Meteor
TAXI is copyright Williams 1988.
This rulesheet is released to the public domain by Mark Valentine.
Playfield Description
TAXI comes in a standard-sized cabinet painted New York taxi yellow. As with just about every table,
the art is great if you actually take the time to inspect it in detail.
Plunger
A manual plunger feeds the ball into the SPINOUT saucer. The strength of the plunge will affect how many
times the ball spins around. Point awards, based on the number of revolutions are: 1k, 5k, 10k, 25k + pickup
passenger, 50k, 75k, 100k. Beyond that it wraps around and starts at 1k again. This value is multiplied by
the number of the ball in play (not on hard settings [or on my machine]). I find this an unbalancing feature,
particularly on 5-ball play where it's possible to score most of a replay just on this skill shot.
Rollovers
There are 3 rollover lanes at the top centre, labeled C A B. Lighting all 3 letters advances bonus multiplier (up
to max. 5x, after which C A B awards 50k 'CAB Bonus') and also lights 'Raise Jackpot' for 10 seconds.
JOYRIDE eject hole
To the left of the rollover lanes is the JOYRIDE hole. It is accessible from both above and below. Above by a
right 'semi-orbit' shot, below directly from the flippers. >From above it counts as GORBY pickup and
'collect jackpot'; from below it's SANTA pickup and collects JOYRIDE when lit (by right inlane). Finally it
collects the AIRPORT MILLION when lit.
Carry Passengers target
Immediately to the right of the JOYRIDE hole. Lit for about 10 seconds by making all three LOLA or the PINBOT
drop banks (whether lit or not). Available from both flippers, but much easier from a left backhand.
Left Ramp
The entrance is halfway down the playfield. If lit (done by right inlane), scores current AIRPORT value and
advances it. Also starts multiball if a ball is locked. A weak shot may roll back and drain.
Right Ramp
The entrance is halfway down the playfield. If lit (done by left inlane), scores current AIRPORT value and advances it.
LOLA drop targets
Bank of three located centre of the playfield. All three have to be hit within 10 seconds or they reset. Pickup
LOLA when lit. Lights 'Carry Passengers'.
PINBOT drop targets
Bank of three located centre right. All three have to be hit within 15 seconds or they reset. Pickup PINBOT when lit.
Lights 'Carry Passengers'.
DRAC hole
Located centre left at the end of a U-loop. Pickup DRAC when lit. Collect extra ball when lit (by 3 x C A B).
Catapult shoots the ball to the right ramp> This will score the AIRPORT value if lit, but if DRAC is lit (and collected)
the AIRPORT award will time out before the eject.
Lock hole
Centre right, above the PINBOT bank. A simple shot to lock a ball. After the first multiball, any passenger must be
collected to relight it for lock.
OBJECTIVE
Pickup all 5 passengers to light JACKPOT. Collect JACKPOT. Drop off all 5 passengers to light outlanes for SPECIAL.
At the start of the game PINBOT and GORBY are lit for pickup. When a passenger is picked up, the next one lights. The
order is GORBY, PINBOT, DRAC, LOLA, SANTA. Each pickup awards a tip of 20k and also gives an end of ball bonus of 20k.
JACKPOT starts at 500k. Each time C A B is scored, 'Raise Jackpot' lights for 10 seconds, during which time every
switch adds 2k to the jackpot value. The jackpot value is held over from player to player, ball to ball and game to
game until collected. Maximum value is 4M. The jackpot must be collected within 15 seconds or LOLA get out and has
to be picked up again to relight the jackpot.
Once the jackpot is collected, drop off passengers in the order SANTA, PINBOT, DRAC, LOLA, GORBY. This will relight
the jackpot (although it probably won't have been raised much over 600k) and one (alternating) outlane for SPECIAL.
After collecting the drop-off jackpot, it starts over with GORBY (only one passenger lit at once for second and
subsequent times). A second complete pickup/drop off sequence does not light the second outlane for special.
AIRPORT
Left inlane lights right ramp, right inlane lights left ramp for AIRPORT. Shooting a lit ramp awards the current
airport value and advances it. Values are 20k, 40k, 60k, 80k and finally 100k + light airport million (collected at
JOYRIDE hole). No time limit to collect the million (20 seconds on 'hard', 15 seconds on 'extra hard').
JOYRIDE
Right inlane lights the JOYRIDE hole for about 10 seconds. Shooting it awards one of the awards shown on the
backglass: 10k (bleah!); Spot Passenger; Mystery (points between 60k and 290k); Extra Ball (awarded immediately);
Special.
Multiball
Achieved by locking one ball in the right lock hole and shooting the left ramp with a subsequent ball. This carries
over from player to player, so it is possible to steal someone else's locked ball! When multiball starts, the objective
is to relock both balls in the 'Express' lanes. First lock must be back into the right lock hole (Express lane 1).
Second ball must be shot into DRAC (Express lane 2). Locking the second ball scores 300k. Both balls are then ejected
and both ramps are lit for 100k 'Airport Ride'.
Extra Ball
2 possibilities; JOYRIDE extra ball or C A B extra ball. C A B extra ball requires 3 C A B's during the same ball
(2 on 'extra easy, 6 on 'hard', 7 on 'extra hard'). Collected at DRAC. If the ball is lost before collecting it, tough!
CARRY PASSENGERS
Hitting this small target (lit by LOLA or PINBOT banks) holds any passengers for the next ball. Subsequent 'carry
passenger' shots on the same ball award 20k, 30k, 50k (max.) 'Carry Bonus'. If you 'carry passengers' on the final
ball, you get a extra end of ball bonus ('Passenger Payoff') of 20k per passenger.
End of Ball Bonus
The ball bonus is displayed on the backglass. Most shots (ramps, holes, inlanes) add a few k to the bonus. Maximum
is 99k. E-O-B bonus is calculated as bonus * bonus multiplier + 20k per passenger. Therefore the maximum possible
bonus is 99k * 5 + 20k * 5 = 595k. Note that if you are not credited for passengers picked up in a previous
sequence; if you pickup all 5, collect the jackpot, drop off Santa and drain you are credited with one
passenger (SANTA), not 6 passengers. This seems a bit mean, considering the passenger bonus isn't huge anyway.
TACTICS
Get the jackpot. Nothing else scores anything like as many points. Always aim for Carry Passengers to make life
easier. Multiball is easy to get, but difficult to milk for many points as the ramps are quite difficult; anything
less than a perfect shot will roll back down dangerously. Multiball is a good time to pickup PINBOT (and LOLA) with
two balls flying around. If you can master the ramps, the airport million is well worth going for. If the left ramp
is difficult, shoot DRAC instead as that awards a left ramp airport advance.
