From: phaedrus@halcyon.com (Mark Phaedrus)
Subject: HSII Multiball Tactics (was Re: High Speed II split personality)
Organization: The 23:00 News and Mail Service
Date: Tue, 17 Nov 1992 03:54:01 GMT

kahlerm@sumax.seattleu.edu (Michael Kahler) writes:
>| The super charger is great, and the multiball release is set up perfect to
>| take advantage of it.  When releasing the three balls into the right
>| inlane at the start of a multi ball, my goal is always to hit each one
>| into the SC and get all three racing around the track.  Getting all of
>| them in is pretty easy as the balls are released with pauses inbetween
>| them, allowing perfect shots on each one (not three balls on the flipper
>| at once).

     Here's how I handle Multiball on HSII.  Just so nobody thinks I'm more of
a wizard than I actually am :) , this is the longest pre-planned combination
of shots I use on any machine.  It looks like it's really hard to pull off, but
since the only critical shots are the relatively easy Supercharger and RPM
shots from the right flipper, it's actually not too hard at all.
     This only works if all three balls are locked at the start of Multiball
(in other words, if some of the Multiball balls get autolaunched in from the
plunger, this won't work).
     Also, this only works on machines using the original rule set (the
prototype ROMs), where you need 10 loops for Jackpot, 20 loops for Super
Jackpot, 30 loops for the next...  If you're using one of the newfangled
machines I've heard about that use many fewer loops, these tactics go out the
window (much to the arcade owner's relief :) ).
     Shoot the first two balls into the Supercharger.
     Either just as or shortly after the third ball gets fed to the right
flipper, the two balls in the Supercharger will finish their 10 loops, and the
ramp will drop to set up Jackpot.  So when that third ball comes, even if the
ramp isn't down yet, shoot the third ball around the RPM loop; the ramp will
drop just in time for the ball to scoot up it for Jackpot (and the onlookers
will be extremely impressed :) ).
     Don't take any time to congratulate yourself on the jackpot shot; you've
got two balls screaming down the Supercharger return chute to the left flipper.
Shoot the first one at the Tunnel, and leave the left flipper button down.
This shot is just to get that ball out of the way, but if you actually manage
to hit the Tunnel, you'll score the Helicopter Bonus.
     On most machines, the second ball will roll over the upraised left
flipper and over to the right flipper; if so, shoot it right back up into the
Supercharger.  If it winds up trapped on the left flipper, that's fine too;
keep it there.
     From here on, no matter how good you are, you can't keep up a set pattern;
the balls get kicked out of the Supercharger, the Tunnel and the Jackpot lane
at various times, and you have to deal with them.  Shoot balls coming to the
right flipper up the Supercharger until the Super Jackpot is lit, then at the
Super Jackpot (gee, really? :) ).  When balls come to the left flipper,
either pass them to the right flipper, shoot them at the Tunnel if the
Helicopter Bonus is set up again (you can hit it once after every Super
Jackpot), or trap them.
     Why are you keeping balls trapped on the left flipper?  Because of an
entertaining little quirk in the Supercharger.  Most people can't quite make
a successful backhand shot all the way up the Supercharger, but they can at
least get it high enough up to trigger the optical sensor at the entrance to
it.  During Multiball, this is oftentimes exactly what you want to do.
Let's say you need 20 loops to relight Super Jackpot, and you have one ball
going around the Supercharger (meaning you're going to end up with 10 loops to
go once it finishes).  If you can backhand a ball far enough up the 
Supercharger to trip the sensor, the game has no way of knowing whether or not
it made it all the way up, so it credits you with a successful shot; even if
the backhanded ball falls back out of the Supercharger now, the ball going
around the Supercharger will complete 20 loops instead of 10, so you'll end up
with Super Jackpot lit.  Note that there has to be a ball going around the
Supercharger for this trick to work; backhanding the ball halfway up an empty
Supercharger does nothing.
     Finally, if you're out for a high score by any slimy tactic available,
and you have reasonably tolerant arcade attendants, there's Cheap Gamesmanship
Ploy #47: during Multiball, just keep shoveling all three balls into the
Supercharger whenever possible (you might want to shoot the Jackpot when it's
lit, though :) ).  Eventually, the balls in the Supercharger will collide, and
one will fly off somewhere and get stuck.  (Did I mention this was slimy?)  
Now, once one of the remaining two unstuck balls drains, you're left with a
"1-ball multiball", where you can shoot the Supercharger and Jackpot shots with
no distractions.  Of course, once you lose that ball as well, you have to go
get the stuck ball unstuck (thus the tolerant-attendants requirement).  This
ploy works exceptionally well during Red Line Mania, when you've got those
100M Super Jackpots to shoot for.
-- 
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