Volley and Spin Out

Volley and Spin Out are hard games. The ball is travelling much slower than on Medieval Madness, but that doesn’t really help when the gap between the flippers is two balls wide. The slower speed and increased risk makes these older games a great opportunity to perfect your aim and learn to recognize which shots are dangerous.

Spin Out

Front and center on Spin Out is a “roto-target” which is spun by various targets around the playfield. Hitting a number on the roto-target will light the corresponding number on the playfield, and getting four in a row earns a free game!

But since these machines are on free-play, that’s not all that exciting.

How do we maximize points on this machine? Instead of focusing on the numbers, the A, B, C, and D roll-over lanes at the top are the key. There are four shots around the playfield that will become lit by going through the corresponding lettered roll-over lane. In addition to lighting a new shot with every new roll-over, points for all lit shots will be increased. The same rules apply to the saucer, but as we’ll discuss later, the saucer is a really dangerous shot.

Volley

Points in Volley are primarily scored by hitting the 15 colored drop targets around the playfield. Each target is worth 500 points, or 5000 if you light the bank by going through the matching colored roll-over lane at the top. To maximize your score, try going through all three roll-over lanes at the top before focusing on the drop targets.

Aim is paramount though, because an EM can only count one target at a time. If you hit two at once you’ll only score points for one of them.

Assessing Risk

Both of these games place valuable shots straight in front of the flippers. While it’s enticing to shoot for the numbers or the saucer on Spin Out, those shots are very likely to send the ball straight down the drain. Similarly on Volley, the yellow targets are all very risky and have a high likelihood of rebounding the ball between the flippers.

Noticing risky shots and attempting to minimize their use is critical to high scores. On Volley, shoot for the blue and green targets first, leaving yellow for last. When shooting a risky center shot like the yellow drop targets, try back-handing them.

Back-handing means hitting a shot on the playfield from the flipper on the same side (like hitting a shot on the left side of the playfield with your left flipper). Notice how the blue line hits the target and then returns the ball to almost exactly the same place on the flipper? Compare that to the green line, which sends the ball out of control and down the drain.

A back-hand shot happens earlier on the flipper, and is often a safer shot. Give it a try, and experiment with when you flip, noting where the ball goes and how safe the shot was.