The one that got away

[Espy]

Why do pinball games have a tendency to end right before an extremely crucial moment? Choking aside, it still happens an insane amount for me.

Yesterday I was playing Lord of the Rings. The operator had fixed the ball lock on the sword (before they just jumped off the blade instead of stopping), so I was making great progress with the multiball modes. I had stacked Gollum with Two Towers, got FOTR pretty easy and by that stage ROTK was ready to go. To my surprise, I was on Destroy the Ring and to even more surprise, I made all the shots aside from that final centre launch ramp shot... of course it's the hardest shot on the board, but I thought I could make it. But no, after a few failed attempts I drained. I got it over the ramp once or twice, but it dribbled into the bumpers intead of flying into the ring. Doesn't help that failed shots on that ramp nearly always go SDTM.

My score was 42M, which was double my previous record, so I should have been really pleased. But I was one shot away from the main goal of the machine. One. Shot. Gaah. I just ended up being incredibly annoyed.

 

[Captain B. Zarre]

Every single time I get to Jericho Missile Mayhem on Iron Man, I always choke and lose the ball for some reason... last time I played I completed the Monger and scored 1m, but other than that it sounds like one of the toughest modes I've played in pinball. Still, I recieved 26 million as my score, but failing at Jericho always feels terrible for me.

Also that GOSH DARN ROCKET in Party Zone. Ramp is extremely steep so I often miss the shot during multiball, no matter whether I cradle the ball or not.

 

[Espy]

Before anyone corrects me, I looked up the rules and it turns out I was two shots away from destroying the ring. Still pretty darn close!

 

[PC.Doctor]

Same thing happened to me when I was playing LOTR. I was one shot away from completing "Destroy the Ring" until that ball goes down the drain. That happened to me twice

 

[Espy]

Same thing happened to me when I was playing LOTR. I was one shot away from completing "Destroy the Ring" until that ball goes down the drain. That happened to me twice

The ring shot is probably one of the most difficult shots on any machine - a steep launch ramp with a narrow entrance right at the back of the playfield. I have gone entire games without hitting it once, generally wait for Bash Balrog to light Frodo instead.

 

[vikingerik]

I've had games end three shots away from Rule the Universe, four shots away from Battle for the Kingdom, and with Monsters of Rock actually lit. Just gotta try again.