Let There Be Rocknote
AC/DC is a 2012 pinball game designed by Steve Ritchie, programmed by Lyman F. Sheats, artwork by John Youssi, and released by Stern Pinball. It is based on the legendary Australian rock band AC/DC.
As a celebration of the band's musical legacy, the game tasks players to play through twelve of their most memorable songs, including "Highway to Hell," "Thunderstruck," and "For Those About to Rock". Cycle through the jukebox, fire the rotating Cannon, ring the Hells Bell, then ride the Rock 'n Roll Train. Run through the Jam, Album, and Tour multiballs either individually or simultaneously, make a Request and Change the song, then use your VIP Passes to advance further. Complete all twelve songs, then start the Encore and play them all over again.
As with many other Stern titles, it was initially released in both a standard ("Pro") version and several deluxe versions, with the latter including added features like a small "Underworld" playfield embedded inside the regular one. In December 2013, a "Luci" Premium Edition
◊ was announced, featuring new cabinet and backglass art centered on the Hot as Hell devil-girl Luci. In August 2014, an updated "Pro" edition was announced, with a swinging bell and LED lighting. Finally, the Pro and Premium versions were re-issued in 2017 as part of Stern's "Vault" program.
A digital version was available for The Pinball Arcade and Stern Pinball Arcade until the license expired on June 30th, 2019.
"Welcome to Hell in a box.":
- Anti-Frustration Features: You get three balls to complete the Wizard Mode, and they don't count against your actual ball count (although draining the third Encore ball does end your current ball).
- Blonde, Brunette, Redhead: In addition to the titular redhead, the "Luci" version of the game also includes a blonde and brunette on the Underworld lower playfield.
- Combos: Shoot a ramp and then the opposite ramp or loop for a Combo. Chain longer combos for bigger bonuses.
- Cool Train: The Premium and Limited Edition versions have a train with devil horns and a functioning headlight.
- Epic Rocking: The music that is played during the game's Wizard Mode, Encore, is a live version of "Let There Be Rock" that lasts at least 10 minutes.
- For Doom the Bell Tolls: The Hell's Bell on the upper-right playfield functions as part of the table's hellish aesthetic.
- Glowing Eyes:
- The fiery head in the Underworld has eyes that light up.
- The eyes on the large Angus portrait on the Pro version can also light up. (As well as his mouth... and his nose.)
- Horned Humanoid:
- The Underworld playfield looks like a fiery head topped with small curved red horns. In the Pro version of the table (without the lower playfield), the horns appear on Angus' head instead.
- On the "Luci" Premium Edition table, the three female characters (Luci on the backglass, and a blonde and a brunette in the Underworld) all have small horns.
- Hot as Hell: Luci from the "Luci" Premium Edition is an attractive, scantily-clad devil girl (who may or may not be Satan himself).
- Incendiary Exponent: Nearly ever aspect of the playfield is on fire for added Rule of Cool factor.
- Match Sequence A video of Angus Young plays, saluting the audience and then dropping his pants, mooning them. The match number is on Angus's butt.
- Mooning: The Match Sequence depicts Angus Young mooning the audience (and the player).
- Ms. Fanservice: Luci, a Hot as Hell devil girl who's depicted in various provocative poses in her version's artwork.
- Mythology Gag: Scoring a jackpot during Album or Tour Multiball shows an album or a tour ticket, respectively, going in chronological order throughout the band's history. If the song currently playing first appeared on that album or was first played live on that tour, the player also gets the Song Jackpot as a bonus.
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Nintendo Hard: Not only are many of the key shots risky and unforgiving, but scoring well requires extremely deep knowledge about the game's rules. This game eats players who don't know what they're doing alive. - No Plot? No Problem!: This machine doesn't even have a premise, just a theme. There is no explanation whatsoever about what's going on, what the things you're shooting for mean, or what role the player has. The player is simply asked to pick a song when the game begins, then shoot for whatever the machine asks them to. Since the Luci edition shares the same software, there's also no context for who Luci is or how she pertains to the band or the game.
- Plunger Detonator: The playfield features a plunger detonator near the T-N-T drop target bank; it's able to drop down to simulate detonation.
- Score Multiplier: Hitting the Bell three times doubles all scores for 20 seconds; hit it three more times during that interval to triple all scores, including jackpots! It will also double or triple the rate that Song Jackpots are built up.
- Sex Sells: The "Luci" version prominently features the titular Hot as Hell character, relegating the band itself to silhouettes on the backglass.
- Shout-Out: The announcer (voiced by Steve Ritchie) sometimes says quotes from his previous games.
- Upon loading the cannon, he'll sometimes say "Fire at will!", much like the T-800 does upon loading the equivalent mechanic in Terminator 2: Judgment Day.
- Much like Skull in No Fear: Dangerous Sports, he'll shout "Do it again!" and "Again!" upon shooting combo shots. He also screams like Skull when you shoot longer combo shots.
- If the player gets a high score and enters their initials, he sometimes says "You are champion!", just like in Black Knight 2000. In addition, pushing the start button without any credits sometimes causes him to remark "Give me your money", a line from that game's main theme.
- Skill Shot:
- After plunging the ball, letting the ball roll over a flashing A-X-E multiplier lane awards 250,000 points (increasing by 25k each time), increases the bonus multiplier, and awards a VIP Pass (a song item in earlier software revisions).
- There's a Super Skill Shot, which awards 350,000 points (also increasing by 25k each time), increases the bonus multiplier by 5x, and awards 2 VIP Passes. It is enabled by first plunging the ball into the Jukebox, and then holding the right flipper button; the ball is ejected to the right flipper, and quickly shoot any loop, ramp, or the Bell to collect the Super Skill Shot.
- Smart Bomb: The VIP Pass, introduced in software revision 1.6, downplays this by collecting a single shot associated with the current song.
- Spelling Bonus: A few examples include the following: A-X-E increases the bonus multiplier, and F-I-R-E lights the cannon. There's also R-O-C-K, A-C-[lightning bolt]-D-C, and T-N-T, used as the objective for the "Let There Be Rock", "Back in Black", and "TNT" modes respectively.
- Wizard Mode: "Encore", which is reached after playing all twelve songs. You must play through all of the songs again in the order you did them originally. Complete a task for each song to collect your earlier score for that song and advance to the next. Finish all twelve songs in Encore, then ring the Bell (earlier software revisions) or shoot the Jukebox (later software revisions) for the Encore Jackpot.
- Wreathed in Flames: The Underworld mini-playfield resembles a humanoid head covered in fire.
