Voltan Escapes Cosmic Doom, released by Bally in 1979, is a solid-state pinball machine designed by George Christian, with striking artwork by Dave Christensen. Only 365 units were produced, making it one of Bally's rarest machines.
Shatz the #7 and #3 return lanes if possible, then UTAD through the spinners; shoot the #2, #5 and #8 targets if they’re the only ones you need.
Balanced
High
A poor choice for tournament play, but I’ve seen it used, so I include it. This game is bonus-heavy, unfortunately, given its layout. Bonus is built up by completing “planets” 1 through 9: the four top lanes, lower three stand-up targets and the two return lanes. End of ball bonus is 2K per planet. If you finish the planets, it holds 18K the first time as your “Jumbo” bonus and 36K the second time as your “Super” bonus, letting you get up to three sets of planets. Bonus multiplier is either 1X or 3X, rather unusual. Get 3X by completing A-B-C-D; A and B are the upper standup targets, C is either #4 top lane or #7 in the left return lane, D is either the #6 top lane or #3 in the right return lane. The return lanes, #7 and #3, are the catch. You need to either be lucky or able to shatz them in order to get more than 42K in bonus. (42K is 14K for 7 planets #’s 1,2,4,5,6,8,9 times 3X for ABCD.) But if you finish the planets three times and have 3X, your bonus is 162K. That’s a huge difference, and largely luck-driven due to the return lanes. That’s why I’m not a fan of this as a competition game. Getting the 1-3-7-9 planets light the two outlanes for 50K, making the machine’s luck-boxness even worse. If you get the return lanes on ball one, you can get up to 150K from outlane drains. If you never get them, you get 3K for three outlane drains. Finishing the four top lanes 1-4-6-9 raises their value to 5K each thereafter. Getting A and B lights the spinner. Strategy, such as it is, is UTAD through the spinners, lit or not, and only shoot at the #2, #5 or #8 targets when they’re all you need to complete a set of planets. Shatz #3 and #7 if you can, but if you’re not good at shatzing, stick with UTAD. Bottom line if you have to play it is pray you can shatz the two return lanes, otherwise you’ll likely have to be luckier than your opponents to win.
via Bob's Guide
On the floor at 2 locations
Podcasts, videos, and articles from the community that mention Voltan Escapes Cosmic Doom.
Dave and George welcome Tommy Skinner from This Flippin Podcast to discuss his acquisition and restoration of this very rare Bally SS game.
