Not to be confused with Batman (Data East, 1991), Batman Forever (Sega, 1995), or Batman 66 (Stern Pinball, 2016).
Get shot multipliers early and often, either from mystery awards (complete bottom lanes, then left orbit) or hitting enough lit Commissioner Gordon targets. Start main modes as often as you can by shooting their shot repeatedly: Joker multiball at the Joker toy, Batmobile hurry-up at the center ramp, and Scarecrow mode at the right scoop. If you're brave and accurate, you can build up nearly-infinite points by starting Batmobile and then shooting the right orbit nonstop before collecting at the center ramp. Playing all three of these main modes starts Bat Signal, a mini-wizard mode where you can choose between starting multiball at the left orbit or increasing the jackpot value with other shots- definitely increase the jackpot first, up to the max of 1,000,000 if you can.
Skill shots come in two flavors.
Regular skill shot: plunge the ball normally toward the top lanes. You receive the skill shot if the ball goes through the lit lane, which can be moved with lane change. However, your timing does matter. If you collect this skill shot, one of the awards- alongside 250,000 points (+25,000 each time) and +5 bonus X- is a 2x multiplier to all scoring for whichever main mode light was lit in the shooter lane when the ball touches the shooter lane switch. All things considered, it's usually best to go for Batmobile, but there is one other consideration: if you complete a set of main mode skill shots (one of each to Joker, Batmobile, Scarecrow), you get your entire end of ball bonus doubled on that ball, which comes on top of the standard bonus multiplier.
Super skill shot: hold in the left flipper when you plunge and the ball will rocket around the orbit down to that left flipper. Now, shoot at either the Joker, the center ramp, or the right hole within a couple seconds. If you succeed at hitting any of the three, you will receive 375,000 points (+25,000 each time), +5 bonus X, and a 3x multiplier to all scoring for whichever mode you shot. If the skill shot you made completed a set of one of each skill shot, your end of ball bonus will be tripled for that ball, again on top of the standard bonus multiplier.
The double and triple bonus available can be earned by mixing and matching regular skill shots with super skill shots. It doesn't matter how you get them, as long as you collect at least one of each.
The small white lights with an X on them are shot multipliers. If one is lit in front of a shot, all scoring from that shot is doubled, and if one is flashing, all scoring from that shot is tripled. From left to right, these shots correspond to the left orbit, Joker, the center ramp, the Scarecrow scoop, and the right orbit. There are two ways to light the shot multipliers:
When all 5 X lights are flashing, you will apply a 2x shot multiplier to the next shot you make. The multiplier lasts for the rest of the ball. This multiplier also rests on top of the 2x or 3x main mode shot multiplier that you earned from the skill shot. If you have a shot multiplier ready but then make a shot that already has a multiplier applied, nothing happens, and you keep the ready multiplier until you make a shot that does not already have one. After putting a shot multiplier at all 5 major shots, you can earn one more shot multiplier: collecting this 6th shot multiplier will cause one of the X lights to flash. The flashing X light is a 3x shot multiplier, and moves automatically (cannot be placed or locked into one position).
All shot multipliers go away when the ball ends, so it's important to make this a focus at the start of each ball. Definitely try to multiply the three main mode shots first (Joker, center ramp, right scoop), with a lower priority on the orbits.
Commissioner Gordon has a second mode that can run on the side. Hit either Gordon target, whether lit for shot multiplier progress or not, a total of 9 times and the game will call out a major shot that you must hit to finish Gordon. If you do, you score 1,000,000 points and light Gordon on the circle of tasks on the playfield. If you hit any other shot instead, you increase the finishing bonus by 500,000 points, with no limit that I am aware of.
For the rest of the guide, all scoring listed refers to the base value of a shot, before shot multipliers or Skill Shot multipliers are taken into account.
Joker: shoot the Joker drop target to work toward locks. For the first Joker multiball, only one target hit is needed to light the Joker for a lock. Subsequent multiballs each require one more shot to the drop target before lock is lit. Lock 3 balls to start Joker Multiball. During Joker Multiball, all 5 major shots are lit for jackpots (200,000 points, +25,000 in each subsequent Joker Multiball). These jackpots can be multiplied by both mode multipliers from the skill shot and shot multipliers. After collecting 5 jackpots, Super Jackpot is available at the Joker target. The Super Jackpot has a base value of the sum of the 5 regular jackpots collected just before it, but it gets multiplied by shot and mode multipliers again! This can get very silly very quickly.
