This is a rules sheet for the Sega Pinball Inc. machine Mary Shelly's Frankenstein, based on the Trimark movie of the same name, which is in turn based on the book by Mary Shelly first published in 1818.
ObDisclaimer: All trademarks and other legal nonsense are duly acknowledged as belonging to Sega Pinball, Trimark Pictures, Edgar Winter, and whomever else owns trademarks this guide refers to.
This guide is copyright 1995 by Christopher T. Hehman, insofar as this is possible given that the subject matter is even more copyrighted. Distribution of this guide is permitted and encouraged, so long as no profits are made from that distribution and proper credit is given to the author and all others who contributed. All rights reserved.
Corrections, additions, flames, suggestions, and cases of beer are exceedingly welcome.
Some abbreviations used in this guide:
Enough of this. On with the rules...
Starting the Game
Tournament mode:
You MUST use the switch; you can't use both flippers to launch the
ball. Better hope that the switch works 100% of the time.
If you are ready at the start of your ball, you are guaranteed 20M. If not, you will need to rely on fast reflexes and a little luck. On a good note, this is the closest thing in the game to a video mode :)
The Playfield
But wait: If the ball goes to a lit kickback while a ball saver is active, the ball is kicked as usual BUT THE KICKBACK STAYS LIT!! This finally rectifies a long-standing discrepancy in games with both a ball saver and a kickback.
There is also a 'Super Kickback' random Ice Cave award, which keeps the kickback lit permanently for the rest of the current ball.
Hit the Geneva scoop when lit to spell 'GENEVA' to start Geneva multiball. Geneva multiball jackpot starts at 20M, and is increased by 1M by shooting the Geneva scoop when not lit, up to a maximum of 50M. Geneva is automatically lit at the start of each ball and immediately after Geneva multiball. To light it yourself, shoot the left lane. Before starting your second Geneva multiball, the right inlane will temporarily light Geneva.
Light Sarcophagus by shooting the left lane or right orbit. If you make the left lane to Sarcophagus combo (via the upper flipper), you are awarded twice the normal Sarcophagus value. Sarcophagus spots one FRANKENSTEIN letter.
Ice Cave will also spot a FRANKENSTEIN letter and is a jackpot shot. The ball is kicked into the bumper area when finished.
Note: "Spot three FRANKENSTEIN letters" already counts the one that is always spotted. So it really only spots two extra letters.
Tournament mode:
The Ice Cave awards are always given in the same order. The
first three are 5M, Spot 3 Letters, and Pop Bumper Maxed.
Creature 2-ball (more on this later) is the only time in the game that the monster is used. If Creature 2-ball is started from the North Pole VUK, the ball is popped to the left hand (left from the player's point of view, not the monster's). Once a second ball is launched, the monster half-heartedly drops the first ball into the bumper area. This is very unexciting, and as one r.g.p.'er politically incorrectly noted, "Frankenstein throws like a girl." But after Creature 2-ball is completed (and a ball is popped to the right hand), the monster hurls the ball at the lower right flipper in a much more impressive manner. Not as impressively as the Raptor Pit in Jurassic Park, but this is probably a good thing.
The first time you shoot North Pole in a game to spot FRANKENSTEIN letters, you will see a book entitled 'Journal of XXX' where XXX is someone's initials. See the Spoilers on how to get YOUR initials here, if you must know.
To answer the inevitable question, Ingolstadt is a medium-sized city in southwest Germany where Victor goes to study medicine.
This right orbit, under these conditions, is the preferred way of feeding the upper flipper for the Ice Cave to relight the kickback. It is really a shame that this diverter is not active more often, and that the player has no hints of when it is active, or even that it exists. In general the game does a rather good job of pointing out what shots the player should go for, and this is the sole (but glaring) exception.
Creation Scenes
These modes are started by completing all 12 FRANKENSTEIN standups or via a random Ice Cave award. Remember that letters can be spotted by shooting the North Pole, Sarcophagus, or Ice Cave. Letters are spotted starting with 'T' and moving right, wrapping around the word if necessary to find an unlit letter to spot. Note that the FRANKENSTEIN letters in the bottom center of the display indicate which letters are lit and unlit. This is amazingly handy, as you would otherwise have to scan the playfield for 12 individual lamps.
