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As pinball’s popularity increased in the early 90s, a new company was interested in joining the fold. GameStar – aka Capcom Coin-Op – was founded as a joint venture with Capcom’s US and Japan divisions, and Romstar, a video game distributor known for their arcade ports. The company hired former Williams pinball talent like Mark Ritchie, Python Anghelo, and Bill Pfutzenreuter to help out with their game design. After two years of preparation, Capcom would release their first pinball machine, Pinball Magic, at the tail end of 1995; coincidentally around the same time, Bally would release Theatre of Magic to more widespread acclaim and location play.
Pinball Magic is a unique pinball machine, not only for its gimmicks – some of which have never been attempted in a pinball machine before or since – but also for its linear rules compared to other tables of the era. Scoring on the game is largely dependent on completing tricks assigned by Matra Magna’s cabal of magicians, awarding increasing points for each set of seven tricks completed. The table also features two types of multiball or “magic mayhem”, a 2-ball multiball best used as a utility multiball, and a 3-ball multiball that should be used to build and collect as many jackpots as possible.
While the machine tries to communicate which shots correspond to which tricks, both visually and with audio callouts if the player is taking too long, the communication on Pinball Magic is a sore point of the machine and one I hope to rectify with this guide. I plan to discuss all 21 tricks and briefly discuss magic mayhem & the captive ball rules, both of which can help with scoring.
An ancient magician named Matra Magna, alongside her Society of Masters, has taken control of this pinball machine. Players must test their skills against the Society for a chance to defeat Magna herself.
Learn more about Capcom's Pinball Magic on the Kineticist pinball directory.
Shots on Pinball Magic are equally split between the top and bottom halves of the playfield. At the very far left is the “genie bottle” kickout. Similarly to the lost mine kickout on White Water, this kickout ejects the ball very quickly to the right flipper. Your best bet for survival out of this kickout is to hold up the right flipper, or dead bounce off the flipper and hope for the best. Above the green “extra ball” target flanking the kickout is the morph chamber 3-bank. Completing these standup targets, which change inserts with left flipper presses, will light the left outlane kickback if unlit, and light the lock if lock isn’t already lit.
The left ramp has three different paths the ball can head down, thanks to Matra Magna’s magic wand diverter. The default path sends the ball flying to the right flipper, but if lock is lit, the ramp will divert to the trunk above the “genie bottle” to lock balls; and if silence the critics is available, the ramp will divert to their balcony. Right of the left ramp is a unique, “glowing” captive ball that must be sent up a ramp to collect the currently lit award from bottom to top. The captive ball can be hit from either flipper but is safest from the right flipper.
“Loop 1” is the left loop, in a similar position to Deadpool’s center loop, and can be hit from either flipper, while “Loop 2” is the right loop and the inverse of the same shot. Between these two loops are the MAGIC drop targets, which increase the bonus multiplier and light lock at the left ramp when completed; and the showtime stage, represented by a pair of moving doors with a single pop bumper below them. Typically, the ball will be sent into the bumper area upon shooting the showtime stage, but if the stage is lit (either for trick or by hitting the stage 4 times in a ball), the ball will float onto the default left ramp exit towards the right flipper.
The shots on the right side of the playfield are some of the toughest in the game but there are ways to handle shooting them. Beneath the hat where skill shots are collected is a sinkhole, used to start magic mayhem when flashing. Shots to this sinkhole can sometimes brick out, so mastery of the plunge is required to hit the sinkhole reliably. Just below the sinkhole is Nostradamus’ “color match” target. Each magician has a certain color of trick as seen on the playfield, and if the target is hit with that color flashing, 1M + 1M per match is scored. This target is ignorable for the most part but is very prominent during the penultimate “presto changeo” trick; your best bet will be to either collect “advance trick” off the captive ball or make late flips off the left flipper and try to recover with well-timed nudges and ball control.
At the start of the game, you’ll be prompted to plunge the ball into the hat for skill shot. DON’T DO THIS. The first trick of the game is at the left loop, and with a strong plunge, you can complete this first trick at the left loop without a single flip!
