"King Rock" and "King Kool" are two pinball machines released by Gottlieb in 1972, designed by Ed Krynski with artwork by Gordon Morison. "King Rock" is the four-player version, and "King Kool" is the two-player version of the same game. Both machines are electro-mechanical, featuring four flippers, three pop bumpers, and two spinning targets, providing a classic pinball experience.
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King Rock
Quickie Version:
Get the K-I-N-G letters to increase your bonus multiplier one step, then UTAD through the spinners.
Go-to Flipper:
Balanced.
Risk Index:
Very High, in part because it’s harder to aim precisely with the double flippers
Full Rules:
King Kool is a 2-player version of this game. Tricky game for ball control, due to double in-line flippers. Only a handful of machines ever used this flipper design. Skill Shot is one of the four KING letters. King letters all score 1000 and add 1000 to bonus. The spinners advance bonus, but only slowly [once per ten spins]. Try to complete the KING letters; doing so raises the bonus multiplier to 2X on balls 1-4 and from the automatic 2X on ball 5 to 3X. Shots to the lower King standup targets are actually pretty safe; the shallow angle and not overly strong flippers means that the rebounds usually come back to the flippers, albeit at odd angles. You can’t cradle the ball on the lower of either flipper pair, and there’s a high risk of scissoring [losing the ball between the flippers due to improper flip timing]! Upper flipper cradling does work but be careful when attempting to get the ball to settle there: you risk draining up and over the post between the upper flippers and the outlanes! Shoot the center bullseye standup target ONLY when it’s lit to “open gate.” Most of the time, it’s shoot the lower King letters or UTAD. UTAD is not as productive as on some other games since the spinners only build bonus slowly and shots through them often don’t end up netting any King letters before they come back down. The angle of the flippers and spinners is such that cross-side spinner shots with the lower flippers often go spinner-10 bumper- back down right away; some will rattle around, but not a high percentage. If forced to use a lower flipper, try to go between the opposite side spinner and the opposite side lane, not through either spinner. Your best bet is to shoot through the same-side spinner, but you can only do that from the upper flippers unless you make a backhand shot on the fly. The angle from the upper flippers through the same-side spinners is pretty good for getting some action up top, since it tends to go between the bumpers. You might even go up the I or N lanes. Any time you can nudge a ball into either side 1000-point lane, do so. Don’t try shooting these from below, though.
via Bob's Guide
King Kool
Quickie Version:
Get the K-I-N-G letters to increase your bonus multiplier one step, then UTAD through the spinners.
Go-to Flipper:
Balanced
Risk Index:
Very High, in part because it’s harder to aim precisely with the double flippers
Full Rules:
This is the 2-player version of King Rock. This is a tricky game for ball control, due to the double in-line flippers. Only a handful of machines ever used this flipper design. Skill Shot is one of the four KING letters. King letters all score 1000 and add 1000 to bonus. The spinners advance bonus, but only slowly [once per ten spins]. Try to complete the KING letters; doing so raises the bonus multiplier to 2X on balls 1-4 and from the automatic 2X on ball 5 to 3X. Shots to the lower King standup targets are actually pretty safe; the shallow angle and not overly strong flippers means that the rebounds usually come back to the flippers, albeit at odd angles. You can’t cradle the ball on the lower of either flipper pair, and there’s a high risk of scissoring [losing the ball between the flippers due to improper flip timing]! Upper flipper cradling does work but be careful when attempting to get the ball to settle there: you risk draining up and over the post between the upper flippers and the outlanes! Shoot the center bullseye standup target ONLY when it’s lit to “open gate.” Most of the time, it’s shoot the lower King letters or UTAD. UTAD is not as productive as on some other games since the spinners only build bonus slowly and shots through them often don’t end up netting any King letters before they come back down. The angle of the flippers and spinners is such that cross-side spinner shots with the lower flippers often go spinner-10 bumper- back down right away; some will rattle around, but not a high percentage. If forced to use a lower flipper, try to go between the opposite side spinner and the opposite side lane, not through either spinner. Your best bet is to shoot through the same-side spinner, but you can only do that from the upper flippers unless you make a backhand shot on the fly. The angle from the upper flippers through the same-side spinners is pretty good for getting some action up top, since it tends to go between the bumpers. You might even go up the I or N lanes. Any time you can nudge a ball into either side 1000-point lane, do so. Don’t try shooting these from below, though.
via Bob's Guide