You are awarded 20M points for starting a scene. All points collected in the scene are awarded immediately. With the exception of "Light Extra Ball", your scene total is displayed once the scene is over. Note that this total includes 10M of the 20M you are awarded when you start the scene.
Depending on how far you get in a given scene, you can be awarded a CREATION letter. This is very desirable, and is the ultimate goal of each scene. Your question now, of course, is "what happens when you finish spelling CREATION?" Check the spoilers if you really must know what the CREATION letters are good for. But I recommend figuring it out for yourself.
There are eight scenes indicated in a circular pattern on the playfield. "Frankenstein Millions" is always the first lit. You advance clockwise one spot by ending a mode or by hitting the "Move Scene" target.
Starting at the 6 o'clock position and moving clockwise:
Shoot all 12 letters within 30 seconds to collect a CREATION letter. This is worth 100M + 10M * any extra letters you hit.
Shoot a total of around 50-60 switches to collect a CREATION letter. This is worth about 51M + 1M * any extra switches you hit.
I imagine that a CREATION letter would be collected by spelling CREATURE with 8 ramp shots, but I don't know of anyone who has actually done it.
Collect all three hurry-ups for a CREATION letter. This is worth 210M - 1M/seconds elapsed.
Make all four shots in time for a CREATION letter. This is worth 150M.
Complete the monster (6 shots) for a CREATION letter. This is worth 220M.
See Spoilers if you really must know what happens when you finish all the modes. But it's cooler if you do it yourself first.
Multiball
Multiball in Frankenstein is as complicated as multiball gets. Don't worry if you have to reread this several times to get the hang of it.
Shoot the ramp to advance towards Creature 2-ball. On most machines you need 4 ramps to light it for the first time, but this is operator tweakable. If you successfully complete Creature 2-ball, you will need an additional 2 ramps to light it again.
If you haven't completed Creature 2-ball yet, a ramp shot is spotted for you when starting Ball 2 and when starting Ball 3. It is not spotted when starting extra balls, earned or bought. If you only needed one ramp, Creature 2-ball will be lit for you.
There are two lamps at the ramp entrance, marked "Lock 1" and "Lock 2". Disregard the traditional meanings of Lock 1 and Lock 2. This is what these lamps are telling you:
| Ramps needed to light Creature 2-ball | Lock 1 lamp | Lock 2 lamp |
| 6 or more | Off | Off |
| 5 | On | Off |
| 4 | On | On |
| 3 | Flash | On |
| 2 | On | Flash |
| 1 | Flash | Flash |
Confused yet? Just wait...
Once lit, shoot either the North Pole or the right orbit to start Creature 2-ball. A ball saver is active for a few seconds at the start of this and all other multiballs. If you start it with the North Pole, the ball is popped to one of the monster's hands, which "throws" it while another ball is autolaunched. If you use the right orbit, another ball is simply launched.
Shoot the North Pole to lock a ball (the ball is popped to the monster). After a few seconds a big '6' appears on the display and numbers start to count down. The jackpot value starts at 69M and counts down to 30M. Quickly shoot the North Pole, Geneva, the ramp, or the Sarcophagus to stop the countdown and start multiball. The first number in the resulting jackpot value indicates how many balls you will have during multiball (3, 4, 5, or 6). If you cannot lock the second ball before the countdown expires, the locked ball will unlock. You then have to relock a ball at the North Pole and try again (the jackpot value will again start at 69M). During the countdown, the pop bumpers will increase the jackpot value by 1M/pop, up to a maximum of 69M. If you drain either ball before starting 3-6 ball, Creature 2-ball is over.
A good strategy here is to catch a ball on each flipper. Shoot the North Pole from the left flipper. WAIT A FEW SECONDS until the big '6' appears, and then shoot the Geneva scoop. If you miss and are feeling greedy/risky, you may opt to wait out the countdown before trying again in order to go for more balls and a higher jackpot.
