The Champion Pub

> "I'm your coach, Kid, so pay attention!"
>
> - Coach

***The Champion Pub*** is one of the three Williams pinball tables released in the third wave of Zen Studios' Williams pinball collection, available in *Pinball FX 3*, the macOS version of *Zen Pinball 2* and the *Williams Pinball* mobile app. The player takes the role of "The Kid", a newcomer who takes part in a pub boxing championship.

*The Champion Pub* was one of the final Williams tables released before the company changed priorities to focus on the ill-fated Pinball 2000 project; designer Pete Piotrowski had dreamed of making this table for years and finally got to make it towards the end of Williams' lifespan.

## Table overview

### The upper half of the table and training micro-playfields

At the back left corner of the table is a micro-playfield that is accessed by a vertical upkicker in the table's left orbit. A magnet holds the ball on this micro-playfield, representing jump rope endurance training, and the player can press either flipper button to jump the ball so that it avoids a rotating, curved thick wire protruding from the back table wall. If this wire strikes the ball, it will drop from the micro-playfield and down a left exit habitrail destined for the left inlane.

At the opposite rear corner of the table is another micro-playfield representing speed bag training, accessed by an alternate, diverting route from the ramp. The front end of the micro-playfield is guarded by two toy fists, flanking a center post and operated with the flipper buttons. They are used to propel the ball towards a speedbag target at the back. When the ball drains from this micro-playfield, it descends down a translucent exit ramp on the right side of the table that merges with a nearby wire habitrail destined for the right inlane.

A large orbit wraps around almost all table lanes, which has a diverter gate that can send balls to the jump rope VUK or to a ball locker near the entrance of the right orbit. To the right of the left orbit is the table's only ramp, which can take the ball up a branching translucent ramp pathway that arcs across the back of the table, with a diverter gate there diverting the ball to the speed bag training micro-playfield.

Between the ramp and right orbit are three lanes used to land punches in fights, flanked by two small standup targets. The two outer lanes rise and can jump the ball if shot with enough strength, leading to a large rotating two-sided toy at the center of the table; while the center lane always hits the bottom of the target. One side of the target features a punching bag and the other contains the upper body of an opposing fighter, whose figure can move his arms independently.

### The lower half of the table

The entrances to the orbits can also be gated by barriers that can rise to function as reverse scoops, which can roll the ball up onto a short exit habitrail that merges into a nearby side exit habitrail en route to a nearby inlane. To the left of the left orbit is the Corner saucer. To the right of the right orbit is a bank of three standup targets representing the alcohol consumed at the pub. The dead space above the flippers contains two health bars, comprised of 12 segments; the left health bar represents that of the player, while the right health bar represents the opponent's health.

There are 4 return lanes, 2 slingshots and 2 flippers. Each outlane can be guarded by a ball saver. There is a large red pop-up center post in the gap between the two flippers behind the outhole.

### The plunger & Skill Shot

The plunger is a push-button mechanism that launches the ball up a straight habitrail that sends the ball through the main orbit. The launch button is also used to activate **smart punches** if one or more have been collected.

The table's skill shot features an award roulette on the scoring display scrolling from left to right as the player holds the launch button. The player must release the launch button at the right time to select their desired skill shot award without landing on a "10" symbol, which alternates with each reward and only scores 10 points. Skill shots are granted every time a ball is locked for **Multi-Brawl**, and can award any of the following:

* *M -* Awards 1 million points.
* *Fist symbol* - Awards a **Smart Punch**, described in the **perks** subsection.
* *2x Purse* - Doubles the **purse value** awarded for the next won **fight**.
* *+5x* - Increases the **bonus multiplier** by +5x.
* *!* - Starts the **Shadow Boxing** side mode.
* *$* - Lights all three **jackpots** for a single collection. This award alternates with *!* on every plunge.
* *Door with $ on it* - Awards the **Door Prize** pseudo-random award, which is percentage-based and won't contradict the current state of play. This can be either six bars of **health**, lighting the next **fight**, lighting **Spittin' Gallery** or **Poker Night** at the Corner, lighting an outlane for **Second Wind**, awarding a **Smart Punch**, or lighting the **extra ball**. If the player has played Multi-Brawl once and doesn't have a lock lit, **light lock** will be added into the Door Prize rotation.

