Pinball / Foo Fighters (2023)

aka: Foo Fighters

Based on the #1 cartoon hit!^note Pro version shown here

Foo Fighters is a pinball machine released by Stern Pinball in early 2023. It is the first game made by Jack Danger (host of the pinball streaming channel Dead Flip) since the company hired him as a designer.^note The first game he designed for them was the home version of Jurassic Park, but he was only brought on full-time after its release.

Instead of just being based on the eponymous band (who voice themselves and provided some input during development), the game casts them as the stars of a fictitious and unabashedly campy Saturday-Morning Cartoon — fittingly named Foo Fighters Saturday Morning Action Time! Its story revolves around an alien named "the Overlord" invading Earth, attempting to steal all its inhabitants' music equipment and "reformat" (read: brainwash) them with specialized helmets. The band's members lead a resistance movement to stop his machinations, ranging from freeing others from mind control to destroying his robot army. Traveling through various cities in their tricked-out van, fighting the Overlord directly through various multiball modes, and assembling the Foobot will ultimately lead them to the Final Battle to thwart the invasion once and for all.

As with every Stern game made since the 2010s, Foo Fighters comes in three separate versions: Pro, Premium, and Limited Edition. The first is the most basic of the group, including most of the fundamental gameplay features. The other two include a number of fancier mechanisms, including fully-sculpted van and Overlord toys as well as a smaller upper playfield representing Area 51. Finally, the Limited Edition alone adds extra bells and whistles on top of that, like a mirrored backglass and artwork on the inside of the cabinet.

Songs included in the game

• "I'll Stick Around" (Foo Fighters)
• "This is a Call" (Foo Fighters)
• "Everlong" (The Colour and the Shape)
• "Monkey Wrench" (The Colour and the Shape)
• "My Hero" (The Colour and the Shape)
• "Breakout" (There Is Nothing Left to Lose)
• "Learn to Fly" (There Is Nothing Left to Lose)
• "All My Life" (One by One)
• "Times Like These" (One by One)
• "Best of You" (In Your Honor)
• "The Pretender" (Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace)
• "Walk" (Wasting Light)
• "Something from Nothing" (Sonic Highways)
• "Run" (Concrete and Gold)
• "Holding Poison" (Medicine at Midnight)

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Foo Fighters contains examples of:

