Space Jam (pinball)

Space Jam is a 1996 pinball machine released by Sega Pinball, based on the film of the same name.

Space Jam

Manufacturer	Sega Pinball
Release date	December 1996
System	Sega WhiteStar
Design	Joe Kaminkow, Orin Day, Lonnie D. Ropp
Programming	Lonnie D. Ropp, Orin Day
Artwork	Morgan Weistling
Music	Brian L. Schmidt
Sound	Brian Schmidt
Production run	7,019

Features

On the main playfield, there are six red arrows pointing to critical targets. From left to right: Left Loop, Captive Ball, Basket, Jump Ball, Ramp, and Right Loop. The purpose of these targets is to help players complete some of the seven planets surrounding Michael Jordan as well as score jackpots in Multiball mode.

There is also a basket at the end of the launch ramp for skill shot opportunities. Before launching the ball with the plunger, players can choose an award to receive upon a successful skill shot into the launch basket: 300,000 points, Lite Lock / Lock Ball (advances one level up in the Jump Ball), Wabbit Hole (randomly selects a mystery prize or mini-game to be played), or Super Pops (increases the bumper threshold's strength). If the player does not make the basket, 50,000 points will still be awarded. However, if the player does make the basket and had selected 300,000 points, Lite Lock / Lock Ball, or Super Pops, he/she will be given a few seconds to earn a super skill shot by shooting the left basket ramp for 10 basketball points.

The coin lock door has 3 buttons. Two of them control the volume, while the third opens the Settings Menu. The menu allows players to adjust various settings: level of difficulty, frequency of extra ball awards, tilt sensitivity, and lighting. Changing the level of difficulty affects the requirements to unlock certain mini-games as well as the time limit to complete certain tasks.

This is the first game to use the "Sega Showcase backbox".^[1]

The game includes custom speech, with the voices of Michael Jordan, Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Tweety and the Chicago Bulls stadium announcer.^[2]

During development of the game voice-artist Fred Young recorded voices for the game, but Warner Bros. didn't approve them so they were never used.^[3]

Gameplay

The player assumes the role of Michael Jordan.

In addition to a standard game, three other types of games can be played:

• Team play, where players 1&3 compete together against players 2&4
• League/tournament play, random and auto-percentaging awards change to fixed rewards
• Wizard play, same as league play but harder^[4]