Red Line Fever
About This Machine
Red Line Fever is a fascinating what-if in pinball history: a motorcycle/motocross-themed machine designed by Greg Kmiec for Capcom Coin-Op that never made it to production. Development got only as far as a single whitewood prototype before Capcom terminated its remaining employees on December 9, 1996, ending the company's pinball division for good. Kmiec has called it the best game he ever designed and the last one developed before Capcom's doors shut - it was slated to be the company's next release.
The gameplay was built around four players racing each other through a motorcycle-themed course. A two-position wooden ramp in the upper right playfield, when lowered, gives access to a bank of three red standup targets; completing them raises the ramp so the ball can enter a kick-out hole on an elevated mini-playfield behind the targets. Players could shift gears using a left-side kick-out hole, and a large red ramp represented a banked turn on the race course, with a rollunder at each entrance measuring ball speed and identifying direction of entry. A handlebar mounted on the front of the cabinet controlled dedicated flipper switches, tying the cabinet's physical design directly into the racing theme.
Because it never progressed beyond the prototype stage, Red Line Fever exists today as a single whitewood - there was no production run, no cabinet art, and no widespread release. That rarity, combined with its status as Capcom's final pinball design, makes it a notable curiosity in pinball history rather than a machine collectors can actually own a production copy of.
Images (2)
Technical Details
- Theme:
- Sports - Motorcycles/Motocross
- Toys:
- 3 motorcycles
- Notable Features:
- Flippers (2), Pop bumpers (3), Slingshots (2), Standup targets (6), 3-bank drop targets (1), Kick-out holes (2), Rollunders (2), Horseshoe lane (1), Left outlane kickback. The four players race one another. A two-position wooden ramp in upper right playfield, when in lowered position, allows access to a bank of three red standup targets. When various features are completed by hitting the targets, a coil raises the ramp, allowing the ball to go into the kick-out hole on the elevated mini-playfield behind the three targets. The large red ramp represents a banked turn on a motorcycle race course. A rollunder at each entrance of this ramp identifies which direction the ball enters the ramp and measures ball speed between them. These entrances raise to allow the ball to go under them to the top of the playfield. The left-side kick-out hole is used to shift gears on the main playfield feature. Once the three drop targets are dropped, the player has a certain amount of time to hit the single yellow standup target behind them before they reset.
Credits
- Designer:
- Greg Kmiec