Shoot the green, then yellow, then red targets to light the lock, then shoot the left orbit or upper loop to lock balls. During multiball, shoot the ramp until jackpot is lit, then collect at the upper loop. To advance through gears, shoot any orbit, regardless of whether it is lit for a Freeway- make enough to advance through gears for big awards and progress toward wizard mode.
Instead of going clear up the right side of the game, the plunge on Getaway curves across the playfield toward the back left of the game, and (should) go all the way around the upper loop to the upper right flipper. Using the upper right flipper to immediately make the upper loop again scores Speed Millions for 1,000,000 points. This is a Millions-Plus feature: further shots around the upper loop made within about 5 seconds of the previous each award 1,000,000 points more than the previous. If there is a limit to this, it is at least 7,000,000 points.
Speed Millions is not exclusively available at the skill shot: it can be built up by making consecutive upper loop shots any time that neither the Lock nor the Jackpot are lit (since in those cases, the upper loop sends the ball to the Hideout for a lock).
Shooting either orbit or a Speed Millions loop scores one RPM advance. (Left orbits and upper loops only count if Lock and Jackpot are not lit.) It takes 1 RPM shot to advance to 1st Gear, then 2 further RPM shots to advance to 2nd Gear, then 3 more past that to advance to 3rd Gear, and so on for 4th and 5th Gear. When a gear is ready, the DMD and a callout will tell you to Shift Gears: this is your cue to pull or push on the gear shifter plunger, even if there is no ball to plunge in the shooter lane. Shifting into any Gear lights the upper right saucer for a Burn Rubber mystery award and advances the bonus multiplier through the ladder of 2x-4x-6x-8x. In addition, the specific gear you shift into comes with its own unique award:
Playing and completing Redline Mania instantly resets your progress to pre-1st Gear levels. Subsequent runthroughs of the Gears require 1 more RPM shot per Gear than before; for example, on the second time round, 1st Gear requires 2 RPM shots, 2nd Gear requires 3, etc.
Going through the left in lane when it is lit for 2x RPM will cause the right orbit shot to count as 2 RPM shots for the purpose of working toward the next Gear if it is hit immediately.
Going through the right in lane at any time or making a left orbit will light the left orbit yellow for Freeway. Similarly, going through the left in lane or making a right orbit will light the right orbit for Freeway. Making an orbit that is lit for Freeway scores and advances the value lit immediately above the flippers: 1,000,000 for the first, an additional 1,000,000 for each subsequent, capping at 5,000,000 + Light Extra Ball. The Extra Ball can only be lit once in a single ball; every Freeway after that scores 5,000,000 points until the ball drains. The lit Freeway value will carry over from ball to ball for each player until that player lights the extra ball from the Freeway at least once; after that, the Freeway value will reset to 1,000,000 at the end of each ball instead.
There are 3 banks of stoplight targets: the lowest one faces the upper right flipper, the middle one faces the lower flippers, and the upper one faces the pop bumpers. The goal is to hit the three targets of the same colour to light a lock. The first lock requires the green targets; the second lock requires the yellows; the third lock, which starts multiball, requires the reds. Multiple locks can be lit at once- for example, by completing the green targets, then completing the yellows before locking ball 1, the first two locks will both be lit- but it is impossible to get credit for a colour before completing the previous one.
For the first Multiball, making the left Supercharger ramp or making the upper right saucer will spot one stoplight target for you. To lock a ball for multiball, shoot the left orbit or the upper loop when lock is lit.
During Secret Mania, Redline Mania, Supercharger Mode, or any Multiball, all 9 stoplight targets will flash. Hit all 9 before the end of the multiball or mode (thereby lighting them all) to light an extra ball at the upper right saucer. The Stoplight cannot be advanced toward lighting locks if this ruleset is running.
The upper right Tunnel saucer holds the ball for a moment while it gives an award, then spits the ball to the right, allowing it to slowly roll down the entrance to the right orbit for a controlled upper flipper shot to the upper loop. Also, the left out lane Kickback will deposit the ball into this lane/saucer on a well calibrated table.
