The Lord of the Rings (pinball)

Infobox Pinball | title = The Lord of the Rings
manufacturer = Stern Pinball


system = Stern WhiteStar II
designer= Designer: George Gomez
Programmers: Keith P. Johnson, Dwight Sullivan
Artwork: Jerry Vanderstelt, Kevin O'Connor, Margaret Hudson
Music and Sounds: Chris Granner
release = October 2003
production = ~5817+ units

The Lord of the Rings is a 2003 pinball game designed by George Gomez and distributed by Stern Pinball. It is based on the The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, which was first released in 2001. It features the highest possible score multiplier in pinball to date: During a combined "Two Towers" and "Gollum" Multiball it is possible to achieve a 84x Jackpot (when scoring seven subsequent combo Jackpot shots, having the 2x scoring Elf gift and the Sméagol phase of Gollum Multiball running at once)!

Gameplay

The main objective of the game is to light and start three multiballs, each of them coupled to one of the movies of the trilogy, and to finally "Destroy the Ring":
* Fellowship of the Ring: Collect all members of the fellowship (white inserts), then shoot Barad-Dûr to start the multiball. If enabled by the operator, the mode starts with a Cave Troll that must be defeated, otherwise the player directly starts with the second part: The Balrog. One must alternate between hitting the Balrog and shooting a ramp to make the members of the fellowship escape across the bridge (the last member Gandalf will not pass but rather end the second part and enable victory lap mode).
* The Two Towers: Spell "K-E-E-P" to enable the ball lock on the right ramp. Lock three balls to start multiball. Shoot all lit shots for Jackpots (depending on the number of balls, these can be 1x, 2x or 3x (when stacked with Gollum Multiball)). Combo Shots (subsequent Jackpot shots) increase the second Jackpot multiplier (up to 7x). Mode ends after the first scored Super Jackpot (and enables victory lap mode).
* The Return of the King: Collect 5000 souls on the "Path of the Dead" and shoot Orthanc, Barad-Dûr or Gollum Cave to start. Jackpots are scored by the four lit shots, scoring all relights the Jackpots.

Another objective are the missions that can be started by shooting the Ring when lit:
* "Escape the Ringwraiths"
* "Gandalf vs Saruman"
* "Warg Battle"
* "War of the Ents"
* "Attack of Shelob"
* "Kill the Witchking"Completing all lights the bonus mode "There and Back Again".

The wizard mode (Valinor Multiball) is said to be one of the hardest to reach to date (only being topped by The Simpsons Pinball Party) as it needs all multiballs to be completed perfectly, reaching and playing "There and Back Again", collecting all Elf gifts and finishing "Destroy the Ring".

External links

* [http://www.ipdb.org/machine.cgi?id=4858 Internet Pinball Machine Database entry for "The Lord of the Rings"]
* [http://www.lotr-pinball.com/ Owners list and table rules]