Hot Wheels Pinball Deep Dive!

Hot Wheels pinball is the newest creation from American Pinball and their first licensed theme!  Below is an in-depth overview of the machine, and a dive into the features and rules – check it out!

Overview of Hot Wheels Pinball

Trailer Video and Dead Flip Gameplay Reveal

Check out the Hot Wheels teaser video below!

Jack Danger of Dead Flip hosted the Gameplay Reveal of Hot Wheels – check it out!!

Who’s Who

• Design: Joe Balcer
• Software: Josh Kugler and Joe Schober
• Artwork: Jeff Busch
• Sound Engineer: Matt Kern
• Lead Animator: Ish Raneses – animation assets from seasons 1-3 from the hit stop motion animation YouTube show Hot Wheels City

Price

• MSRP: $6,295

Production and Shipping

Hot Wheels is in production and shipping later this month. Contact your local authorized American Pinball dealer or distributor to order.

Features

• 6 Balls
• Two ramps with translucent Hot Wheels orange and blue coloring
• Over 140 RGB lights for both feature inserts and general playfield illumination, including multiple LEDs in Arrow and other inserts for better illumination and effects
• FREE Shaker Motor with the first 500 games
• Internal Cabinet Side Art included
• Checkered Flag flipper bat covers

• First of its kind, 3D Lenticular back panel

• 5 Hot Wheels diecast cars displayed on playfield including Interactive Spinning Hot Wheels car

• Ability to easily swap out the Hot Wheels diecast cars with your own favorite Hot Wheels cars for customization
• Fully Decaled Apron

• 4 Flashers
• Magnet that grabs or accelerates the ball

• 3 Redline Tire Pop Bumpers

• 2 Controlled Up/Down Drop Targets

• Saucer with side kick-out
• Vertical Upkick (VUK) with Orange Loop Return

• Player-Facing Kicker
• 2 Spinners

• R-P-M Stand-Up Targets to Rev up the Tachometer

• Collect Car Stand-Up Targets
• B-A-T-T-L-E Stand-Up Targets

• Shooter lane ball re-entry
• Center Post

Rules and Code

Programmers Josh Kugler and Joe Schober will continue to adjust the rules and content.

Main Objective

The teeming metropolis of Hot Wheels City is under attack! Your mission is clear. With help and guidance from the Sheriff, daredevil brothers Chase and Elliot, and the local Newscaster, defend Hot Wheels City by battling the villainous Draven and his army of relentless Creatures who are wreaking havoc to no end, while also racing, track-building, and car-collecting your way to become a Hot Wheels Legend!

Overview of Gameplay

Gameplay is all about having fun with Hot Wheels cars: Collecting Cars, Racing them, Crashing them, Building Tracks, Battling Creatures, and much more!  You earn Hero Cars as you master various game objectives.  Collect all 5 Hero Cars to become a Hot Wheels Legend!

SKILL SHOTS

There are several skill shots available.  For the main skill shot, launch the ball, aiming for the ‘3’ zone without overshooting into the pops or the orbit. After a successful skill shot, immediately shoot the left orbit for a Super Skill Shot Bonus. There are some other skill shot secrets waiting to be discovered!

TACHOMETER

The TACH is the central scoring feature, as all playfield scoring is based on the RPM levels of the TACH.  The higher the Tach, the higher the scoring.

The ‘stepped’ RPM targets in the center of the playfield help rev the TACH faster. Make fast shots to rev the Tachometer for bigger scoring. 

Advance the TACH from 1 all the way to 10 to “Redline it” to start the exhilarating and frenzied mode REDLINE MANIA (details in Multiball section below).

CREATURE BATTLES

Spell BATTLE by hitting the corresponding B-A-T-T-L-E Stand-Up targets to light a Battle mode with a Creature.

After all BATTLE letters are lit, shooting either spinner will rotate which Creature Mode is selected. Start the lit Battle by shooting a saucer. Creature Battles are timed.  Defeat each Creature quickly for a valuable Fuel Bonus! Defeat all four Creatures to challenge the main protagonist, Draven, the demented mad scientist!

CAR COLLECTING 

Hitting the Car Stand-Up Targets adds cars to your Collecting Case.  Fill a Case to qualify awards that are collected at the lower saucer, including Car Chaos Multiball! There are hundreds of popular Hot Wheels cars waiting to be collected!

