The rules of this game are very similar to Earthshaker (Bally Williams, 1989). If you know that game well, you'll pick this one up easily.
Know how to shoot both of the upper flipper shots (side ramp and upper loop), and also know how to get the ball under control from the Cellar Door kickout. Complete the flashing direction targets to light locks. Side ramp or right in lane -> super cellar door gives the lit award in the back of the game. During multiball, always be shooting the side ramp for millions-plus.
The skill shot is a precise power plunge to the Feel The Power drop targets in the center of the game. The uppermost target scores 100,000 points, the middle scores 200,000, and the lower target scores 300,000. If more than one is hit, their values are added together. Ignore this entirely, since it's reasonably common for a skill shot plunge to bounce directly into the center drain, and there is no ball save on Whirlwind outside of playfield validation. On the plunge, focus instead on a full plunge that goes to the upper loop area, or a short plunge with even less power than the skill shot so that the ball reaches the flippers without scoring any points where a shot can be lined up quickly and easily without playfield validation being triggered.
To light a lock, the directions that are flashing in the center of the playfield need to be completed. To complete a direction, hit both shots/targets of that direction's colour. The side ramp spots a direction target at any time. The direction shots are:
For the first multiball, 2 directions will be required, but both will be lit at once, and their targets can be collected in any order. Starting with the second multiball, directions can only be collected one at a time. Starting with lock 2 of the second multiball, 3 directions are required instead of 2; starting with lock 2 of the third multiball, all 4 directions are required instead of 3.
Balls are locked at the right ramp. Unless you are in a multiplayer game and there are already balls physically locked in the left of the game, the ramp will always be down when lock is lit. After 2 balls are locked, multiball is available. Multiball can always be started at the side ramp; the first multiball can also be started at the saucer under the right ramp. Locking any ball advances the bonus multiplier through the awards at the bottom of the table. Locks can be stolen in this game by starting a multiball when there are 2 balls physically locked in the left side lane.
Whether the right ramp is up or down is toggled by each entry to one of the Cellar Door scoops. If a standard lock is lit, the ramp will always be down, unless there are already balls locked in the left lane of the machine. If Quick Multiball is lit, or if any multiball is running, the ramp will be up, exposing the saucer underneath.
When the ramp is not lit for anything else, shoot it to advance the Skyway Tolls. The first ramp shot advances 1 toll; consecutive shots within a brief time limit score 2 tolls while the white 2 Tolls light is on. Comboing this ramp with itself repeatedly also increases the scored value (from 50,000, increasing by 10,000 each time to a max of 100,000) and temporarily increases the value of the solo drop target in the far back of the game just left of this ramp. Each Skyway Toll collected is worth 2,000 points times the bonus multiplier for the end of ball bonus. Despite the playfield inserts not being able to count higher than 75, the Skyway Tolls are maxed at 99; any shots to this ramp that would award a toll after 99 have been collected score 200,000 points and display the message "skyway paid for". The side ramp also always adds 3 tolls.
Extra balls are lit at the solo drop target after reaching 8 and 50 tolls collected.
When the right ramp is up, the saucer underneath feeds the ball quite nicely to the upper right flipper for a side ramp shot. This can be a good strategy for picking off direction targets that are difficult or dangerous (such as the NW target by the super cellar door, or either green SW targets). It can also be good in certain circumstances for picking off side ramp shots for Millions during multiball; if the lower right flipper can backhand into the saucer, which is only possible on some games, this maneuver is much easier to do, whereas if the lower right flipper cannot backhand the under right ramp scoop, the player will need to know how to stage flip or flip a trapped ball away to use this saucer for easy jackpots in multiball.
The first two balls toward standard multiball are locked by using this ramp when lit. The first standard multiball, and any Quick Multiball, will be lit at the saucer under this ramp.
When not lit, this target scores 25,000 points. Each shot to the right ramp increases this target's value by one stage; the target value decreases by one stage on its own approximately every 5 seconds. Value increases in the order of 50,000 - 75,000 - 100,000 - 150,000 - Light Quick Multiball. After Quick Multiball has been played twice, it cannot be lit from this target anymore, and the value maxes out at 150,000 points. This drop target also scores extra balls when it is lit by the appropriate Super Cellar award, reaching 8 or 50 tolls, or locking the first ball of the 3rd standard multiball.
The side ramp always adds 3 Tolls to the Skyway.
During single ball play, the side ramp awards an increasing value from 50,000 to 100,000 points and lights the Super Cellar Door.
During single ball play or during Quick Multiball, the side ramp spots one direction target.
If the Million shot is lit from the Super Cellar Door, the side ramp scores 1,000,000 points one time.
During Quick Multiball, the side ramp is lit for Unlimited Million, meaning its value will stay at 1,000,000 until the game returns to single ball play.
