Taxi (pinball) facts for kids
Taxi is a fun pinball machine that was created in 1988 by a company called Williams Electronics. It was designed by Mark Ritchie and Python Anghelo. This game lets you pretend to be a taxi driver, picking up famous passengers!
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| Manufacturer | Williams Electronics |
|---|---|
| Release date | August 1988 |
| System | Williams System 11B |
| Design | Mark Ritchie, Python Anghelo |
| Programming | Ed Boon |
| Artwork | Python Anghelo |
| Mechanics | Craig Fitpold, Tony Kraemer, Mark Kim |
| Music | Chris Granner |
| Sound | Chris Granner |
Contents
How to Play Taxi
The main goal in the Taxi pinball game is to pick up five special passengers. These passengers are Pinbot, Gorbie, Lola (or Marilyn Monroe in earlier versions), Dracula, and Santa.
You can see these passengers as lighted pictures on the lower part of the game's playfield. They also appear on the backglass, which is the picture at the top of the machine. If the "Carry Passengers" light is off, you lose all your passengers when your pinball goes down the drain.
Picking Up Passengers
When you successfully pick up all five passengers, you light up the "Jackpot." This means you can score a huge amount of points for about ten seconds! It's a race against the clock to hit the right targets and get that big score.
Extra Balls
Sometimes, you can earn extra balls to keep playing longer. If you get more than five extra balls during a game, you'll receive a bonus score for each one. This helps you get an even higher score!
The Marilyn Passenger Story
When the Taxi pinball machine was first made, one of the passengers was named Marilyn. This character was blonde and wore a red dress, looking a lot like the famous actress Marilyn Monroe.
However, because of legal issues related to using Marilyn Monroe's image without permission, Williams Electronics had to change the character. They replaced Marilyn with a new passenger named Lola. Lola looks almost exactly like Marilyn, but her hair color is different. Lola was first shown with brown hair, and later with red hair, instead of Marilyn's famous blonde hair.
Digital Versions of Taxi
If you're interested in playing Taxi on a computer or game console, there have been digital versions available.
The game was once part of The Pinball Arcade, a collection of pinball games you could play on many different platforms. However, the license to include Taxi in that game ended on June 30, 2018. This meant the game was removed from digital stores. You can also find Taxi featured in another game called Pinball Hall of Fame: The Williams Collection.
