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1981 · Stern Electronics

Catacomb

Known for Grid, Advance Spinner, Lock saucers and Catacomb Multiball. Catacomb interior of ochre cut stone blocks, barred jail window with skull and bone-strewn stone floor.

Year
1981
Maker
Stern Electronics
Type
Solid state
Display
Alphanumeric
Players
4

Known for

  • grid

    Grid

  • Lane

    Advance Spinner

  • saucer

    Lock saucers

  • Multiball

    Catacomb Multiball

  • Mode

    Backbox Bonus Game

On the playfield

  • olive green
  • mustard yellow
  • black
  • orange
Catacomb playfield
Spotted in this photo
  • 2 flippers
  • 2 pop bumpers
  • 2 slingshots

Full vision analysis

Hole 1

  • Lock saucers saucer

Targets 4

  • A bank
  • B bank
  • C bank
  • D bank

Lanes 4

  • Advance Spinner
  • Far-left top lane
  • Near-left top lane
  • Star rollover rollover

Lights 1

  • Grid grid

On the backglass

  • yellow
  • brown
  • black
  • green
Catacomb backglass

Full vision analysis

Who and what

  • man One-legged pirate, dark beard, dark tricorn hat, yellow tunic and breeches, lunging right, holding a long musket
  • woman Dark curly-haired woman in a green bodice, bare arms, standing close behind the pirate's shoulder
  • skeleton Armoured skeletal arm reaching in from the far left holding a sword
  • skeleton Second skeletal hand with outstretched fingers rising at the left edge
  • other Grinning skull behind vertical bars in a window at top centre
  • woman Profile face in a gold horned helmet and headpiece at the right margin

Setting

  • Catacomb interior of ochre cut stone blocks
  • Barred jail window with skull
  • Bone-strewn stone floor

Text on it

  • CATACOMB
  • STORM
  • HIGH SCORE
  • A
  • B
  • C
  • D
  • SHOOT AGAIN
  • GAME OVER
  • BALL IN PLAY
  • CREDIT
  • MATCH
  • BALL PLAYERS
  • PLAY AGAIN AT THE END
  • OF EACH BALL
  • LEFT FLIPPER
  • CHAIN CHUGS
  • RIGHT FLIPPER
  • PLAY BALL IN RIGHT LANE
  • 600
  • 4
  • 8.6
  • 3.0

How it plays

  1. Modes 1

    • Backbox Bonus Game
  2. Multiballs 1

    • Catacomb Multiball
  3. Goals 1

    • ABCD Extra Ball

Made by

Design
Joe Joos Jr.
Art
Larry Day

Reference

Linked terms
  • Grid also called 16-number grid
  • Advance Spinner also called Advance Spinner lane
  • Lock saucers also called side saucers
  • Far-left top lane also called Stops Lights on Red
  • Near-left top lane also called Stops Lights on Amber
  • Backbox Bonus Game also called Bagatelle
Playfield vision analysis

Written by a machine from the photos, so details may be off.

Catacomb playfield

Playfield

  • olive green
  • mustard yellow
  • black
  • orange

Fingerprint: Barrack electro-mechanical, enormous coiling dragon with snarling head and white multiplier discs down scales, snarling tigers and red neon score reel upper right, caged girl in hanging lantern left of bumpers, olive and mustard-yellow field with black ink outlines

Distinctive

A huge coiling dragon with a wide-eyed, red-mouthed snarling head fills the lower centre of the playfield, with a descending column of white multiplier discs 2x, 3x, 4x, 5x printed on its scales. Two snarling tigers and a big red neon numeral reel crowd the upper right, while a caged girl in a hanging birdcage-like lantern sits left of the pop bumpers. The lower apron reads 'Left flipper advance lights' and 'Right flipper whip action' in yellow type on dark green.

