Rescue Mission: Stern Jurassic Park Pinball Tutorial

After the success of Iron Maiden in 2018, professional player-turned-Stern playfield designer Keith Elwin was assigned his next machine, a Jurassic Park table utilizing minimal assets from the film and instead telling an original story that took place during the film’s aftermath. This would be the third pinball machine based on the series after a Data East table (also called Jurassic Park) based on the film when it was brand new, and a SEGA table (Lost World) based on the film’s first sequel. Of the three tables, while I have a soft spot for the Data East table, the Stern table is widely loved and recognized as one of the best modern pinball machines.

For the longest time, while I liked the rules progression of Stern Jurassic Park, the layout never really clicked for me. But as of late I’ve gotten into this machine something fierce and want to provide as much knowledge as I can for people wanting to give this table a shot, especially seeing that it’s been used in more and more tournaments. Just remember, this table has a steep learning curve and can be very unforgiving, but Jurassic Park truly shines when it gets going.

About Stern’s Jurassic Park Pinball Machine

• Manufacturer: Stern Pinball
• Year: 2019
• Design: Keith Elwin
• Code: Keith Elwin, Rick Naegele
• Mechanics: Harrison Drake
• Art: Jonathan Bergeron (Johnny Crap)
• Animation: Chuck Ernst
• Music / Sound: Jerry Thompson

Jurassic Park Playfield Overview

The layout of Stern’s Jurassic Park features a wide mix of shots close to and far from the flippers. Two of the closest shots are on the left side of the playfield: the “C” target, or control room shot, and the raptor pen targets. The control room shot is best hit from a cradle from the right flipper, but the raptor pen can be hit from either flipper. A shot to the direct center of the raptor pen is required to lock balls and start raptor tri-ball, and on some copies this difficult shot is best approached as a backhand from a left flipper cradle.

The truck toy was designed to provide “kinetic satisfaction”, one of the top priorities for Keith Elwin in all his designs and impacts the game in many ways. Depending on which way the truck is facing, the player will advance to different paddocks, either smart missile or super spinner will be available at the inlanes, and the shot path of the “O” shot will change. The truck also advances the player towards T-Rex events (and is used prominently during those modes). Behind the truck are arguably the two most important targets in the game, the “set trap” targets. Indicated by flashing yellow lights, these targets are required to capture dinosaurs beyond the first paddock of a game, and your best bet will be to sneak past the truck shot and hit whichever target is flashing, ideally with backhand shots.

Getting Started with Jurassic Park Pinball

• White arrows spell MAP. When MAP is completed, hit the left ramp to start a paddock. First hit the *red* rescue shots, then the *yellow* set trap targets / helipad, then the *green* dinosaur moving around the playfield.
• Collect rescues (red shots during paddocks) to light the inlanes for super spinner (right) or smart missile (left) depending on where the truck is positioned. When smart missile activates, use the action button to select an award and then hit the amber mine target to collect it. Top priorities are clear paddock, +5 rescues and raptor multiball.
• Control room modes are lit in several ways but the quickest by capturing your first dinosaur. Hit the “C” shot to start. In order of preference: system boot > restore power > virus attack.
• Hit the truck to start feed T-Rex hurry-up (shoot the orange shots to build value then the left ramp to collect it). Collecting the hurry-up starts a multiball where the hurry-up award is the jackpot. Hit the jackpots from left to right to maximize scoring from this multiball.
• After T-Rex multiball has been played, T-Rex events can be lit at the left ramp in the same way. In order of preference: rampage > encounter > chase.
• Spell CHAOS (in order, from left to right) to light the amber mine target for chaos multiball. Hit the truck to change which side of the playfield scores jackpots. Amber mine target scores super jackpot, and bumpers countdown to add-a-balls.
• Hit the raptor pen enough times for raptor tri-ball. Left and right ramps are jackpots, then spell CHAOS for mini jackpots. Spelling CHAOS starts 6-ball multiball and lights the right ramp and upper loop for super jackpots.
• Purple targets (two “set trap” targets and the one between the upper loop and side ramp) light the supply drop target below the tower ramp. Supply drop scores a mystery award and lights the 2x scoring target below the helipad. Upper loop shots can upgrade this to a super supply drop, which gives a super mode where determined shots score the amber value that was built up by bumper hits.
• Four right ramp shots start pteranodon attack. All switch hits add to a value that can be collected at the right ramp and multiplied as more and more switches are tallied up.
• Escape – lit at the left outlane by default, roll through the switch near the bumpers and hit the bottom left target to light. Nedry – hit the 2x scoring target enough times to light at right outlane.

