Jurassic Park Pinball for Dummies
- Ashley Burke
- 8 hours ago
- 4 min read
Introduction
Back in 2019, when Jurassic Park was first released, Timezone on Courtenay Place had one tucked away in the corner, squeezed between the window and a Rabbids VR rollercoaster experience. It was there that I first played what is now regarded as one of the greatest pinball machines of all time.
Jurassic Park was Keith Elwin's follow-up to his debut pin, Iron Maiden, released the year before. I fell in love with Iron Maiden after a single game, so I expected Jurassic Park to do the same.
It didn't.
January 2020 rolled around, and I attended my first New Zealand Pinball Championship. Jurassic Park was one of the twelve machines in the tournament.
Now I actually had to learn the game.
I watched tutorial videos, studied the shot map, and tried to understand the rules, but nothing seemed to stick. Combine that with a layout I couldn't shoot to save my life, and I was convinced this game sucked.
Fast forward a few years.
Jurassic Park is now a regular fixture at venues across Wellington and a staple of local pinball tournaments. These days I'm a confident Jurassic Park player, and I can happily say that this game is sick!
If you've ever stepped up to Jurassic Park during a tournament and thought, "I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing," then this guide is for you.
Welcome to my Jurassic Park for Dummies tournament strategy.
There are plenty of ways to approach Jurassic Park, and I'm sure there are more optimised strategies out there.
This is simply my "comfort" strategy.
Will it beat the highest-ranked player in your city?
Probably not.
Will it give you a great chance of finishing second or better in a four-player group?
I reckon!
Raptor Tri-Ball
The Raptor Pit is located on the lower-left side of the playfield. It varies slightly depending on which version of Jurassic Park you're playing, but I'll be focusing on the Pro model. Thankfully, the overall strategy remains across all versions.
The Raptor Pit is a unique shot. The main shot is buried between targets that are all angled toward each other, creating interesting ricochets and opportunities for ball control.
Threading the ball between the second and third targets sends it into the back of the pit, where it feeds out through the Control Room entrance on the left. This is great for practicing a live catches.
You can shoot the pit from either flipper, although I'd argue it's slightly safer to backhand it from the left.
At the start of game, your objective is pretty straight forward.
Repeatedly bash the raptor pit.
Eventually the shot through the pit will light blue to start the second phase.
Now you're only a few shots away from the whole pit flashing!
Hold on!
Have you started a paddock yet?
If not, do that before starting multiball.
Shoot the lit white shots to spell MAP. Once completed, the left ramp starts a paddock, which lights Rescue shots around the playfield.
Having these lit before starting Raptor Tri-Ball is incredibly useful because you can collect them while multiball is running.
Now you're ready! One more shot up the raptor pit to start Raptor Tri-Ball.
Quick Summary
Bash the Raptor Pit until multiball starts. Before you begin it, make sure you've started a paddock.
Jackpot Time
Phase One - Red shots
At the start of Raptor Tri-Ball, only two jackpots are available:
Left Ramp
Right "A" Ramp
Collect both to begin the CHAOS phase.
Phase Two - Chaos letters
This is where most players fall short.
To progress, you need to collect all five CHAOS shots.
C - Control Room
H - Left Ramp
A - Right Ramp
O - Right Orbit
S - Right Return Ramp
Complete all five to reach the Super Jackpot phase.
Phase Three - Super Jackpots
This is where the big points are.
The game rewards you for completing CHAOS by adding three balls into play, along with a short ball save.
Just like the first phase, only two jackpots are lit:
Right "A" Ramp (2X)
Upper Loop (3X)
Even better, every jackpot in this phase is multiplied by the number of balls currently in play.
Technically there's a fourth phase after this...
...but if you've reached this point, you've probably already demolished your opponents.
One final tip: hitting enough Raptor Pit targets lights the centre pit shot for 2× Jackpots for 15 seconds. This isn't a priority, but handy to know.
What if I mess up?
You're all good, no need to worry.
It's super common to finish multiball and still have little points on the board.
Time to visit the Control Room!
There are several ways to light the Control Room. The most common are collecting enough Raptor jackpots or completing Rescue shots from your paddocks.
By bringing a paddock into raptor tri-ball, you should be close to having two control rooms available.
Control Room
The Control Room shot sits to the left of the Raptor Pit.
When it's lit during single-ball play, shooting it will stop the ball and let you choose one of three timed modes:
Virus Attack
Restore Power
System Boot
You can't choose the same mode twice. Each one lights a series of blue shots around the playfield.
There's no real "wrong" choice, but I would recommend Restore Power. One shot up the middle will light every other shot in the game.
Control Room modes can't be stacked with each other, but they can be stacked with paddocks and multiballs.
What if I mess that up to?
It happens!
If you've seriously played through raptor multiball, started a couple control rooms and still have next to nothing on the board. Don't give up.
Go back to bashing the Raptor Pit.
Or start collecting the CHAOS letters.
Or shoot the truck to light multiball on the left ramp.
By this point, though, you should hopefully have built a healthy score and be sitting ahead of most of your opponents.
Why This Strategy works
This strategy works for players that don't want to learn a deep rule set, and want to play a safer medium scoring game.
This cuts out the fluff and teaches you how to start a multiball and how to start a mode.
Try it For Yourself
Jurassic Park is on the shoppe floor at Ye Olde Pinball Shoppe.