• Aliens Steal Cattle: Alien UFOs are shown beaming up cattle with a Tractor Beam several times in the game's artwork.
• Area 51: The complex is host to the Overlord and some of his mind-controlled minions. Not only is it physically depicted on Premium and Limited Edition machines, it is the subject of the aptly-named Area 51 Multiball (wherein the Foo Fighters break in and steal classified information from the building) across all versions of the game.
• Astral Finale: The last stretch of "The Final Battle" is devoted to a fight in space between the Foobot and the Overlord.
• Battering Ram: The band uses a variant at the start of Area 51 Multiball, holding Pat Smear like a traditional ram and bashing open a door with his head.
• Behind a Stick: One animation that plays during "Holding Poison" shows a band member hiding behind a road sign that should be far too thin to obscure him.
• Big Bad: The Overlord is an alien who plans to destroy all music made by people other than himself by stealing analogue equipment, brainwashing people with specially-made helmets, and unleashing hordes of Spider-Bots across the USA. The Foo Fighters lead La Résistance to stop him.
• Bigfoot, Sasquatch, and Yeti: Bigfoot appears during the intro and conclusion to "This is a Call," set in Seattle. He takes heed of the band's efforts to spread their music and can be seen rocking out after finishing the mode.
• Big Red Devil: A red-colored devil is among the audience members in the Foo Fighters concert held during the Wizard Mode.
• Camp: The game's premise is ostensibly that of a Saturday-Morning Cartoon, so it faithfully emulates the bright colors and ridiculous plots of its real-world equivalents — the band is cast as La Résistance fighting an evil alien overlord with The Power of Rock and a Humongous Mecha. Taking it even further, the Premium version's cabinet artwork depicts an in-universe line of action figures that spout intentionally cheesy catchphrases like "It's shreddin' time!" As the game's designer puts it:
  Jack Danger: I want you to giggle the first time you play it, 'cause I definitely did.
• Chest Blaster: One animation during Foobot Multiball shows the eponymous Humongous Mecha firing a laser from its chest.
• Chirping Crickets: The intro to "The Final Battle" shows the beginning of a live performance by the Foo Fighters, with an eager crowd awaiting them... only to realize that most of the band is being mind-controlled, with Dave replaced by a disguised Overlord and Pat missing entirely. The awkward turn of events is accentuated by the sound of crickets chirping.
• Cool Shades: The Foobot wears a pair of sunglasses for no apparent reason other than to look awesome.
• Coloring in the World: The main plot is about the titular band taking on The Overlord who is mind-controlling people through specialized helmets, turning them into Gloomy Gray (in both skin and clothing) servants known as The Reformatted. The protagonists utilize The Power of Rock to liberate them and bring color back to their lives both literally and figuratively.
• Colour-Coded for Your Convenience: It's possible to upgrade certain parts of the band's van several times. The playfield light uses different colors to show how many times each section has been upgraded — in order, yellow, lime, green, cyan, blue, purple, and finally red.
• Framing Device: The game's premise, which involves the Foo Fighters traveling the country to fight an Alien Invasion, is presented as a fictional Saturday-Morning Cartoon (aptly titled Foo Fighters Saturday Morning Action Time!).
• Flying Saucer: Many of the Overlord's spacecrafts, seen throughout the game's art package, are standard saucer-shaped UFOs.
• Gloomy Gray: The Reformatted — people affected by the Overlord's mind-control helmets — have gray-colored skin and wear gray, featureless clothing. It falls to the Foo Fighters to bring color back to their lives (literally and metaphorically) through The Power of Rock.
• Green and Mean: The Overlord, a green-colored alien, is the Big Bad who wishes to mind-control humanity and deprive them of their music.
• Green-Eyed Monster: Several things suggest that the Overlord's villainy is driven by envy towards the Foo Fighters' success as a band. He can describe himself as a former super-fan during "All My Life," steals all manner of musical equipment throughout the game, hosts his own concert during "The Pretender," and proclaims that "now I will have what is rightfully mine!" after attempting to take over the band itself in "The Final Battle." This ends when the Foo Fighters decide to incorporate him into their group following their final fight, a position he's overjoyed to receive.
• The Greys: While every alien seen in the art package is green, their designs are otherwise exactly the same as a typical Grey — mildly diminutive humanoids with over-sized heads and big, black eyes. These depictions are identical to the Overlord without his mask, as revealed in "The Final Battle."
