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The Champion Pub

The Champion Pub is a pinball game released by Williams Electronics Games (under the Bally label) in 1998. The theme of the game revolves around boxing in a 1920s pub.

Design

Several Williams employees are shown as characters on the backglass, Dwight Sullivan, Pete Piotrowski, Pat McMahon, Paul Barker, Linda Deal, Steve Kordek, and Jim Patla.

Backstory

The game is set on February 3, 1898, when the players character left the Doane shipyard and walked into the Champion Pub.

Description

The playfield of The Champion Pub features several toys which include:

  • A jump rope area, in which the player must jump the ball over a rotating metal bar using a flipper-controlled solenoid
  • A speed bag area, where the player must knock the ball against a target with a pair of plastic fists controlled by the flippers
  • A rotating wall with a heavy bag on one side and a boxer figure on the other, which the player can hit with the ball to train for a fight or land punches against an opponent, respectively

Game features include four multiball modes and 15 jackpot levels, 10 different international opponents, and over 300 speech sound effects.

Gameplay

The primary goal is to build up a health bar by making indicated shots, then begin a fight against one of the pub's 10 resident opponents and drain his health by repeatedly hitting the boxer figure. However, the player's health will gradually drain due to the opponent's punches. In order to win a fight, the player must either completely drain the opponent's health or land a knockout punch.

There are ten opposing boxers: Master Bim Bam Boom, Armando Santiago (the Spaniard), Knuckles O'Brian (Irish), Steveo (from San Francisco), Sir Winston Pounds (the English gentelman), Pierre Lepunche (from France), Dan Unda (from down under), Antonio Jaberini (the cook with the hook), Franz von Pain (German), and Patrosky Yirbitov (Russian).

Multiball modes

The multiballs are as follows:

  • Multi-Brawl: A three-ball mode, started by locking three balls. Each lit shot made awards the current jackpot and advances it by one level. Jackpots can also be collected by making lit shots outside of this mode.
  • Raid Multiball: A three-ball mode, started by winning three fights. All targets are worth a set value, which increases with every hit up to a maximum.
  • Fisticuffs Multiball: A two-ball mode, started by hitting the heavy bag enough times to spell BAR FLY FISTICUFFS. The wall rotates to expose the boxer, who can be hit in the head or stomach for points.
  • Champion Multiball: A four-ball mode, started by winning five fights; consists of all three modes above at once, with a bonus for making lit shots.

Certain groups of multiballs can run simultaneously, for which four balls are put into play.

Wizard mode: The Ultimate Challenge

The wizard mode of the game is the Ultimate Challenge, with the following requirements:

  • Play Multi-Brawl, Raid Multiball, and Fisticuffs Multiball
  • Collect all 15 jackpots
  • Complete all three training exercises (speed bag, heavy bag, jump rope)
  • Become the Pub Champion by winning five fights
  • Win at least one fight by knockout

Once the Ultimate Challenge begins, four balls are put into play and the player is given one full health bar with which to defeat the five fighters not defeated to become Pub Champion. Successfully doing so lights additional shots for bonus points.

After the player's fifth victory, all fights outside of the Ultimate Challenge are played as "Cash Fights," in which the player must wager a portion of their score to face the opponent of their choice. The wager is added for a victory or deducted for a loss.

Digital versions

The Champion Pub is available as a licensed table of Pinball FX 3 for several platforms; with a remastered version released for Pinball FX on March 31, 2022. It was formerly available for The Pinball Arcade until license expiration.

References

External links