B-A-RR and A-C-O-R-A target banks must be completed in order. B-A-RR lights the saucer near the bumpers for multiball, while A-C-O-R-A lights the back saucer for a lock that can be used to add a 3rd ball to multiball or as a pseudo-extra ball. Completing either bank awards an orange bonus multiplier, while completing both lights a green one; only green multipliers carry over between balls.
Drop target completions, top lanes, in lanes, and the left spinner lane advance bonus. Completing both 1-2-3 and 4-5-6 at the top lanes lights the top saucer for a full bonus collect including multipliers, which can be worth 725,000 points.
Each lane has two lights: 1&4, 2&5, and 3&6 from left to right. When a ball goes through a top lane, the 1-2-3 will be scored if it is not already lit; if that lane's 1-2-3 is lit but the 4-5-6 is not, the 4-5-6 will be awarded. 1-2-3 lane change is operated from the right flipper, while 4-5-6 lane change is operated from the left flipper.
Completing 1-2-3 advances the value of the next shot to the left hole, up to 30,000, 60,000, or 90,000. This value is reset after being collected once, regardless of whether or not that trip to the saucer starts a multiball.
Completing 4-5-6 advances the value of the standup target to the right of the bumpers up to 20,000, 40,000, or extra ball for a short time. This value can be collected repeatedly, but resets if the extra ball is collected or expires.
Completing both a 1-2-3 and a 4-5-6 on the same ball lights the back saucer for bonus collect.
Top lanes also always give 1 bonus advance.
These drop target banks must always be completed in order.
Completing B-A-RR lights the saucer near the bumpers for multiball start.
Completing A-C-O-R-A lights the back saucer for a lock.
Each completed drop target bank gives 1 bonus advance, lights the left spinner for 1,000 points a spin for a single shot, and awards an orange bonus multiplier.
Completing BOTH banks lights a green bonus multiplier, which stays lit for the rest of the game. Progress towards the green multiplier is shown with the inserts in front of each target; if an insert is on, that bank has been completed already, so finishing the opposite bank will light the next green multiplier.
The spinner is worth 100 points per spin normally. When either bank of drop targets is completed, it will light for 1,000 points per spin, but un-lights after one shot. These points are okay, but end up being somewhat negligble at high level play.
The bigger draw of the spinner lane is the bonus advance available at the top. Each target in either bank of drops that is correctly knocked down in sequence during the current ball will light the corresponding letter in the spinner lane. The rollover at the top of the of the lane scores 1 bonus advance for every lit letter, maximum of 8. This is the only way to get more than 1 bonus advance from a single shot, and is immensely helpful in building the bonus, especially after collecting it at the back saucer.
The back saucer can only be hit with a particularly strong shot to the right orbit, the entrance of which is above the A-C-O-R-A targets. It looks like this hole can be plunged directly, but it cannot.
Completing the A-C-O-R-A targets lights lock at this saucer. If a ball is locked in the back saucer and multiball is started at the bumper saucer, the ball will be kicked out, turning the multiball into a 3-ball round. However, if multiball is not started, a ball locked in this hole serves as a pseudo-extra ball; if a ball is drained while in single ball play when there is a locked ball in the back saucer, that player's turn will NOT end, and the locked ball will be kicked out instead. Make sure you know this rule and keep track of when a ball is locked in the back saucer so that you don't walk away and waste this pseudo-extra ball.
When both a 1-2-3 and a 4-5-6 have been completed on the top lanes, this back saucer also lights for bonus collect. This awards a full collect of the entire bonus including both multipliers, but also drains the base bonus count, so it will need to be built up from 1 again.
If bonus collect is lit at this saucer while a ball is already locked, the collect does not trigger automatically; the locked ball must be kicked out (by either draining or starting 3-ball multiball) before the bonus collect can be redeemed again.
Completing 1-2-3 at the top lanes advances the value of this saucer, up to 30,000, 60,000, or 90,000 points. Collecting the lit value once resets the value, and must be built up again, regardless of whether or not that trip to the saucer starts multiball.
If lock is lit at this saucer after B-A-RR has been completed, shooting this saucer will immediately start multiball; it will be a 3-ball multiball if there is also a ball locked in the top saucer, or a 2-ball multiball if not.
Since the lock near the bumpers always immediately starts multiball, and since the lock at the back saucer will kick out an act as a pseudo-extra ball if a drain occurs, there is no lock stealing in this game, contrary to other early multiball games from around this time.
On an original ROM, there is no boost to scoring during multiball. Instead, multiball should just be used to build and collect bonus or finish drop target banks while one or two other balls are in play as a 'safety net'. However, a common ROM adjustment to Barracora makes it so that all scoring is tripled when 3 balls are in play, or doubled when 2 balls are in play. (Roger Sharpe himself, one of the table designers, is on record saying that he assumed playfield X during multiball was part of the game, so presumably it was intended for that to be the case and it is either a mistake or bug that it is not.) Especially in advance of tournament play, make sure you know whether your Barracora has the multiball scoring adjustment, as this drastically changes the value of multiball.
There are two standup targets in the middle of the playfield. Hitting one of them advances a light in the target tower on the center of the playfield. The target tower shows the current value of the "Scores Target Bonus" mini-loop in the top right of the game. Hitting the left standup advances the base value (5, 10, 15, 20, or 25 thousand), while hitting the right standup advances a multiplier to that base value (2, 3, 4, 5, or 10X). If both sides of the tower are at the same level- 5K x2, 10K x3, 15K x4, 20K x5, or 25K x10- the value can be collected twice before the tower resets. If the two sides are not at the same level, though, the tower will reset after a single collect.
Shooting for these standup targets can be dangerous. Missing them means the ball is sent either directly into a bumper, or off a post in the center that loves to cause very quick drains. It's best to shoot directly at the center targets only during multiball or when a ball is locked in the back saucer and serving as a pseudo-extra ball.
Orange multipliers, earned from B-A-RR or A-C-O-R-A, are erased at the end of a ball.
Green multipliers, earned from B-A-RR and A-C-O-R-A, stick for the entire game.
Green and orange multipliers compound; a green 3X and an orange 4X together means your current 'true' bonus multiplier is 12X. Each individual multipler maxes at 5X, so the largest possible true multiplier is 25X.
Bonus count maxes at 29,000. When the bonus count is maxed, the 1 through 9 inserts will flash in a chase pattern. A perfect bonus collect is worth 5x 5x 29,000, or 725,000 points. Collecting the bonus at the back saucer resets the base bonus to 1,000, but keeps all green and orange multipliers intact.
Special is lit on the out lanes if both green and orange multipliers are maxed at 5X. I do not believe special has a point value in tournament play.
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