Marvel Pinball

[Difficulty: Hard] Overview | Discussion

In order to conclude the story mode on Fantastic Four, you’ll have to play through and beat the five main missions listed on the table, and win the final battle against Galactus thereafter.

The 5 Story Missions:
Story missions are very easy to start on this table. Hitting the Baxter Building sinkhole lights up the mission saucer. Hitting the saucer allows you to choose any of the uncompleted story missions listed on the table. You can switch between them using the flipper buttons.

All the videos below are produced by StOrMtRoOpErMx19!

Mister Fantastic:
During this mission you will have to help Mister Fantastic gather the parts he needs to assemble a device. He will stretch out his arm, reaching towards the main orbits/ramps or the Thing’s sinkhole. Shoot the ball into his hand to give him a part. Wait too long, and he will move his arm to another location. You’ll need to hit his hand a total of 6 times before the 100 second timer runs out to win the mission. This should be more than enough time, so there’s no need to rush it.

The mission is lost if the timer reaches 0, or if you lose your ball.

NOTE: After Mr. Fantastic picks up a ball, he will drop it right in front of the machine used to activate the Negative Zone ballsave. This mission is best played after you’ve maxed out the Negative Zone portal’s power and when you do not have the Negative Zone ballsave activated.

Invisible Woman:
During this mission, Dr. Doom will be targeting Jessic...euhm... Invisible Woman. She’ll have to defend herself by creating a force field. As the mission begins a 20 second timer will appear on the DMD and the sign ramp will light up. Hit the ramp to activate a level 1 Force Field and to reset the timer. Two or three random ramps/orbits will light up. Every hit will raise the Force Field’s power level by 1, and every hit will light new ramps/orbits. After your first hit up the Invisible Woman’s ramp, Dr. Doom will continuously attack every 20 seconds. Every attack lowers your power level by 1. So as long as you hit more than 1 ramp/orbit every 20 seconds, your power is increasing. The mission is won upon reach a power level of 6.

The mission is lost if Dr. Doom attacks you without having a shield, or if you lose your ball.

Human Torch:
This mission requires you to increase the heat of the Human Torch until it reaches the Nova Flame state. Do this by spinning the spinner at the beginning of the left orbit. As you start the mission, the DMD will display a countdown from 5000°F. Spin the spinner by shooting either the left or the right orbit. This will set the ball aflame and will drastically increase the temperature displayed on the DMD. In order to win the mission, you’ll need to reach a temperature of 1.000.000°F. This translates in around 6 or 7 shots around the orbits if you don’t mess up too badly.

On some occasions, the ball will refuse to go around the right orbit entirely and drop down towards the bumpers instead. So if possible, opt for the left orbit. The ball will have a greater speed as it goes through the spinner that way anyway.

The mission is lost if the temperature drops all the way to 0°F, or if you lose your ball. After the mission is completed, the ball remains ignited for while. This will give you the opportunity to score x40 the points you'd score with a normal ball.

GLITCH WARNING: If you play this mission last, be very careful not to drain your Nova Flame ball afterwards. A glitch in the game causes this to reset your entire mission progress! (This heads-up comes from KGSoloman8000 on the ZS forums)

The Thing:
Dr. Doom sends his Doombots to attack The Thing. Time for some clobberin’! The first shot of this mission is simply one into The Thing’s sinkhole. There’s no timer or anything.

After this shot, the Doombots will arrive one after the other. Hitting them with your ball will make the Thing throw a punch at them. Wait too long, and they will attack The Thing instead. The mission is won after hitting all 5 of the Doombots. They can be hit directly or via a bounce of the droptargets in front of The Thing’s sinkhole. This makes for a huge target.

The mission is lost when The Thing’s health bar on the DMD has been fully depleted, or if you lose your ball.