HERO CARS

HERO CARS are awarded by completing specific game achievements. Collecting all 5 HERO CARS qualifies the Wizard Mode, Legend Multiball.

• Twin Mill (1960s era) – “Car Chaos!” – awarded for playing Car Chaos Multiball.
• Rodger Dodger (1970s era) – “Battle Draven!” –  awarded for defeating the mad scientist Draven!
• Sharkruiser (1980s era) – “Multiball Master!” – awarded for playing Loop Crash Multiball, Track Multiball, and Victory Lap Multiball.
• Bone Shaker (2000s era) – “Be Epic!” – awarded for playing a set of 5 EPIC Features.
• Rip Rod (2010s era) – “Redline!” – awarded for Redlining the Tach

TURBO BOOST 

Pop bumpers build up the TURBO BOOST. Once lit, you can activate TURBO BOOST at the player-facing KICKER, which will then increase the TACH value to 10X-scoring for a brief period of time, so use it wisely.

EPIC FEATURES 

Light E-P-I-C at the lower lanes to qualify Epic RAMPS, LOOPS, CARS, POPS, or PLAYFIELD. You can qualify several EPIC features before starting at the EPIC START target.

More features at once builds higher EPIC Jackpots, but become more challenging to collect. Collect the EPIC Jackpot before you drain, or it will be an EPIC Fail!

BONUS MULTIPLIER

Increased by shooting the lit “ADVANCE BONUS X” TARGET, which is qualified via hitting all four distinct Car Stand-Up Targets. Bonus Multiplier can also be awarded via Mystery.

Multiball Modes  

Six multiball modes are featured in Hot Wheels pinball:  

TRACK MULTIBALL

Shots to the Track Builder lane build increasingly more complex tracks. Build a complete track to start Track Multiball. This is the easiest multiball to achieve, as it only takes four shots to start it (the first time). Track Multiball starts as a 2-ball multiball, but if you shoot the right saucer in time, it becomes a more lucrative 3-ball multiball.

VICTORY LAP MULTIBALL

Race your way from 13^th place to 1^st place and it’s off to the races for Victory Lap Multiball. Build the Super Jackpot all the way up before collecting it for some seriously lucrative points!  

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There are four main shots used to advance through the race, each with an arrow insert and three race position inserts. The value of each of the four shots increases as each shot is made; 3X, 4X, 5X, 6X, and adds that value to the Super Jackpot. The Super Jackpot has its own multiplier, which is based on the highest shot level each by all four of the main shots, so if you have made two shots on each main shot, then the Super Jackpot multiplier is 4X. Complete the next on each, and the Super Jackpot multiplier is 5X.  

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One unique feature is that the main game music soundtrack is tied to racing. As you advance race positions, the music advances with you, and additional musical elements of the soundtrack are added, making for a more dramatic and suspenseful gameplay experience – a very nice touch!  

REDLINE MANIA

A heart-pumping timed 4-ball multiball with unlimited ball save time in which the goal is to complete all lit mode shots before the timer expires. When Redline Mania ends, your car will shift up a gear, increasing the value of the Tach for the remainder of the game. The color of the Tach inserts reflects the gear (white, green, yellow, orange, red).  

LOOP CRASH MULTIBALL 

Make lots of loop shots to start this multiball, which grabs the ball with the magnet when the Super Jackpot is ready. CRASH into that ball before the magnet lets go to collect the Super Jackpot. Loop Crash Multiball and Victory Lap Multiball can be stacked – but only if you start them at the same time! All multiballs can be stacked with Creature Battles and EPIC Features.  

CAR CHAOS

Car Chaos is one of the many Car Collecting Case Awards.  Shoot flashing Car targets to increase the value of loop and ramp Jackpots.  Collect enough Jackpots to light Super Jackpot on the high-speed kicker.

Wizard Mode

Become a Legend in Hot Wheels Pinball!!

LEGEND MULTIBALL

This final Wizard Mode is qualified when all 5 Hero Cars have been collected. In this timed finale, more balls will be added as you keep playing, culminating in 6 balls of multiball madness. Shoot every lit shot on the game before time runs out for the ultimate Legend Jackpot. Become a Hot Wheels Legend!”