If this saucer is not lit for anything else, it will score one Tunnel. After collecting 8 and 58 Tunnels, the out lanes are lit for a special.
After shifting to any gear, this saucer is lit for Burn Rubber, a mystery award. On the first Burn Rubber, a short cutscene is shown on the DMD involving a road map, but on any future Burn Rubbers, the award is given automatically. Awards from Burn Rubber include:
The random award will generally not give you something you already have: it won't advance Freeway if Freeway is maxed, it won't light Kickback if already lit, you can't get Video Mode if the saucer was already lit for Video Mode, etc.
Video Mode is started when this saucer is shot after advancing to 3rd Gear, or immediately after getting Video Mode from Burn Rubber. During Video Mode, use the flippers to steer left and right, avoiding other cars on the highway. The longer you go without hitting a car, the more points you get. The video mode can be made easier or harder- and therefore have its value lowered or increased accordingly- by using the gear shift plunger to step up or down the gears. Surviving to the end of the video mode scores a 5,000,000 point bonus. The maximum score that Video Mode can be worth, earned by immediately raising the speed to 5th gear and surviving to the end, is usually around 27,000,000 points.
If the game settings allow, the video mode can award an extra ball if the player drives through the EB letters. This is hard to do though, since the EB typically appears far away from where your car is, and is nearly indistinguishable from an obstacle car until it's too late.
For best results on the video mode, pick two lanes and swerve between them to avoid cars, ignoring the third lane entirely to improve your reaction time and consistency.
Whenever an extra ball is lit, it is collected at the upper right tunnel saucer.
At the beginning of the game, or immediately after completing 1-2-3 targets, the ramp will be lit one time for a Supercharger Boost. This scores 3,000,000 points, plus an additional 1,000,000 for each 1-2-3 standup target hit since the last Boost, up to a maximum of 10,000,000. The ball will be accelerated around the track by a magnet very quickly as this happens, with each loop counting off 1,000,000 at a time. To score the Boost again, a bank of 1-2-3 targets must be completed.
On some machines with older (and rarer) versions of the game code, the Supercharger Boost works differently: the first shot to this ramp scores a 3,000,000 point boost, the 4th ramp shot scores a 5,000,000 point boost, the 7th ramp shot scores a 7,000,000 point boost, and so on, with every third ramp shot scoring a boost that was worth 2,000,000 more than the previous boost.
Regardless of which rules are used, hitting a completely unlit Supercharger Ramp scores 1,000 points times your current speed, which depends on how many RPM shots have been hit on the current run through the Gears.
During Multiball, any ball shot into this ramp will make 10 laps around the track, scoring 10 loops toward qualifying the next Jackpot or Super Jackpot as indicated by the DMD.
Advancing to 4th Gear immediately starts Supercharger Mode. For 20 seconds, any loop shot or any shot to the upper right saucer scores 5,000,000 points, but shots up the Supercharger Ramp scores 5-Millions-Plus- that is, 5,000,000 the first time, 10,000,000 the second time, and so on, up to a maximum of 25,000,000 points.
The two banks of 1-2-3 targets in the lower left and lower right of the game follow the same rules, but work separately from each other. Hitting any target in the set starts a 12-second timer, increases the Supercharger Boost by 1,000,000, and starts the other targets in that bank flashing. Hit all the flashing targets in just one of the 1-2-3 banks to relight the Supercharger Ramp for a Boost and relight the left out lane kickback if it was off. Failing to complete a bank within 12 seconds of hitting the first target will cause all 3 targets in that bank to reset.
Standard Multiball is started by locking 3 balls at the left orbit or upper loop after completing the stoplight targets, or as an immediate award from Burn Rubber. Pretty much the only thing to do in multiball is light and score Jackpots, although the Tunnel saucer will still score Tunnel shots and will hold on to the ball for about 10 seconds before kicking it to the upper flipper for an upper loop/jackpot shot. The game will tell you that jackpot is lit in a certain number of loops. Shooting a ball up the Supercharger Ramp scores 10 loops. The regular jackpot is always worth 25,000,000 points, and it will require 10 loops at first, or 20 loops if a standard jackpot has been collected in the game so far. Only one regular jackpot is available per multiball, because everything past that will be Super Jackpots: Super Jackpots build in value and loop requirement over the course of the game. The first Super Jackpot scores 50,000,000 points and requires 20 loops; the second scores 75,000,000 points and requires 30 loops; the third scores 100,000,000 points and requires 40 loops; any super jackpot starting with the 4th will always require 50 loops, but will be worth 25,000,000 more than the previous Super Jackpot. If there is a limit to the Super Jackpot value, it is at least 225,000,000 points.