Setting

  • Stone catacomb walls and arches
  • Green flagstone paving
  • Red neon sky band across the top
  • Black void around the painted edges

Symbols

  • Chequered racing flag
  • Striped triangular flag
  • Caged birdcage lantern
  • Black bat with spread wings
  • Circus tent
  • Brick arches
  • Serpent scales
  • Round plastic letter inserts

Notable shapes

  • A curved tunnel on the left return lane containing a printed pale figure
  • An arched stone catacomb opening printed on the right side
  • A hanging birdcage-shaped cutout at upper left
  • A scalloped arch framing the top neon reel

Art motifs

  • Heavy black ink outlines
  • Flat comic-book colour fills
  • Stone masonry
  • Aged yellowed varnish

Themes

  • Fantasy
  • Dragon
  • Tigers
  • Carnival
  • Catacomb
  • Adventure

Title on it

  • Barrack

Text on it

  • BARRACK
  • BETTER WHEN BALL RETURNS BARRACK FOR LAST BALL
  • EXTRA BALL
  • LAST BALL
  • SPECIAL
  • 1,000
  • 5,000
  • 2x
  • 3x
  • 4x
  • 5x
  • A
  • B
  • C
  • D
  • E
  • F
  • Left flipper
  • advance lights
  • Right flipper
  • whip action
  • SHOOT AGAIN
  • CATACOMB
  • BONUS MULTIPLIER
  • RANKING PLAYER
  • ALTERNATE CAPTURE
  • BONUS POINTS
  • TILT
  • PANTHAN
  • OVER THE COURSE OF A GAME THE PANS WILL BE SCORED
  • LEFT PLAYER, CHANGELION
  • RIGHT PLAYER, THE PAN IS A RECLUSE
  • 3 BALLS
  • PER GAME
  • 1 PLAY - QUARTER
  • 60,000
  • 2 REPLAY
  • 120,000
  • 7 REPLAY
  • EXTRA BALL LITES SHOOT AGAIN
  • SPECIAL SCORE 5 REPLAY
Pop bumpers
Two round translucent yellow dome pop bumpers side by side in the upper centre
Drop targets
A 4x4 grid of sixteen round lettered target inserts a b c d e f in two rows
Slingshots
Two plain triangular slingshots above the flippers with printed white faces and orange rubber
Upper playfield
A curved red neon numeral score reel behind the top arch, flanked by flags and a tiger
Apron and lower playfield
A flat dark olive-green apron printed with two large yellow-ruled instruction cards, a central 'shoot again' oval lamp, yellow 'left flipper advance lights' and 'right flipper whip action' captions, and a small 'catacomb' rules card at lower left
Who and what
Kind Description
Animal Two roaring tigers in orange with black stripes and white bellies, upper right, one above the other, both with red open mouths, white fangs and wide yellow eyes
Creature A huge dragon head with a snarling open red mouth, yellow eyes and white fangs, attached to a long coiling serpent body covered in yellow and black scales, occupying the whole lower centre
Child A small dark-haired girl figure sitting inside a hanging yellow-gold caged lantern left of centre, below the chequered flag
Woman A seated dark-haired female figure in red near the centre-left, beside a small red-and-white striped circus tent motif
Other A skeletal or ghoulish face printed in pale grey on the left playfield lane, next to a long yellow hook or serpent-staff graphic
Other A pale cloaked or gowned figure printed in white and grey at mid-left, appearing to run or reach along the left orbit lane
Full description

Full top-down view of an electro-mechanical playfield under glass in a black-fronted cabinet, the whole surface painted in olive, mustard-yellow and dark green with black outlines, like an inked comic strip. The upper third is dominated by a red neon score reel area: a curved red-lit numeral display of unformed letters and digits, flanked at upper left by a yellow/black chequered flag and a black-and-yellow flag, and at upper right by a roaring orange tiger with a gaping red mouth and a second striped tiger below it. A caged yellow lantern with a small dark-haired girl figure inside hangs left of centre. Two round translucent yellow pop-bumper domes glow in the centre, with a small red-and-white striped circus-tent motif and a sitting dark-haired figure nearby. Below them is a 4x4 grid of round plastic letter inserts reading A, B, C, D, E, F in two rows, some lit green and cyan, above the printed line 'BETTER WHEN BALL RETURNS BARRACK FOR LAST BALL'. A large snarling orange-black dragon head on a coiling scaled serpent body dominates the lower centre, with round white multiplier discs reading 2x, 3x, 4x and 5x descending beside it. Paired white flippers with orange side rails sit above an 'SHOOT AGAIN' oval. The lower apron carries two dark-green rule cards with yellow trim and yellow captions reading 'Left flipper advance lights' and 'Right flipper whip action'. Burnt orange lamp and socket, scuffed and yellowed plastics, and reflections of red neon on the glass.