• Heel–Face Turn: The Overlord, of all people, goes from being a villain to getting redeemed after finishing "The Final Battle." Seeing him defeated and dejected, the band decides to give him a position in their group as a mascot of sorts, something which he wholeheartedly accepts.
• Humongous Mecha: The Foobot is a massive robot formed from six distinct parts, able to stand up to the Overlord's own giant robots with an array of attacks.
• Hypno Trinket: The Overlord uses specialized helmets to mind control people, turning them into the "Reformatted." Much later, he also uses headphones to brainwash four of the band's members during the Wizard Mode.
• Idea Bulb: After finishing the Wizard Mode, a lightbulb appears right when Dave comes up with an idea for how to deal with the Overlord, who's gone from the Big Bad to an object of pity.
• Jet Pack: Fittingly, the Foo Fighters are shown using jet packs as a means of quickly leaving their van during "Learn to Fly."
• La Résistance: The Show Within a Show depicts the titular band as freedom fighters battling a hostile alien overlord attempting to take over the United States.
• Life Meter: The last two phases of "The Final Battle" are presented as actual fights, giving each combatant a life bar. The heroes' drains over time while the villain's drains when the player makes certain shots.
• Match Sequence: The game displays an old TV that switches between various channels (each displaying a potential match number), eventually settling on one before turning off.
• Mecha Expansion Pack: Midway through "The Final Battle," the Foobot summons a separate, hawk-like mech that attaches to its back and forms a set of wings.
• The Merch: In-Universe, the Show Within a Show has a line of action figures based on the characters. Collecting a band member in-game displays an animation of a child opening up their corresponding toy, alongside a piece of their Foobot included in the package. The front and sides of the Premium and Limited Editions' cabinet are also decorated with a faux-advertisement for the figures, including one for the Overlord.
• Most Definitely Not a Villain:
  • The playfield and Pro backglass repeatedly depict an alien attempting to pass himself off as a "normal human" by wearing a fake mustache and taped-on ears, despite clearly having non-human features (including green skin and completely black eyes).
  • Area 51, represented by the upper playfield, has its sign poorly concealed by another one claiming it's a "normal human building."
• Mythology Gag:
  • The bottom of the playfield accompanies the ball save light with the phrase "you'll stick around," referencing the band's song "I'll Stick Around."
  • The alien hitchhiker on the Pro version's backglass replicates a poster for a 2021 performance the band did in Albuquerque (illustrated by Jeremy "Zombie Yeti" Packer, who later did the game's artwork). Within the game itself, the actual poster appears upon clearing the Wizard Mode, now contextualized as an in-universe photoshoot with a reformed Overlord.
• Name-Tron: The part of the heads-up display that keeps track of combos is dubbed the "Combo-Tron" in-universe.
• New Game Plus: After completing The Final Battle, all features reset their progress - however, any shots that were upgraded to be worth 2x for the game will be upgraded to 3x (and so on in theory).
• Open Secret: Played for Laughs when the Foo Fighters discover the Overlord's secret base — a building with a giant neon sign reading "Overlord's Secret Base!" pointing right at it.
• Paper-Thin Disguise: During the build-up to Area 51 Multiball, the band infiltrates the complex by pretending to have been mind-controlled by the Overlord's reformatting helmets. Their disguises are blatantly cheap, consisting of garbage bag "outfits" with cardboard/tin foil "helmets," but they manage to break in anyway.
• The Power of Rock: The Foo Fighters' rock is powerful enough to rid people of their Hypno Trinkets and attack the Overlord all by itself.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: The Overlord, a megalomaniac alien and the game's Big Bad, has red eyes. It turns out to be part of his mask by the end of the Wizard Mode — his actual eyes are completely black.
• Rocket Punch: The Foobot is able to detach its hand for offensive purposes, though it's also used as theming for the "overdrive" ball save — the mech's hand shoots out and flicks the ball back onto the playfield.
• Scooby-Dooby Doors: Both Area 51 Multiball and "Times Like These" show the band running between various corridors/buildings to escape the Big Bad's henchmen (brainwashed humans in the former, robots in the latter). The shot is framed exactly like in Scooby-Doo.
• Shout-Out:
  • The faux-Vanity Plate used for the Show Within a Show is modeled on the one used by Rankin/Bass Productions.
  • The main display during Area 51 Multiball and "Times Like These" depict the band fleeing from the Overlord's minions in a Scooby-Dooby Doors-like fashion. Fittingly, their run cycles are a direct homage to Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! — in the former, Pat Smear even runs on all fours like Scooby himself.
