Theatre of Magic

Theatre of Magic is a 1995 pinball machine designed by John Popadiuk, produced by the Midway division of Williams (under the Bally brand name). The player assumes the role of a novice magician who must develop their skills by exploring the titular theatre and performing an assortment of stage illusions to become a master magician. It was originally designed as "The Magic of David Copperfield", but was changed when terms couldn't be agreed with him.^[1] Coincidentally Capcom also released a magic-themed pinball table, Pinball Magic, in 1995.

Theatre of Magic

Manufacturer	Midway
Release date	March 1995
System	Williams WPC Security (WPC-S)
Design	John Popadiuk
Programming	Jeff Johnson
Artwork	Linda Deal (a.k.a. Doane)
Mechanics	Jack Skalon, Ernie Pizarro
Music	Dave Zabriskie
Sound	Dave Zabriskie
Production run	6,600 units

Design

The cabinet that contains the game is designed to have the appearance of an old magician's trunk.

The prototype games had an up-post between the flippers, but this was removed before production began.^[2]

The most prominent feature on the table is the magic trunk. During a game this rotates, one side exposes the sink hole underneath it, and another side has an electromagnet to capture the ball.^[3]

The rollovers above the bumpers at the back of the playfield are located so the player can't see them directly, but instead sees them in a carefully positioned mirror.

Gameplay

The game presents four primary objectives, each of which must be completed in order to qualify for the "Grand Finale" wizard mode.

• Theatre: The player spells T-H-E-A-T-R-E by shooting the left outer loop. Doing so begins a short countdown, in which the player needs to hit the ball into the magic trunk scores.
• Multiball: The player spells M-A-G-I-C by shooting the ramps, and by locking two balls the magnet of the magic trunk is exposed, and hitting it begins Theatre Multiball. This is a three-ball mode in which jackpots are lit by hitting the Magic Trunk a set number of times, then collected by hitting it once more. In addition, a shot to the Magic Trunk within the first few seconds scores 100 million.
• Midnight Madness: Repeated shots to the right outer loop advance the clock one hour at a time, starting from noon. Once it reaches midnight, the Midnight Madness round begins, with the clock running backwards and shots to the Magic Trunk awarding points based on the hour it shows. The clock can also be advanced with a skill shot or as a random award for sending the ball into the basement when the Trapdoor is open.
• Illusions: Hit the Magic Trunk three times to rotate it, then shoot a ball into its hole to start one of the following eight modes.
  • Tiger Saw — Hit the captive ball for various animations of a tiger cutting apart items with a circular saw.
  • Levitating Woman — Shoot the center ramp for increasing millions.
  • Trunk Escape — Shoot the Magic Trunk four times to break the chains of a locked trunk.
  • Spirit Cards — Shoot the inner loops/spinner to award increasing points per spin.
  • Safe Escape — Shoot the inner loops three times to unlock the safe.
  • Metamorphosis — Shoot the right ramp to transform the assistant to various animals and score increasing millions.
  • Strait Jacket — Hit the jet bumpers repeatedly to undo a buckle and escape a straitjacket as spiked walls close in.
  • Hat Magic — Shoot the Magic Trunk to see different items being produced from a hat.

Once all four objectives have been completed, the player can start Grand Finale by shooting either inner loop. The goal is to make 12 ramp, loop, or trunk shots within 60 seconds in order to spell MAGIC THEATRE; each shot awards 50 million, with a bonus of 500 million for completing the mode.

If the ball falls into the lock hole behind the Magic Trunk due to a weak inner loop shot before MAGIC has been completed, the player is credited with a "Secret Ball Lock" toward Theatre Multiball and any remaining letters are automatically lit to enable the next lock.

Repeated hits to a captive ball on the left side of the playfield enable a "Vanish Lock" on the left outer loop. Once the player has locked a ball here, the right outer loop can be shot to begin Tiger Saw Multiball, a two-ball mode in which hits to the captive ball award increasing points. If the player shoots the Vanish Lock and then begins Theatre Multiball, a total of four balls are put into play.

Two "Hocus Pocus" standup targets are located on the left edge of the playfield. Hitting either target activates a pair of magnetic ball savers, one at the top of each outlane. They remain active for 15 seconds or until a ball starts to drain, whichever occurs first, and will shift the ball back into the inlane when triggered.

There is a video mode which is digital pinball played on the display.^[4]

The game uses the DCS Sound System. Like many of the mid-90s Williams tables it was designed for both novice and expert players.^[5]

Reception

In a 2021 review for Pinball Mag, the game was awarded 8/10 with the gameplay, immersion of the theme, and sound particularly liked, with these factors rated at 9/10. The magic trunk was praised for being particularly inventive. The choice of video mode was questioned for not fitting with the theme of the game, and pointed out that something could have been done with rabbits and hats, or card throwing instead.^[6]

Digital versions

Theatre of Magic was released for The Pinball Arcade in 2012,^[7] but delisted on June 30, 2018 due to WMS license expiration.^[8]

It was available as part of Williams volume 3 for Pinball FX3 on March 19, 2019; with a remastered version released for Pinball FX on March 31, 2022.