Creature from the Black Lagoon

> "Kay's in one of these tunnels! We've got to find her!"
>
> - Dr. David Reed

### Skill shot type

Plunger strength (top lanes), plunger timing (KISS), flipper-assisted (F-M combo)

### Number of multiball modes

1

***Creature from the Black Lagoon*** is one of two Williams pinball tables released in a special Halloween-themed Universal Monsters pack for Zen Studios' Williams pinball collection, available in *Pinball FX 3*, the macOS version of *Zen Pinball 2* and the *Williams Pinball* mobile app. The table is set at a drive-in movie theater about to play the titular film, where the player must set up the film and complete its plot and resolution.

## Table overview

### The upper half of the table

At the back left corner of the table is the bulky right hairpin turn of the table's left ramp, leading to a diverter mechanism that can take the ball down one of two clear exit ramps: one that snakes around to a loop above the center of the playfield leading to a straight, diagonal habitrail that drops the ball into a funnel whose exit takes the ball to the right flipper and another that travels straight along the table's right wall and ends at the right inlane. This hairpin turn is right near the end of a habitrail that curves around the opposite rear corner of the table after starting from a vertical upkicker in the table's rightmost lane.

This abovementioned habitrail drops the ball down a one-way exit lane that drops the ball through the table's leftmost lane, which only provides access to a saucer. Its path also arcs over a series of rollovers spelling the word PAID, whose lit positions are cycled with flipper operation. These rollovers have two entrances and two exits. The two entrances are the center lane on its left and the end of the plunger shaft on its right. The two exits are an opening leading to the abovementioned one-way exit lane and the entry into the bumper area that the ball will normally enter upon passing through any rollover. A toy car is installed on a platform near this habitrail.

To the right of the one-way exit lane that cannot be shot upwards with the flippers is the entrance to the abovementioned left ramp, leading into the diverter mechanism at its right hairpin turn. Right beside it is the center lane that is the only way to access the PAID rollovers once the ball is plunged into play. This lane is right beside a bumper area that is installed in front of these rollovers. Balls that pass through the bumper area will eventually exit down the rightmost lane in front of its abovementioned VUK. Directly to the right of the center lane's main entrance is a sinkhole representing the snack bar of the drive-in theater. The loop of the left ramp's left exit path is placed directly above this sinkhole's vicinity.

Further down the table are two irregularly-shaped islands; a thin triangular one on the left side that separates the exit lane and leftmost lane from the entrance of the left ramp, and a trapezoidal one on the other side that is placed in front of the bumper area, with its rear side and right sides shaping the bumper area exit's passageway. The entrance to the right ramp is placed in front of its frontmost side. Towards the front end of the former's side is a twin target bank representing the variety of food offered at the snack bar, with the front target representing soda and the rear target representing a hotdog. Another target bank is also likewise present on the front end of the latter's left side, with the front target representing ice cream and the rear target representing popcorn.

This table has no complete orbit, with two short side lanes taking its place. As described above, these two lanes serve as the end of an exit path that cannot be directly accessed from flippers, while leading to a saucer of sorts. The left lane, spelling KISS and representing the romance of two moviegoers, goes to a sinkhole that takes the ball to another vertical upkicker at the lower half of the table on the opposite side, while the right lane, representing the projection mechanism that shows the film, goes to a saucer that is the abovementioned VUK leading into the habitrail above the PAID rollovers.

### The lower half of the table

In front of the right lane is the recently abovementioned VUK exit sinkhole that pops the ball up a very short habitrail, taking the ball to the right inlane. There are four return lanes (with both inlanes having a different effect when hit), two rebounds and two flippers. Above the end of the right inlane is a funnel-like structure called the Whirlpool that can be accessed through the left ramp when a diverter activates during certain modes. Each apron has a pair of 3-D glasses, as the film is in 3-D. Lamps for the word FILM are present in the dead space behind the flippers.