Confused now? It gets better...
Once 3-6 ball is started, the appropriate number of balls are launched and the monster releases any balls he is holding. Two jackpots shots are lit, the ramp and the left lane. The jackpot value of each starts at the countdown value from Creature 2-ball, and can be increased by the FRANKENSTEIN letters, 2M/letter. To make life more fun, the location of the jackpots is subject to change via the "Move Jackpot" target. The jackpot shots shift from the left lane -> Ice Cave -> North Pole -> the ramp -> left lane. Completing both jackpots adds a ball if fewer than six are in play. At the same time, complete all of the FRANKENSTEIN letters for 20M. There is no way to spot letters; you have to hit each standup. Having 6 balls bouncing around makes this much easier.
On some machines (I'm guessing this is operator settable), if you fail to make either jackpot during 3-6 ball, the North Pole is lit for a second-chance multiball. Shoot the North Pole quickly and multiball restarts with the jackpots equal to the Creature 2-ball countdown value.
Now once you've made both jackpots and spelled FRANKENSTEIN, the ramp is lit for a 100M Creature Jackpot. This value can be increased by 1M per spin at the spinner. After collecting the Creature Jackpot, hit the Sarcophagus to light the Super Jackpot. The Sarcophagus is also worth an alleged 50M, but this is not exactly advertised.
Once lit, the Super Jackpot cycles between the four possible jackpot shots. I am told that after getting the Super Jackpot, you start all over again, except you have to hit all four jackpots and spell FRANKEN- STEIN. The insanity ends once you are down to less than two balls.
Read it all again and it might be a little more clear. Or not.
For those who can't take it, there is a simpler but much less lucrative Geneva multiball.
Geneva Multiball
Spell GENEVA at the Geneva scoop to start, as described in the "Geneva" section of the Playfield description.
A 3-ball multiball is started immediately, and all four jackpots are lit for the Geneva jackpot value. There does not seem to be a way of increasing this value during Geneva Multiball. Once all four jackpots have been collected, shoot the Geneva scoop to relight them, and repeat until less than two balls remain. The "Move Jackpot" target has no effect in Geneva Multiball.
After Geneva multiball is over, the jackpot value reverts back to 20M.
Starting Multiball During Modes
This is complex and confusing enough to merit its own section.
Ramps made during modes count towards lighting Creature 2-ball, except during "CREATURE Feature". Once Creature 2-ball is lit, the North Pole and the right orbit will always start it. The mode ends immediately, and as described below, sometimes a CREATION letter/extra points are awarded.
Shooting the Geneva scoop when lit during a mode will award a GENEVA letter, except during Graveyard before both arms have been collected. Geneva multiball will start once all letters have been awarded, and the mode ends immediately. I'm not sure, but I think that multiball will start even if Graveyard is running and less than two arms have been collected. This needs double-checking.
Once multiball starts, the mode ends and the scene total is displayed. Under certain conditions, extra points are awarded as if you had completed additional goals within the mode, and sometimes a CREATION letter is also awarded. Bear in mind that the scene total and CREATION letter animations are sometimes pre-empted. Here is what I know so far:
Miscellaneous
There is a distinct lack of any kind a grace period anywhere, not with the ball saver, the mode awards, or the multiball jackpots. Multiball in particular ends the INSTANT that the second-to-last ball is detected in the trough, which is very frustrating if the last ball is a split second away from triggering a jackpot. This is particularly frustrating in that the ramp switch is on the return part of the path, so it is very possible for a ball to be safely up the ramp but not count as a jackpot because another ball drained in that instant. Ack.
Sometimes if you have a mid-to-low scoring Ball 1 and have not received an extra ball yet, the scene indicator moves to "Light Extra Ball". If this happens, the Ice Cave will always award Light Extra Ball if you shoot it before starting the Light Extra Ball mode. This can be very handy to know, as you could end up with two quick extra balls. I am guessing that this is somehow connected with extra ball percentaging. I have seen this happen after Ball 1 with a score as high as 415M.