Skill Shots

Navigating the Map

Paddocks / Capturing Dinosaurs

Smart Missile / Super Spinner

Control Room Modes

There are three modes that can be started from the “C” target when control room is lit, and four different ways to qualify the control room:

• Capture your first dinosaur (easy)
• Score a jackpot in Raptor Tri-Ball (medium)
• Spell CHAOS twice in one game (medium)
• Make 15 tower ramp shots (hard)

• Virus Attack: Most shots are lit blue to score 3M + 1M per shot, up to 5M for subsequent shots. Hitting one shot lights the control room to score 10M + the total of the prior shots. Repeat three times to complete. This is an alright mode but tends to be overshadowed by the other two control room modes for good reason.
• Restore Power: Rip the spinner to light all major shots for 3M + 50k per spin, multiplied by the number of unique shots made. Make every shot once to complete. Once overlooked due to low scoring, this mode was buffed in a recent code update and can now be substantial if played with either Chaos or Raptor multiball.
• System Boot: Combo mode – hit either the left ramp, spinner, or helipad to set up a combo at an opposing shot. Make one combo from all three places to light the “C” target to complete. You’ll see tournament players pick this mode a lot as it scores quite a bit for just a few lit shots. Great pick during single-ball play.

T-Rex Events / T-Rex Multiball

• T-Rex Chase: The T-Rex is gaining on you! Alternate between the orange shots and the truck to shift gears, with orange shots hit immediately after a truck shot scoring 2x. Make five unique orange shots, hitting the lit truck four times in the process, to complete. Great to stack with Chaos multiball but risky in single-ball play.
• T-Rex Encounter: Rescue the employees from the T-Rex’s clutches by hitting the truck to evacuate, then alternating between the left ramp and any orange shot, which increase in scoring depending on their difficulty. Make six orange shots to complete. Good single-ball mode and relatively easy to complete, if low-value.
• T-Rex Rampage: Hit the left or right ramp, then shoot either the helipad or tower ramp to light the left ramp for 10M + 5M per left ramp shot, multiplied by either 2x or 3x respectively. Repeat 3 times to complete, but the sequence can be repeated as many times as possible before time runs out. This mode can be massive if the player is consistent at nailing the left ramp to helipad combo and is my top priority.

My order of preference: Rampage > Encounter > Chase

Chaos Multiball

Raptor Tri-Ball

Supply Drop, 2x Scoring, and Amber Modes

Pteranodon Attack

Outlane Ball Saves (Escape / Nedry)

Noah’s Strategies

• “O” shot making you say “oh, my”? Try aiming for the light brown area above the Jurassic Park logo, from a cradle. This should hopefully make this difficult shot less of a pain.
• Stick to the edges of the map if you’re playing competitively and shoot the truck wisely. The edges of the map make it far easier to get to the visitor center than the center of the map. Keep track of your current location before hitting the truck outside of a paddock, and remember to cradle up whenever possible.
• Smart missile supremacy. Mastering the shot into the amber mine can bridge the gap between your score and an opponent on progression alone. To best nail the amber mine shot, aim for the *second* ball anchoring the entrance to the bumpers.
• Modes, modes, modes. Control Room or T-Rex, they’re all worth going for and completing for massive scores, especially with the clutch 2x scoring from the far right target. After completing my first paddock, my top priority will always be to head to the control room to start system boot, followed by starting T-Rex multiball with enough truck hits.
•  While chaos multiball is fine and a good utility multiball to play alongside the rest of the game, I find raptor tri-ball to be worth playing even without any currently ongoing modes. I find backhands to the raptor pen targets to be more consistent and less deadly than hitting them from the right flipper. This multiball is also a great time to break out the 2x scoring.