Dr. Doom:
This is the hardest mission in the game. Upon starting the mission, a 100 second timer will start running on the DMD. The first shot is one up the Baxter Building. Remember that this hole can be hit from both flippers. I prefer the left flipper, but many seem to prefer the right one. So shoot the Baxter Building by whatever means you're comfortable with. As the ball exits the building, it will be glowing yellow – charged by Dr. Doom’s very own weapon. Use this ball to attack Doom by shooting it up the SIGN ramp. It won’t stay charged all that long, so you’ll have to be quick about it. Remember that the SIGN ramp can be hit with both of the flippers. Every time you hit Doom, he will send 2 charged ball back towards you. As he does so, immideately lift both your flippers and let the balls settle on both of them. Now, hit the SIGN ramp again using whatever flipper your most comfortable with. If you find the multiball too hard, you are allowed to drain all but 1 ball. Remember that every hit adds a ball to the game.

If a ball is no longer charged, you’ll have to hit the Baxter Building again. Or just sacrifice it if you’e still in multiball.

The mission is won after hitting Dr. Doom 4 times with a charged ball. Run out of time, or lose all of your balls, and the mission is lost.

GLITCH WARNING: If you drain your last ball during this mode while having a NZ ballsave activated, a glitch will cause the ballsave to become unuseable and unattainable throughout the rest of the game! (Thanks heathenSauce on the ZS forums for the tip!)

Final Battle: Galactus!
After beating the 5 main story missions, the battle against Galactus becomes available at the mission saucer. This final confrontation has multiple steps to it. It is however not timed, so there’s no need to rush things or take unnecessary risks. I recommend you have both kickbacks activated before starting the mission in order to minimise the chances of a drain. The Negative Zone ballsave is deactivated when playing this mission, but you’ll get it back after (or if) you’ve completed it.

• Step 1:
  The Human Torch has to find the ultimate Nullifier by going through the Negative Zone Portal. Simply shoot the ball through the giant hole in the center of the table.
   
• Step 2:
  The Thing has to destroy the Energy Converter. Lower the drop targets in front of him, and shoot his sinkhole that’s freed thereafter to do so.
   
• Step 3:
  This part of the mission is played as the Silver Surfer. Galactus is shooting rays of light at you, and you’ll have to reflect them back at him. The beams will randomly hit any of the four ramps on the table. There is no need to take any chances at this stage. Just pick 1 or 2 ramps you’re absolutely sure you can hit, and wait till he targets those. Reflect 4 beams to advance to the next part. It can take a while for him to target a ramp.
   
• Step 4:
  In order to allow for a safe return of the Human Torch, Mr. Fantastic will have to prepare his device. Hit the sign ramp 4 times to do so. Remember that you can hit the ramp using either of the flippers.
   
• Step 5:
  Same as Step 1. Simply shoot the giant wormhole in the center of the table, and the Human Torch will fly back out of it.
   
• Step 6:
  Get the nullifier back from the Human Torch by shooting the TORCH ramp. An annoying shot, especially this late in the game. Fortunately, it seems your ball does not have to go all the way up the ramp to get the nullifier. The eaiest way to hit the ramp is straight after a shot into the mission saucer.
   
• Step 7:
  Attack Galactus with the nullifier. Both the SIGN ramp and the Invisible Woman’s ramp will be lit. Hit either of them to conclude the battle and receive the trophy.

After finally beating Galactus, the game will go into an everything is lit 4-ball multiball. This mode comes with an unlimited ballsaver and lasts for around 45 seconds. When the time runs out all balls will be swallowed up by the wormhole, normal gameplay will resume and your DMD should display a very nice new score.

The main missions can be done in any order, but I would recommend starting with Dr. Doom’s mission. It’s never a bad idea to get the hardest part out of the way first, and playing the mission before having a NZ ballsave activated negates the chances of having the above mentionned glitch happen to you. Next go for Mr. Fantastic’s mission. Provided you've hit the Thing's ramp or the Invisible Woman's ramp enough times, the Negative Zone Ballsave should activate automatically during the mission. Manage to complete these on your first ball and you’ll have 2/5 missions done, and have an unlimited ballsave to help you through the next 3 missions. Best you don't leave the Human Torch's mission till last so you don't end up suffering the game breaking glitch.