The Flintstones (pinball)

***The Flintstones*** is a pinball game released by Williams in 1994 and based on the movie of the same name. This machine is not to be confused with another pinball machine, a redemption game, based on the TV series and also released in 1994, manufactured by Innovative Concepts in Entertainment (ICE).

## General Information

In 1994, Williams released pinball machine based on the live-action theatrical film adaptation of *The Flintstones*. This game also featured speech provided by John Goodman, Rick Moranis and Harvey Korman reprising their respective roles, as well the theme song from the television series. This game had a unique feature called smart ramps, this allowed the game to decide which flipper to feed the ball two through a plastic loop at the bottom.

## Gameplay

### Skill Shot

When the game is first started, you are greeted with a skill shot. The skill shot on the machine is the light up the correct light in the "DIG" rollovers at the top of the playfield in which the ball will fall through by using the flippers to move the one lit light back and forth. A few extra million points are awarded when the skill shot is achieved and this amount goes up the more times you get it.

### Bronto Crane

When the Bronto Crane is first shot (purple lane), it will light the Bronto Crane light, and then when it is shot again, it will lock the ball and display you reward on the DMD above, then launch the ball out of the Bronto Crane toy's mouth. The rewards that you may receive are the following:

* *1, 2, 3 values are doubled*
* *Extra Ball*
* *Spell CONCRETE*
* *Bowling Power-Up*
* *Light 2x Playfield*
* *Multiplier Maxed*
* *Bedrock Derby*

### Bowling

In the middle of the playfield, there is a bowling alley with a few pins. If you shoot the ramp with the bowling light flashing in front of it, then you will start a bowling sequence where you may get strikes, spares, or gutter balls. If you hit the bowling alley during normal play, you will light up the light in front of the 3-sectioned alley. Once you have lit all three sections, you will complete one word of "Yabba-Dabba-Doo" (Yabba, Dabba, and Doo). Once all three sections of the phrase are completed, you will receive a bowling power-up. This bowling power-up will let you get strikes on all shots after achieving it.

If you get three strikes in a row (this is easy when you have a bowling power-up), then you will go into a mode called "Bowl-a-Rama" this is a 3-ball multi-ball in which you get lots of points for scoring "Super Strikes" and "Super Spares". The mode will end when you lose 2 of the three balls you are given.

### Machine Time

There is a toy at the top of the playfield, one that some may call a "Rock Slicer", that will spin the ball around and around a few times and award points when it falls out. You can achieve this by hitting the yellow bird to the left of the playfield when the "Machine Time" light is lit. It will start a 30-second mode in which you can shoot the far right lane or the purple lane on the left of the play-field, and the ball will get launched into the Machine. You may keep doing this until you run out of time in the mode.

### Dictabird

The Dictabird is a yellow-green colored bird in the mid-left of the play-field. You can hit Dictabird's yellow target underneath him to make him wobble back and forth a couple times, as well as advance certain game-play features.

The first gameplay feature that can be activated is "Job Search". When this mode is activated it will light the "Job Search" light on the far right pathway up the play-field. Points are awarded when the path is shot.

The second gameplay feature that can be activated is where you have to find the kids (Bam-Bam and Pebbles). In order to do this, you must shoot the left, center, and right pathways (or just one or two depending on how fast you find them) to find where the kids are located. Then, once located, shoot one of the ramps to save them.

### Modes

There are 4 modes in this game, with a Mystery Mode for completing them. Start a mode by completing 1-2-3 on the ramps. All three shots may not be on the same ramp so look for the lights, and watch to see which flipper the ball goes to. The modes are displayed in a line on the playfield. Lit ones have been played, the flashing one will be started next, and dark ones are yet to be played. Modes can run concurrently, and during multiball. The bumpers change the currently flashing mode. The modes are:

* *Fred's Choice*
* *Joe's Diner*
* *Bedrock Water Buffalo's*
* *Dino Frenzy* (2-ball multiball mode)

Once all the modes are completed, the Start Mode light will indicate Mystery Mode, a wizard mode where you have 20 seconds to knock down the BED and ROCK drop targets for 100 million points. Each target down scores 5 million. The mode ends after 20 seconds, or when the big points are awarded, and Fred's Choice will become the currently flashing mode.

## Similar Machine

A pinball redemption game by Innovative Concepts in Entertainment was also released in 1994. The cabinet was designed to look like a car from the television series. The game features a plastic playfield measuring approximately 3 feet by 5 feet and a 2-inch foil-coated plastic ball. It has two oversized flippers at the bottom and a third regular Data East flipper assembly elevated at mid-playfield. The game also features an oversized LED dot matrix display.

## External links

* Template:IPDB
* Recent Auction Results for the Williams *The Flintstones* pinball machine
* Internet Pinball Database entry for the Innovative Concepts in Entertainment *The Flintstones* pinball machine