Taxi (pinball)

Taxi
Manufacturer WMS Industries
Release date August 1988
System Williams System 11B
Design Mark Ritchie, Python Anghelo
Programming Ed Boon
Artwork Python Anghelo
Mechanics Craig Fitpold, Tony Kraemer, Mark Kim
Music Chris Granner
Sound Chris Granner

Taxi is a pinball machine designed by Mark Ritchie and Python Anghelo. It was released in 1988 by WMS Industries.[1]

Gameplay

The goal of the game is to pick up five passengers: Pinbot, Gorbie, Lola (or Marilyn Monroe in the original version), Dracula, and Santa. The passengers are represented by lighted illustrations in the center of the lower end of the playfield and are also featured on the backglass. If Carry Passengers is not lit, all passengers are lost when the ball drains. The original game featured Marilyn Monroe with her recognizable blonde hair on the backglass. Collecting all five passengers lights the Jackpot, which is available for about ten seconds.

This was the first Williams game to display four player scores using only two alpha-numeric 16 character displays.

Marilyn passenger

Originally the machine featured a passenger named Marilyn, a blonde character in a red dress bearing a resemblance to Marilyn Monroe. WMS Industries replaced the Marilyn passenger with a new passenger named Lola due to legal problems with Marilyn Monroe likeness. Lola appears identical to Marilyn, with the exception of her hair; the Lola passenger was pictured brunette and later with red hair where the Marilyn character was blonde. At least 200 sample games were shipped with 'Marilyn' before the change was made. Mark Ritchie explained also in the book The Pinball Compendium 1982 to Present, that the name 'Lola' was taken from the 1970s song "Lola" about a transvestite, that fits also to her muscular arms on the backglass.[2]

Marketing Slogans

"Get ready for the taxi everyone's going to be lining up for!"

"The one taxi Lola, Gorbie, Santa, Dracula... and operators everywhere are hailing!"

"The one taxi Marilyn, Gorbie, Santa, Dracula... and operators everywhere are hailing!"

Digital versions

Taxi is a playable simulated licensed table in The Pinball Arcade on multiple platforms and is also featured in Pinball Hall of Fame: The Williams Collection.

References

  1. ↑ "Taxi". The International Arcade Museum. Retrieved 5 Oct 2013.
  2. ↑ "Internet Pinball Machine Database: Taxi". August 24, 2013.
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