Not to be confused with Guns 'n Roses: Not In This Lifetime (Jersey Jack, 2019).
Strategy on Guns 'n Roses depends on which shots you're comfortable making, and specifically which shots (if any) are reliably backhandable. If you can backhand the left Guitar scoop, focus on that, because that's how you play through modes- which are all quite valuable- and work toward Riot wizard mode. If you can backhand the upkicker just to the right of the R ramp entrance, you can qualify multiball progression quickly and work through that instead. In multiball, shoot both ramps, then the up-kicker, then both ramps again, then up-kicker again, then the side loop from the upper left flipper. If neither the Guitar nor the upkicker are backhandable, or if you're a very strong flow player, just focus on whichever of the two is easier for you, but know that most scoring in the game starts at one of those two locations.
The skill shot on Guns 'n Roses is effectively just a free award you can pick at the start of each ball with the flippers. There are 4 options:
If no other mode or multiball is running, the Guitar shot- a semi-obscured scoop that you reach by shooting just left of the G ramp- will be lit to start a mode. At first, each pop bumper hit changes the currently lit mode. but you can also pull the gun trigger plunger during gameplay to lock the current mode in.
If you start a mode at the Guitar scoop (as opposed to off a skill shot choice), the ball will kind of flop toward the upper left flipper, and the side loop will be lit very briefly for "Double". Shooting this right away doubles the mode scoring in some way, which will be discussed alongside each mode's rules. Modes started by a skill shot cannot use the Double feature. There are 9 standard Guitar modes, followed by Riot wizard mode. From top to bottom as they are listed on the playfield, the modes are:
A mode cannot be started while another mode is running, nor can a mode be started during multiball. The exception to this is that if Coma is lit, shooting the right upkicker to start it is still possible after another Guitar mode was started first. Also, multiball can be started while a mode is running, just not the other way around. Modes that run concurrently with multiball keep the same scoring rules and have their timers tick down like normal during the multiball.
After playing through all 9 modes, the Guitar is lit for Riot wizard mode. This is a 6-ball multiball with a relatively long ball save. The goal is just to hit as many switches as possible. Hitting 40 total switches scores 40,000,000 points and the letter R in Riot. 60 switches after that scores 60,000,000 points and the letter I. 80 more switches scores 80,000,000 and an O, then 100 switches scores 100,000,000 and a T. Once Riot is spelled, the upper loop is lit for a Riot Jackpot worth 1,000,000,000 points. Once Riot Jackpot is collected, the cycle starts again, but the progression continues, so the second R requires 120 switch hits for 120,000,000 points. For the first spelling of Riot, collecting a letter adds a ball to the playfield if there are not already 6 balls in play. Riot mode ends when single ball play resumes.
When it is not lit for anything else, the upkicker just to the right of the R ramp scores 10,000,000 points and spots a band member. Once you collect 5 band members, multiball will be ready. You can choose to get the 6th member from the upkicker once again, for a starting jackpot of 50,000,000, or from the G ramp, where you'll be able to use the left plunger to shoot the snake pit for a chance at a starting jackpot worth either 35,000,000 or 65,000,000 points.
Band members can also be spotted as the skill shot award. This acts the same as if you had shot the upkicker hole. If you use this skill shot to spot your 6th band member and instantly start multiball, it will act like the upkicker start option with the 50,000,000 jackpot.
Multiball always starts with 6 balls in play. Whenever there is more than one ball in play, magnets under the table will intermittently fire to make it harder to keep control. To begin, shoot both ramps. Each one is lit for a jackpot, which starts at the value mentioned above and increases by 200,000 points for each switch hit anywhere in the game during the multiball. After collecting both ramps, the third jackpot is at the upkicker and always worth 100,000,000 points. After three jackpots, repeat what you've done so far: both ramps, then the upkicker jackpot. Collecting a second upkicker jackpot qualifies the Super Jackpot, collectible at the upper flipper loop shot. The Super is worth 250,000,000 points and increases by 1,000,000 with each pop bumper hit. After collecting a Super Jackpot, the entire sequence resets; you need two more upkicker jackpots to light the next Super, and you need to collect a ramp jackpot at each ramp to light an upkicker jackpot.
