Medieval Madness Advanced Strategy Guide
by Keith Elwin
kme1@home.com
website: http://members.home.net/kme1
This one is for people who are good players (who wants to do better)
and who are familiar with this game. I assume you know what the basics
are. This is text version. a HTML version is available at the webaddress
above.
This is my personal favorite game. Dan Forden's sound is some of the
best around.
Post pass: difficult
Loop pass: easy
Deathsave: yes
Ball control tips:
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Right exit from jets: Thanks to the gate on the right loop, holding
the r.flipper as the ball comes down should trap it at the r.flipper.
At worst it will bounce over to the l.flipper. Either way getting
control of the ball from here is easy. DONT hit the ball directly from
the jet exit, always try to stop it.
Left exit from moat/castle: With a simple slap or bump to the left
flipper button area as the ball is rolling down the left orbit, the
ball will go to the middle of the l.flipper. From here you can either
hold the l.flipper and catch and hold the ball or let the ball just
hit the l.flipper in the down position where it will bounce off the
r.flipper, go up a couple of inches and be caught and held by the
r.flipper.
The left ramp: A half-assed shot up the left ramp will bring the ball
to the base of the r.flipper. This is a perfect time to do a drop
catch. (hold flipper up until a split second before the ball hits then
let go), from here you can take a nice controlled shot at any of the
left side shots.
Troll standups: These vital targets are also death shots. For best
results aim to graze these targets when aiming for the castle or lock.
Never directly aim for these standups.
Loop passes: Loop passes are critical in this game. Loop pass is just
like drop catch but with the ball heading towards the tip of the
flipper instead of the base. Shooting a loop (joust orbit) and holding
that flipper up until just as the ball is gonna hit it on the way back
down will slow the ball considerably and place it right on the
opposite flipper. Trying to shoot the loops on the fly is death.
Scoring tips:
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To start I prefer to work on the troll target/castle hit/lock shots.
Aim for the very edges of the troll standups while working on castle
shots. repeat until you are down to 1 or 2 troll hits to light trolls.
You can try to rely on merlin to give you start trolls, but Merlin is
an ass and usually doesnt.
When you are down to 1 or 2 troll hits then start working on
peseant/damsel/catapult/joust. Try to get all to 1 more hit to light
madness. Then finish getting trolls lit. Once all madnesses are lit
then shoot merlin. Now finish off trolls during the madness multiball.
TIP: aim for the right side of the left troll to obtain troll bombs if
it deflects into merlin.
Multiball Madness: Ahh yes that double super is tempting at the lock
shot, but is also dangerous. For consistant good scores during MM aim
for the left ramp then shoot the right ramp. This will keep the ball
at the top of the playfield as well as building your bonus X and
superjets.
Royal Madness: It is important to kill the left troll first. Not only
to open up the lock shot jackpot spot but also to get this deathshot
out of the way while ballsave is lit. Keep the right troll standing,
especially if you have a troll bomb. A troll bomb will be your
insurance policy in case time runs out you can use it to reset the
timer back to 20. If the only shot you have left is the catapult and
you cant get the ball under control or a hold, aim for the lock and
spot it since this is an easier shot to hit on the fly than the
catapult.
Battle for the kingdom: TIP: if you have battle/kingdom lit, try to
start a royal madness first. Then shoot the castle to start BFTK. You
will get credit for completing royal madness without making a single
shot. The same applies to barnyard multiball but is much tougher to
light. Hopefully you have 2 troll bombs for the finale, otherwise
shooting the castle is a tough chore.
Victory laps: here is a chance at some big points. Shoot the left ramp
to start victory laps, hold the l.flipper up to pass the ball back to
the r.flipper. repeat. If done right you can max out the vic.laps at
2mil and have a hell of a hurryup going at the castle.
Video mode: stay with the center baby. if the baby on either side gets
abducted the raven(?) will fly towards the center where it can easily
be kill with a slight movement to that side. I once completed the
video mode simply by standing in the middle and not moving. But you
don't want to do that cuz its BORING!
Tournament Strategy:
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None to speak of. This game is so well balanced there is nothing to
"rape". For quick points when you have nothing lit then the repetitive
left ramp shot to build up the hurry-ups. 1mil,3mil,5.5mil,8mil ect.
I've had it up to 80 something million but failed to collect.
