Line #10 Pinball/CueBallWizard


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cue_ball_wizard_transparent.png]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:"Just watch the Wiz, baby."]]
3	-->''"Quit talkin' and start chalkin'."''
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5	''Cue Ball Wizard'' is a 1992 PhysicalPinballTable designed by Creator/JonNorris for Creator/{{Gottlieb}} (under the Premiere label), with illustrations by David Moore and Jeanine and Constantino Mitchell.
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7	Unsurprisingly, a game called ''Cue Ball Wizard'' has a cue ball prominently featured on the table, along with an eight ball in an oscillating kicker on an upper playfield. If the player shoots the cue ball correctly, it hits a target on the kicker, which knocks the eight ball into an upper set of targets. This is used during 8-Ball Multiball; hit one set of targets (solids or stripes), sink the eight ball, then use the kicker during multiball to hit the upper targets for a Super Jackpot. Alternately, complete the six game modes on the Wagon Wheel for Pool Ball Mania, then finish it with a quick round of 9-Ball for a ''500 million'' bonus.
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9	Among pinball buffs, ''Cue Ball Wizard'' is well-regarded for its innovative playfield, tricky shots, numerous hidden bonuses, and smooth flow, a game that's not too difficult for beginners but fairly challenging for experts. If there is a downside, it's in the cartoonish sound effects and voice clips, which are too lighthearted to sell the game's "Urban Cowboy" motif. Regardless, ''Cue Ball Wizard'' became one of Premiere's best-selling tables of TheNineties, a record it held until the company closed its doors.
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11	Digital versions of ''Cue Ball Wizard'' appear in ''VideoGame/MicrosoftPinballArcade'' (PC version only) and ''VideoGame/ThePinballArcade''.
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14	!!Just watch the tropes, baby:
15	* CompanyCrossReferences: One possible outcome in the "Where's the King?" video mode is Cactus Jack (from the Gottlieb table of the same name).
16	-->'''Cactus Jack:''' Surprise, tendafoot!
17	* {{Cowboy}}: Everyone in the game is a cowboy or cowgirl, with over-the-top dialog to match.
18	* DeadpanSnarker: The Shooter keeps his voice to a low whispered monotone, and sometimes makes fun of your lack of skill:
19	-->"Yee-haw. What a shot."
20	-->"What kind of cow-pie shot was that?"
21	* {{Expy}}: The Shooter is clearly meant to be one for Creator/ClintEastwood.
22	-->'''Shooter:''' "Make my day."
23	* FakeDifficulty: Not on the real table, but the ''Microsoft Pinball Arcade'' version of this game makes going up the ramp a much more frustrating task than it needs to be (especially considering you're ''supposed'' to be able to shoot it without too much effort). Get ready to hear a lot of "You shore need that ramp, shot." Thankfully the later version in ''The Pinball Arcade'' was a bit nicer.
24	* GoldenSnitch:
25	** Completing 9-Ball rewards an overwhelming 500 million points, which becomes more lopsided if DOUBLE is enabled at the time.
26	** DOUBLE can be considered this, too. It doubles ''EVERYTHING.'' Including Extra Balls and Specials.
27	* MediumAwareness: If you drain the ball down the outlanes, the Shooter comments, "I hate these outlanes."
28	* OffTheShelfFX: The cue ball and eight ball on the playfield are genuine pool balls. Operators can also remove the cue ball to make the game easier for players.
29	* ScoreMultiplier: DOUBLE doubles all points on the current ball. Having it on turns the 500 million points for winning "9-Ball" into a ''1 Billion'' bonus.
30	* ShoutOut[=/=]SpiritualSuccessor: This game has so many references to Bally's ''Pinball/EightBall Deluxe,'' designer Creator/JonNorris' favorite pinball game, that it could be considered a SpiritualSuccessor. The game's theme and white-hat opponent aren't coincidences.
31	-->'''Shooter:''' [[Pinball/EightBall "Quit talkin' and start chalkin'."]]
32	* SkillShot: Time the launch so the rotating shooter strikes the eight ball into the center (blue) targets.
33	* SpellingBonus: P-O-O-L enables the Video Modes and the Sweet Spot, W-I-Z-A-R-D lights the No Way target for 10 million points per hit, and D-O-U-B-L-E doubles all subsequent scores for the current ball.
34	* [[TakeThatAudience Take That Player]]: A weak ramp shot will result in the Shooter asking, "What kind of cow pie shot was that?"
35	* TimedMission: 9-Ball, which gives the player 90 seconds to shoot down the 1 through 7 targets, hit the 8-Ball saucer, then shoot the 9 ball.
36	* VideoMode: Two of them.
37	** "Catch the Pool Balls" is a simple version of ''Avalanche'' or ''Kaboom!'', where you move a pocket to catch cue balls as they fall from the top of the screen.
38	** "Where's the King?" is a simpler guessing game, where you try to find Music/ElvisPresley behind one of three sets of curtains.
39	--->'''Elvis:''' "You found the King, darlin'."
40	* WelcomeToCorneria: The game's instructional callouts quickly get repetitive.
41	-->"You shore need that ramp shot."
42	* WorldOfHam: The dialog is a nonstop cavalcade of Western clichés.
43	-->"Yeeeee-hah! Multiball, awayyyyyyyyyy..."
44	* {{Zonk}}: One of the possible results in "Find the King" is a cow pie, which is worth nothing.
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Context Pinball / CueBallWizard