Welcome To Kyle's Pinball Blog

Well it's May again at the Man Cave and time for another great pinball review. May's table is one that I've longed to put up, even though its Spook-tacular trappings might be better suited for October's Halloween scene. With that said, this ghoulish offering comes from the "Mistress of the Dark" herself, Elvira, and her 1996 Bally machine, "Scared Stiff."

Scared Stiff

IPD No. 3915 / September, 1996

Players: 4

Manufacturer: Midway Manufacturing Company, a subsidiary of WMS Industries, Incorporated,
of Chicago, Illinois, USA (1988-1999) [Trade Name: Bally]

Model Number: 50048
Common Abbreviations: SS
MPU: Williams WPC-95

Type: Solid State Electronic (SS)
Production: 4,028 units (confirmed)

Theme: Licensed Theme - Celebrities - Horror
Specialty: Mechanical Backbox Animation
Notable Features:
- Flippers (2)
- Pop bumpers (3)
- Mechanical backbox animation (spider spins around when ball falls into playfield trap. Pressing a flipper button stops the spider and awards the indicated feature).
Design by: Dennis Nordman, Mark Weyna
Art by: Greg Freres
Dots/Animation by: Adam Rhine, Brian Morris
Mechanics by: Win Schilling, Bob Brown, Joe Loveday
Sound by: Paul Heitsch, Dave Zabriskie
Software by: Mike Boon, Cameron Silver
Notes: Game features Elvira, the "sexiest vamp this side of Transylvania".

Factoids: The Skull Pile in the upper right corner of playfield did not have light-up eyes in production games. Any games that have LED's in the skull eyes have had this done after-factory. Dancing boogeymen kickers are also an after-factory modification.

Marketing Slogans: "So fun, It's Scary!" and "Elvira has the features that turn players on."

Scared Stiff is the second game to feature Elvira, Mistress of the Dark. Her first pinball machine, Elvira and the Party Monsters, was so popular that Bally decided to make another Elvira themed game. Scared Stiff is a beautifully haunting machine. The cabinet features a crate with a mystery monster, in the backbox there's a spider that rotates and is used to select modes in the game. The playfield is adorned with very bright colors, a skeleton ramp, a coffin, a laboratory and all the spooky trappings worthy of Elvira's attention.

Gameplay

I find Scared Stiff to be one of the easier machines to play. In my opinion, there is not enough change in gameplay or variation in modes and scoring. There are 6 modes you have to complete, or the "Six Tales of Terror:"

- Terror from the crate
- The Monsters Lab
- Night of the Leapers
- Return of the Deadheads
- Eye of the Boney Beast
- Stiff in the Coffin

The drawback, most only require a few well timed, strategic, or accurate shots to complete. Once a player collects all these modes, an 'easy' wizard mode starts: Scared Stiff. In this mode the player must try to get the stiff-o-meter to 10. My main complaint with the game is that the left orbit is too important. For three of the six modes players have to complete, each needs to make the left orbit shot - both to lock balls and to reach the deadheads - although a player can similarly accomplish this task by shooting to the right of the crate to reach the laboratory. In contrast, the other shots needed - the ramps and crate - are wide and easy to land. For a real challenge, I suggest trying to complete all the backbox modes, which will start the wizard Mode for experienced players. But if you do so be prepared, you will probably tire of shooting the right saucer over and over.

Granted, this is likely the way the game was designed, aimed at more casual or novice players. It's an incredibly fun table to play, though, and is certainly recommended. For more experienced players or those seeking complex variations of gameplay, again, you may tire of the tedium of placing shot after shot in the same areas just to gain access to the next play mode. I would add, though, that trying to get a high score by keeping multiballs running for a long time and scoring multiple jackpots is a great way to enjoy this creepy cabinet.