The Getaway (High Speed 2)

Released February 1992 - Game 50004

I think The getaway is an absolutely superb game.   The first time I played it I wasn't 
impressed, it was in a noisy pub and the jukebox loudspeaker by my ear probably didn't help 
and after one game I moved over to The Addams Family next to it. That might very well have 
been that as the next time I visited that pub the game had gone. Some 
months later, however, I chanced upon another example in a somewhat quieter location and 
played it again. And again. And again. I just could not get away... 
It's such a good game, from the ZZ Top "La Grange" track as a theme, to the supercharger ramp 
(which is a gimmick but a good one) the game demands to be played.

The first thing you'll notice about the machine could be the gear shift handle, used in place of the conventional plunger firstly to launch balls into play and, subsequently during game play, collect gear awards (see below), or it could be the supercharger ramp. When this ramp is enabled, via the three static targets above each slingshot, the ball is propelled at great speed around the supercharger loop. After a predetermined number of orbits it is ejected from the supercharger and directed back to the left return lane. If the supercharger is not enabled a shot to the ramp is returned directly to the left flipper return lane. The plunger shot launches the ball via a figure of eight trajectory at the top of the playfield back to the right mid-field flipper. From here the player should be set up to make the Loop Million shot. This involves going from the midfield flipper around the left of the jet bumpers via the inner orbit shot (see below), across the top of the playfield and back to the flipper. Each successive Loop Million shot scores 1 million points more than the previous one.

There are three banks of three traffic light targets, one on the right hand side of the pop 
bumper area, one nuderbeath the bumper area and the third along the side of the entrance to 
the Supercharger ramp - this set can only be directly hit by the upper flipper.   These 
targets in conjunction with the ramp at the top right of the playfield form the basis of 
the multiball and jackpot features.  Advancing any of the sets of traffic lights to red 
lowers the entry way to the ramp in readiness for the player to lock the ball. As the third 
set of lights goes to red the player is encouraged to run the red light!

This is achieved by locking the third ball. Having locked three balls, they are released to 
the right return lane. A shot to the supercharger ramp now lights the jackpot, having first 
completed ten orbits of the supercharger. The ramp entry is again lowered and, provided at 
least two balls remain in play, a ball shot up the left side of the table enters the lock 
and scores the jackpot value. A subsequent shot to the supercharger completes a further ten 
orbits before lighting super jackpot. This is collected in the same way as jackpot, again 
provided that more than one ball is still in play. Each successive attempt to light super 
jackpot will require ten more supercharger orbits than it's predecessor. The jackpot awards 
25M and the super jackpot 50M, rising by 25M on each occassion that it is collected. Having 
more than one ball orbiting in the Supercharger will cause Jackpot or Super Jackpot to be lit 
in a shorter time period. During multiball, completing all the traffic light targets lights 
extra ball at the tunnel shot.

The game has two orbit shots, one is an outer orbit shot made from either flipper up the 
playfield across the top of the jet bumpers and back to the opposite flipper. The other 
orbit shot, an inner orbit is made via the right mid-field flipper around the left of the 
jet bumpers, across the top of the playfield and back to the mid-field flipper. Either of 
these orbit shots serve to advance the tachometer, consisting of a lamp display set into 
the playfield just above the flippers. Each time the tachometer advances into the red line 
area (maximum revs) a gear award is available for the player to collect by operating the 
gear shift lever. The game encourages this action by shouting "Shift Gear".  As successive  
gear  awards  are collected, the number of loop shots required to red line the tachometer 
increases.

Some of the other features incorporated in The Getaway include a special collected at the 
tunnel after a pre-determined number of tunnel shots; burn rubber award, again via the tunnel 
and consisting of a number of discrete awards indicated on a road map displayed in the dot
matrix display. Awards include instant multiball, light extra ball, points and free ride, 
which provides a period during which should the ball drain it will be re-launched. The Combo 
award is collected by making the outer orbit shot followed by the inner orbit shot off the 
mid-field flipper. The Helicopter Bonus builds during the game by hitting the jet bumpers 
and stand-up targets. After collecting Jackpot you have escaped your police pursuers on the 
ground, but the helicopters take over! Make the tunnel shot and the helicopters crash into 
the hillside and you get the helicopter bonus. Freeway loops are lit either from the flipper 
return lanes or from the outer orbit. When lit, the freeway value (1M, 2M, 3M, 4M, and finally, 
5M plus lighting the  extra ball) is collected via the outer orbit shot, which has to be made 
in the direction dictated by the lit freeway arrow

The first gear award scores 3M, the second awards bonus held. Third gear lights the video mode, 
which is collected at the saucer at the top right of the playfield, termed the tunnel shot. 
Video mode requires the player to successfully navigate his car along a highway, increasing 
and decreasing speed via the gear shift lever, and steering by using the flipper buttons. As 
the journey progresses other traffic must be avoided as a crash results in termination of that 
part of the game. The faster the player goes in video mode the more points he scores. The 
letters EB appearing on the highway in this mode, award an extra ball if the player steers 
his car over them. Fourth gear starts a timed high scoring round where the loop shots and the 
tunnel shot score 5M and the supercharger scoring starts at 5M per loop and increments by 5M 
each time it is entered. Fifth gear lights red line mania, and this mode starts by making the 
supercharger ramp. This awards 5M, and is raised by 5M each time the ramp is made, starts 
multiball, lights the kickback and lights an extra ball at the tunnel shot. Traffic light 
targets score 500k, the jackpot is lit and the super jackpot value is set to lOOM.

Comparasons to High Speed are inevitable (it IS subtitled 'High Speed 2', after all!) and I 
think that The Getaway is pretty much the same game 6 years later.  This is not meant as a 
critisism as the original High Speed was (and still is) a great game, but The Getaway has 
better sounds, a tweaked and more 'modern' feeling playfield (with more ramps!) and perhaps 
most importantly a dot matrix display.  Surely the game couldn't have been made a year before, 
with 16 digit A/N displays, as the DM display distances it from it's predecessor.  

The Getaway is a game which it may take a little while to get into. When you do this you will find it to be a very good game, with excellent game play, sound effects and good use of the dot matrix display on what was a fairly early DM game. As a measure of it's popularity, one game was sited locally back in '92 and stayed for nearly three years. Alongside it, games that came and went during this time included Hook, Turtles, The Machine, Terminator, Roller Games, White Water and Party Zone - The Getaway outlasted them all, at times with players queueing to play it. I love it as a game and my advice to you if you've never played one is to go out and find yourself a good example and have a few games.

I suggest as a game strategy that you concentrate on the orbit shots to advance the gear 
awards.  The traffic lights tend to look after themselves, but don't forget the supercharger 
ramp so that you can have the odd breather now and again!   Finally, note the driver of the 
car with the interesting license plate - KINGPIN - depicted in the backglass.  Apparantly this 
is a fairly accurate likeness of game designer, Steve Ritchie!