Consider an example: you start Joker Multiball with a 2x mode multiplier on Joker from the skill shot and a 2x shot multiplier placed on all 5 major shots. Those two multipliers together mean all regular jackpots will be 800,000 instead of 200,000. Five of those will light the super jackpot at a base value of 4,000,000. However, that super jackpot also gets multiplied by the skill shot's mode multiplier and the Joker's shot multiplier, for a collect of 16,000,000 points. Not too shabby!
After collecting a Super, the process repeats, with the same base jackpot value as the first time around. Simply starting Joker Multiball lights the insert near the flippers for progress toward Bat Signal, but you must either collect 2 super jackpots or start 3 different Joker Multiballs over the course of the game to light The Joker toward Gotham City wizard mode.
Batmobile: three shots to the center ramp starts Batmobile. This is a hurry-up award that is once again collected at the center ramp. Its value starts at 500,000 points. Shoot the right orbit repeatedly to continuously restart the hurry-up at higher values. The first right orbit adds 500,000 to the hurry-up, so it restarts at 1,000,000 points. The second right orbit adds 750,000, so the hurry-up is 1,750,000 points. The third adds 1,000,000, for a total of 2,750,000. The fourth adds 1,250,000 for a total of 4,000,000...you get it. There is no limit to how many times you can build the hurry-up, and each one always adds 250,000 more than the previous one did. If you shoot the left orbit at any time, that will double the current hurry-up starting value, but doing so prevents you from increasing the hurry-up value any further. The center ramp collects the hurry-up. Batmobile mode multipliers and center ramp shot multipliers do still apply to the value you collect from the hurry-up, so the value you receive can be much higher than what the DMD displays. If you hit the right orbit more than about 10 times in a row without hitting the left orbit or center ramp, this round can be worth 100,000,000 points or more; so much so that it is the exclusive strategy for scoring in the game for some particularly skilled and brave players.
You must collect the Batmobile hurry-up to light the insert near the flippers for progress toward Bat Signal.
The Scarecrow: shoot the right scoop to start Scarecrow's mode. It only takes 1 shot to start the first Scarecrow, and 1 more than the previous for subsequent times through. The crane mechanism with a ball on the end will swing across the playfield, and you need to hit the suspended ball above each of the five yellow crosshairs lights. Each hit scores 200,000 points. On the first Scarecrow, this is easy and the ball pauses above each spot. On the second Scarecrow, the crane moves constantly, and you need to time your shots to each position much more precisely. On the third Scarecrow, both the crane and a flashing yellow light move, and you must hit the suspended ball when it lines up with a lit yellow crosshair to receive credit. If you successfully complete all 5 position of Scarecrow's crane, you receive 750,000 points and Scarecrow Multiball begins. Once again, during multiball, you must hit the suspended crane ball in each of the five positions. You score a 200,000 point Jackpot for each. After making all 5, the Scarecrow scoop is lit for a super jackpot, which has a base value of the sum of all 5 collected jackpots. As with Joker Multiball, mode and shot multipliers apply to both the regular jackpots and the super jackpot. If you make a super jackpot, the process repeats, but the base jackpot value increases by 25,000 points.
You only need to start Scarecrow Multiball to light the insert near the flippers for progress toward Bat Signal, but you must earn at least 1 super jackpot or play at least 3 different Scarecrow Multiballs to light The Scarecrow toward Gotham City wizard mode.
Joker multiball can still be started if Scarecrow multiball is running, but not the other way around.
Bat Signal: this is a mini-wizard mode started at the left orbit that is available after starting a Joker multiball, starting a Scarecrow multiball, and collecting a Batmobile hurry-up. There are two parts to Bat Signal, and both feature quite a lot of risk-reward tradeoff. In part 1, the left orbit is lit to start multiball, but the three main mode shots (Joker, center ramp, scoop) are lit as well. If you start multiball right away, the jackpot value is a mere 100,000 points. If you shoot one of the main mode shots, you score 250,000 points and add 50,000 to the jackpot, but both of those are multiplier by the shot multiplier, so you can add 100,000 or 150,000 to the jackpot value at a time. You must hit all 3 main mode shots before any of them relight if you wish to build the jackpot further. The maximum base jackpot is 1,000,000 points. When you're satisfied with the jackpot value, shoot the left orbit to start multiball.
This is a 4-ball multiball where the Joker, center ramp, and Scarecrow scoop are once again lit for jackpots, at the value you locked in (but multiplied by shot multipliers once again). After collecting a jackpot from all 3, the super jackpot is lit at the left orbit, with a base value of the sum of the 3 collected jackpots (times shot multiplier). This is the one and only reason in the whole game why you want to put a shot multiplier at the left orbit.
