Firepower (pinball)

This article is about the pinball game. For other uses, see Firepower (disambiguation).
Firepower
American arcade flyer for Firepower
ManufacturerWilliams
Release dateFebruary 1980
SystemWilliams System 6
Model #497
Players4
DesignSteve Ritchie
ProgrammingEugene Jarvis
ArtworkConstantino Mitchell
MechanicsJohn Jung
SoundEugene Jarvis
VoicesSteve Ritchie
Production run17,410

Firepower (also known as Multi-Ball Firepower) is a 1980 pinball game designed by Steve Ritchie and released by Williams. The machine had a production run of 17,410 machines.[1]

Design and layout

It was the first pinball machine to use an EPROM chip.[2]

Firepower was the first solid-state electronic pinball to feature 3-ball Multi-Ball, as well as "Lane Change." This allows the player to control the lamps of the topmost rollovers utilizing the right flipper button.[3]

The machine would "queue" scores and then catch up with rewarding points if necessary.[4]

The game includes 31 sounds, and 21 speech phrases.[5] It is the second game to feature speech, following Gorgar.[6]

Gameplay

In multiplayer games the state of the machine for each player is retained between balls.[3][7]

Reception

In a review for Play Meter, Roger Sharpe awarded the game 4/4.[7]

Due to the high interest in the game production was increased by July 1980.[8]

A later pinball designer, Joe Kaminkow, jokingly called the start button for this machine the first like button.[9]

Digital versions

Raster Blaster was based on this table.[10]

Firepower was included in the arcade game UltraPin.[11]

Firepower released in some versions of Pinball Hall of Fame: The Williams Collection on several systems between 2008 and 2011.[12] It was released by the same developer for The Pinball Arcade,[13] and was available until June 30, 2018, when all Williams tables were removed due to licensing issues.[14]

References

  1. ^ "Internet Pinball Machine Database: Williams 'Firepower'".
  2. ^ DeMar, Larry. "wms software history". GitHub. Retrieved 2025-10-27.
  3. ^ a b Shalhoub, Michael (2004). The Pinball Compendium 1970-1981 (1st ed.). Atglen: Schiffer Publishing. pp. 168–169. ISBN 978-0-7643-2074-3.
  4. ^ "Ask Uncle Willy #8". www.planetarypinball.com. November 21, 1995. Retrieved 2025-07-23.
  5. ^ "Profit Power Pinball". Play Meter. Vol. 6, no. 7. April 1980. p. 82.
  6. ^ Wiswell, Phil (1980). "Talking games". Playboy Guide Electronic Entertainment. Vol. 1, no. 1. p. 40.
  7. ^ a b Sharpe, Roger C. (June 1980). "Critic's corner - Pinball strikes back with some heavyweights". Play Meter. Vol. 6, no. 11. pp. 81, 83–84.
  8. ^ "Firepower". Play Meter. Vol. 6, no. 13. July 15, 1980. pp. 34, 8.
  9. ^ Kaminkow, Joe (October 2012). Pinball Expo 2012 - Joe Kaminkow talk.
  10. ^ "Pinball Wizard - Bill Budge on the Apple II and Raster Blaster". Retro Gamer. No. 165. March 2017. p. 59.
  11. ^ Gerson, Mitch (September 2008). "GameRoom News". Game Room. No. 20. p. 9.
  12. ^ Harris, Craig (2008-03-14). "Pinball Hall of Fame: The Williams Collection Review [Wii]". IGN. Retrieved 2025-09-19.
  13. ^ Broida, Rick (March 25, 2013). "The most fun I had all weekend: Pinball Arcade". CNET. Retrieved 2025-09-19.
  14. ^ Lawson, Aurich (2018-05-08). "The Pinball Arcade is losing its classic tables; grab them while you can". Ars Technica. Retrieved 2025-09-19.
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