During standard multiball, the side ramp is lit for Millions-Plus, where the first value is 2,000,000 points and each hit increases the side ramp value by 1,000,000 up to a maximum of 10,000,000 points for the rest of the multiball.
Quick Multiball and standard multiball can be started at the same time and have their rules stacked together by locking 2 balls for regular multiball, then lighting Quick Multiball from the Super Cellar or solo drop target, then shooting the saucer under the right ramp. Doing so will stack together the scoring opportunities at the side ramp: in effect, this means that the first Millions-Plus scores 3,000,000 points, and the maximum Millions-Plus value is 11,000,000.
If a standard multiball is played and the game returns to single ball play before any Millions-Plus are collected from the side ramp, the two Cellar saucers will both be lit for Cellar Multiball for 15 seconds. This is a two-ball multiball restart that uses the scoring rules for standard multiball only.
Clearing the bank scores 50,000 the first time and an additional 10,000 each time up to a maximum of 100,000 points. If all three targets are swept at once, the game awards 100,000 points plus the completion value.
There are two sets of bumpers: the red Hi Pressure Jets at the top of the playfield, and the yellow Lo Pressure Jets in the middle-left of the playfield. Unlit bumpers score 1,000 points. Lit bumpers score 3,000 points. Flashing bumpers score 5,000 points. At the start of each ball, one bumper in each set will be lit, and the other two will be unlit. Hitting the solo standup target in the back of the game lights one bumper in one of the sets, or turns a lit bumper into a flashing bumper if all 6 are already lit. If all 6 bumpers are flashing, this standup target scores 100,000 points. Entire sets of bumpers can also be made to flash instantly by collecting one of the Jets at Maximum awards from the Super Cellar Door.
Of the two scoops in the lower left of the playfield, the one on the right with the yellow light above it is the Super Cellar. Making this scoop when it was not lit does nothing other than add 1 cellar visit to the end of ball bonus count and cause the ball to kick out of the scoop to its left. The right in lane will temporarily light the Super Cellar for about three seconds. The side ramp will keep the Super Cellar lit until the next value is collected. The current Super Cellar value is shown on the backbox of the game under the alphanumeric display, and the value is changed with each spin of the right orbit's spinner. Possible values are:
After collecting all 7 Super Cellar values, the Super Cellar will instantly be lit again for Mega Door Bonus. Mega Door Bonus scores 2,000,000 points, lights the alternating special on the out lanes, and re-awards all of the 7 Super Cellar values, giving a sort of Everything Is Lit vibe for the rest of the current ball in play. Take advantage of this while you can. The Super Cellar cannot be lit anymore on the ball where Mega Door Bonus is collected.
The discs in the center of the playfield spin whenever lock is lit or whenever a multiball is running. They can throw off the movement of the ball a little bit, but this game plays fast enough that they're typically not nearly as rude as on older slower games like Fireball.
Whirlwind has a conventional in/out lane setup with a center peg between the two flippers. The out lanes are lit alternately for a Special after collecting the Mega Door Bonus, or after locking ball 2 toward the third standard multiball. The left in lane lights the right ramp for 2 Tolls and the right orbit's spinner for 3,000 points per spin for about 3 seconds each. The right in lane lights the Super Cellar for about 3 seconds, if it was not already lit by making the side ramp.
Bonus score is equal to 2,000 points times the number of Skyway Tolls collected (max 99) times the bonus multiplier, plus 5,000 points times the number of cellar visits during the game. If there is a maximum number of cellar visits that can be added to the bonus, it is at least 25. Bonus multiplier is increased by making locks toward regular multiball, up to a maximum of 6X after locking ball 1 toward the third multiball. Max bonus from skyway tolls alone is 6x 99x 2,000 = 1,188,000 points. Bonus and bonus multiplier are carried over from ball to ball, since they are based on the Tolls, cellar visits, and locks made during the entire game up to that point. The value of the bonus is pretty well balanced, being enough that you'll want to avoid tilting balls away during good games but not so much that it becomes a dominating strategy.
In competition/tournament play, specials are worth a measly 100,000 points. Extra balls cannot be set to a point value, they can only be disabled.
Timers on how long the Super Cellar is lit after a right in lane, how long 2 Tolls is lit after a left in lane, how long the solo drop target waits before lowering its value, and how long the player is given to start Cellar Multiball can all be set individually to anywhere from 1 to 99 seconds.
Multiball can be started under the right ramp always, never, or only for the first multiball (default is the latter).
The maximum value for Millions-Plus can be set to any multiple of 1,000,000 between 5,000,000 and 20,000,000.
The Super Cellar Door can either be lit at the start of each ball, at the start of each game, never be lit for free, or have its lit status carry over between balls.
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