### The plunger

The plunger is a spring-loaded mechanism that launches the ball up a straight shaft that ends with a dropdown at the PAID bumper rollovers shortly after a left curve. Strong shots will take the ball down the one-way exit lane along the left half of the table. Two skill shots are available, with a hidden skill shot available under certain circumstances.

* The player can plunge with a medium amount of strength into the flashing PAID rollover to instantly collect the "L" in FILM if it wasn't lit already, and increase the bonus multiplier by +2x.
* On the first ball of a game, the player can time a full-strength plunger shot so that the ball will exit the left KISS lane right when all four letters of the word are flashing to collect the "F" in FILM. On subsequent balls, performing this full-strength plunge will simply award the next letter in the KISS sequence.
* If KISS is completed off of the above skill shot, the player can go for a Double Film Letter Combo by shooting the Slide lane immediately afterward, collecting the "M" in FILM and scoring an additional 4 million points.

## Spelling FILM and multiball

The goal of this table is to prepare for a drive-thru theater showing of the film *Creature of the Black Lagoon* on a date night with your girlfriend by completing **four objectives**, each represented by one letter in the word FILM, then resolve the conflict of the movie in a complex 2-ball **Multiball** mode. The player can work on multiple objectives at once, and cannot lose progress on any of them until the game is over or Multiball is started.

The following four objectives must be completed to reach the wizard mode, scoring 2, 4, 6, and 8 million each when completed:

* "F" - **KISS**: Spell KISS either by timing the full-strength skill shot, or by making a maximum of four shots to the left lane, to make this date night one to remember. Spelling KISS once will complete this objective and light the letter F in FILM.
* "I" - **Snack Bar**: Hit the four green standup targets to open the snack bar. If the player hasn't scored a **jackpot** yet, this objective can also be completed by shooting the snack bar sinkhole at most four times to spot unlit targets. Bumper hits will cycle the positions of lit targets. The letter I in FILM is lit and the objective is completed as soon as the player opens the snack bar by hitting all four targets.
* "L" - **PAID**: Complete PAID, either by completing the four top rollover lanes or by executing a successful skill shot into the flashing rollover lane, to light the letter L in FILM and give the drive-in your hard earned cash.
* "M" - **Slide**: Shoot the slide VUK once to light the letter M in FILM. The first time this letter is collected in a game, it will be awarded on its own; on subsequent attempts at Multiball, it will be awarded with one of the three VUK side modes.

### Multiball, Creature Feature & Monster Madness

Once all four missions are completed, Multiball will be available to start by shooting either side lane to lock one ball and start the movie. This 2-ball Multiball takes the form of the climax of the film, where the player portrays scientist Dr. David Reed, who must rescue his girlfriend, Kay Lawrence, from the Gill-Man of the dangerous Black Lagoon. One ball will be sent to the plunger, and must be launched into play manually. Once both balls are released into the main playfield, the player has to enter the caves of the Black Lagoon to find where the Gill-Man is holding Kay hostage, by shooting any of three shots: the KISS lane, the Slide VUK, or the snack bar sinkhole. Each shot represents a cave and scores 5 million when shot, and the correct cave is chosen at random every time Multiball is attempted. Shooting the correct shot will confront the Gill-Man, and the player must then shoot the snack bar sinkhole to rescue Kay and escape the Black Lagoon for 10 million.

A successful rescue will qualify the **jackpot** at the snack bar sinkhole, worth a base value of 30 million and increased during normal play by hitting the bumpers (295,390 points per bumper). Once the jackpot is scored, the player can go for a **super jackpot** worth double the jackpot value by first hitting the bumpers 20 times, then shooting the snack bar sinkhole again. Scoring a super jackpot will double the base jackpot value for the rest of the session and reset Multiball back to the first phase. The player is only allowed one attempt at Multiball, but if the player fails to score a jackpot or rescue Kay, the Multiball can be restarted from where the player left off by shooting the snack bar sinkhole within 15 seconds.

