all five before extra scoring is
possible when the bank becomes a
time feature with random targets
popping up, which if gotten down
before the timer elapses, increase in
value from 100,000 points all the way
up to 160,000 points v•hich isn't too
shabby if a player can ever
accomplish the feat.
Moving to the bottom playfield
one finds some interesting touches
including the two-drop-target banks
which not only fill in a lettered lane in
the mini-playfield but also tied into
the newly refined Magna Save. Both
the left and right saves are built up by
hitting down the drop targets, up to
five time units. The extra set of
flipper buttons on the side of the
cabinet are now what I'll call "touch
sensitive" since the Magna Save
goes off if there if still time left on it.
The control is a nice improvement
on this new innovative feature.
Also on the bottom and tied into
time is the horseshoe with its
multiplier value that is activated
when the ball goes down the lanes to
either flipper and builds from 2X up
to a top of lOX. Also part of the
horseshoe is a slight departure on
the Williams bonus ball concept
which appeared on Black Knight.
Here, if a player can go through the
left side entry, a "drain shield" is
activated on the outlane; go through
twice and it activates for both sides,
so that anv ball qoing out the sides
will be put back in the shooter for a
.continuation on the same ball.
For the most part that's the game
breakdown, with some nice reverses
possible and a decent amount of play
on the top as well as the bottom,
although the action is a bit fast and
winds up being more of a gun-and -
run-situation.
GRAPHICS: Jungle Lord is bold
and colorful, with a motif that
hopefully continues the movement
away from space and back to the
fantasy atmosphere that has long
been associated with pinball. Its eye-
catching bold use of colors. and the
detail work on the playfield is an
added touch that just enhances the
entire package along with the
flashing lights, good sound effects
and minimal use of voice.
PLAY: Even with the potential point
build-ups on the board, Jungle Lord
is a tough game to score on,and your
limits might want to be more lenient
to the players to compensate for
what undoubtedly will be a drain-
filled existence for many who try it-
and this is the case even with the
added enhancement of the drain
shield feature.
For extra ball play, you should be
fairly safe with a 400,000 point start
followed by 800,000 and 1,500,000
points. On free play you might want
to increase these limits by about
200,000 points each, depending once
again on the caliber of your players
and your percentaging.
PROS & CONS: First things first:
personally, I've never liked the idea
of multipliers on a game that aren't
achievable by specific skill shots on a
playfield, whether tied into getting
down drop targets, going through or
around lanes, making some
sequence of shot, or whatever. Here,
although the feature is locked into a
time setting, the ball still must find its
way down those lanes to the flippers,
which isn't necessarily a skill shot. It
might have served better if the bot-
tom drops had been used for this
rather than for the mini-field
lanes, but it's a programming and
design feature that was chosen,
rightly or wrongly so.
What I mentioned earlier does
hold true in terms of the game being
one that might not generate that
continued repeat play, only because
it is so difficult to get comfortable
with it. Developing a constant
playing strategy is also a veritable
impossibility that tends to detract
from the machine, and the degree of
difficulty inherent in trying to master
the game and its nuances may well
be a negative factor for those new
players returning to,or first trying,
pinball machines. In those locations
where the level of play is for more
sophisticated than the norm, Jungle
Lord may find a niche among the
diehards, as well as in some bars, but
in many street arcades there's going
to be a battle to see if the game can
sustain itself over the long haul once
the players see what they can and
can't do on the game.
The issue here really is that Jungle
Lord represents a particular
direction of pinball that may well be
forgetting the little guy : that
sometime player who wants to have
fun without having to take lessons to
learn what to do. For the skilled
player the challenge to try to beat the
game may be enough, but it's a
question of whether that investment
in time and money may not
eventually be felt to be better served
elsewhere on a more simpler and
basic machine. The fear being that in
an attempt to overload almost every
entry into the sweepstakes, the
fundamentals may be forsaken. Even
Black Knight for all the extra offered
and the impressiveness of the
package, still held to some very basic
shot sequences and programming
that followed this through so that the
novice and expert could both enjoy
what it had to offer. The bottom line
is that Jungle Lord is that satisfying
an experience.
RATING:##%
And that's the Corner this time
around. Hopefully next time some
words on Mars as well as Lighting
and maybe even a few other
surprises. Until then, may it be a
good summer ahead for one and all
and as always, be well and prosper.
'
r
PlAY METER, June 15,1981
69