There is a slight bug that makes this mode harder than it should be. If there is a ball in the pop bumpers area, shots to the Scarecrow scoop do not register. In fact, it takes about 3 seconds after a ball leaves the pops for a Scarecrow shot to count. This means that the best way to go about Bat Signal Multiball is with a very patient, controlled approach. Get down to two balls, be comfortable separating them however you prefer, and hold one ball on one flipper while exactly one other ball goes around the playfield doing things.
Spell Batman at the standup targets on the left to light the left orbit for Bat Mission. There are 4 Bat Missions- Locate Joker, Rescue Rachel, Extricate Lau, and Impostors!- but all 4 have the same rules. The five major shots in the game are all lit, and you have 30 seconds to make all five. Shot values start at 1,000,000 points. When a mission starts, the Batman targets unlight. Hit an unlit target to light it and add 250,000 to the value of the next mission shot. Hit a lit target to add 100,000 to the value of the next mission shot. Making a mission shot resets the next mission shot's value back to 1,000,000. A mission shot can be advanced to as much as 5,000,000 points before shot multipliers. Skill shot mode multipliers never apply to Bat Mission scoring. There is no additional bonus for completing a mission. All 4 missions must be played to light Bruce Wayne on the circle of tasks for Gotham City wizard mode.
This multiball started after 4 shots to the right orbit (but cannot be progressed toward while Batmobile is running). This is a 2-ball multiball where jackpots are at the right orbit and score 250,000 points. Jackpots can be raised by shooting the center ramp and ending up in the mini-playfield on the right, where the first switch you hit adds 50,000 to the jackpot, the second adds 57,500 to the jackpot, etc. Each switch on that playfield can only be used once per jackpot, so a jackpot can never be worth more than 245,000 more points than the previous jackpot. After 4 jackpots, the center ramp is lit for super jackpot with a base value of the sum of the 4 previously collected jackpots; by now you know the drill. If Batpod is made to run for a while because it gets stacked with other multiballs, it can eventually give good points, but in general this multiball is better used as a way to progress toward other more lucrative things while you have a safety net in the form of a second ball.
Alfred is a single standup target in the lower right of the game. He is lit via mystery award or completing the top lanes. Hit this target when lit and he will give you something useful: an add-a-ball during multiball (only once per multiball), 30 more seconds if a Mission is running, reset hurry-up if Batmobile is running, or sometimes just points or bonus multipliers if absolutely nothing else is ready. Collecting an award from Alfred once during the game is all it takes to lit Alfred on the circle of tasks toward Gotham City wizard mode.
To start Gotham City wizard mode at the left orbit, 8 things are required from you. Starting at the top of the circle and going clockwise:
Doing all of these things lights Gotham City wizard mode at the left orbit. When you start, you receive 25,000,000 points and an instant extra ball. Now, during 4-ball multiball, you must try to light all 8 people on the circle of tasks again: hit all 6 Batman targets, 8 Commissioner Gordon targets, 3 Rachel targets, all 5 Crane positions for Scarecrow, lock 3 balls for Joker, hit 20 pops then 20 right spins for Harvey, hit all 4 switches on the mini-playfield for Lucius, and hit Alfred once. And a partridge in a pear tree. Whenever you light a person, one additional ball is added to play, unless there are already 4 in play. Hitting basically any target scores 250,000 points if the person it belongs to is not lit, for 500,000 points if it is. Complete everyone and then shoot the left orbit again to get...something. I haven't been able to do this myself and no one I can find on the internet has mentioned being able to do it either. Sorry for the anticlimactic ending, but if you know, let me know!
Batman: The Dark Knight has a conventional in/out lane setup. No center posts, kickbacks, etc. Go through an in/out lane to light it, and use the flippers to rotate them. Light all 4 lanes to light the mystery at the left orbit.
Bonus is just a count of switch hits. I do not know the exact calculation. Bonus multiplier is increased by completing the top lanes, completing the bottom lanes, or certain mystery awards. Bonus can be doubled or tripled on top of the regular bonus multiplier from a skill shot or super skill shot. Bonus multiplier can be held by yet another mystery award. Held bonus will carry over both the regular multiplier and the skill shot double/triple bonus. Otherwise, there is no way to carry base bonus or multiplier from ball to ball. There is no mid-ball bonus collect.
Here's some additional context on how high Batmobile scoring can go. It takes "just" 35 shots from the start of the game to score over 1,000,000,000 points- an absolutely massive sum in a game where any score over 100,000,000 points is considered very good.
This is the absurd yet powerful Batmobile-only strategy. Going all the way for a billion points is a bit farfetched, but with a more reasonable ten right orbit shots, stacking all of these multipliers can still give you 134,000,000 points, which would be more than enough to win a competitive game, and doing this strategy with 5 orbit shots gives 44,000,000 points, usually enough to score a replay.
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