Fire Pinball Machine by Williams (1987)
“FIRE’s coming out in a blaze of glory that’s firing up play and profits at every location”
Flippers (2), Slingshots (4), Standup targets (15), Moving ramps (3), Horseshoe lanes (2), Plunger skill shot. No pop bumpers. Has speech. Rotating color cylinder under playfield simulates building on fire. The player must quickly “put out fires” when they appear in various places on the playfield, by either completing a bank of targets or making a lit shot. These objectives award points increased by the “Fire Multiplier” as displayed in the upper playfield inserts indicating 10x-7x-5x-3x-2x. Each ball in play starts with this multiplier at its highest value of 10x and counts downward each time a fire is not put out within a timed interval. Each end of a large horseshoe lane is protected by ramps that raise and lower. When lowered, they deliver the ball to ball locks. Upper playfield has a ramp that raises and lowers during play, allowing a ball to enter an elevated opening for multiball. A small horseshoe lane above this ramp advances bonus multipliers 2x-3x-4x-5x-10x which display in the storefront windows in the lower playfield. Top of backbox has a ringing bell. The first and second player score displays are alphanumeric and the third and fourth player displays are numeric-only.
Williams’ 1987 Fire Pinball Machine is now on sale at Vintage Arcade Superstore. The theme of this game is, unsurprisingly, to put out fires!
Williams’ Flyer Describes the Fire Pinball Machine as follows:
It’s hot! It’s smokin’! It’s burnin’ up the charts! …Just look at the playfield! It actually glows with the heat of the action! Exciting new features like second floor shots and fire escape ramps to save trapped victims spark play like never before! …It’s fire-fighting that’s fast and furious as fires break out at random and the player must race against time to put them out by completing the appropriate bank or making the lit shot.
This game also features its own original ragtime music. With game design by Barry Oursler and software by Dan Lee, the Fire pinball machine is sure to be a bright addition to any pinball collection.
