# The Making of Stern Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Pinball! (2020)

**Source:** Stern Pinball  
**Type:** video  
**Published:** 2020-11-06  
**Duration:** 9m 47s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlBrSCl2SQ4

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## Analysis

Official Stern Pinball behind-the-scenes documentary on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles pinball (2020), featuring interviews with designers discussing mechanical features (turtle van multiball, glider mech, pizza disc), rule design philosophy balancing casual and competitive play, cooperative gameplay modes, art direction by Zombie Yeti, and production challenges during COVID-19 pandemic shutdowns.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] Three-flipper layout with side shots and combo mechanics designed to appeal to both novice and hardcore players — _Designer discussing intentional shot layout and gameplay progression design_
- [HIGH] Turtle Van stores three balls with back entrance, fourth ball triggers multiball when door opens and spills all balls — _Designer explaining specific multiball mechanism implementation_
- [HIGH] Pizza disc mechanic discovered accidentally by slowing down ball circulation and reversing spin direction — _Designer describing iterative discovery process of pizza feature_
- [HIGH] Each of four turtles has four different perks tied to training levels, adding RPG-style progression elements — _Designer explaining character selection and progression system_
- [HIGH] Cooperative play supports 12 balls total versus 3 in solo mode, allowing players to progress further as a team — _Designer discussing cooperative gameplay mechanics advantage_
- [HIGH] Production validation started before COVID-19 pandemic shut down manufacturing, forcing remote development via Zoom and Slack — _Development team member describing mid-production pandemic impact_
- [HIGH] Majority of game choreography and polish work happens in final three months of development — _Team member discussing typical development timeline_
- [HIGH] Zombie Yeti is the artist credited for TMNT playfield artwork, known for clean lines and bright colors — _Team discussing artist portfolio and style contribution_

### Notable Quotes

> "I wanted to do a three flipper game I wanted to have some nice side shots to shoot at and combos... I just try to make it so that the novice player gets to see something cool and go wow that was neat I want to make that happen again but I want to make the game that's really challenging for the hardcore players"
> — **Designer (unnamed)**, Early-mid content
> _Core design philosophy balancing accessibility and depth_

> "The turtle van is really cool it's a big surprise the first time you see it you know you shoot the bop the ramp and also the ball stops it's like where'd the ball go where'd the ball go and then the van door opens up and they all come out"
> — **Designer**, Mid content
> _Describes signature multiball reveal mechanic and player surprise/delight factor_

> "I just kind of stumbled across it one day I was watching the balls go to the disc and fly off too soon I just slowed it down with my finger and then I watched the ball stop and I watched them circulate back the other way I'm like that's really cool we got to try to slow this thing down"
> — **Designer**, Mid content
> _Illustrates iterative, hands-on design discovery process_

> "Each turtle has four different perks one for each level of training and there's these kind of rpg elements to it you are a character and you're training and you're getting better and more powerful"
> — **Designer**, Mid content
> _Explains character progression mechanics unique to TMNT_

> "Turtles just lends itself really really well to co-op because turtles already are a team of people so if each player is a different turtle you know then we're working cooperatively to get through the game"
> — **Designer**, Late-mid content
> _Explains thematic fit of cooperative gameplay to IP_

> "Most of the work happens in the last three months of the game because that's where all of the choreography starts pouring in"
> — **Developer**, Late content
> _Reveals typical timeline for final development sprint and polish_

> "Everybody did 110 on this one and it shows"
> — **Team member**, Late content
> _Reflects team satisfaction with final product quality and effort_

> "Zombie Yeti has a really nice style and it lends itself well to the turtle property too... a lot of very clean lines a lot of bright colors these are all things that you know grab your attention"
> — **Designer/Team member**, Late-mid content
> _Characterizes art direction approach and visual impact_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles | game | Stern Pinball machine released 2020; primary subject of documentary |
| Stern Pinball | company | Manufacturer of TMNT pinball machine; producing this documentary |
| Zombie Yeti | person | Artist/art director for TMNT pinball; known for work on Ghostbusters, Iron Maiden, Deadpool, Primus; credited with playfield artwork, clean lines, and bright color palette |
| Dwight | person | Programmer/code lead receiving bug reports and wish lists during remote COVID development; likely Dwight Sullivan based on Stern team context |
| Williams Electronics | company | Previous employer where one designer worked for 10 years making pinball machines before joining Stern |
| Turtle Van | product | Signature multiball toy mechanism storing three balls with back entrance; fourth ball triggers door opening and multiball start |
| Glider Mech | product | Elliott Premium edition feature; servo-driven toy allowing ball diversion left/right or path blocking |
| Pizza Disc | product | Mechanically complex toy with reversible spin direction; discovered through iterative play-testing and refinement |
| Crane/Crank Mech | product | Toy mechanic with servo-driven animation; crane jumps and wears mech suit with dialogue interaction |
| COVID-19 Pandemic | event | Disrupted TMNT production during initial pro validation phase; forced remote development via Zoom, Slack, and email coordination |
| Elliott Premium | product | Edition tier featuring glider mech feature |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Mechanical design and toy innovation, Rule set design and gameplay progression, Art direction and visual aesthetic, Cooperative gameplay mechanics, Production challenges and COVID-19 impact
- **Secondary:** Character progression and RPG elements, Design process and iterative development, IP licensing and thematic integration

