1988 · Williams
Banzai Run
Known for Backbox playfield, Hill, Backbox captive ball and Freestyle playfield. Painted sunset sky with radiating sunburst rays, cream and orange rounded cloud banks, flat-topped snow-capped volcano, dark green pine forest silhouette band, grey steel robot control console and plain black surround outside the printed area.
- Year
- 1988
- Maker
- Williams
- Type
- Solid state
- Display
- Alphanumeric
- Players
- 4
Known for
- upper playfield
Backbox playfield
- Lane
Hill
- Captive ball
Backbox captive ball
- lower playfield
Freestyle playfield
- saucer
Bumper saucer
- Character
Blue Beard
- Character
Yellow Belly
- Character
Green Machine
On the playfield
Extra levels 2
- Backbox playfield upper playfield
- Freestyle playfield lower playfield
Ramp 1
- Main ramp
Hole 1
- Bumper saucer saucer
Captive balls 2
- Backbox captive ball
- Main captive ball
Targets 2
- Racer targets
- ABC targets
Lanes 2
- Hill
- Kicker lane
Flipper 1
- Mini flipper extra flipper
Post or gate 1
- Center post post
On the backglass
Who and what
- robot A large cartoon robot/machine console filling the bottom third, grey steel body with dark panel lines, two long horizontal dark grey display windows, a central bank of red seven-segment digits, yellow-gold control boxes with joysticks and slanted button pads at both lower left and lower right corners, angled shoulder struts rising at each side
- other A flat-topped snow-capped volcano peak centred at the top, brown and cream with streaked snow, rising behind the title
Setting
- Painted sunset sky with radiating sunburst rays
- Cream and orange rounded cloud banks
- Flat-topped snow-capped volcano
- Dark green pine forest silhouette band
- Grey steel robot control console
- Plain black surround outside the printed area
Text on it
- Williams
- BANDZAI RUN
- BALL IN PLAY
- AT
- 1,000,000
- W
How it plays
-
Multiballs 1
- Banzai Run Multiball
-
Goals 7
- King of the Hill
- Time Lock
- Cliff Jump
- Laps
- Finish Line
- Victory Laps
- Rematch
Made by
- Design
- Pat Lawlor
- Design & Software
- Larry DeMar
- Art
- Mark Sprenger
- Mechanics
- John Krutsch
- Software
- Ed Boon
- Sound & Music
- Brian Schmidt
The cast
- Blue Beard
- Yellow Belly
- Green Machine
- Red Hot
Reference
Linked terms
- Backbox playfield also called Hill playfield
- Hill also called Hill lane also called Hill entrance also called Hill saucer
- Backbox captive ball also called King of the Hill target also called upper captive ball
- Freestyle playfield also called Freestyle game
- Bumper saucer also called Bumper Saucer Time Lock saucer also called Time Lock saucer also called lower bumper saucer
- Main captive ball also called Lower captive ball
- Time Lock also called Bumper Saucer Time Lock
- Victory Laps also called Victory Lap Bonus
Playfield vision analysis
Written by a machine from the photos, so details may be off.
Playfield
- green
- black
- white
- yellow
Fingerprint: Jungle adventure with volcano erupting at upper right and cartoon man in orange cap, backglass jungle scene with grinning cartoon head in round porthole below, black-and-white chequered road surface printed edge to edge with scores and dots like racing circuit, large grey mechanical structure spanning mid-playfield
The backglass jungle scene: a volcano erupting at the upper right with a cartoon man in an orange cap standing beside it, and a grinning cartoon head framed in a round hut-like porthole below him. The playfield's black-and-white chequered 'road' surface, printed edge to edge with scores and small round dots like a racing circuit. A large grey mechanical structure with a padded-looking deck spanning the middle of the playfield, flanked by chrome ball guides and red pop-bumper caps. A yellow circular apron emblem with a bold red W directly below the flippers.