If multiball ends and the current player has not collected a jackpot at any point in the game so far, Getaway Time will begin. This is a 20-second timed mode where the multiball rules still apply: loops and the Jackpot can be collected as though multiball was still running. Getaway Time ends of the single ball in play drains or if the Jackpot is collected.
After making the regular jackpot, shooting a ball into the upper right Tunnel saucer scores the Helicopter Bonus, which starts at 5,000,000 points and is built a little bit with each pop bumper hit over the course of the game.
When a ball is locked for multiball, watch the DMD for the Donut Heaven animation. If there are exactly 3 cop cars parked at the donut shop, move the gear shift plunger up and down a few times very quickly. If you do it right, a 20-second mode called Secret Mania starts. This is a single ball mode where any switch in the game scores 500,000 points. It's not the most efficient for scoring, but it's fun.
After completing 5th Gear, shoot the Supercharger Ramp to start Redline Mania. The ball will whip around the Supercharger for a good amount of time while the game rattles off all the goodies you're about to get. It's not quite as cool as The King's Ransom on Black Knight 2000, but it's still pretty awesome. You receive:
Everything is lit! Go to town! ...unfortunately, though, other than a few extra million points you'll get from the ball unintentionally hitting stoplight targets or 1-2-3 targets, Redline Mania is best played as a regular multiball- continue to go for jackpots. Not much else to say here other than to keep doing what you've been doing in the game so far. If you start Redline Mania having already collected a Super Jackpot worth 100,000,000 or higher, the startup sequence will just show the next Super Jackpot award anyway- Redline Mania won't skip the Super Jackpot value up a couple levels anymore, in that case.
The Getaway has a conventional in/out lane setup. The left out lane has a kickback that is on at the start of the game, unlights when used, and can be relit by completing a set of 1-2-3 targets. On a well calibrated game, the kickback should send the ball directly to the Tunnel saucer. Both out lanes are lit for a special at 8, and again at 58, Tunnel shots. Both in lanes light the opposite orbit shot for Freeway; when the left in lane is lit, immediately hitting the right orbit will score 2x RPM, and when the right in lane is lit, immediately hitting the left orbit will score 2 Freeways.
I don't have a clue how bonus works. Presumably, every switch in the game adds a small amount to it. Each advanced Gear increases the bonus multiplier, in the order of 2x, then 4x, then 6x, then 8x. Base bonus and bonus multiplier are both reset between balls unless the Hold Bonus award was given for completing 2nd Gear or from the Burn Rubber mystery award. If Hold Bonus is collected on the final ball of the game, that player will score their entire bonus with the multiplier two separate times before their game ends. Bonus can be moderate points if the multiplier is high, but it's nothing to write home about and certainly not good enough to be a sole strategy.
In competition/tournament play, specials score 1,000,000 points. Extra balls cannot be set to have a point value and would be disabled outright.
In the game's built-in Tournament Mode, the Helicopter Bonus never grows from its initial 5,000,000 value, and the Burn Rubber will always give awards in the following order: 5,000,000, RPM Advance, Freeway Advance, Video Mode, Instant Multiball, repeat.
The timer on the 1-2-3 targets can be set to 8, 10, or 12 seconds, or the timer can be disabled outright, giving unlimited time. The kickback can be set to either on for free at the start of the game only, or on for free at the start of every ball.
The following features can have their timers adjusted: Getaway Time (10-99 seconds, default 20), Video Mode (10-30 seconds, default 20), Lit Freeway (6-20 seconds, default 10), and Supercharger Mode (10-99 seconds, default 20).
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