I was able to check out
a White
Water (WW, WH20 or WH2O) at
Funhouse Amusements
that had been just been "shopped". After playing it in Jay's showroom I
can see why its such a popular pin. The fun atmosphere is immediately
apparent from taking a glance at the translite (below) and cabinet artwork.
WH20 was voted one of the top 10 most enjoyable and collectable
pins in 2003 through 2006 voted by pinball enthusiasts. To see all top 50 pinball machines visit
Allen Shope's
Treasure Cove.
From top to bottom, WH20's imaginative
artwork, playfield and rule set is used to recreate taking a country white water river
adventure on the way to Wet Willies. The topper for this pin features a very cool animated
waterfall. To achieve the effect, the topper has a string of chasing lights at the bottom that reflect off of the top marquee.
The blinking lights make the water appear to be flowing (polar motion).
Greg Freres remembered the idea for designing the topper from his experience in
advertising. The playfield has 6 translucent ramps and one
wire frame ramp for fast action that is truly gratifying to play,
especially shooting a pinball down insanity falls. The whirlpool ramp
slowly funnels the pinball
around until it finally disappears into the playfield and shoots out of the lost
mine. There is even
an encounter with Big Foot to top off your outdoor country adventure. Big
foot will try to prevent you from entering the cave all while keeping a devilish smile
on his face. The fury Big foot toy moves his head and arms on certain
shots for added fun. WH20 is an incredibly fast paced pinball that requires quick
reflexes. The pin balls are constantly on the move in a loop somewhere on
the playfield. Multi-ball on WH20 is just plain madness. WH20 is one of the better lit pins that I've
seen as you can view the entire
playfield even when playing in the dark. The jam-packed playfield comes with a healthy amount
of challenging shots and features that will have one coming back to explore its
nuances for a long
time.
Unfortunately, I did not own WH20 long enough to take photo's of it as I was
able use it in a trade for a
Star
Trek: The Next Generation. The game was eventually sold to good
friends of mine Dave and Michele so I can always visit it :) WH20 was an extremely fun and exciting pin
to play the few weeks I owned it. Maybe I'll own another one someday.
White Water
Translite and Flyer
Did you know?
Cow 1: During Attract
mode, with no credits, press the following sequence:
3L, 1S, 15R, 1S, 23L, 1S
Cow 2: During Bigfoot
Hotfoot, the fifth item in Bigfoot´s Cave is a cow.
Cow 3: When the cow in
Bigfoot´s Cave has been collected, getting the Mystery Canyon as a Whirlpool
Award will show a picture of the Spirit pulling a string on the legless cow. A
loud "moo" is heard.
This picture can also be seen very briefly in the Vacation Bonus award.
Cow 4: When you shoot
"Disaster Drop" there's a display effect where you see a splash of water coming
at you. At the end of the effect, when the water splashes, there it is: in the
lower left corner of the display.
You have to look very carefully because you can only see it in a fraction of a
second.
On the backglass, the
man with the surprised look on his face is artist John Youssi.