## Objectives

Punch your way into a pub boxing championship and become the most feared, respected fighter in the city by becoming **Pub Champion**, and collect the four **jewels** for a chance to take on the **Ultimate Challenge**.

Objectives are each divided into multiple parts, and progress towards each objective is saved across balls. Once **Ultimate Challenge** has been reached, it won't be possible to reach the wizard mode again, but **cash fights** can still be played and game features will continue to behave as normal outside of the jewels.

### Becoming Pub Champion

Prove your mettle against champion boxers from around the world. To become Pub Champion, the player must win five fights; the objective will be completed as soon as the player defeats the top-ranked fighter.

To start a fight, the player must first gain 12 bars of **health**. The methods described in the **training jewel** section all add health, but health can also be added by repeatedly shooting the Corner, which adds 1/2 of a health bar per shot; and from various random award perks. Once the 12 bars of health are solidly lit, the player will be able to start the fight by shooting the Corner or either orbit. The player starts the game with 6 bars of health, and if the player wins a match with health remaining, the health will be kept intact for the next round of training.

#### Fights

During fights, the player must shoot any of the 3 central combat lanes to deliver damage; shots to the gut will deplete the opponent's health bars by 2 and score 100,000 points, but head shots will deplete 3 bars of health and score 500,000 points. The player can also deal 2 health bars worth of damage by pressing the launch button if they have collected a **smart punch**. The opponent, when not **stunned**, can land punches on the player; the number of times the opponent moves his fists determines the damage, up to 4 bars of health for later fights. Once the player wins the fight, they will score the **purse value**, an award listed on the playfield, and must refill their health bar before moving onto the next fighter.

Alternately, the player can shoot either orbit to jab and inflict 1 damage; shooting the other orbit within 12 seconds scores a jab combo. Collecting a jab combo will stun the opponent, preventing him from attacking and making him vulnerable to a finishing **knockout** by making a head shot or using a smart punch before he recovers. Collecting a knockout is required to light the **Win By Knockout** jewel. Every further knockout requires one more jab combo shot than the last to qualify, to a maximum of 6 combos.

The player can regain health during fights by shooting the Corner or the ramp for 1 health bar, or by completing the right standup target bank for 3 health bars; however, the latter method will also add 2 health bars to the opponent's health.

#### Fight Awards

Defeating opponents in fights will score the following listed awards, in order:

* *Fight 1* - Lights **Spittin' Gallery** video mode at the Corner. Six cowboys on the scoring display will launch spit into the air, and the player must use the flipper buttons to move a spittoon to catch them as they fall. There are 10 spits to catch, and each one caught awards 250,000 points; if an **extra ball** hasn't been collected yet, one of the spits might award one. Finishing the video mode without missing 3 spits scores 2,500,000 points, and catching all 10 spits awards an additional 2,500,000 point bonus.
* *Fight 2* - Lights **Extra Ball** at the Corner. Shoot the Corner for an extra ball.
* *Fight 3* - Starts **Raid Multiball**, described in the **Multiballs Complete jewel** section.
* *Fight 4* - Starts the **Contender Challenge** hurry-up mode. The player must make all flashing major shots to collect a hurry-up value starting at 1 million points and decreasing to 250,000 points, with each lit shot collecting and resetting the value. The heavy bag must be shot three times, collecting the hurry-up value for each shot. If the player wins the mode by making all flashing shots, their health will be maxed out and they will instantly be able to take on the Champion.
* *Champion Fight* - Starts **Champion Multiball** and completes the objective. All three multiballs described in the **Multiballs Complete jewel** section will activate at once for a chance to earn big points, ending when the player returns to single-ball play.

