Skill Shot: Hold the left flipper and hit any orbit, ramp or the center gate for 50 mil. It’s wise to aim for the gate as that’ll start an attack wave

Saucer: Basically focus on getting those attack waves done. Use multiballs, stroke of luck and ball saves wisely to help get that saucer hit.

Ball save when Strobe MB ends! Use that time to knock down the target bank 

During Total Annihilation you need 10 shots to the center. Trap up on the right, shoot with the left. Total Annihilation bonus is shots to the center (lock shot) which = the grand total of all JP’s earned

“I’m in a little bit of a danger situation now I gotta’ figure out how to get back to my happy situation” lol 

You can find more rules that go a bit deeper here. 

Other thoughts/New terms: This is a great video to set an example for some deeper flipper skills. Fantastic cradle separations and trap-ups. At around 7:30, Bowen mentions using balls in a 2 ball MB to carom or for deflection. This is something I’ve done instinctively but never thought about from a strategic point of view. It’s a good tip to keep in mind and focusing on the skill rather than doing it reactively might help improve play during MB.