Draw your blade and storm the keep — Williams’ 1988 Swords of Fury is a medieval fantasy four-player designed by Steve Kirk and Tony Kraemer with art by Doug Watson, and it’s a beloved deep cut featuring a mini-playfield, staged flipper buttons, and drop targets that reset progressively slower to ramp up the challenge. With a confirmed run of 2,705 and a Brian Schmidt score, it’s an aggressive, rewarding late-’80s Williams that the cognoscenti hold in high regard.
The strategy is rich and rewarding. The left orbit is the shot you play all day — it always locks a ball for multiball even when the light isn’t blinking, since the light only governs release, and the third lock starts multiball. The staged flipper buttons are a signature skill: push halfway for the lower flipper, all the way for the top flipper, a technique invaluable for collecting jackpots. During multiball, simply shoot the flashing drop target for the jackpot, while the right ramp brings a ball to the mini-playfield. LIONMAN at the center ramp is often worth more than the jackpot, advancing toward a million while the jackpot resets to half that and grows slowly, so the savvy player prioritizes it. And a counterintuitive gem: never shoot the AVENGER letters directly, since the inlanes spot them anyway, leaving you free to work the more valuable orbit and ramps.
Swords of Fury is a fast, deep, mechanically inventive Williams that rewards a player who masters its staged flippers and learns to favor LIONMAN over the jackpot. The mini-playfield and progressively tougher drops give it lasting challenge. Lock at the left orbit, master those staged flippers, chase LIONMAN, and storm the keep. This medieval gem rewards skill and study in equal, glorious measure.