#### Cash Fights

After defeating the five required fighters to become Pub Champion, the player can take on cash fights, where they can risk from 20% to all of their score on a single fight. Cash fights have to be lit in the same way as normal fights; once the Corner or either orbit is shot to start the fight, the player can choose the desired point value to wager using the flippers and use the launch button to select it. If the player has scored over 200 million points, the cash fights will range from 40 million to the easiest fight, to 200 million for the most difficult fight.

### Jewels

The other four objectives take the form of jewels that the player must collect by completing certain tasks, or by getting "royal flush" off the **Poker Night** video mode. Each collected jewel scores 500,000 points and adds up in end-of-ball bonus.

From left to right, the jewels required to access **Ultimate Challenge** are:

* **Training Complete**: Complete all 3 types of training. You'll likely come across this jewel just by playing for **fights**, because training is the easiest way to add bars of health and can't be accessed if a fight is currently active. When one type of training has been completed, it will be disabled until the player has completed the other types of training as well. The required tasks to collect the Training jewel are as follows:
	+ **Heavy Bag**: Hit the heavy bag to add 1 health bar per hit (or 1/2 a health bar if the player has defeated four opponents in fights) and make progress towards starting **Fisticuffs Multiball**. Making 9 total shots will complete this training type. Occasionally, a fly will buzz after hitting the heavy bag; press the launch button if this happens to score a "Bar Fly" award worth 100,000 points and a free **smart punch**.
	+ **Jump Rope**: Shooting the left orbit will divert the ball into a kicker that sends the ball to the jump rope micro-playfield. The player must make a total of 6 successful jumps to complete this type of training, by pressing either flipper button to jump the ball so it avoids the rotating jump rope wire. Each successful jump awards 1 health bar (or 1/2 a health bar after defeating the first fighter). 10 consecutive jumps will double the **purse value** for the next fight, and 20 jumps will award a **smart punch**.
	+ **Speed Bag**: Shooting the ramp will divert the ball to the speed bag micro-playfield. The player must rapidly press the flipper buttons to operate the fist-shaped flippers on the micro-playfield, to hit the speed bag target as many times as possible; 6 hits are required to finish the training. The speed bag training otherwise operates under the same rules as the **jump rope training** described above in regards to rewards for consecutive hits and health awarded per hit.
* **Multiballs Complete**: Start all three mandatory multiballs, described below. The player can stack all three multiballs together, as long as they collect the third lock for **Multi-Brawl** right before defeating the third fighter and starting **Raid Multiball**.
	+ **Multi-Brawl**: Shooting the right orbit will lock a ball and send a new ball to the plunger for a **skill shot**; on subsequent attempts, the player must first complete the right standup target bank to light each lock. Locking 3 balls will start Multi-Brawl, and light **jackpots** at all three major shots described in the **Jackpots Complete jewel** section. Collecting all 3 jackpots will light 3 more to take their place; this process repeats until the player returns to single-ball play.
	+ **Fistcuffs Multiball**: Hitting the heavy bag target a total of 15 times to spell out "BAR FLY FISTICUFFS" will start a quick 2-ball multiball where the player can beat up on a drunk boxer; shooting the boxer's gut scores 100,000 points, and shooting his head scores 500,000 points.
	+ **Raid Multiball**: This quick 3-ball multiball activates after defeating the third fighter, and is a frenzy mode where all switches score jackpot values starting at 5,000 points and increasing by 1,000 per shot to a maximum of 50,000 points.
* **Win By Knockout**: Win any fight with the knockout technique, which involves executing enough jab combos (quick pairs of orbit shots), then shooting either side central combat lane or using a **smart punch** to deliver an instant KO.
* **Jackpots Complete**: Score 15 jackpots in a single game, with each jackpot scored increasing the "level" of the jackpot and points awarded. The value of each jackpot is 100,000 times its level - from 100,000 points for a jackpot, to 1,500,000 points for Jackpot Deluxe and all further jackpot shots. Jackpots can be scored in various ways:
	+ Drop the ball into a lit inlane, and shoot a certain lane shortly afterwards: the ramp for the right inlane, or the right orbit for the left inlane. Only one of these inlanes will be lit at a time, alternating with slingshot hits.
	+ The heavy bag, right orbit and ramp can all be lit for jackpots simultaneously until collected during **Multi-Brawl**, or from random awards from **Poker Night** or **Door Prize**.
	+ After collecting this Jewel for the first time, the ramp, heavy bag, and right orbit will light for alternating Jackpots for the rest of the current ball until a fight has been started.