  • During Foobot Multiball, the titular mech will sometimes say "Foobot smash!" while attacking, referencing The Incredible Hulk's habit of saying "Hulk smash!"
  • One of the people saved from mind control during "Something From Nothing" is a woman with the same clothes as Rosie the Riveter (as depicted on the famous "We Can Do It!" poster).
• Skill Shot:
  • Regular skill shots increase in value according to how difficult they are: simply plunging the ball into the top lanes (which requires little effort) awards no more than 300,000 points, while hitting the Sonic Radio target immediately after starting a ball will award 1 million points and a mystery award.
  • The Super Skill Shot requires shooting two specific shots in succession, which can be comboed up to six times for potentially millions of points.
  • There are two Secret Skill Shots that require the player to plunge the ball straight into the leftmost lanes near the flippers — a remarkably difficult feat, but one that awards by far the most points of any skill shot.
• Sliding Scale of Gameplay and Story Integration: Since the game's premise is meant to be a fake Saturday-Morning Cartoon, "beating" it by completing the Wizard Mode shows the end of the "episode," followed by the tape rewinding back to the beginning. This justifies the player's progress in modes being reset and explains why the Overlord, who pulls a Heel–Face Turn during the ending, reverts to being the Big Bad.
• Spelling Bonus: Spelling V-A-N allows the player to start a Van Mode.
• Spider Tank: Many of the Overlord's personally-controlled robots have multiple spider-like legs, ranging from three to six depending on the mode.
• Suspiciously Specific Denial: During "Holding Poison," Pat manages to trick several robots into running into a brick wall by painting a tunnel on it, complete with a sign labeling it a "completely real tunnel!"
• Super Window Jump: Once Area 51 Multiball concludes, the band makes their escape from the complex by jumping straight through a window.
• Sympathy for the Devil: The Foo Fighters end up taking pity on the Overlord after decisively beating him in "The Final Battle," leading Dave Grohl to give the villain another chance by using his likeness to promote their performances (making him an actual part of the band).
• Thing-O-Meter: Certain shots will fill up the "Rock-O-Meter," tying into the premise focusing on The Power of Rock. In gameplay terms, it's a mechanic that can add a Score Multiplier when activated.
• Tractor Beam: Several animations show the Overlord using tractor beams (more specifically "magnetic abduction beams") to steal various things, most prominently various instruments and other music-related items.
• Use Your Head:
  • Played for Laughs at the start of Area 51 Multiball, when the band manages to break down the titular location's doors by using Pat Smear as a human Battering Ram, head-first.
  • Pat bashes his head against a glass window to shatter it and escape from the UFO where he's being held captive during the first phase of "The Final Battle."
• "Wanted!" Poster: The Overlord's regime employs a futuristic variant, displaying holographic "wanted" signs bearing the likeness of frontman/La Résistance member Dave Grohl.
• Wizard Mode: There are two mini-Wizard Modes, followed by a proper finale.
  • Completing three out of six Van Modes lights one of two modes. The player can pick one, with the other only becoming available after finishing the remaining three Van Modes.
    • "Times Like These" shows the Overlord's spider robots interrupting a cookout the band's holding in Austin, Texas. Every shot is lit for a jackpot, with one relighting the rest and slightly increasing how many points they're worth — the aim is to make as many regular jackpots as possible before then, so as to increase the special shot's score value.
    • "Holding Poison" depicts the band finding that their van's been dismantled by spider robots. Each member of the band is tied to a specific shot on the playfield — shooting the drop targets and then the target behind them will light a super jackpot at one of them, which will reclaim one part of the van when obtained.
  • "The Final Battle" requires playing every Van Mode (including the two mini-Wizard Modes), every Overlord Multiball, and Foobot Multiball. It's divided into several phases — the first two require making specific shots quickly to free the band from captivity/mind control, the third requires shooting lit shots to deal damage to the Overlord in a fight, while the fourth and final stretch works similarly but lights every shot for damage (and multiplies all scoring by the number of balls currently on the playfield).
• World Tour: The band travels across the United States for each Van Mode, ranging from Seattle to New Orleans to New York.
• Written Sound Effect:
  • The bottom of the playfield depicts the Foobot's detached hand flicking a ball back onto the flippers with a "t'nnnk!" noise.
  • A number of modes show sound effects on the display — for instance, making shots during Monkey Wrench Multiball depicts the Overlord being attacked with a "WHAM!"

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