Follow TV Tropes

Following

Pinball / Truck Stop

Go To

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/truck-stop_7323.jpg

Truck Stop (Full title: Big Betty's Truck Stop) is a Physical Pinball Table designed by Dan Langlois, Steve Kirk, and Jim Patla, with art by Pat McMahon. It was released by Williams Electronics under the "Bally" label in 1988.

The player is cast as a semi truck driver, enjoying some good donuts, hot coffee, and fine company at Big Betty's between shifts hauling cargo. Hit the symmetrical double ramps to spot the various cities, then pull into the Gas Station to lock the ball. Spell C-I-T-Y five times to reach a destination and start two-ball multiball, then blast through the center dropdown targets and hit the bonus multiplier. For a faster trip, hit all of the blue targets to light the diamonds and complete the current destination.

The game actually started as "Diesel Demon", a table designed by Steve Kirk at Bally about a zombie truck driver terrorizing motorists, then rethemed and renamed to the less intimidating "Ramp Warrior". During this time, Bally was bought out by Williams, and company management decided to differentiate the two brands by reserving the Bally label for games with low-brow concepts and big-breasted women. "Ramp Warrior" was the first game to fall under this edict, and thus Truck Stop was born. Many players consider it an empty pleasure, a fun game to be played when taking a break between more epic titles.

Trivia: Due to an engineering mistake during design, the wireforms in the upper part of the playfield were smaller than normal, causing the balls to get stuck in them. The workaround was to replace the standard 1¼" balls with smaller ones, making this one of only two pinball games to use 1" balls.


Truck Stop demonstrates the following tropes:

  • Leg Focus: On the playfield, Betty and Marge are posing next to a gas pump and showing off their bare legs.
  • Greasy Spoon: Big Betty's, which serves both fuel and food.
  • Hot Paint Job: Seen on the semi tractor on the backglass.
  • Ms Fan Service: Betty and the other waitresses, who unabashedly flaunt their bodies.
  • Mythology Gag:
    • The semi truck has a plate with "CG" and a musical note; these are the initials of the game's musician, Chris Granner.
    • A bumper sticker reads "DL - JP", referring to designers Dan Langlois and Jim Patla.
    • A detached license plate near Betty and Marge reads "SK - 13", for design collaborator Steve Kirk.
    • One of the playfield road signs shows two merging arrows with the text reading "Williams/Bally Merge"
  • Sexy Silhouette: The "Mudflap girl" silhouette can be seen on a playfield road sign, along with the caption Dangerous Curves.

Top