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'."'' |
4 | |
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. |
6 | |
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. |
8 | |
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. |
10 | |
11 | Digital versions of ''Cue Ball Wizard'' appear in ''VideoGame/MicrosoftPinballArcade'' (PC version only) and ''VideoGame/ThePinballArcade''. |
12 | |
13 | ---- |
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. |
45 | ---- |
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