Star Trek: The Next Generation is a widebody pinball game, designed by Steve Ritchie and released in November 1993 by Williams Electronics. It was part of WMS' SuperPin series and was based on the TV series. It is the only pinball machine that features three separate highscore-lists. Apart from the regular highscore-list and the buy-in-list, it also features a reminiscence to the The Machine: Bride of Pin*Bot billionaires club.

Production notes

According to an interview, Steve Ritchie, a longtime Star Trek fan, stated that getting the license was a challenge, due to Paramount insisting that they don't want to put any violence in the game; however, he told them that he would never violate the Prime Directive.

The game includes voice clips recorded by cast members Patrick Stewart (Captain Jean-Luc Picard), Jonathan Frakes (Commander William Riker), Brent Spiner (Lieutenant Commander Data), Levar Burton (Lieutenant Commander Geordi La Forge), Marina Sirtis (Counselor Deanna Troi), Gates McFadden (Dr. Beverly Crusher), and John de Lancie (Q). With the DCS Sound System, the quality of the voices is very good.

Launch options

When a new ball is launched into the plunger, you are given five launch awards, which is selected when the ball is fired. Unless otherwise noted, the ball is launched through the spiral ramp and into the lock hole (above the pop bumpers). Another ball is popped from the left scoop and onto the left inlanes.

• Start Mission: Starts lit mission.
• Flipper Skill Shot: You have to shoot the ball up the right ramp (the Beta Quadrant) for a random award.
• Launch Probe: The ball will be loaded into one of the two cannons, located on top of the slings. Shoot the lit target for a random award. If you miss, Data will say, "The probe has discovered nothing, sir".
• Light Lock / Light Holodeck: Lights the ball lock, and the ball gets locked for multiball. When the limit is reached, "Light Lock" changes to "Light Holodeck".
• Warp Factor: Starts the ball at Warp Factor 4. After you reach Warp 9, (depending on the ROM version), the award changes to Warp 9.1, up to 9.9 (you have a certain amount of time to make either the left circle or Delta ramp for each point), then changes to "Warp Factor 2". The ball is sent to the pop bumpers.

"Missions"

It features seven "missions" the player must complete before entering The Final Frontier:

• Time Rift
• Worm Hole
• Search The Galaxy
• Battle Simulation
• Q's Challenge
• Rescue
• Asteroid Threat

There are various marked targets around the playfield with the Star Trek insignia. Different combinations of these are lit for different modes, indicating which shots the player needs to make. These modes are not stackable, meaning the player must complete one mission before starting another. There is a hole in the center at the top of the playfield which will start a mission at anytime if the player makes the shot.

Time Rift
All the signature targets are lit. Hitting the Time Rift targets to the left cause the count down timer to reset. Each time a different character speaks.

Worm Hole
The left orbit, shuttle ramp, and Delta ramp or worm hole ramp are lit. The goal is to shoot the worm hole ramp. This is facilitated by hitting the shuttle ramp, which feeds the right flipper to shoot the left orbit, which feeds the upper right flipper to the worm hole ramp. Each completed ramp shot increases the value of the worm hole target.

Search The Galaxy
The three ramp targets light up. Riker tells the player to "set course for the Alpha quadrant." Technically, the targets can be complete in any order, but if done in the order of Alpha, Beta, and Delta, the Neutral zone target lights up as a fourth target and is considered the Gamma quadrant. After completing a target, Riker orders the player to set course for the next target not yet reached.

Battle Simulation
A ball is loaded up in one of the cannon's and the player must either shoot the Neutral zone or the Start Mission target. The targets alternate, and if successful, another ball is loaded in the other cannon. If the player misses, then they must hit the ball into either of the targets or the Advance Rank hole in order to have another ball loaded into a cannon. Sometimes you can hit the target of the Neutral zone, get credit, but not actually sink the ball and have to recover from that.

Q's Challenge
Q shows up and greets Picard as he often does in the TV series, "Greetings Mon Capitan!". Picard responds, "Q, what are you doing here?" Q says, "Let's play a little game." As the ball is being served up to the left flipper, Riker replies, "Q, we don't have time for your games." A couple of the signature targets is lit. There is a tiny target in front of the foremost pop bumpers that has "Q" shown on it. Any time the player hits it, another target lights up. As the player hits targets, others light up. Each target also has a time out, where it will fade but another one lights up. If the player drains the ball, there are several cracks that Q will make:

• "Someday you'll learn to play pinball."
• "And you were doing so well."
• "Pity."