**Creature Feature** is a playfield multiplier that applies to all scores during Multiball. Making a strong shot up the left ramp with enough strength to loop around and enter the whirlpool near the right flipper will collect letters in "CREATURE", scoring 1 million per letter. Once CREATURE is spelled, the playfield multiplier will be boosted by +1x, up to a maximum of 4x playfield scoring. The playfield multiplier resets to 1x after the current Multiball attempt has been played, but will carry over if the restart is collected.

Shooting the right ramp scores a **Movie Madness** bonus of 5 million points; shooting all four snack bar targets, then the right ramp will boost this to a **Monster Madness** bonus of 20 million. This is nothing compared to the jackpots you should be going for, though...

## Side modes

The following side modes can be activated during play:

* **Mega Menu**: The 2nd shot to the slide VUK (and the 5th, 8th, etc. thereafter) will start a 15-second mode that lights all 4 green standup targets. The first target hit will be worth 5 million points, the second 10 million, up to 20 million for the fourth target. The lighting for Mega Menu takes priority over the current status of the targets towards lighting the "I" in FILM.
* **Playground Award**: The 3rd shot to the slide VUK (and the 6th, 9th, etc. thereafter) will start these three timed features, in order (*this feature is random on the physical table*):
	+ **Unlimited Millions**: Shoot the left ramp for a base value of 3 million points times the ordinal number of the shot for 20 seconds. **Snack Bar** might also start this mode. Be sure to cash in your **Double Feature Combo** after playing this mode out!
	+ **Super Jets**: All bumper hits are worth 1 million points for 15 seconds.
	+ **Intermission Time**: Both the left and right ramp are lit to score 5 million points for 10 seconds.
* **Big Millions**: The 4th shot to the slide VUK (and the 7th, 10th, etc. thereafter) will start a 12-second mode where the right ramp is constantly lit to score 5 million points times the ordinal number of the shot.

* **Snack Attack**: The 4th shot to the right ramp (and the 16th, 28th, etc. thereafter) will start a 15-second hurry-up mode that lights the snack bar sinkhole to collect a hurry-up value starting at 20 million points and decreasing to 9 million.
* **Video Mode**: The 8th shot to the right ramp (and the 20th, 32nd, etc. thereafter) will qualify a video mode at the slide VUK, which alternates between the slide VUK and KISS lane via bumper hits. The player has to fight a Peeping Tom by watching his movements on the scoring display, pressing the left flipper button if he moves left and vice versa, to land 17 punches on him within 12 seconds. Successfully defeating the Peeping Tom will earn 15 million points, while failure to do so instead awards 300,000 points per punch landed + 50,000 points times the percentage of hits.
* **Super Mode**: The 12th shot to the right ramp (and the 24th, 36th, etc. thereafter) will light Super Mode at the snack bar for 12 seconds; failure to start it will require five more right ramp shots for another chance to hit it, and require five more shots to start all the previously mentioned right ramp modes. This side mode provides a 25-second opportunity to score lots of points, simultaneously starting the **Mega Menu**, **Snack Attack**, and **Big Millions** side modes, while also activating the **Unlimited Millions** Playground Award and the **Intermission Time** Playground Award. **Super Creature Feature** will be available during the first ten seconds of this mode for a single shot up the left ramp into the whirlpool, scoring 5 million points times the ordinal number of whirlpool spins.
* **Move Your Car**: Get a rather resilient car to get out of the way so everyone can watch the movie. This side mode begins when the center lane is shot a certain number of times (5 for the first time, 3 if it was previously failed and 8 if it was completed successfully before). Once the requisite number of shots are made, a hurry-up value will appear on the scoring display, starting from 8 million points and decreasing to 2 million points; the side mode will fail if that value is reached. The player must quickly shoot the center lane to claim whatever value that remains and try to get the obstructing car to move out of view. After claiming the value, the player has 15 seconds to shoot the center lane again and again to multiply the reward up to 5x and attempt increasingly destructive ways of getting the car to move. The side mode ends once either time expires or the 5x value is scored.