Setting
- Dense jungle foliage and vines
- Ochre dirt paths and ravines
- Erupting volcano
- Wood-grain cabinet front
- Black studio backdrop
Symbols
- Volcano
- Erupting smoke plume
- Palm and vine foliage
- Porthole hut
- Jeep
- Chequered racing surface
- Three-pointed red w emblem in a yellow circle
- Black billiard balls printed in clusters
- Chicken-coop score discs
Notable shapes
- Chequered race-track playfield with printed lane arrows
- Three pop bumpers arranged in a triangle at the top
- Triangular red and yellow teardrop inserts
- Rectangular cluster of square illuminated inserts above the flippers
- Oval wood-grain apron cards
Art motifs
- Dense hand-drawn jungle canopy
- Comic-strip cartoon figures with heavy outlines
- Printed score-value dots covering the whole playfield
- Chicken motifs on the lower deck artwork
Themes
- Jungle adventure
- Volcano
- Cartoon characters
- Race-track playfield
- Off-road
Text on it
- Williams
- LEFT CHANGE
- HOLD FLIPPER BUTTON FOR BALL SAVE STATUS REPORT
- FOR AMUSEMENT ONLY
- 1 PLAY 50¢
- 4 PLAYS $1.50
- 6 PLAYS $2.00
- 20,000
- HUSTLE GOING
| Kind | Description |
|---|---|
| Other | Cartoon character in a yellow open jeep at backglass upper left, arms raised |
| Man | Cartoon man in bright orange clothing and cap at backglass upper right beside the volcano |
| Man | Grinning cartoon head inside a round porthole-shaped hut frame at backglass mid right |
| Monster | Purple-and-white cartoon head-shaped logo mounted on the cabinet front below the playfield |
| Vehicle | Yellow open jeep at backglass upper left |
| Vehicle | Grey metal mechanical structure / ramp assembly spanning the centre of the playfield |
Full-cabinet photograph of an electro-mechanical game with a backbox, a sloped glass-covered playfield and a wood-grain cabinet front, shot against a black background. The backglass is a dense jungle illustration: thick green foliage and vine canopies over ochre and tan dirt paths, with cartoon characters in an open yellow off-road jeep at upper left, a figure in a bright orange outfit beside a smoking orange-brown volcano at upper right, and two more grinning cartoon heads peering out of foliage in a round porthole-like frame at mid right. A purple-and-white pinball-shaped maker logo sits low on the cabinet front above two rectangular coin doors, with a chrome coin lock at the right. The playfield is dominated by a black-and-white chequered racing-track pattern overlaid with hundreds of tiny printed dots, chips and lane arrows. Chrome and red plastic hardware crowds the surface: three red-capped pop bumpers in a triangle near the top, a large grey metal meccanic structure spanning the centre, curved chrome ball guides and a wire ramp along both side rails, and small red triangular and yellow teardrop inserts. Two yellow flippers with red rubber sleeves sit at the bottom centre below a lane-change/ball-save cluster of square inserts.
Backglass vision analysis
Written by a machine from the photos, so details may be off.
Backglass
- orange
- green
- yellow
- cream
Fingerprint: "BANDZAI RUN" arched logotype in blocky fantasy-serif with orange-to-red bevelled gradient. Flat-topped snow-capped volcano rising behind title. Sunset: orange-yellow sky with radiating sunburst rays and rounded cream clouds. Dark green pine forest silhouettes. Cartoon robot/console with grey steel, yellow-gold control boxes, joysticks, display windows.
The single most memorable element is the gigantic arched fantasy-serif title 'BANDZAI RUN' in orange-to-red bevelled letters that fills nearly the whole width of the glass, with the snow-capped volcano peak poking up behind the middle of the word. Second is the cartoon robot control console filling the bottom third, with two long blank grey display windows and a row of yellow button pads in the bottom corners. Third, a saturated orange-and-cream sunset with radiating sunburst rays behind dark green pine silhouettes frames the whole piece. Fourth, small stacked red 'BALL IN PLAY' text in a yellow box at lower right is the only instructional lettering present.
Setting
- Painted sunset sky with radiating sunburst rays
- Cream and orange rounded cloud banks
- Flat-topped snow-capped volcano
- Dark green pine forest silhouette band
- Grey steel robot control console
- Plain black surround outside the printed area
Symbols
- Circular w emblem
- Seven-segment score digits
- Joysticks
- Rows of yellow buttons
- Mountains
- Pine trees
- Clouds
- Sunburst rays
- Stylised artist signatures
Lettering
- Main title is a huge arched fantasy-serif with bevelled orange-to-red gradient fill, cream and white outline and thick black drop shadow; the manufacturer wordmark top left is a cream cursive script; instruction text is small stacked red capitals in a yellow box; score digits are red seven-segment
Themes
- Volcano
- Sunset
- Pine forest
- Robot console
- Scores
- Radiating rays
Title on it
- Bandzai run
Text on it
- Williams
- BANDZAI RUN
- BALL IN PLAY
- AT
- 1,000,000
- W
| Kind | Description |
|---|---|
| Robot | A large cartoon robot/machine console filling the bottom third, grey steel body with dark panel lines, two long horizontal dark grey display windows, a central bank of red seven-segment digits, yellow-gold control boxes with joysticks and slanted button pads at both lower left and lower right corners, angled shoulder struts rising at each side |
| Other | A flat-topped snow-capped volcano peak centred at the top, brown and cream with streaked snow, rising behind the title |
Landscape-format translite/backglass. Background is a painted Pacific sunset: an orange and yellow sky with radiating sunburst rays and rounded cream-and-orange cloud banks filling the top half, a flat-topped snow-capped volcano rendered in brown, cream and grey rising behind the title at top centre, and a dense band of dark green pine forest silhouettes along the left, right and lower edges. A huge arched logotype reading BANDZAI RUN dominates the middle third, drawn in a blocky fantasy-serif with bevelled orange-to-red gradient faces, thick cream and white outlines and heavy black drop shadow. Below it sits a cartoon robot/console assembly drawn in grey steel with yellow-gold control boxes and joysticks at both lower corners. Two long dark grey rectangular display windows sit centre-left and centre-right, a lower score window spans the centre, and a yellow placard on the right reads BALL IN PLAY in stacked red capitals. Top left carries a circular white-on-dark W emblem and a cream cursive manufacturer wordmark. Two small white artist signatures are visible, upper right and lower right. Colours: orange, green, yellow, cream.