xenon

Rules

Xenon (Bally 1980) – Rules and tips

Xenon is a solid-state pinball machine released by Bally Manufacturing in November 1980. It was designed by Greg Kmiec with art by Paul Faris. The game's sounds, speech and music were created by composer Suzanne Ciani – Xenon was Bally's first talking pinball machine and the first to feature a female voice. It was also Bally's first solid-state game with multiball. At the heart of the game is Xenon, the supercomputer of a futuristic society, and the player communicates with it through the rising tube shot.

Skill shot

At the top of the playfield are four small rollovers, one of which is flashing. Each rollover corresponds to one of the four drop targets. Hitting a button scores 1,000 points, and hitting the flashing button scores an extra 500 points and drops the corresponding drop target. Below the buttons is the top saucer, and rubber guides steer the ball toward it, so the saucer is easy to make with a small nudge. The perfect skill shot hits the flashing rollover and then ends up in the saucer.

Top saucer and X symbols

The top saucer is located at the upper center of the playfield. You can reach it via the shooter lane, the bumpers and the left orbit – the left orbit is the best route to the saucer during play. Every time the ball lands in the saucer, you score 10,000 points, advance the Xenon bonus and collect one X symbol. Collecting three X symbols lights the tube shot to lock a ball. Collected X symbols carry over from ball to ball, and the lock stays lit until a ball is locked.

Multiball

The tube shot locks a ball in the left saucer (Exit Chamber) and a second ball is served to the shooter lane. Three new X symbols are needed to start 2-ball multiball. Note that you can collect two extra X symbols before locking the first ball – five X symbols in total before the lock. Then you only need one more symbol to start multiball.

If you collect three X symbols during multiball, both outlanes light for special. The spinner is also lit for 1,000 points during multiball and stays lit until both balls are lost. Keep it simple in multiball: shoot the tube shot from the left flipper and the top saucer from the right. If you can, cradle one ball on the right flipper and keep shooting the tube from the left for as long as possible.

Tube shot and Exit Chamber

The rising tube shot is the game's signature feature and carries the ball from the right side of the playfield to the left. The tube feeds the ball into the Exit Chamber, the left saucer, which kicks it out toward the right slingshot. Every time the ball passes through the Exit Chamber, its value is collected and goes up. Values range from 5,000 to 90,000 points, and the value carries over from ball to ball. This is a huge, if repetitive, scoring opportunity and effectively the game's most important source of points. Once the value reaches 90,000, the Exit Chamber also lights for the MOTA Special. The next tube shot collects 90,000 points and the special, after which the Exit Chamber resets to 5,000. The Exit Chamber also acts as a ball lock.

Bumpers and spinner

Xenon has an unusual group of four bumpers in the upper center of the playfield. All four are always lit and always score 100 points. The spinner sits at the mouth of the left orbit and normally scores 10 points per spin, but during multiball it lights for 1,000 points and stays lit until both balls have drained.

Memory drop targets

On the right side of the mid-playfield is a four-target memory drop target bank. Each target scores 1,500 points. Completing the whole four-target bank awards an extra 10,000 points, lights both inlanes for 10,000, raises the Exit Chamber value, resets the targets, and collects and advances the lit drop target award. The awards, in order, are: 2X (Xenon bonus), 4X (Xenon bonus), 25,000 points, extra ball and special. Six or more completions award further specials. The drop target award resets to 2X at the start of each ball, but the state of the targets is remembered from ball to ball (hence the name ”memory”). You can also knock the targets down via the top rollovers, which is safer than shooting them directly.

Note that you need to complete the drop target bank several times per ball for it to have a big impact on your score. Focus on earning the bonus multiplier (2X and 4X from the first two completions) and then go back to the tube shot – after 4X, the drop targets are no longer worth the effort compared to the tube shot.

Stationary targets

On the left side of the mid-playfield are two yellow stationary targets, each with its own yellow arrow. A third arrow is on the right side by the drop targets. The lower left arrow is lit at the start of each ball. Hitting its target advances the Xenon bonus and lights the upper left arrow. Hitting that one advances the bonus and lights the right arrow. Hitting any single drop target advances the bonus, relights the lower left arrow and starts the whole process over. The stationary targets always score 700 points.

Xenon bonus

The end-of-ball bonus is called the Xenon bonus and can range from 2,000 to 58,000 points, or up to 232,000 points with the 4X multiplier. The bonus value builds from the top saucer and the lit yellow arrows. Once the bonus reaches 20,000 points, the 20,000 super bonus lights and is remembered from ball to ball. Another 20,000 raises the super bonus to 40,000, also remembered from ball to ball, and lights the Xenon bonus special at the same time. Multipliers reset at the start of each ball.

Ball-saving features

Between the flippers, a center post hidden under the apron prevents balls from getting stuck if both drain at the same time – but it also bounces balls back into play. Next to the right flipper is an extended biff bar that can also bounce the ball back. Never give up on a ball, even if it looks like it's draining – on this game an unusually large share of ”lost” balls bounce back into play.