REVIEW




 

This review originally appeared at the previous
Chicago Pinball website.


 

It is unfortunate that Demolition Man has such a low resale value. You can pick one up at a cheap price if you look in the right place (a nice shopped one will go for about $1,000 or less). The problem with DemoMan is that the movie did not take off quite as well as I think Williams had hoped. Therefore, it was unable to capture the appeal of the pinball players who are traditionally "reeled in" by the licence alone.

It is also unfortunate that people don't see through the licence and realize that underneath is a good solid game. It is not just about the movie (although the layout is rather close in design), but rather the "flow" of the ball. The playfield is comprised of ramp after ramp after loop after underground hole, etc etc etc. This is the true appeal of DemoMan: the ball never stops!




The first thing you'll notice about the playfield is that it doesn't have a lot of gimmicks. This is a true feat for a mid-90s game (and a widebody pin) since they often rely heavily on them. The only items even closely related are the CryoClaw, the miniature cars and the captive eyeball. Each of these are positioned along the outer edge placing them away from the main area of the playfield.

The rest of the layout is covered with beautiful wire-frame ramps, loops, the three roll-over lanes leading to the pop bumpers, and a small ramp in the middle (the Acmag). This combination of shots is the major attraction of DemoMan. It requires that you learn to control your ball. The "flow" is what it's all about!

Speaking of "flow"......one major aspect of DemoMan is the execution of the COMBO. One ramp lights up another ramp/loop and if you hit that specific ramp/loop - you receive a COMBO. If you achieve an excellent "flow" with your ball, you can smack a COMBO on every shot. After you hit enough COMBOS you light up the "Computer Award" which hands you a random prize (multi-ball, extra bonus, etc) and an adjustable extra ball.



Aside from the "flow" and COMBOS, DemoMan is made up of multi-ball galore. There are four multi-balls, which highlight the four main action sequences of the movie. You must light the multi-ball by "quick freezing" a required number of balls and then shooting the left orbit (which is a pain in the butt to make on an off day of pinball). Completing all four multi-balls (Fortress, Museum, Wasteland, and Cryo Prison) lights up the Demolition Jackpot. This final award gives you every single jackpot all over again but is only lit up during the current ball in play......good luck :-)

 

The "flow" of DemoMan is fantastic, but The CryoClaw Awards are just plain fun!! Everytime the CryoClaw opens via the right ramp you are able to choose a specific game/mode. These modes include Acmag (shoot the middle ramp for a ton of points), Quick Freeze (freezes balls for multi-ball), CryoPrison breakout (a fun ramp chase game), Super Jets (we all know this one), and Capture Simon (a fun game where you capture Simon by hitting ramps). Once you complete all five games you will light up Demolition Time, a special multi-ball game where you get a chance to achieve a ton of points by hitting major areas of the playfield. The balls keep shooting out and can earn you a lot of points if played well. Sometimes Demolition Time can equal the same amount of points as a multi-ball jackpot or two. It also begins with a fantastic opening-light show/speech introduction where Stallone and Snipes face off.

DemoMan has a reputation of being on the easy-side. This is true on the "factory setting". An experienced player can probably whack all the CryoClaw Awards, play Demolition Time, and complete all the multi-balls in one sitting. However, the game balances very well on a "hard" setting and becomes quite challenging. Therefore, it is best to play DemoMan on a harder setting in order to achieve a better balanced machine.

 


A gimmick on DemoMan which is not playfield related are the gun-grips located on the outside of the cabinet. You can play the game by using the triggers on the gun-grips which operate the flippers and ball launcher. However, you can also use the regular flipper buttons as well. The gun-grips are also used to choose a CryoClaw award and for some hidden special awards (if you hit the triggers at a certain time during gameplay, you get hidden bonus points). I personally do not use the triggers as flippers, but others tend to like the feel. However, it does look nice connected to the cabinet and attracts players to the game. The use of the grips for secret awards is one of my favorite parts of the rules.



The cabinet is a slick black in color and actually accentuates the "dark tone" of DemoMan. The side-art is average with a rendition of the CryoPrison and cell. It could have been better. Wesley Snipes's face is screened onto the backboard side. Stallone and Snipes are also screened onto the wood below the coindoor. The translite artwork is comprised basically of head-shots with Snipes, Stallone, and Bullock. DemoMan is a wide-body pin with a "wider than normal" playfield and cabinet. The Dot Matrix display is always quite busy with excellent effects, playfield shot instructions and animations. The segments recreated from the movie are also well done.

The speech/music is fantastic!! Williams took full advantage of their DCS sound system. Some of the music is taken directly from the motion picture while other scores are beautifully orchestrated and sound great. The speech is wonderful with quotes taken directly from the movie itself (all of Bullock's seem to be) and custom speech provided by Stallone and Snipes ("Get the Extra Ball", "Jackpot", etc etc). The sound effects scattered throughout are also very interesting and sometimes explosive. Overall, DemoMan has a fantastic sound/speech package.

I have discussed the "flow" of the ball, special awards, overall design, and audio. What about the handful of us who like the game because we enjoyed the movie? What do we get? Well.......we get music/speech from the motion picture, fantastic animations and a cabinet highlighting the overall tone. We also get multi-balls related to the main action sequences, the usage of the CryoClaw which played a big role in the film, the modes from different scenes in the movie (car chase, Acmag gun, the aspect of "freezing" the balls, capture Simon, etc), the eye-ball bonus relating to Snipes pulling out the eyeball of Warden Smithers to gain access to the front gate, the computer quotes that sound like the same voice as in the movie, decent playfield artwork, car replicas of the two major automobiles used in the film, and much much more.

So what does this mean to someone who wants to find a good pinball machine and is considering DemoMan? It means you have to evaluate yourself and see if you fall into one of these three categories. Do you love the movie and therefore the game appeals to you because it follows it so closely? Do you love the "flow" of the ball since it does not rely on major gimmicks to hold interest? Or......do you love both aspects (which is my personal category)? Either way, Demolition Man is extremely fun to play and if you give it a chance, no matter what category you fall into, I think you'll have a blast!!

"You and me Phoenix!"
"Ohhh....I'm sooo scared!!"

......Chris Bucci