Not to be confused with Firepower II, Fireball, Fireball II, or Fireball Classic.
To play for points, complete 1-6 once, then shoot the light spinner repeatedly to cash in on the 1,000 points per spin and the ability to get bonus multipliers from the top lanes.
To play for multiball, complete 1-6 twice to light all three locks, then make them all. Top lanes light FIRE and bonus X, right standup targets light POWER and the in lanes, make both to score big points and light a special.
Each lane scores 1,000 points and 1 bonus advance, whether lit or not. Going through an unlit lane lights it. For the first time in pinball history, Lane Change is a feature, allowing the player to rotate the position of the FIRE lights with the right flipper. Use this well. Completing FIRE lights the insert of the same in the playfield and advances the bonus multiplier. If FIRE is completed when the bonus is already at 5X, an extra ball will be lit at the center POWER target.
Score 100 points when not lit, or 1,000 points when lit. At the start of a ball, no bumpers are lit; completing 1-6 lights two bumpers, and doing so again lights all four. When two bumpers are lit, every bumper activation will switch which ones are lit.
Near and slightly above the flippers is a bullseye standup target. Ignore the nearby lights and numbers on the playfield- this target always scores 1,000 points. The 10,000, 30,000, and 50,000 lights on the playfield merely show the current value of lighting both the FIRE and POWER inserts. Why these lights and numbers are positioned they way they are is beyond me.
Worth 100 points, or 1,000 when lit. Starts out unlit, can be lit by completing all of 1-6 once, and stays lit for the rest of the ball. It's usually a good, safe thing to shoot at that's worth decent points, and there isn't much of that on this table.
There are three: one in the very back of the game, one in the upper right in a bit of no man's land, and one in the lower/middle left. When not lit, these saucers score 1,000 points and immediately kick the ball out. When lit for lock, they will score 10,000 points and hold on to the ball. The star rollovers in front of the lower two targets always score 1,000 points. The top saucer can only reliably be hit from a particularly strong shot to the spinner, unless you're really good at power plunging and can get a bounce off the one way gate and into the hole.
Completing 1-6 once lights two of the locks. An additional completion of 1-6 is required to light the third. When all three balls have been locked, they will all get spit out and multiball begins.
Each target scores 1,000 points, whether lit or not. Flashing targets have not been collected, but solidly lit ones have. Shooting these does basically everything in this game.
Any completion of either 1-2-3 OR 4-5-6 will light the Shield, which is a one time use kickback in the left out lane.
Completing all of 1-2-3-4-5-6 once lights the spinner, two of the bumpers, and two of the locks.
Completing all of 1-2-3-4-5-6 a second time lights the other two bumpers and the third lock.
No matter your preferred strategy, it's always worth completing 1-6 at least once, if not twice.
A set of three standup targets in the middle-right of the playfield. Hitting all three lights POWER in the playfield and also lights the in lanes. If extra ball is lit by completing FIRE five times, it can be collected at the center target of this bank.
Firepower has a traditional in lane/out lane setup. Switches in all lanes are worth 1,000 points and one bonus advance by default. Completing POWER lights the in lanes for 3,000 points and 3 bonus advance instead of just one.
The left out lane has a kickback, called the Shield. It is NOT on by default, and can be turned on anytime it is not lit by completing either 1-2-3 or 4-5-6. It can be used a single time before shutting itself off and needing to be relit.
Apart from the previously discussed awards for completing the FIRE lanes or POWER standups on their own, lighting both FIRE and POWER scores and advances the Firepower Bonus, the value of which is noted between the bumpers. FIRE and POWER once scores 10,000; second time scores 30,000; third time scores 50,000 and lights the out lanes for Special; fourth time and on just score the 50,000.
There's really nothing to do in multiball. No double or triple scoring, no multiball-exclusive features, and no jackpot to play for. This was the first electronic game with multiball, so it was really just a fun novelty to have multiple balls flying around. That said, nothing is closed off during multiball either. Use multiball to earn FIRE+POWER completions, build bonus value, score bonus multipliers, and light the shield kickback whenever needed.
Bonus is advanced by the top lanes, in and out lanes, and 1-6 targets. Maximum bonus is 5x 29,000 = 145,000 points.
By default, the following are kept from ball to ball: FIRE lanes, FIRE insert status, POWER targets, POWER insert status, Firepower Bonus level, lit locks, 1-6 progress.
The following are not kept from ball to ball: bonus count, bonus multiplier, shield kickback status.
At the very least, the memory of the Firepower Bonus level, the 1-6 progress, the bonus multiplier, and the shield kickback status can all be changed in the game's settings.
Firepower was originally designed to have drop targets instead of standup targets on the 1-6 numbers. Some early machines were shipped this way, and some operators have modded their games to include them, as the game still fully supports drop targets in both the wiring and software. It's possible, though somewhat unlikely, that your local machine has these instead. Not much changes in terms of scoring and strategy, other than that the idea of hitting already-lit numbered standups to collect an additional 1,000 and a bonus advance does not apply if drop targets are present.
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