"It's museum time!"note
Weird Al's Museum of Natural Hilarity is a 2022 Physical Pinball Table designed by Stephen Silver, with artwork by Matt Andrews and audio by Scott Danesi. It is the first licensed game by Multimorphic for their P3 modular pinball platform.
As the title indicates, the game is centered on the world-famous comedy musician "Weird Al" Yankovic, who's opened up a museum with exhibits and items related to his body of work. Visit the Amish in the Anthropology Hall, stomp weasels in the Sports & Leisure Hall, or operate on hapless victims in the Hall of Health & Medicine. Between exhibits, visit the mezzanine in the upper playfield and make some bologna sandwiches, play with Harvey the Wonder Hamster, then lock three balls in the U62 television camera to start UHF Multiball. After you're done breaking things and collecting Al's Hawaiian shirts, grab a pair of scissors and make one final mad dash through all the exhibits.
Naturally, the game features 17 songs from Al's discography; the man himself guides players through the museum with over 2,000 lines of dialogue. In addition to the standard edition kit, WAMNH was also available in a limited edition of only 227 units, which sold out in under six hours. The limited edition features alternate cabinet art, an animated topper, and a backbox translite autographed by Al.
List of songs featured in-game
- "My Bologna" ("Weird Al" Yankovic (Album) — parody of "My Sharona" by The Knack)
- "Dare to Be Stupid" (Dare to Be Stupid)
- "Like a Surgeon" (Dare to Be Stupid — parody of "Like a Virgin" by Madonna)
- "You Make Me" (Even Worse)
- "Fun Zone" (UHF - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack and Other Stuff)
- "UHF" (UHF - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack and Other Stuff)
- "Harvey the Wonder Hamster" (Alapalooza)
- "Traffic Jam" (Alapalooza)
- "Amish Paradise" (Bad Hair Day — parody of "Gangsta's Paradise" by Coolio)
- "Germs" (Running with Scissors)
- "Hardware Store" (Poodle Hat)
- "I'll Sue Ya" (Straight Outta Lynwood)
- "Weasel Stomping Day" (Straight Outta Lynwood)
- "White & Nerdy" (Straight Outta Lynwood — parody of "Ridin'" by Chamillionaire)
- "Mission Statement" (Mandatory Fun)
- "Sports Song" (Mandatory Fun)
- "Word Crimes" (Mandatory Fun — parody of "Blurred Lines" by Robin Thicke)
Previews: Teaser trailer
, launch trailer, This Week in Pinball "deep dive"
Weird Al's Museum of Natural Hilarity contains examples of:
- Ambulance Chaser: The player becomes one in "I'll Sue Ya", filing lawsuits on such ludicrously stupid grounds like "entrapment via beverage conveyance" or "battery via battery", and then being awarded damages during the song's chorus based on how many lawsuits were filed.
- Arc Number: The number 27, a recurring motif in Al's music, appears several times in the game.
- Destroying 27 objects is the sole prerequisite for starting Hardware Store Multiball.
- "Traffic Jam" has you travelling on Interstate 27.
- The limited edition package is restricted to 227 copies.
- "You Make Me" congratulates you on being the 27th visitor to the museum.
- Bait-and-Switch: If, somehow, you drain the ball without earning any kind of bonus, the game will award you 5,000 points as a "No Awards Award"... only to immediately take it back on the grounds of "Well, now you have an award..."
- Big Eater: "My Bologna" has the player building - you guessed it - bologna sandwiches. The taller the sandwich, the more points it's worth.
- Black Comedy Animal Cruelty: "Weasel Stomping Day", which, appropriately enough, has players hitting the upper spot targets to stomp as many weasels as they can before the song is over.
- Damn You, Muscle Memory!: The upper and lower flippers are controlled by separate buttons instead of the same one. Additionally, the Meal Ticket and Spatula Save indicators, located in the inlanes/outlanes, are toggled between left and right by the upper flipper buttons, rather than the lower ones as most would expect.
- Double Entendre: During "Sports Song", hitting one of the red shots causes "You Suck!" to display prominently on the screen. While it's a reference to the song itself, it can also be taken as a direct jab at the player for hitting a shot they weren't supposed to.
- Final Exam Finale: "Running With Scissors" tasks you with completing a speedrun of abbreviated versions of all of the game's modes (barring Harvey the Wonder Hamster).
- Hamster-Wheel Power: UHF mode is started once the camera is powered up enough, which is accomplished by Harvey the Wonder Hamster running in a hamster wheel.