### Sentiment

**Positive** (0.88) — Team members express enthusiasm, pride in final product, and appreciation for collaborative effort. Multiple references to fun discovery process, smooth integration of mechanics with theme, and high team morale. No negative criticism of game design or manufacturing. Positive framing throughout documentary format.

### Signals

- **[community_signal]** Remote development methodology using Zoom meetings, Slack channels, and email-distributed code revisions during COVID-19 production shutdown (confidence: high) — Developer describes forced home work during pandemic shutdown, Zoom meetings for choreography work, Slack channels for communication, distributed code revisions
- **[design_philosophy]** None expressed; documentary presents wholly positive framing of design decisions, mechanical implementations, and art direction without critical counterpoint (confidence: high) — Absence of any negative critique or design regrets mentioned by team; multiple affirmations of success
- **[design_philosophy]** Balancing accessibility for casual players with challenge depth for competitive/hardcore players through shot layout, multiball triggers, and progression systems (confidence: high) — Designer explicitly states intent to make novice players see cool moments while also creating challenging gameplay for skilled players
- **[personnel_signal]** Zombie Yeti confirmed as primary artist on TMNT pinball with distinctive clean line and bright color aesthetic; previously credited on Ghostbusters, Iron Maiden, Deadpool, Primus (confidence: high) — Team members repeatedly credit Zombie Yeti by name with portfolio of previous Stern titles
- **[announcement]** Official Stern Pinball documentary revealing detailed TMNT pinball design, mechanics, art direction, and production story as completed product showcase (confidence: high) — Full documentary featuring design team interviews, behind-the-scenes production footage, and completed game mechanics demonstration
- **[product_strategy]** Elliott Premium tier distinguished by glider mech feature not present on standard Pro model (confidence: medium) — Designer specifically mentions glider mech as Elliott Premium edition feature
- **[technology_signal]** Use of servo-driven mechs (glider, crane) for enhanced interactivity and ball control beyond traditional flipper-based play (confidence: high) — Glider mech on Elliott Premium uses servo for left/right diversion and path blocking; crane mech uses servo for jump animation

