Stern’s WrestleMania pinball has body slammed its way into Pinball Land! This game’s stand-out feature is an upper playfield that’s actually a miniature wrestling ring. Get the ball in the ring to challenge opponents, win title belts and become the champion! So, pull up your wrestling tights, tighten the turnbuckles, eat your vitamins and say your prayers – WrestleMania pinball is here!
Choose Your Wrestler
At the start of each game of WrestleMania pinball you get to choose your wrestler. You can choose between four different wrestlers: Daniel Bryan, The Rock, John Cena and Triple-H. Each wrestler gives specific bonuses which can be seen on the display.
While these bonuses are nice, the most important thing about choosing your wrestler is which entrance music you like the most! Your wrestler’s entrance music will play when you are actively involved in a match.
Get In The Ring!
The game begins with your first match already activated. Simply plunge the ball up the “ladder” to get it up to ring height. There, the ball will bounce on several posts in a long series of changeable lanes before dropping into the miniature wrestling ring below.
Fittingly, much of WrestleMania’s action takes place in the ring. You can manually activate the slingshots in the ring to launch your ball around! Look for the red light – that light marks the exact spot the “kicker” hits the ball.
When you’re in the ring, the goal is to fire the ball at the six stand-up targets, separated into two banks of three targets each. Completing these target banks performs moves against your opponent!
If the ball lands in any corner except the top corner, it will fly out of the ring in a variety of ways. You don’t need to worry about losing the match due to countout, so you can take your time outside the ring.
What’s it Going to Take to Put Him Away?
In addition to the stand-up targets, there is a scoop at the top corner of the ring. This scoop is used to pin your opponent. When the three arrows light up 1-2-3, if you hit this scoop, you will successfully pin your opponent.
Part of the fun of WrestleMania pinball is actually not pinning your opponent right away and instead “putting a match together.” Just like real pro wresting, the more antics performed during the match, the better it ends up being. In pinball terms, this makes the match worth more points when you finally get that three count.
To start your next match, complete the W-W-E drop target bank multiple times. You will know your next match is ready when the ring announcer kicks on your music and calls you to the ring.
Knock Out the Referee!
Being a pro wrestling referee is a much more dangerous job than they get credit for! They’re always getting knocked out cold so these diabolical wrestlers can get away with illegal, under-handed moves in the ring. The tradition of knocking out the ref continues in WrestleMania pinball!
Shoot for any lit “REF” shots to take a swing at the referee. Hit enough “REF” shots and you’ll knock the poor guy out, starting Referee Multiball! This is a good opportunity to rack up some points and perform some moves to get that pin bonus built up.
Tag Team Wrestling
The action really heats up when you call in your tag team partner for an assist! You can either aim for the slim “TAG” targets on the inside edges of each ramp, or hit them accidentally when you biff a ramp shot! Once you’ve hit them enough times, shoot the far-left “TAG TEAM” lane when the green TAG TEAM insert is lit to start Tag Team Multiball!
Tag Team Multiball calls in three more balls to create absolutely chaos on the playfield and in the ring! Do your best to keep the balls in play and score big points!
It’s Time for Your Debut!
There’s much more to learn in Stern’s WrestleMania pinball machine, but consider this your “training.” There’s still the Money in the Bank Skill Shot, top rope moves, plus all the various championship belts to earn!
WrestleMania pinball is a terrific game, especially for a hardcore wrestling fan. While the wrestling theme may not be for everyone, it’s the opinion of this pinball (and wrestling) fan that WrestleMania is one of the best executed themes in Stern’s entire lineup. Few other games have you “role playing” how WrestleMania does, and it’s quite a lot of fun, especially in a collection as large and varied as ours. We here at Pinball Land are proud to offer a beautiful example of WrestleMania pinball to our players!
Now, get out there, get some matches under your belt, and with a weird enough face and a lot of luck, you might just end up WWE champion!