Backglass vision analysis

Written by a machine from the photos, so details may be off.

Catacomb backglass

Backglass

  • yellow
  • brown
  • black
  • green

Fingerprint: catacomb storm, huge translucent yellow ball-return window shaped like Gothic arch carrying five lamp-topped lanes and five chains with burning torch burning down its right edge, one-legged pirate with musket being shoved along by dark-haired woman, gauntleted skeleton arm thrusting sword in from far left, four green segmented score readouts stacked down left margin with fourth reading 610, grinning skull peering out of barred window at top of stone wall, dark catacomb setting

Distinctive

A huge translucent yellow ball-return window shaped like a Gothic arch, carrying five lamp-topped lanes and five chains, with a burning torch burning down its right edge. Beside it, a one-legged pirate with a musket being shoved along by a dark-haired woman. A gauntleted skeleton arm thrusting a sword in from the far left. Four green segmented score readouts stacked down the left margin, the fourth reading 610. A grinning skull peering out of a barred window at the top of the stone wall.

Setting

  • Catacomb interior of ochre cut stone blocks
  • Barred jail window with skull
  • Bone-strewn stone floor

Symbols

  • Five iron chains
  • Burning torch
  • Five circular lamp icons
  • Skulls and ribs
  • Sword
  • Musket
  • Five ball-return lanes
  • Playing-card-free

Lettering

  • Bulging orange-and-gold gradient serif capitals with black outline and white edge, arched over the panel, plus white dot-matrix capitals below

Themes

  • Catacombs
  • Pirates
  • Skeletons
  • Dungeon
  • Fantasy

Title on it

  • Catacomb storm

Text on it

  • CATACOMB
  • STORM
  • HIGH SCORE
  • A
  • B
  • C
  • D
  • SHOOT AGAIN
  • GAME OVER
  • BALL IN PLAY
  • CREDIT
  • MATCH
  • BALL PLAYERS
  • PLAY AGAIN AT THE END
  • OF EACH BALL
  • LEFT FLIPPER
  • CHAIN CHUGS
  • RIGHT FLIPPER
  • PLAY BALL IN RIGHT LANE
  • 600
  • 4
  • 8.6
  • 3.0
Who and what
Kind Description
Man One-legged pirate, dark beard, dark tricorn hat, yellow tunic and breeches, lunging right, holding a long musket
Woman Dark curly-haired woman in a green bodice, bare arms, standing close behind the pirate's shoulder
Skeleton Armoured skeletal arm reaching in from the far left holding a sword
Skeleton Second skeletal hand with outstretched fingers rising at the left edge
Other Grinning skull behind vertical bars in a window at top centre
Woman Profile face in a gold horned helmet and headpiece at the right margin
Skeleton Skulls, ribs and loose bones scattered across the bottom border
Full description

A painted, backlit, airbrushed fantasy-translocation backglass set in a dark catacomb of yellow-ochre cut stone blocks, with a barred opening at top-centre showing a grinning skull. A large arched translucent panel occupies the right two-thirds: five ball-return lanes and a matching chain-drop target layout hung with heavy iron chain, a big flaming torch graphic on the right of the arch, and five lit round lamp icons under the title. Four green segmented alphanumeric score displays run down the left side, stacked vertically, each in a black bezel with a white-outline numeral 1, 2, 3 and 4 beside it. The title arches across the top of the panel in bulging orange-to-gold gradient serif capitals with a black outline and white edge, with STORM in white dot-matrix letters below it. Left of the arch, a one-legged bearded pirate in a dark tricorn hat and yellow tunic lunges forward holding a long musket, with a dark-haired woman in green bodice pressed behind his shoulder; a skeletal arm in armour reaches in from the far left brandishing a sword, and a skeletal hand rises above it. Small black captions read SHOOT AGAIN and GAME OVER. A masked face in a gold horned helmet occupies the right margin. Skulls, ribs and bones litter the bottom edge.