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## Transcript

ninja turtles is a great title for pinball it's got a lot of humor and it's got a lot of action everyone has some history with teenage mutant ninja turtles i love ninja turtles they're so cool they're radical yeah when the cartoon came out i was shocked at just how much fun it was i started to watch the cartoon and i got to a point where i was like looking forward to going home after work so i could binge watch the next three you have much to learn about pinball i grew up in this industry as a mechanical engineer so i started out working with designers and making their stuff work and then i became a designer so i still get into a lot of the mechanics of the game looking at it when it's done is one thing but actually sitting down looking at your screen and laying out the line work and making this thing function and work if somebody actually had to go through that process it's harder than most people think i wanted to do a three flipper game i wanted to have some nice side shots to shoot at and combos i just try to make it so that the novice player gets to see something cool and go wow that was neat i want to make that happen again but i want to make the game that's you know that's really challenging for the hardcore players that are a lot better than i am at it this is the fifth game i did the lead engineer on and i've done other projects so now it's just kind of fun i just get to play with the toys instead of like having to struggle through the designs to make them work we have a glider mech this is on the elliott premium it's a servo driven so you can divert the ball left right or block the ball's path in either way the way crane works is he jumps up and down we put him in his mech suit with his legs and so he kind of like talks and goes i am crying the all-powerful and then he'll die eventually like the other main toy is the turtle van three balls are stored in here there's a back entrance hole to it and then when turtle multiball happens the fourth ball goes in and then the door opens and then all four balls spill out starting turtle power multiball the turtle van is really cool it's a big surprise the first time you see it you know you shoot the bop the ramp and also the ball stops it's like where'd the ball go where'd the ball go and then the van door opens up and they all come out the pizza was also a lot of fun the flipper on the left automatically goes up and diverts the balls off the flip around to the disc we can reverse it so when the balls come to it they spin and it's say it spins clockwise then i stop it on a dime and rotate it the opposite direction i just kind of stumbled across it one day i was watching the balls go to the disc and fly off too soon i just slowed it down with my finger and then i watched the ball stop and i watched them circulate back the other way i'm like that's really cool we got to try to slow this thing down there's a cat stuck in a tree please help i started 1989 you know from college i went to work for williams i made pinball machines for 10 years at williams and i came to stern i love pinball i've always loved pinball i love making games that have choices you push start and right off the bat you have a choice of four turtles choose your turtle donatello leonardo michelangelo raphael chosen each turtle has four different perks one for each level of training and there's these kind of rpg elements to it you are a character and you're training and you're getting better and more powerful or more able to score more points and stuff you have done well like any other pinball machine you have the different modes and the different modes have different kinds of gameplay that go along with what you're doing in the game each mode is basically an episode welcome turtles please allow my robots to take your coat all of the episodes they're actual stories the mode starts off with some dialogue and you see what's happening in the story and then the ball kicks out and you're playing and there's there's a different you know like pinball goal and then when you win or when you fail you see the ending of that story that that episode joyous victory cooperative plays is not new but it's very very exciting turtles just lends itself really really well to co-op because turtles already are a team of people so if each player is a different turtle you know then we're working cooperatively to get through the game they have a chance of getting farther than any one of them would individually you know they have 12 balls to get to the end of the game versus three it's a dream project for sure yeah i was really excited to be such a big part of it not only on the art side but getting to actually develop the story and then of course doing the voices with a lot of fun too crane what are you doing here we're here to do an interview an interview for what it's for a thing for the ping pong machine what is a pin we told you about this everybody that worked on it was really into all the video guys really had a great time working on it the animations are great to watch so if you're watching somebody play the game it's fun to just watch the display on this game the artist is zombie yeti zombie yeti zombie yeti he's a great artist yeah he's done ghostbusters and iron maiden and deadpool and primus and now turtles how did i get the name zombie yeti i actually swore the fact that i chose something so arbitrary uh should speak for itself where does this name come from to me it's perfectly obvious when you look at them i mean the guy's like eight feet tall and hairy as can be and you know he's a zombie yeti yeah yeah i don't know where the zombie part comes from maybe he feels dead inside that's steve gosh i don't know it's cool yeah he's got a really nice style and it lends itself well to the turtle property too yeah it's great a lot of very clean lines a lot of bright colors these are all things that you know grab your attention the first thing that i always do when i get a play field is i'll go ahead and actually lay out the shot paths i mean it's kind of like user interface mixed with illustration basically the gutter was me trying to pay tribute to the beginning of the television show to have the actual baby turtles in here i wanted to have obviously the grouping of of all the bad guys their the modes from there basically i just tried to uh bring the city up we knew that the pizza was gonna be central but then i decided okay i'm gonna have the turtles actually interacting with that start episode um i wanted to hearken back to the fact that you know when this show was around technology was different and we had these vcrs we were literally out on the line making the first set of pros for what we call a production validation and then the quarantine hit and they shut everything down it was kind of a torturous process because i was just ready to make this thing work and go and go when covet hit and we all went home and we all took games home and everybody just played and worked at home and and you know sent bug reports and you know wish lists and things like that to dwight like most of the work happens in the last three months of the game because it's that's where all of the choreography starts pouring in it all happened like like with zoom meetings and slack chat channel things and emails and stuff good morning everybody i took a shower and put on a shirt for this come on i have several programmers and then several artists i tell them what we need and they they go about making awesome art keyword email out here's the latest code revision go download it we'd all have to update and make sure every game is up to date so so that everything can be ready when we could start up again it's always fun to build the first one you know and see what you've got and you know look at it you look at it on paper you think it's perfect because it's going to be great and then you build it you're like oh you know what if i maybe make that target bank a little smaller and pull it down and open up that a little bit and you start to tinker and play he's kind of a hands-on guy he'll be out on the line and he'll get in there and tweak it and yeah i'll play through a game just make sure everything works beautifully i really kind of admire that dedication the whole game the artwork and the sounds and the speech and the software and the light shows and the layout it's just all it all just came together really really nicely everybody did 110 on this one and it shows so turtles is turtles is turtles is deceptively complex for me i mean the game checks every box no it's going to seem complex right off the bat and it's the turtles i don't know if i mentioned that it's turtles you might have you have everything that you've ever wanted in the turtles you've got the turtle van you've got the the glider you got crank and you've got all of the humor turtles is immersive it's fun it's silly it's everything the show was and it's you know here in pinball form and we can play it like cowabunga dude the turtles are out there and if we don't do this interview they'll win those are cursed turtles

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: 1519dfca-b8a7-4e87-91db-a23a0c7d7a46*