"Get me outta here!"

FIRE! the pinball machine from Williams is one of my favorite pinball tables. It was my introduction to learning the rules of pinball, rather than just trying to stay alive and keep the ball from the drain. There are "missions" to accomplish to further the story of the game. This was new to me when I encountered this table at the Lion's Lair in the early 1990s. Also attrative to me was the idea that I could compete against my pals and if they weren't there I could practice and possibly learn something before them. I played FIRE! last week, there isn't one near me so I only get to play it once a year at the Pinball Showdown here in Denver. It's different than most tables from a layout perspective as it's symmetrical (not typical in pinball) and has no pop bumpers (the round bits that jump the ball around when they are touched). For these reasons it gets a lot of criticism from the pinball community, the artwork and theme seem to keep it popular but as far as the layout and play it gets roasted. The table is unforgiving, there is not an easy shot on the table and the pop up fire hydrant is intermitent and based on hitting shots around the center post. There is an audio warning when it drops, but if you're playing out the noise of the bar can obscure this. The big shot in the game is after locking two balls the firemen raise the ladder to the window in the center to "save" the balls trapped in the burning buildings and achieve multiball. It's not a terribly deep game as far as rules go and multible is really as far as you can go but it very fun when you can hit it.