A
popular pinball machine from
Williams in
1989. Sometimes abbreviated
BK2K.
This game, a sequel to Black Knight, was known for retaining the essence of the
original, but a nice redesign to incorporate the most advanced features of the day.
Many people consider this to be one of the best pinball machines ever made.
- upper playfield - a mini-playfield above the upper part of the playfield.
Contains an upper flipper positioned to allow repeated loops around the outside of
the upper playfield and to shoot the ball into/through the drawbridge, which, unlike
its name suggests, is a wall of standup targets that drops straight down to allow balls to pass into the lock.
- Multiball - Two different multiballs exist in this game. There's the
traditional lock-3-balls type, and also the Double Knights Challenge multiball.
- Drawbridge Multiball - Hit all three lights on the drawbridge to open the
lock lane. Shoot a ball in the lock lane to lock it; lock 3 balls to start drawbridge
multiball. Depending on difficulty settings and whether or not you've already played a
multiball that game, you may or may not have to open the drawbridge for each ball.
During multiball, the drawbridge is lit for a jackpot.
- Double Knights Challenge - (WAR IS MILLION) A 2-ball multiball started from the
Challenge lane on the lower playfield. Shoot a certain number of consecutive U-turns
to light it (varies with difficulty settings). During multiball, score 1 million
each time you complete the WAR rollovers at the exit from the mini-playfield.
U-turn - A short lane with a sharp turn; the two ends point roughly at
the two flippers. Consecutive U-turns can add up to a lot of points, but also can be
difficult to control, and easily lead to a center drain.
Skyway - A long ramp on the left side of the machine which provides access
to the upper playfield. Shoot this lane to collect extra balls, hurry-ups, and the 1
million point Skyway award.
BLACK KNIGHT - Six standup targets on the lower playfield spell KNIGHT; hit all
six within a certain time limit, anytime during the game, to add a letter to BLACK. Spell
BLACK to light the Skyway for 1 million.
Spin - The middle of the lower playfield is dominated by a large display of
lightning bolts with various awards on them. The spin lane can be lit to give a
random award from the lightning wheel. Whether or not it is lit, it will kick the ball
up to the upper playfield.
Magna-Save - Spelling KNIGHT also lights Magna-Save. When Magna-Save is lit,
you can use an extra button trigger an electromagnet above the right inlane to
trap the ball and keep it from going down the outlane on that side.
Upper loop - Shooting two consecutive loops around the upper playfield lights
the bonus multiplier hold, and extra ball on the Skyway. The trick to this extra
ball is that the ball is on the upper playfield when this is lit, but the shot requires
the ball be on the lower playfield, and it is a quick timed shot. After you collect
this extra ball once, it takes three loops to light it again and the timer is shorter,
and this continues as you collect it more times. On normal settings, by the third one of
these, the timer is so short you can only collect it by letting the ball drain from the
upper playfield directly out of a loop (i.e., not flipping as the ball passes) and then
taking a live slap at the ball with the lower flipper.
WAR rollovers - Three exit lanes from the upper playfield, besides the
empty lane closest to the upper flipper. It is possible for the ball to rattle around
in one of these lanes enough to trigger the rollover without going through the lane
and leaving the upper playfield. In normal play, completing all three lights
Hurry-up on the Skyway; the first hurry-up is 250K, then 500K, 750K, 1 million,
and 1.5 million, if you manage to collect all those they cycle back to 250K. During
Double Knights Challenge multiball completing these lanes scores 1 million.
WIN rollovers - Three lanes at the top of the upper playfield, above
the pop bumpers. Completing these advances the bonus multiplier and lights
Advance RANSOM on the lock lane for a short while.
RANSOM - This is spelled out on the backglass and remains from game
to game. Locking a ball shortly after completing the WIN lanes advances this by one
letter. Completing RANSOM awards The King's Ransom.
The King's Ransom - When RANSOM is completed, everything is lit!
For 20 seconds, the game continuous reloads all three balls to the plunger as fast
as they drain, the Skyway is lit for 1 million and extra ball, Jackpot is lit at
the lock lane, completing WAR scores 1 million, and all U-turns are worth their
maximum value of 250K. (Note that the plunger is the traditional manually-operated
type, so if you are careful to leave a ball in the plunger lane, this is effectively
another extra ball, unless you manage to lock the one you are left with at the end of
King's Ransom.
Black Knight 2000 has one design flaw which I've seen compensated for on a couple
different BK2K machines. The
wire cage which forms the exit ramp from the upper
playfield has a
spring extension on the upper right side, presumably to capture some of the energy from
fast-flying balls. However, it's not strong enough
to prevent some fast-flying balls from slipping under or over the spring; when this
happens, the ball gets stuck on top of a playfield wall just in front of the
Magna-Save Sign. To keep the ball from going in here, you need to run an extra
piece of plastic or metal from the gap at the left of the Magna-Save sign to the right
side of the wire cage. It should be behind the spring a bit, to allow the spring to continue to function, but close enough to keep balls out of that area.