 |
High
Speed 2 - The Getaway:
The
title gives away the heritage of this game. It's a sequel to the very
popular High Speed pinball, and the layout of the game is very similar,
but it's brought up to date with a dot-matrix display and improved sound.
|
 |
 |
The
theme is evident from the backglass image - escape from
the chasing
police, and if the firepower on display looks a but excessive
for running a red light, remember that they've been after
you for quite some time.
The
driver, by the way, is supposed to resemble Steve Ritchie
the game's designer.
|
The
usual ball plunger or button is replace with a gear selector,
and this is used through the game to shift up a gear to advance
through the games awards. It also features in the video mode as
a real gear selector.
| The
main toy of The Getaway, however, is the large metal loop
that dominates the rear of the playfield - The Supercharger.
This has to be one of the coolest toys ever to appear on
a pin. Balls can enter The Supercharger from this ramp,
and if it's lit they are accelerated round the loop up to
ten times by three electromagnets, and then released to
scream down the left side wireform and onto the left flipper.
|
 |
Like
all Steve Ritchie games, The Getaway features long looping shots,
and all the important targets are at the top end of the playfield.
In fact the whole lower part is dominated by the rev-counter,
showing how you are advancing to the next gear and the next
award.
This
is not a complex game by any means, but there are definite strategies
to employ to maximise your scoring, and knowing when to employ
the Secret Mania - a hidden Frenzy mode, which while boosting
your scoring can destroy your multiball build-up due to one
of the software bugs that still remain after 7 versions.
|
|
|
|
 |
When you finally do start multiball, the
sound, light and display animations for the Jackpot award make the
hard work worthwhile. But it's the Super Jackpot award that rocks
the game. It's so powerful that no-one can be in any doubt that
you've scored a lot of points.
It's
so good, that it resurfaced in RoadShow as the Jackpot animation,
and again in JunkYard, neither of which were Steve Ritchie games.
The
only downside is that it's all too easy to stop playing to admire
the show, forgetting that you still have to keep the other balls
from draining.
|
Although
The Getaway is a fairly simple game by today's standards, it's certainly
not easy
and it's certainly a fast game. I always find that it takes a few games
to get into it, and then the scores start racking-up.
There's
also a Loop Champion high-score entry for making the most consecutive
upper right flipper loop shots. One night while not really concentrating
and talking to friends, I absent-mindedly managed to make 21 consecutive
loops, trashing my previous best of 10.
See
the main page for copyright and contacts information.
|