- Horse of a Different Color: The backbox art for the limited edition, shown in the launch trailer and other promotional material, shows Al riding a giant-sized hamster.
- Interface Screw: One of the possible "rewards" during "Dare to Be Stupid" temporarily reverses the flipper controls.
- Meatgrinder Surgery: Some of the surgical instruments in "Like a Surgeon" include a chainsaw and kitchen knives.
- Mickey Mousing: A couple of the songs do this: in "Mission Statement", the "selloff" phase is timed to occur whenever the song mentions "synergy" or "monetize our assets", and in "I'll Sue Ya", the "damages" phase always occurs during the chorus.
- Monstrous Germs: The "Germs" mode pits the player against red and blue cartoon germs that look like Al's head.
- Mythology Gag: Not surprisingly, the game is filled with references to Al's other works.
- The mezzanine's restaurant is the "Little Hungry One Cafe," a reference to the opening line of "My Bologna."
- The condiment targets are labeled "Just" and "Eat It," referencing the chorus of "Eat It."
- UHF gets two separate nods:
- The "Supplies Closet" is a reference to Kuni's "SUPPLIES!" gag near the end of the movie.
- The outlane ball saver is enabled by collecting enough spatulas, alluding to the in-movie commercial for "Spatula City."
- The "Supplies Closet" is a reference to Kuni's "SUPPLIES!"
- The game's limited edition translite art depicts Al wearing the Devo-inspired yellow jumpsuit from the music video for "Dare to Be Stupid."
- The cover art for Alapalooza (depicting Al as a dinosaur in a parody of Jurassic Park's logo) is replicated twice: as the icon for the Great Hall on the museum's map◊ and as a dinosaur skeleton in the museum itself◊.
- The playfield art depicts a statue of Al that faithfully recreates his pose on the cover of Running with Scissors.
- The playfield and backbox visuals that appear during "Mission Statement" are lifted directly from the song's music video.
- Non-Standard Game Over: Completing "Running With Scissors" rolls credits, awards you a massive bonus based on how quickly you completed the mode, and ends the game.
- Rewarding Vandalism: Hitting the side targets smashes various objects in the museum. Smashing 27 targets lights Hardware Store Multiball.
- Shout-Out:
- The colorful Wheel of Decisions used in "Dare to Be Stupid" is modeled on Wheel of Fortune's namesake (down to using the same font).
- A standee depicts a statue of Al that mimics David (with boxer shorts).
- One of the things Al can yell out if you fail to make a lane change in "Traffic Jam" is "Move Your Car!"
- "Like a Surgeon" is basically one giant homage to Operation, right down to the game buzzing and displaying "Don't Touch the Sides!" if you shoot a red shot.
- Spelling Bonus: Spelling V-I-P raises the VIP Ticket Counter scoop to start any mode (as opposed to being limited to whichever hall is currently active).
- Timed Mission: An interesting variant. Most of the non-multiball modes don't have a visible timer, and what few timers exist are there to indicate phase shifts rather than the length of the mode. Rather, each mode ends when the corresponding song does, though after completing a specific objective, the player can shoot the VIP scoop to end a mode early if their goal is simply to play through as many songs as possible.
- Played straight with "Running With Scissors", which starts you with a 30-second timer and awards more time if you can advance through each stage quickly enough. Running out of time kicks you out of the mode, forcing you to restart at the stage you failed on with a fresh timer.
- Thinker Pose: A standee depicts a statue of Al directly replicating The Thinker.
- Wheel of Decisions: During "Dare to Be Stupid", shooting the mini loop spins one, which can grant immediate rewards or change the mechanics of the game (see Interface Screw above).
- Wizard Mode: The 1.0 Update in late 2022 added two:
- "You Make Me" is a sub-wizard mode unlocked by completing a song in each of the five halls. The mode is a two-ball multiball that alternates between shooting left-side shots and right-side shots to build the jackpot value, and then collecting the jackpot by hitting the various spot targets.
- "Running with Scissors" is the true wizard mode, unlocked by completing all ten main songs and playing through "My Bologna", "Hardware Store", "UHF", "Dare to Be Stupid", and "You Make Me". This mode tasks you with speedrunning through abbreviated versions of all of the above-mentioned modes, starting you with a 30-second timer and adding 30 seconds whenever you complete a stage and move on to the next one (up to a maximum of 90 seconds). Running out of time without completing a stage's objective kicks you out of the mode, requiring you to shoot the scoop in order to restart the mode where you left off with a fresh 30-second timer. Completing all 15 stages ends the game and awards you a massive bonus based on how quickly you completed the mode.