Also, I have seen Special lit at the start of ball 3 during an especially low scoring game. I am guessing that this is somehow connected with replay/credit percentaging. It is interesting to note that whenever Special is lit, the kickback is also lit. So when you get a special, you always get the ball back too. Weird.
In order to be asked if you want to buy in, you must press the Extra Ball button hidden below the start button DURING THE GAME, before the final bonus count leads to the match sequence. The machine I play is set to One buy-in, and buying in does not seem to disqualify you from making the high-score chart. You may consider getting in the habit of pressing the Start button and then the Extra Ball button every time you start a game to avoid missing opportunities to buy in.
Fun With Bonus
Only shots made during the current ball count towards bonus. There is no way to hold bonus. Only actual standup hits count towards FRANKENSTEIN letters, spotted letters do not apply.
Your bonus is A + B + C + 1M, all multiplied by 2 if you get "Double Bonus". I don't think that you can double your bonus more than once.
Bugs
After ending 3-6 ball multiball, sometimes the 'Shoot Sarcophagus to Light Super Jackpot' message stays on well after multiball is over. Same thing with 'Shoot Geneva to Relight Jackpots' in Geneva Multiball. It fixes itself after you do something which uses the full display, like spelling GENEVA or spotting letters at the North Pole.
Also, I have witnessed a scenario in 6-ball where the ramp was the sole jackpot left, and I hit the "Move Jackpot" target several times, but the display continued to instruct me to shoot "THE RAMP". The correct jackpots flashed in turn after every hit and the ramp was no longer flashing, but the display was never updated. I have since seen the same behavior with "NORTH POLE" and "LEFT LANE".
Strategy
Multiball is the best source of quick points. Modes take time to start and are not always lucrative or easy to complete. However, successfully completing modes can be very rewarding in the long run, especially once you finish all of them.
One relatively safe but very slow way of collecting FRANKENSTEIN letters is to make endless North Pole -> Geneva -> North Pole shots. You may consider using this strategy to complete the 'T' and 'E' ramp targets and the 'FR' and 'IN' fringe targets, as they can be hard (and maybe dangerous) to hit. The 'ANK' and 'ENS' banks are easier and safer.
The Creature 2-ball -> 6-ball sequence is the fastest way to get big points. Looping the ramp shot is the key to lighting 2-ball, so get good at this shot. The ramp is rather steep (by necessity to get around the monster assembly), so often the ease of ramp shots on a given machine is a function of the left flipper strength.
Geneva multiball is something of a throw-away since it is so hard to increase the jackpot value to a useful figure. You could try shooting the unlit Geneva scoop, letting the kickout bounce over to the right flipper, and repeat. This gets old very quickly, however, and does not represent a significant return on the investment of time and risk.
If you are playing for a tournament, you probably want to concentrate on 6-ball. Modes don't give huge points unless you get all of them, which takes forever and is quite difficult. If you want to own a high score chart, you will likely want to use a balanced attack of modes and multiball, starting multiball during modes when appropriate.
Quotes
Under construction
Cows
No cows. But there are four hedgehogs; one on the display during attract mode, and three under the glass somewhere ;)
Credits
Game Credits:
They're listed during attract mode, and there's lots of 'em. I will have them available for the next version of this guide.
Guide Credits:
The author (me):
Contributors (alphabetically):
Special thanks to everyone who posted to r.g.p. on the subject, and to Kevin Martin for making those posts easily searchable.
More Work To Be Done
If you have any information not found in this guide in the following areas, please enlighten me.
Please also mail if you find anything missing from the Guide, and especially if you find something which isn't 100% correct. I'm working on the quotes, so don't worry about those until next time.
Spoilers
For those who haven't finished all the modes or found the other Easter Eggs mentioned above, stop reading now if you want to savor the experience of discovering these things for yourself.
Stop reading! Go away and start playing!
For those with absolutely no patience:
Editor's Notes