Not to be confused with NBA (Stern Pinball, 2009).
Complete the 6 tasks on the NBA Finals trophy to advance to Trophy Multiball and possibly win a championship ring. The three that require conscious effort are Power Hoops (hit enough pop bumpers when no mode is running to start Hoops modes), Stadium Goodies (left lane shots when nothing else is running), and the two Multiballs (S-H-O-O-T for Shoot Around, make a basket from each of the four back saucers for Around the World). If you can complete those three objectives, the other three should be able to be picked up along the way rather easily. There is no end of ball bonus so do not be afraid to give a hard nudge to a ball on its way out, is there is no direct score penalty for tilting.
Scoring on NBA Fastbreak is unique, and designed in such a way that a good score in the pinball game will roughly match a good score for an NBA team- between 100 and 150 basketball points. Basketball points are very rarely given in groups larger than 1, 2, or 3. There is a Pinball Points option in the game's code, which adds a scoring system with values similar to other pinball at the time: in practice, this usually consists of 100,000 points times your basketball score, plus the miscellaneous values of switch hits. Pinball points do not replace basketball points, and features like replay scores and the match still use your basketball score. In the remainder of this guide, the pinball points will be disregarded; all shots will have their value in basketball points listed, and those basketball points will be referred to simply as "points".
There is nothing on the front-right of the cabinet where you would otherwise expect a shooter rod or plunge button to be. Instead, an action button is situated on the lockdown bar, and this is used for plunging the ball. The action button also shoots a ball into the basket from one of the four back saucers during In the Paint, and locks in you answer to the trivia question at Crazy Bob's Concessions.
There is no skill shot. Balls are always plunged into the bumper area. If you are comfortable doing so, it may be desirable to intentionally drain an initial plunge, allowing the ball saver to plunge the ball again and give you more pop bumper hits toward the next Hoops mode. This is discussed in more detail later on.
There is no end of ball bonus in any way. As such, there is no direct score penalty for tilting. Do not be afraid to nudge hard if the ball is in imminent danger.
The team you pick at the beginning of the game and the team you get matched up against have no effect on gameplay other than changing some callouts. The game keeps track of 29 different high scores- one with each of the 29 teams you can choose. If you see "You are an NBA Team Champion" on the display, that means you have beaten the highest score for the team you selected and will be able to put your initials in the machine at the end of the game. The Grand Champion score goes to the highest score across any team.
The game asks you to complete six tasks, as indicated by the large circles surrounding the top of the NBA Finals trophy. Completing all six will start Trophy Multiball wizard mode at the first opportunity. The 6 objectives are explained below, starting at the top of the circle and working clockwise.
The game recognizes 4 distinct two-way combos. You must make one of each to light the Combo Shots objective. These combos all score 2 points. Combos can only be earned in single ball play when no Concession or Hoops modes are running.
Tip Off and Alley Oop can only be started at their respective orbits if that orbit is not lit for In the Paint, which usually happens immediately after the ball goes through the opposite in lane. The inserts in front of the major shots (not counting the S-H-O-O-T lights) indicate which combos are eligible to be started or cashed in.
Power Hoops modes start automatically after certain numbers of pop bumper hits. The game reflexes this requirement heavily based on how many pop bumpers are hit in an average game; I have seen anywhere from 9 to 34 pop bumper hits be required to start a single Power Hoops mode. It always takes the same number of bumpers to start each mode, and the modes are played in order. Pop bumper hits do not count for Hoops mode progress if any multiball or other mode is running.
Simply starting Multiball Hoops will light the Power Hoops objective toward Trophy Multiball; you don't need to do anything specific within the modes.
After certain numbers of pop bumper hits, the game will flip the backbox flipper automatically, making a basket in the backbox and scoring you 2 points. This usually happens once or twice between each Hoops mode, and also usually happens on the very first bumper hit of the game.
Making the left orbit during Power Hoops scores one Power Loop, which the game keeps track of. At 24 (!) of these left orbit shots, an extra ball is lit at the concession stand on the far left.
This is self-explanatory, and also the easiest objective to complete. If your score is 20 or more, this objective is lit. After Trophy Multiball is played, this is the only objective that remains lit.
All that's required for this objective is to make one of each of the 2-point, 3-point, and free throw (1-point) baskets.
The center ramp is lit for a 1-point free throw whenever it is not lit for anything else. The easiest 2-point basket comes from shooting an orbit lit for In the Paint. 3-point baskets are available during most modes as well as at the left and center ramps after hitting all three purple 3PT targets.
There are two main multiballs that must both be started to light this objective.
