Shoot whichever major shots are flashing orange to advance the Raft. On the upper playfield, the yellow lit shot lights the red one, and the red one starts a Whirlpool mode. Hit the two green targets on either side of the center lane to light locks for multiball. Use lane change to ensure the right in lane is lit whenever a ball comes toward it from the upper playfield to spot River letters. Starting a multiball after collecting all of the Rafts, advancing to Class 6 River once, and playing all the Whirlpool modes earns the Vacation Bonus of 200,000,000.
Plunge so the ball ends up on the upper playfield, but not so hard that the ball goes around the upper playfield and falls down the ramp into play. Then, with the upper flipper, shoot Insanity Falls. This scores 1,000,000 points the first time and an additional million each successive time, maximum 5,000,000.
Progress on Rafts is shown on the yellow inserts moving up the middle of the playfield. The game starts at checkpoint 2. Completing all of the hazards that are lit orange advances the Raft and scores 1,000,000 points times the number on the checkpoint that you move to. The checkpoint numbers count up by 2s, until 16- after 16 is Wet Willie's, which acts as checkpoint 20 instead of 18 (most of the time; explained later under Multiball).
Which hazards are required to advance the raft is determined randomly at the beginning of the game, but each player will have to hit the same hazards to reach the same raft values in a multiplayer game. The first raft only requires hitting 1 lit hazard; the second raft, and every other raft after that, increases the number of lit hazards by 1, so that the final two rafts require 5 each. After Wet Willie's has been played, each subsequent loop through the entire raft sequence requires 2 more hazards for that raft than on the previous loop, with a mazimum of 7 hazards for any given raft since there are only 7 hazard shots.
Lit hazard shots score 500,000 points times the current River Level, for a maximum of 3,000,000 points. Unlit hazard shots score 50,000 points. If Camera Craze is running, all hazard shots score 3,000,000 each whether lit or not for the rest of the current ball. Hazards can be spotted by Disaster Drop awards, or by completing the red standup targets in front of Disaster Drop while the kickback is already lit.
The 8th raft, which advances from Checkpoint 16 to Wet Willie's, scores 20,000,000, but the Wet Willie's mode doesn't start until a ninth completion of all lit hazards. The 9th "raft", then, doesn't score any points but does start the Wet Willie's mini-wizard mode. There are two parts: in stage 1, all 7 hazards are lit, and each one collected scores 10,000,000 points. Stage 1 is untimed, and even carries between balls if you drain. After completing stage 1, stage 2 will immediately start. In stage 2, you have 25 seconds to hit one lit hazard- it is called the Travelling Hazard, because which shot is lit will change every 3 seconds or so. Disaster Drop is lit first; then the light moves to the left, until it reaches Boulder Garden; then the two upper playfield shots get a turn; finally, Boomerang Bend is lit. Realistically, each hazard will only be lit once during the mode before the time runs out (Disaster Drop or No Way Out may be lit for a second time at the very end of the timer). Collecting the Travelling Hazard scores 100,000,000 points. When the Travelling Hazard is collected, when the stage 2 timer runs out, or if the ball drains during stage 2, the raft sequence will reset, and you will be returned to the first raft at Checkpoint 2.
Shooting Insanity Falls when the yellow light on the sign is flashing will in turn light the red light on the sign, allowing a mode to be started at Bigfoot Bluff. There are 6 possible modes: you can see which one you're about to get at the inserts near the pop bumper area (the currently selected mode will be flashing). Pop bumper hits rotate what the currently selected mode is. The modes are:
The blue standup targets on the left side of the playfield award the corresponding letters in R-I-V-E-R. Lit in lanes also spot letters in R-I-V-E-R, and realistically, that's how you'll be getting most letters. Each completion of River advances the River Class, up to a maximum of Class 6. The current River Class serves as both a multiplier on the value of lit hazards (500,000 x the class), as well as a bonus multiplier at the end of the ball. Reaching Class 6 River at some point during a game is one of the requirements toward earning the Vacation Bonus.
Hitting all 3 targets lights the Bounceback, a kickback in the left out lane. Completing these targets while the Bounceback is already lit spots one lit hazard.
Two white standup targets just to the right of the dead center of the playfield. Hitting both of these targets 4 times starts the Bigfoot Hotfoot mini-mode. Bigfoot Hotfoot is a 20-second mode where each shot to Bigfoot Bluff scores 10,000,000 points and spots one of the items needed for Gold Rush (next section). Once the three Gold Rush items have been collected, the next shot to the Bluff awards a Camera, and the next shot after that awards a Cow as an easter-egg. If the Camera is collected, all hazards for the remainder of the ball aside from No Way Out will score 3,000,000 points as a Camera Craze (which can be multiplied to 15,000,000 by 5X playfield, which would be a pretty good use of that feature).
Any shot to the Lost Mine, a saucer obscured by an overhang in the very lower left of the game, awards a Gold Rush item if no multiball or mode is running. The three items are a flashlight, a map, and a key. Collecting the key, or shooting this saucer any time after collecting the Key from Bigfoot Hotfoot, starts the Gold Rush, which is a two-ball frenzy multiball where every switch in the game scores 250,000 points until one of the balls drains.
The two green standup targets on either side of No Way Out light locks for multiball. For the first multiball, each target needs to be hit once to light a lock; for the second multiball, each target needs to be hit twice; for all multiballs starting with the third, both targets need to be hit twice AND the second target needs to be hit for the second time within about 10 seconds of finishing the first target or both will unlight. Lit locks are represented by the three flashing green lights in a line in front of No Way Out- shooting into No Way Out locks those balls. Locking three balls starts Multiball.