Otherwise, the skill shot alternates at the start of each ball. For instance, in a 3-ball game balls 1 and 3 will have the skill shot at the hat for 5M; and ball 2 will light the spinner at the left loop for 100k a spin. If you have magic mayhem lit, your priority should always be plunging for the hat to start it.
There are six members of Matra Magna’s Society of Masters. Over the course of the game, each member will assign a trick to you, which you accomplish by making whatever shot (or set of shots) they want you to make, or by collecting “advance trick” from the captive ball. Completing six tricks will enable access to a more difficult seventh trick for Magna herself. There are three total sets of tricks; so, 20 tricks before you can take on Magna’s wand.
The tricks, and sets, are given in the same order every game.
Once all three sets have been completed, the trick sequence resets from the start of set 1, with slight increases to the difficulty of earlier tricks.
You can also complete tricks by shooting the captive ball until “advance trick” is lit. This award instantly completes the current trick and moves onto the next one and is my preferred method of completing the Presto-Changeo trick in set 3. Captive ball shots can be dangerous, however, and are best attempted while magic mayhem is running for safety. "Advance trick" will also not give credit for Silence the Critics or Triple Power Play, as Matra Magna expects better from you...
Silence the Critics, the final trick of the first trick set, is infamous for giving players a lot of trouble – the timing for dropping the ball into the balcony is very tough to find. The strategy I’ve found to best handle them is to press the right flipper and drop the ball “one ball’s length” away from the second critic. Doing this with the first critic I find to be less reliable.
If you can’t reliably silence the critics, and you need to beat an opponent’s score, then your best bet will be to change strategies from trick sets entirely. Try going for 3-ball magic mayhem earlier during the first set of tricks and building up the jackpot. You could also try going for the captive ball and collecting “advance trick” to bypass silence the critics, but this requires five dangerous captive ball shots.
The captive ball might look like a dangerous shot but can lead to substantial points and progression. To collect awards the player must hit the captive ball once to start the award flashing, then again within 10 seconds to collect the award. You can also “chain” captive ball awards by hitting the captive ball within 10 seconds of the previous award. The award sequence only resets once the ball drains, or a lit extra ball has been scored.
Awards are given in the following order:
The trunk above the left scoop is where balls are locked for mini / magic mayhem, or multiball. To light the lock at the left ramp, complete either the morph chamber targets on the left side, or MAGIC drop targets on the right side of the playfield. The right sinkhole will start mini mayhem 2-ball multiball if only one ball is locked, or magic mayhem 3-ball multiball if 2 balls are locked. Send the ball into the hat off of the plunge to start it instantly!
During magic mayhem, get under control as quickly as possible (no ball save here!) by shooting the released balls from the trunk towards the stage, and holding up the right flipper to deflect the released ball from the left scoop. From here, light the jackpot at the left ramp by shooting the right loop. The jackpot starts at 20M and is locked to this value during 2-ball mini mayhem, but during 3-ball play, the right loop continuously increases the jackpot by 10M up to 90M per jackpot! You can then start subsequent 2-ball mini mayhems with the built-up jackpot value.
Depending on the copy, a good way to handle the feed off the lit jackpot ramp could be to hold the right flipper, slowing the ball down, and then making a reflex flip to the right loop to relight the jackpot. Of course, you can also cradle the ball on the right flipper and hit the right loop from the left flipper.
The outlanes on Pinball Magic are vicious and lighting the kickback can help negate them. The kickback is exclusive to the left outlane, and if it isn’t lit, it should be relit right away by completing the morph chamber left target bank. These targets will also light lock for you when completed.
I like to view the kickback on this game like the corner kick on World Cup Soccer. Lighting it isn’t the most fun thing in the world on a table full of fun shots, but it’s essential for survival. Progressing towards magic mayhem is a nice bonus alongside lighting the kickback, too.
In case you read the whole guide, congrats! Try entering the following initials for pictures, sounds, and other treats from the people who worked on the game: SAM, DIO, DAN, PFZ, JEF, C G, BRY, BWL, NTD.
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