### Ultimate Challenge

After achieving full health through training and completing all the listed objectives, the next shot to the Corner saucer or either orbit will start the **Ultimate Challenge** wizard mode. In this 4-ball multiball, the player must battle the five fighters they didn't battle during the previous fights on a single health bar, one after another. If the player defeats the fighters, the wizard mode will transition to a victory multiball where any major lane awards a jackpot worth 5 million points, with each shot collecting a single jackpot and the ramp remaining constantly lit to score jackpots. The player is only allowed one attempt at the wizard mode per session.

As *Champion Pub* was one of the last games produced before Williams changed focus to their Pinball 2000 project, the wizard mode is in an unfinished state. Making a knockout through jab combos during the Ultimate Challenge will result in the player being unable to access cash fights for the rest of the current ball, only being allowed to start Fisticuffs Multiball. Regardless of success or failure, the player will not be able to recollect jewels for a chance to get to the wizard mode again.

## Side mode

**Shadow Boxing** is the table's primary side mode, which isn't required for reaching the Ultimate Challenge but still awards some very helpful perks. Shooting either orbit during normal play while their entrances are lowered (if **Jump Rope** or the **Multi-Brawl** lock aren't lit) will count down towards starting the Shadow Boxing hurry-up mode; 3 shots are required for the first Shadow Boxing + 1 shot to a maximum of 6 for subsequent attempts. The player can also start Shadow Boxing from the **skill shot** or **Poker Night**.

The Shadow Boxing hurry-up value starts at 200,000 points and decreases to 10% the value, and can either be collected at the heavy bag target immediately or increased by 200,000 points to a maximum of 5 million by shooting either lowered orbit again. The starting value of the hurry-up increases by 200,000 points for the rest of the game for every collected hurry-up. Each completion of this side mode grants one particular award from a rotating cycle of four in the following order: a **smart punch**, lighting **Poker Night** at the Corner, lighting an outlane for **Second Wind,** and lighting an **extra ball**.

## Perks

The following perks can be activated on this table:

* **Ball Saver & Center Post**: Along with a standard ball saver active for the first 10 seconds of every new ball and multiball mode, a center post is located between the flippers that makes it easier to keep the ball in play at the start of each new ball and until the player has 4 bars of damage removed during a **fight**.
* **Second Wind**: Every third, seventh, eleventh, etc. round of **Shadow Boxing** completed will light the right outlane for Second Wind, alternating with the left outlane on every slingshot hit. If the player drains down a lit outlane, 3 bars of health will be added, and a new ball will be sent to the plunger and be automatically relaunched into play. **Door Prize** can also light Second Wind. Second Wind activations can't be stacked.
* **Bonus Multiplier**: Every 3 shots to either standup target flanking the heavy bag lanes will increase the end-of-ball bonus multiplier by +2x, to a maximum of 25x; the player can also increase the bonus multiplier by +5x from the **skill shot** or **Poker Night**. The bonus multiplier can't be held between balls.
* **Smart Punch**: Smart Punches can be earned through various methods; most prominently through the Bar Fly award described in the **Training complete jewel** subsection, but also through the **skill shot** and making 20 consecutive **Jump Rope** or **Speed Bag** hits. Each collected Smart Punch allows the player to press the launch button to deliver an instant head shot to the opponent during a fight. Pressing the launch button if an opponent isn't active will display the amount of Smart Punches the player has stacked.
* **Purse Value**: Every time the player wins a fight, the player earns additional points, with a base value starting at 500,000 and growing by 500,000 for each win. The purse value for the next fight can be increased by 250,000 points times (1 + the number of won fights) by completing the right standup target bank, or shooting the unlit Corner saucer. The purse value can be doubled by making 10 consecutive **Jump Rope** or **Speed Bag** hits, or from the **skill shot** or **Poker Night**. The maximum purse value is 60 million points.
* **Poker Night**: Every second, sixth, tenth, etc. round of **Shadow Boxing** completed, or winning the "Light Poker Night" award from the **Door Prize**, will light the Corner saucer for Poker Night. If the table is in censored mode, this will randomly grant one of a variety of awards, depending on which hand was shown on the scoring display. If the table is uncensored, the player will be given 15 seconds to choose which of 5 cards in a poker hand seen on the scoring display to replace, using the flippers to pick a card and pressing the launch button to mark the cards to be replaced with random cards. Awards that can be earned from Poker Night hands are:
	+ *High Card* - 250,000 points.
	+ *Pair* - 2x **purse value**.
	+ *Two Pair* - +5x **bonus multiplier**.
	+ *Three of a Kind* - All **jackpots** lit.
	+ *Straight* - Fills up the health bar and lights the next **fight**.
	+ *Flush* - Starts the **Shadow Boxing** side mode.
	+ *Full House* - Instant **Multi-Brawl**.
	+ *Four of a Kind* - Lights **extra ball**.
	+ *Royal Flush* - Awards an unlit **jewel**. Jewels on the left side of the playfield are prioritized.
* **Extra Balls**: Extra balls can be lit for collection at the Corner saucer by winning 2 **fights**, completing every fourth round of **Shadow Boxing**, or through the **Door Prize** and **Poker Night** random awards. Reaching the replay score of 50 million points or catching an "extra ball" spit in the **Spittin' Gallery** video mode instantly awards an extra ball.

## Tips

* Smart Punch and Door Prize should take priority over all the other skill shot options early in the game - especially the latter, as it can give many awards that are tough to obtain otherwise. Later in the game, try to start Shadow Boxing off the skill shot instead of shooting the lowered ramps five times to start the mode.
* Jump Rope should be the first training type you get out of the way, as it takes priority over the low-risk Shadow Boxing side mode. Playing for Shadow Boxing is the only way to consistently light the valuable Poker Night random award and the Second Wind ball saver at either outlane, which can be helpful during a difficult fight. The extra ball lit after the fourth Shadow Boxing can be lit an unlimited amount of times, as well.
* The Cash Fights are the highest scoring feature in the game, but also the riskiest. Negate the risk by saving your knockouts for cash fights - just repeatedly shoot the first wave of boxers or use Smart Punches against them, then make knockouts to take out the risky cash fighters.

## FX3 Censorship

Due to its central theme being inappropriate for an E10+ rating, the table was censored for its *Pinball FX3* console release.

* Depictions of women dancing on the backglass are changed to silhouettes.
* All depictions of beer and alcohol on the table have been changed to greenriver, as was the case for *The Party Zone*.
* Poker Night video mode behaves differently; the poker hand is randomly generated with no option to replace cards.

## Tournament & other notes

* The Door Prize award from the skill shot will always award All Jackpots Lit. On normal settings, this is a proper random award.
* Poker Night video mode will always award pair (2x purse value) on tournament settings if the table is in censored mode.
* In all Zen releases of *The Champion Pub*, the fought opponents are always in the same order: Knuckles O'Brian, Armando Santiago, Franz Von Pain, Master Bim Bam Boom, Steveo. On the physical table, the opponents change every day the table is played.

## Glitches

* The Multiball Score Boost perk on this table is glitched on the console versions of *Pinball FX3*; nudging the table will cause the score boost to advance.
* Occasionally, the boxer figure will punch the ball using the top of his fist and cause it to fly outside of the table. The game will send a new ball to the plunger if this occurs.

## External links

* Table walkthrough by ShoryukenToTheChin