Most Difficult Multiball Jackpots

[HotHamBoy]

A lot of games have tons of jackpot shots when you start multiball, but some games have very specific shots that are difficult to consistently get while trying to keep the balls alive. What are some tables you have a lot of trouble with? Real pinball or TPA.

For me, Monopoly is very hard to score a Jackpot. That left ramp shot is already hard to make, but trying to juggle multple balls while setting up for that shot makes it much harder. It's an otherwise easy table.

Another game for me is Swords of Fury. I don't have much experience with it and the set up for that jackpot is a bear.

As far as more straight-forward shots go, I always struggle with Dine Time in Diner. We have one close to me and it's evil.

 

[gordonabrown]

Recent experience has told me that the answer to this question for me is Indiana Jones. It's a 6-ball multiball (I think) so the balls just hit each other most of the time and those ramps are hard enough for me to consistently hit (at least on a machine with weaker flippers) that getting a jackpot or two can be difficult.

 

[vikingerik]

Most games where the jackpot is on a shot from an upper flipper will see that happen. Because you don't merely set up one ball on one flipper for one shot. You have to make some other shot just to get the ball to the upper flipper, then the jackpot usually has to be shot on-the-fly rather than set. So of course your success rate goes geometrically down with so many contingencies in keeping not just one flipper and shooting lane clear of interfering balls and making one shot, but two of all that.

 

[invitro]

Most games where the jackpot is on a shot from an upper flipper will see that happen. Because you don't merely set up one ball on one flipper for one shot. You have to make some other shot just to get the ball to the upper flipper, then the jackpot usually has to be shot on-the-fly rather than set. So of course your success rate goes geometrically down with so many contingencies in keeping not just one flipper and shooting lane clear of interfering balls and making one shot, but two of all that.

Yup. I immediately thought of Funhouse as my answer to this question... that's probably influenced by it being in the current tournament. I then went to the other Lawlor games, which always have an upper flipper shot as the jackpot shot (or one of them, in the case of RS and RBIoN). They vary: ES's is almost trivial, but I think the ones on TAF, TZ, RS, and WWind can be tough, at least without focusing. The NGG one was tough until I figured out to ignore the R ramp/saucer feed, and instead backhand the L orbit for a nice slow feed to the upper flipper which makes the jackpot shot easy.

Some other tough multiball jackpot shots: CBW's 9-ball 500M. The right orbit in HRC isn't a big jackpot, but it's a jackpot and it's tough. The crane in LAH is tough, but I guess I don't often think of it that way, as I'm assuming it's gonna be tough and allowing myself multiple shots to hit it, or something like that.

 

[vikingerik]

Some other tough multiball jackpot shots: CBW's 9-ball 500M. The right orbit in HRC isn't a big jackpot, but it's a jackpot and it's tough.

Only by TPA's railroad physics. The transfer-point timing windows are too tight on both of these. CBW's is just a drop target that shouldn't be hard at all to hit (compare shooting Big Shot's identical target which is cake.) HRC shouldn't be any harder than any other orbit on any other table, except that the transfer point on HRC is still too narrow after originally being impossible.

Funhouse is also harder than it should be; there's a lot of transfer-point range pointing at Rudy's mouth that should point at the trap door loop instead. The shots are about equally difficult on a real machine but TPA seems to send everything at Rudy. Same goes for NGG's ramp/saucer feed that sends a lot more at the putting green than at the ramp.

TAF, TZ, Whirlwind, and Whitewater seem quite fair on the upper jackpot shots; they feel like I correctly earn every shot I make and that every miss was deservedly my own fault. Earthshaker's is too easy, yes, and so is High Speed. Road Show who cares because who ever plays multiball on that compared to going for bonus and Super Payday. STTNG finds the right difficulty for the wrong reason; a fast-running shot tends to rattle as it ascends the ramp and not make it all the way up (the opposite of what a fast ball should do), which comes to about the right success rate overall but from the wrong inputs.

 

[Slam23]

I can hit Funhouse's trapdoor consistently by actually shooting too early and ricochet a shot of the leftmost post that guards the ramp. I try to get a nice rhythm going with two balls alternating feeding lock for a trapdoor shot and shooting the ramp to light it again and feeding the left flipper for a lock shot again.

 

[HotHamBoy]

Most games where the jackpot is on a shot from an upper flipper will see that happen. Because you don't merely set up one ball on one flipper for one shot. You have to make some other shot just to get the ball to the upper flipper, then the jackpot usually has to be shot on-the-fly rather than set. So of course your success rate goes geometrically down with so many contingencies in keeping not just one flipper and shooting lane clear of interfering balls and making one shot, but two of all that.

This is a regular feature of Lawlor tables, but for some reason I have much more trouble with Monopoly's Jackpot than I do with TAF, Funhouse, R&TRS, Earthshaker, Whirlwind, etc.

With TAF you have two jackpots off of that shot. With Earthshaker the ball is probably going to loop around.