November 14 Go Kart Raceway

Another drop-in at Go Kart Raceway was on the schedule on the 14th. This location only has two pinball machines: Kiss (Stern) and The Simpsons Pinball Party. Of the two, the latter is more playable, though still rather dirty and the ball save is turned off; 21.5M+ is the best I’ve done in a long while.

I actually tried to play Kiss, though. I’m not particularly proud of this score, so it’s just as well that the photo is not the best quality either. Taking into account the machine condition, though, maybe it’s not so bad. The left flipper was inconsistent, and even at its best still barely made the ramp. The demon lock/Gene’s mouth shot simply would not register and accept a ball no matter how carefully aimed. I’m not sure if this was to “fix” a broken kicker or end complaints about balls being shot straight down the middle (usually the ball save is turned on after this shot during single ball play but it’s possible the operators turned it off).

In the middle of all this, we (the group I was with) played laser tag. The system is called Helios and it’s a product of Zone Laser Tag (the company behind Ultrazone, known previously as Zone Empire). Helios actually plays a lot like Laser Quest did. Perhaps not that surprisingly, I came in first place out of nine players (there were four others besides our group of five). The code names/call signs are pre-assigned and tied to the vest in use, for better or worse; I did not voluntarily choose “Astro” but it is what it is.

Finally, rounding out the night was a game of Donkey Kong.