Heat Wave

There are only two sources of good points on this machine: the top bumper, worth 100 when lit, and the center drop target. The value of the drop target starts at 100 and is raised up to 500 in 100-point increments via nine items: the five rollover buttons at the top, when lit; the two rollover buttons just above the flippers, when lit; and the two swinging targets, labelled A and B, with rebound rubber behind them. Everything else is worth just 1 unlit or 10 lit.

If you advance the target value all the way to the top, it changes the value to Special. You *don’t* want to do that if you’re not awarded points for a special, since otherwise, you get zero for the target from then on, making the otherwise most valuable shot in the game worthless.

The outlanes score the center target value, so it’s important to try to avoid center drains; way easier said than done on this machine.

The flipper positions relative to the center drain area are not what you’re used to: a wide space between the flippers with an up-facing triangular wedge between them. Balls that hit the sides of the wedge will bounce towards the flippers, but it’s a real challenge to learn when to flip at those bounces right away vs. not flip and try to cradle the ball. If the ball bounces too hard towards the flipper and you don’t flip, it may continue up into the slingshot and get kicked away. If you have a chance to practice on the game, test this out.