After the game was initially shown at the Amusement Expo trade show in New Orleans, American Pinball have belatedly officially announced their new Hot Wheels title, based on the toy cars from Mattel.
The exterior view of Hot Wheels
As we saw from the trade show pictures, this third game from American Pinball is aimed more towards operators than their first two titles, Houdini and Oktoberfest. The two-flippered playfield is simpler and easier to access, while there are no complex toys which could break and render the game unplayable.
The Hot Wheels playfield
The main toy is the spinning car which is mounted on an arm above the playfield.
The spinning car
This is one of five Hot Wheels models inside the game, but it is the only one which moves. The speed at which it spins is software-controlled, speeding up as you increase the revs with the R-P-M targets.
There are two plastic ramps in the game – one coloured orange and the other blue.
Left side orange ramp return
The blue left ramp
There is also an orange upkicker guide which deposits the ball on the right ramp’s return. A curved metal tongue helps the ball flow down the ramp return rather than slamming it into the plastic.
The orange upkicker ball guide
The playfield incorporates more than 140 RGB LEDs for insert, feature and general illumination. There is a large number of inserts across the playfield, including four at the entrance to each major shot and a tachometer above the flippers.
Some of the many RGB-lit inserts on the playfield
The cabinet interior sides feature custom artwork decals, while the back panel is a lenticular image, giving a pseudo-3D effect as you move your head side-to-side.
There is a magnet at the top of the outer orbit lane. This can either grab the ball and drop it through a gate into the pop bumpers, or briefly energise as the ball approaches to give it a speed boost.
The back panel and orbit lane magnet
We said when we first saw it how the game appears to be aimed at the operator market and the Hot Wheels flyer certainly pushes that angle, saying it is