Rescue
The goal is to rescue 50 Starfleet personal. The Alpha ramp, Start Mission, and shuttle ramp targets light up. Any targets on the playfield that get hit cause personnel to be loaded onto the shuttle. Hitting either the Alpha ramp or the shuttle ramp will rescue the personnel currently loaded. When the player hits the Start Mission target, Riker says, "Five to beam up", and an animated graphic plays showing five personal being rescued. When the player has hit enough targets that there are no more personnel to load, the computer voice instructs the player to board the shuttle at once.

Asteroid Threat
When the mode starts, only the Start Mission target is lit. Picard sees asteroids and asks for suggestions. Mr. Data suggests that "we can destroy the asteroids in our path." A counter shows a value of 20,000,000 starts to count down. When the player hits the initial target, an asteroid blows up, and it sets the value for all the other shots. Then the other targets light up as asteroids to hit.

The Final Frontier
After completing all the missions, starting the next mission begins an amazing 6-ball multi-ball mode. Two balls are loaded into the cannon, and the player must launch them. The others also enter the playfield. All the signature targets are lit up, and the value is based on the number of artifacts picked up during the other missions. This is considered the "wizard mode" for the player to complete.

Warp Factors

The Warp Factor is lit at the right inlane, and it is collected by shooting the left loop. The left loop must be completed to be advanced. It is also advanced by shooting the Delta Quadrant (left ramp). The Warp Factor awards are as follows:

• Warp Factor 2: 5 million points.
• Warp Factor 3: Super Jets (each pop bumper hit is 1 million points).
• Warp Factor 4: Spinner is lit.
• Warp Factor 5: Bonus multipliers are held.
• Warp Factor 6: Both inlanes are lit. The left inlane starts Hurry Up, which is collected by shooting the right loop, while the right inlane starts Super Spinner, where the spinner is worth 10 million points per spin.
• Warp Factor 7: Double Spinner.
• Warp Factor 8: Extra ball is lit at the Start Mission scoop. After the extra ball is collected, you are awarded an artifact instead, when you reach Warp 8 again.
• Warp Factor 9: Starts Warp Factor 9 mode. The goal in this mode is to shoot the left loop and/or the Delta Quadrant to advance the level in 0.1 increments, until the engine maxes out at Warp Factor 9.9. After that, you are awarded 60 million points.

Neutral Zone

Three targets plus a hole in front of the middle one. Shoot the targets three times to light a random mission:

• Ferengi: Multiball, but starts with only one ball. Shoot the Neutral Zone for additional balls (maximum of five). The "Start Mission" hole awards Jackpot (Ten Million times the number of balls), the left yellow targets increase the Jackpot by two millions.
• Romulan: Three ships will appear (left loop, alpha ramp and beta ramp) which you can force to cloak by shooting the corresponding shot. The mission goal is to cloak all ships simultaneously for a 30 million award.
• Cardassian: Two ball Multiball with the Jackpot placed in the Neutral Zone. Value of the Jackpot is depending on the Enterprise shields, which start at 100% (equalling 50 million) and are decreased by any shot fired by the Cardassians.

Borg Multiball

To start the battle with the Borg ship you need to lock three balls. Locks are lit by shooting the right orbit (or selecting "Light Lock" on the start of a ball). Then shoot the right orbit again (or the left ramp) to lock a ball. After locking the third ball, Multiball will start with one ball placed into the left cannon and "Start Mission" lit. Shoot the hole for Jackpot and a reload of the cannon. The procedure can be continued for a Double Jackpot and Triple Jackpot. Multiball will start as soon as you miss the cannon shot or after scoring the Triple Jackpot. During Multiball "Start Mission" will score cycling Jackpot/Double Jackpot/Triple Jackpot and the left ramp a Triple Jackpot. As the Enterprise is being shot at by the Borg, "Start Mission" Jackpots will be unlit as soon as the shields reach 0%. Relight Jackpots by hitting the spinner in the left loop.

Ranks

Light all three multiplier lanes (above the jet bumpers) to advance bonus and light advance rank at "Command Decision" for:

• Ensign: 5 million
• Lieutenant: 10 million
• Lieutenant Commander: 15 million
• Commander: 20 million
• Captain: 25 million

Note that the scores are awarded only at the bonus count. Advancing Rank while already being ranked "Captain" awards an instant 100 million.

Marketing Slogans

• "Galaxy Class Pinball from Williams"
• "It's Pinball at Warp Factor 9"