## Perks

The following perks can be activated:

* **Ball Saver**: At the start of each ball, a 5-second ball saver will activate. Once it expires, it cannot be reactivated.
* **Bonus Multiplier**: The bonus multiplier can be advanced from 1x to 10x (*although the actual bonus is exponentially multiplied, up to 32x*) every time the PAID rollovers are completed, either through the lane skill shot or by spelling out the word at the bumper rollovers. The multiplier is only good for the current ball. Once it is maxed out, any further completions of the word PAID on the current ball will award a flat (but very nice sounding) 5 million points.
* **Double Feature Combo**: Shooting the left ramp, then the center lane within 10 seconds of each other will award a combo value of at least 500,000 points. Shooting the left ramp again while the center lane is lit will double the value of the combo, up to a maximum of 16 million points, and reset the timer.
* **Snack Bar Awards**: Shooting the snack bar sinkhole while the snack bar is closed will award 80,000 points and spot a standup target if it was not opened before in the current session, or 1 million points plus 100,000 points times the ordinal number of the shot if it was opened before. Shooting the snack bar sinkhole when the snack bar is open will immediately grant a random award. These include collecting any of the four letters in FILM, immediately starting **Multiball**, lighting a **special** at either outlane or instantly awarding a special, activating the **Unlimited Millions** Playground Award, a chance to shoot the left ramp within a 10 seconds to light an **extra ball** (Xtra Ball Countdown), or an instant extra ball. More often than not, the snack bar will award you with random points from 2 to 5 million represented as food items, though this does give you a chance to choke the snack bar employee, so it's not a complete loss.
	+ The snack bar items are given in a set order in *Pinball FX3*: food item, unlimited millions, (need further information...)
* **Extra Ball and Special**: Extra Balls can be lit at the center lane by spelling KISS repeatedly at the KISS lane (2 KISS completions for the first, second is lit at 6 KISS completions, etc.) or by successfully completing an Xtra Ball Countdown from the **Snack Bar** by shooting the left ramp. Extra balls can be instantly earned by reaching 200 million points (the replay score), as one of the **Snack Bar** awards, or by earning a **special**, which can be lit at an outlane or instantly collected via other snack bar awards.

## Tips

* Poor shots to the center lane and the targets surrounding it can cause the ball to be sent straight down the middle or into the outlanes, whether with weak shots up lanes or by hitting posts. Prepare your shots well, and try not to shoot on the fly unless you're shooting the left ramp repeatedly.
* It can be quite difficult to hit the menu targets to open the snack bar after collecting the first jackpot in a session. Figure out which target you can most consistently hit, and if it is currently lit, shoot the bumpers to change it.
* Reaping the massive scoring of Multiball requires patience - randomly flailing away won't get you anywhere, thanks to the lack of a ball saver and there only being 2 balls in play. Try holding a ball on both flippers, using the right flipper to repeatedly shoot for the Creature Feature playfield multiplier and using the left to shoot for either of the caves on the right side of the playfield. The left flipper also sets up the jackpot and bumper shots required to light the super jackpot quite nicely.

## Censorship & changes

* Kay wears a modest white swimsuit in her four appearances on the table: twice on the backglass and twice on the playfield (a small picture of her swimming along one of the clear exit ramps and a bigger image of her in the left half of the open area of the main playfield).
* The icon of a man saying "Move Your Car!" placed in front of the center lane had a cigar in his mouth that was removed.
* Flames were removed from a still image of the Gill-Man catching fire on the backglass.
* The ability to finish off a defeated Peeping Tom with a final blow in a successful video mode was removed, as it plays a gruesome animation of him being decapitated with a punch, followed by the word "fatality" being shown and spoken in reference to *Mortal Kombat*.
* Only "Red River Valley" is heard during main play in Zen's recreation of the table, due to music rights issues. On the real life table, five different real 50s songs are heard, with each new ball playing a different track.

## Tournament notes

* Extra balls are disabled in tournament play. Lighting or collecting an extra ball (or special) will award a flat 5 million points.

## External links

* Table walkthrough by ShoryukenToTheChin (PDF)