Shoot Around: the letters S-H-O-O-T are flashing at the start of the game. Making one shot to each of these major shots lights those letters, and spelling Shoot instantly starts the multiball. Shoot Around is a 2-ball multiball where the letters in Shoot will start flashing once again. Hit a flashing letter to light it and score 2 points. Spelling S-H-O-O-T once again will relight all shots, and the first time that S-H-O-O-T is spelled during multiball, an extra ball will be lit at the concession stand.
Around the World: this multiball starts by making a basket from each of the four saucers in the back of the game. To have a chance at this, you must shoot an orbit shot that is lit for In the Paint, which is usually the case at the start of a ball or immediately after going through an in lane. During In the Paint, the 24-second shot clock counts down quickly. Use the flippers to pass the ball left or right, and press the action button to shoot. A blocker target will follow you, trying to get in the way. Making a basket lights the saucer it was shot from. Light all 4 to start Around the World multiball.
This is a 3-ball multiball. One of the five major shots will be lit at any one time, and making that shot scores 1 point times the number of balls in play. This isn't very valuable, so don't sweat it too much, but it's required to start this multiball to earn the Multiballs objective.
These are 4 modes that require shots to Crazy Bob's Concessions, the left lane with a saucer at the end. This lane is lit to start a Goodies mode anytime that there is not a multiball or other Goodies mode running. Goodies modes can even interrupt Hoops modes (except Multiball Hoops): the Hoops mode will be paused until the Goodies mode is completed. Like Hoops modes, the Goodies modes are also played in order.
Any lit extra balls are collected the Concession saucer. If all 4 Goodies modes have been played, shots to this saucer always score 1 point.
As soon as all 6 objectives have been completed, Trophy Multiball begins. This is a 24-second timed multiball with unlimited ball save. The computer will start with the same number of points as you have and make baskets occasionally. Your goal is to keep shooting your own baskets at the center ramp for 2 points each. If you have more points than the computer when time runs out, you win a championship ring. If not, you get nothing. Either way, all balls drain and you start over.
As far as the game is concerned when determining the winner of a multiplayer pinball game, rings always trump points; you can beat a player with a lower score if you got more rings than they did, and points are only considered as a tiebreaker. Real-life tournaments typically give a point value to rings- usually 50 or 100 points, from what I've seen.
When not lit for anything else, making a basket via the center ramp scores a 1-point Free Throw. Making enough Free Throws lights an extra ball at the concession stand- usually around 12.
Hitting the three purple post targets that flank the center and right ramps will spell 3PT, which lights the next shot to the left and center ramps for an instant 3 points. This is not worth going out of the way to do given how much of a drain risk the purple targets are.
Hitting both of the two yellow lower right standup targets will light Inbound Pass, which is a one time ball save in the left out lane. This can happen at any time, although if you light Inbound Pass and use it during multiball, you will not be able to light it for a second time during that multiball.
On the final ball of the game, the right out lane is lit for Million Dollar Shot. If you drain out this side, you are plunged one more ball, and you have about 10 seconds to make a basket at the center ramp. Notably, and perhaps unfairly, this timer does not pause when the ball is in the pop bumpers. If you make a basket within the time limit, your turn continues. If not, the flippers lock up and your ball ends.
A multiplayer game on a single machine with up to 4 players like in conventional pinball can be set up, but NBA Fastbreak has a separate setting for 2-player competitive mode if two separate machines are physically linked together. In this competitive mode, the game is 4 quarters long instead of 3 balls long, with a quarter lasting 3 minutes and including unlimited ball save during that time. When time expires, the flippers go dead and everything ends. If an extra ball is earned, only the player who earned it will get a bonus 30 seconds to play during that quarter. If there is a tie after 4 quarters, 1-minute overtimes are played until there is a winner. Most rings wins; if there is a tie for rings, most points wins.
The game manual lists that specials are worth 1,000,000 points. I am left to assume that these are pinball points, which would imply that they are worth 10 basketball points? Or the game manual may just be wrong about this setting like it is in a fair number of other 90s Bally Williams games. I'm not even sure where it's possible to earn a straight-up special in this game. Extra balls cannot be assigned a point value to my knowledge.
By default the game allows 1 ball save per game, and that ball save lasts 6 seconds. This can be changed to 0-5 ball saves per game and 3-15 seconds per ball save.
The Free Throw and Power Loops extra balls can both individually be set to between 3 and 40 of their respective shots. Default is 12 Free Throws and 24 Power Loops.
Inbound Pass can be lit at start of each ball, on at game start with or without memory, or off at game start with or without memory. Default seems to be off at game start with memory between balls. This setting does not affect the yellow Inbound Pass targets: if you hit one but not the other, that progress is always erased between balls.
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