High Speed
Encyclopedia
High Speed is a 1986 pinball
game designed by Steve Ritchie
and released by Williams Electronics
. This game was based on Ritchie's real-life police chase inside a 1979 Porsche 928
.. He was finally caught in Lodi, CA on Interstate 5 and accused of speeding at 146 mph..
During its design, High Speed was jokingly called "High Cost" by some rival Williams designers due to its then-high production cost. The advances in the mechanical design that went into High Speed, coupled with the machine's popularity, led to many machines being kept in service much longer than was previously the norm. The play surfaces of the machine were not initially given as much attention, leading to many High Speed machines seeing service to this day in extremely worn condition. Williams rapidly addressed this issue by making mylar playfield covers available and later adding hard clear paint coats to their playfields.
High Speed was one of the games (along with 1986's Pin*Bot and 1984's Space Shuttle) that helped revitalized the pinball industry, which had become stagnant due in part to the North American video game crash of 1983.
Notable pinball designer Pat Lawlor
and pinball programmer Dwight Sullivan stated that High Speed is one of their favorite games.
, the game also featured some new pinball innovations.
; Tradewest
published the game, which is also called High Speed
, in 1991.
Pinball
Pinball is a type of arcade game, usually coin-operated, where a player attempts to score points by manipulating one or more metal balls on a playfield inside a glass-covered case called a pinball machine. The primary objective of the game is to score as many points as possible...
game designed by Steve Ritchie
Steve Ritchie
Steven Scott Ritchie is an acclaimed pinball and video game designer. He has been called "The Master of Flow" by pinball aficionados due to the emphasis in his designs on ball speed, loops, and the like....
and released by Williams Electronics
Williams (gaming company)
WMS Industries, Inc. is an American electronic gaming and amusement company based in Waukegan, Illinois. The company's main operating subsidiaries are WMS Gaming and Orion Gaming. WMS traces its roots as far back as 1943, the Williams Manufacturing Company, founded by Harry E. Williams...
. This game was based on Ritchie's real-life police chase inside a 1979 Porsche 928
Porsche 928
The Porsche 928 was a sports-GT car sold by Porsche AG of Germany from 1978 to 1995. Originally intended to replace the company's iconic 911, the 928 attempted to combine the power, poise, and handling of a sports car with the refinement, comfort, and equipment of a luxury sedan to create what some...
.. He was finally caught in Lodi, CA on Interstate 5 and accused of speeding at 146 mph..
During its design, High Speed was jokingly called "High Cost" by some rival Williams designers due to its then-high production cost. The advances in the mechanical design that went into High Speed, coupled with the machine's popularity, led to many machines being kept in service much longer than was previously the norm. The play surfaces of the machine were not initially given as much attention, leading to many High Speed machines seeing service to this day in extremely worn condition. Williams rapidly addressed this issue by making mylar playfield covers available and later adding hard clear paint coats to their playfields.
Notable features
The game was noted for the following firsts:- First pinball to play a complete song
- First Williams pinball game to use alpha-numeric displays
- First diverter in a pinball
- First "Kick-Big" (kicker and scoop) in a pinball
- First use of Auto Percentaging (for replay scores)
- First "Jackpot" in a pinball, during multi-ball
- First Jackpot that carried over between games
Reception
High Speed sold 17,080 units.High Speed was one of the games (along with 1986's Pin*Bot and 1984's Space Shuttle) that helped revitalized the pinball industry, which had become stagnant due in part to the North American video game crash of 1983.
Notable pinball designer Pat Lawlor
Pat Lawlor
Patrick M. Lawlor is a video game and pinball machine designer.Lawlor's pinball career began as an engineer for Williams in 1987, when he co-designed a dual-playfield machine called Banzai Run with Larry DeMar. Pat Lawlor had previously been a video game designer and had entered the coin-operated...
and pinball programmer Dwight Sullivan stated that High Speed is one of their favorite games.
Sequel
A sequel to this pinball was released by Ritchie in 1992. Called The Getaway: High Speed IIThe Getaway: High Speed II
The Getaway: High Speed II is a 1992 pinball game by Steve Ritchie. It is a sequel to 1986's popular High Speed.The Getaway is almost identical to its predecessor, with the following changes:*Dot-matrix display...
, the game also featured some new pinball innovations.
Video game
Rare Ltd. adapted High Speed into a video game for the Nintendo Entertainment SystemNintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986 and Australia in 1987...
; Tradewest
Tradewest
Tradewest is a now-defunct American video game company based in Corsicana, Texas that produced numerous games in the 1980s and early 1990s. The company is best known as the publisher of the Battletoads and Double Dragon series in North America and the PAL region.The Tradewest name was revived in...
published the game, which is also called High Speed
High Speed (video game)
High Speed is a pinball simulation video game developed by Rare Ltd. for the Nintendo Entertainment System, and published by Tradewest in 1991. High Speed employs the game engine that Rare Ltd. previously developed for Pin*Bot ....
, in 1991.