During Multiball, watch the feed to the upper playfield. The three balls will kick out one at a time. The value of the jackpots you play for during the entire multiball is set during this kickout, and depends on how many balls you can whack into Insanity Falls right away. Shooting all three kickouts into Insanity Falls means you play the rest of multiball for triple jackpots; shooting just two means you play for double jackpots; otherwise, you play for single jackpots. The base jackpot value itself is 10,000,000 points plus 2,000,000 for every completed raft (or 20,000,000 for completing Wet Willie's). The base jackpot maxes at 70,000,000 after three completions of Wet Willie's. Hazards and rafts are in play during Multiball, so you can continue to advance the raft and increase the jackpot mid-multiball by completing flashing hazards. Other scoring features are not in play, though. There is basically no grace period to earn additional jackpots after the game returns to single ball play.
A multiball restart is available if two of the three balls drain without collecting any jackpots. Restarting the multiball requires shooting No Way Out within 20 seconds after the game returns to single ball play. A restarted multiball will always be just 2 balls instead of 3, and will always play for single jackpots.
5X Playfield from the Whirlpool can be brought into multiball. How exactly it interacts with jackpots depends on what version of the game code your table is running. On the rules most often run in tournaments, 5X Playfield does not touch the value of the multiball jackpots at all (this may also be an adjustment made for tournament mode). In arcade play, you can score 5X jackpots, but they will not be doubled or tripled; you should still try to whack the kickout balls into Insanity Falls, though, because the game remembers whether or not you're playing for double or triple jackpots and will revert to that value once 5X playfield ends, but until then all jackpots will be 5X singles. On very early code/machines, 5X playfield does not care about multiball at all, and you can double or triple 5X jackpots to make them 10X or 15X until the mode ends, which is ridiculously imbalanced.
Spine Chiller: going through the right in lane lights this ramp for Multi Millions. This turns the left ramp into a millions-plus ramp if you are able to combo it repeatedly from the lower right flipper, ignoring the upper playfield in the process. The first Multi Millions scores 2,000,000; each one after that scores an additional 1,000,000, to a maximum of 6,000,000. This can be completely ignored.
Disaster Drop: total shots to this hazard throughout the game (whether lit or not) is counted, and certain totals give additional awards. The sequence goes:
The first Light Extra Ball can be set to be anywhere from 4 to 12. The second extra ball cannot be moved to any value other than 60, but it can be disabled outright.
Boulder Garden: at the beginning of the game, the bumpers score 50,000 points each. Each shot to the boulder garden increases the bumper value by 50,000, to a max of 300,000. Also, every 3rd shot to the Boulder Garden starts a Boulder Bash, which increases the bumper value by a further 500,000 per hit for 20 seconds. 5X Playfield can run alongside Boulder Bash.
Secret Passage: there is a secret obscured lane connecting Boulder Garden to No Way Out. The only way to end up here is a weak-yet-precise shot to the Boulder Garden or Disaster Drop that doesn't make it all the way around the intended loop. Finding the Secret Passage instantly completes the current raft (unless Man Overboard or Wet Willie's is running).
Combos:
The combo value builds upon itself, so the true value of the Five way is 2+5+8+10 million = 25,000,000. Combos cannot be earned by spotting hazards (you must shoot each actual shot) or during any multiball. The very early game code does not have a Five way combo, and Four way is worth 10,000,000 instead.
Starting a multiball after completing Wet Willie's once, playing all six Whirlpool modes, and reaching a Class 6 River at some point during the game scores the Vacation Bonus. The machine completely freaks out (in an intended way) playing all sorts of video, audio, and light shows from the rest of the game before awarding you the Vacation Bonus mega-jackpot, which scores 200,000,000 points plus an additional 10,000 for every full game played since the last time it was collected. The Vacation Bonus can be collected multiple times in a game by making another lap through Wet Willie's and another set of Whirlpool modes after collecting the first Vacation, then starting another multiball.
White Water has a conventional in/out lane setup. One of the in or out lanes is lit at any time. The light can be rotated via lane change. Both flippers can be used for the lane change, but they both move the light in the same direction (left to right).
Lit out lanes score 250,000, while unlit out lanes score 75,000.
Unlit in lanes score 50,000 points. Lit in lanes score 150,000 points and a letter in R-I-V-E-R, or 500,000 points if the spotted letter completes a spelling of River.
The bonus is supposed to be (50,000 points per lit hazard collected) + (75,000 points per raft advanced) + (100,000 points per whirlpool mode started), all multiplied by the River Class. However, for reasons no one really knows, the calculations are almost always incorrect, saying things like "7 Hazards * 50,000 = 450,000". Eh well. The bonus is kind of a crapshoot anyway, not making up a significant portion of score even with the Class 6 multiplier. River Class does not carry over from ball to ball, but the components of the base bonus are counted across the entire game. There is no way to collect the bonus mid-ball. Making Disaster Drop 6 times was intended to give a Hold Bonus award, but that award doesn't actually do anything (not even award the bonus twice on the last ball).
The first extra ball from Disaster Drop can be set to any value from 4 to 12. The second can either be enabled or disabled, but will always be at 60 drops if enabled.
Extra balls (from any source) can be set to unlight if the ball is drained without the EB being collected.
The Man Overboard hurry-up can start at any multiple of 1,000,000 between 10,000,000 and 20,000,000.
The number of completions of the white Hotfoot targets required to start Bigfoot Hotfoot can be set to anything from 2 to 33 (!!). Should always be in the 4-6 range.
The kickback can be set to unlight itself between balls if it is lit when the ball drains.
There is an alternate initials entry outside of score available for the player with the most Insanity Falls ramps shots in one game. The operator can set the default record to anything from 3 to 30.
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