Overview
Af-Tor is a 1984 widebody solid-state pinball machine produced by Wico Corp, notable as the company's only full-sized commercial release. It is highly regarded by collectors for its pioneering technology, despite its reputation as a brutally fast and challenging game.
It was the first game with a dual physical-core processor control board, a solenoid matrix power system, and non-volatile RAM that eliminated the need for batteries, allowing it to remember scores when turned off. It featured early alphanumeric displays, with some sources noting it as a pioneer in placing these in the backbox.
The cabinet (except for side panels) and the entire backbox are made of metal rather than wood. The game has a "Mad Max" or futuristic/dystopian aesthetic with a widebody layout.
The table features two flippers, four pop bumpers, two slingshots, fourteen standup targets, two 3-bank drop targets, three solitary drop targets, two spinning targets, two programmable gates, one kick-out hole, one rollunder, and left and right dual inlanes.
Each pop bumper has a nearby target that lights the bumper to increase its value for a limited time. Each outlane has a drop target blocking the ball from draining when earned by the player. The unusual shooter lane curve will aim a ball strongly shot into play directly towards the left outlane and its drop target.
The upper playfield has left and right return lanes each allowing the player to shoot the ball through a spinning target and back to the top of the playfield. At the top of these return lanes are wireform gates controlled by the CPU. The player can hit targets and rollovers to open one or both of these gates.
If the left gate is open, the player can complete a ball orbit through both spinners by shooting through the right-side return lane. Similarly, if the right gate is open, the player can complete a ball orbit through both spinners by shooting through the left-side return lane. Completing an orbit with green light flashing will light the 'Barren X Zone' insert in the center playfield for an immediate doubling of playfield scoring until the green light goes out.
