Operation Pinball......

So, its my intention to find every single pinball machine in a twenty mile radius of Portland.   is that crazy?   well, its what i'm doing....other than being totally busy all the time.   but that's the beauty of pinball - while guys are out there pissing away their time and money on something like bowling (yea, thats for you christian), pinball only costs fifty cents....and if you're any good, you'll get a free game or two.   anyway....here's the first machine of my tour.

At the Yankee Lanes on outer Forest Ave lies a little played gem called "Cirqus Voltaire."   its bright, colorful, eye catching backboard drew me in.    love at first sight.   plus, the kids who usually play it don't know what there doing.....low replay score!   Anyway, the replay must be twenty second, so it's forgiving as you learn the ropes.    the game consists of defeating a RingMaster by completing assorted tasks on the play-board.   at first, getting the RingMaster out is no problem, but as the game continues, it gets more challenging to defeat him.

As in all games, there are assorted "SideShows," but these left me a bit perplexed.    in fact, this was my big criticisms for the machine - though the board is exciting, there are so many ramps, spinners, stoppers, gates, bumpers, slingshots and other assorted accouterments that it became difficult to figure which shots corresponded with the actions i needed to follow.  

As you can see, the backboard is really wild.   I didn't like the placement of the display board.    Being tall, it was difficult to see pop ups that corresponded with the game.    Esthetically, I think having the scoreboard so close to the game action was just a little too much.

Once played for a few games, the shots became more and more clear.   I figured out all shots other than the ball lock which seemed totally random.   but i got it.   twice in the same game.    strange.

Tons of shots.   Thank god for a twenty second ball-save!    above the left main bumper lies a strange entraped bouncy ball that deflects the pinball in strange ways.   one nice thing - if you do not make a shot up one of the ramps all the way, the ball has a tendency to shoot back in a non-direct path.    too many machines have steep ramps that shoot the ball straight down the center if you don't make them.    makes for nice long plays.    the neon on the right was a bit too much and out of place, but overall, this is a nice looking machine.

The backboard is really sweet.    the white slash behind the performer is actually a window - behind it is a cannon that is used in one of the mini games.   also included is some sort of wheel.  Flashy? yes.   Functional.   maybe?

Overall i thought this game was worth a play.   not crazy hard - i was able to get a double replay out of it, but challenging and different.

Bowling is for people who like to have a good time together.   be a loner.   play pinball.