If single ball play resumes before collecting any jackpots at all, a multiball restart is available for 15 seconds if you shoot the G ramp or the upkicker hole. Restarted multiball always has just 2 balls instead of 6.
If you reach the final ball of the game without having started multiball, it will be instantly lit for you, but at a reduced value based on how many band members you collected during your game up to that point. The right upkicker will add a band member before starting multiball, but the G ramp will not. If you start this "freebie multiball" at the right hole, the starting jackpot value will be decreased by 5,000,000 below its usual 50,000,000 start for each band member below 6 that you've collected. If you start the freebie multiball at the G ramp, the snake pit jackpot values will start at 10,000,000 or 40,000,000 if you have no band member, with both the low and high outcomes increasing by 5,000,000 for each collected band member.
Band member progress is carried over from ball to ball for the first two multiballs only. After that, you lose your band members between balls, and must collect all 6 in a single turn to get back to multiball. This is the only way that starting multiball becomes more difficult.
The top lanes are relatively standard; go through a lane to light it, and use lane change from either flipper to rotate which ones are lit. Light all three lanes to spell JAM and increase bonus multiplier in the order of 2x-4x-6x-8x-10x. (The secret 20x bonus can only be obtained from a mystery award.) Completing JAM when the bonus multiplier is already at least 10x scores a 20,000,000 point bonus.
Pop bumpers start their value at 100,000 points at the start of the ball. Every 10 bumper hits increases the value by 100,000, up to a maximum of 1,000,000. Collecting Super Pops from the mystery or skill shot, or collecting Mega Pops from the mystery, increases the bumper value to 2,000,000 or 3,000,000 respectively for the rest of the ball.
Any shot to the upper loop relights the Patience kickback in the left out lane if it was not already lit. Upper loop shots are also counted over the course of the game, and at certain totals, the Mystery award will be lit at the center scoop. The first Mystery requires 2 upper loop shots, and subsequent Mysteries each require one more upper loop shot than the previous one.
The game manual indicates that there are 13 possible mystery awards, and that on competition settings, the awards will be given out in the same order for everyone. The awards I have seen include 25,000,000 points, 50,000,000 points, Super Pops, Mega Pops, Super Kickback, 20x Bonus, instant extra ball, and start multiball, and I do not know exactly what order said awards would go in under competition rules.
Complete the two banks of drop targets in the lower left and lower right of the game twice each to spell ROCK. Each letter in ROCK scores 10,000,000 points, and after spelling the word, a 100,000,000 point hurry-up is available at the left orbit. Over about 20 seconds, this hurry-up will count down to 20,000,000 points before timing out.
When they are not lit for anything else, the two ramps spot letters. The G ramp gives letters in "GUNS 'N", and the R ramp gives letters in "ROSES". Shoot a ramp to score 5,000,000 points, or 10,000,000 if the ball had just rolled through the opposite flipper's in lane. If you combo the ramps back and forth, each is worth 5,000,000 more than the last; since the ramps drop the ball on the same side in lane, the second consecutive ramp will be worth 15,000,000, the third worth 20,000,000, etc. Hitting each ramp 5 times to spell GUNS 'N ROSES starts Super Ramps. A hurry-up starts at 50,000,000 points, and counts down to 30,000,000 over about 20 seconds, pausing when the ball is on one of the ramps proper. Combo the ramps back and forth to repeatedly collect the remaining hurry-up value. The feature ends when the hurry-up reaches 30,000,000 points, or if you hit a total of 10 ramps before the hurry-up times out.
Hit the captive ball between the Guitar shot and the G ramp up into the Duff targets. Hit any target to add 1,000,000 to the Duff jackpot. Hit an unlit target to light it. Spell Duff and you receive the Duff Jackpot, which starts at 20,000,000 points, can increase as high as 100,000,000, and carries over between players and between games. Not really worth going for.
Shoot the right orbit 5 times to spell Snake. Once completed, the G ramp will be lit for Snake Pit. Shoot it, and the ball will be diverted to the left plunger. Four possible mystery awards will display on the DMD; plunge the ball, and each revolution in the Snake Pit will rotate which one is highlighted. When the ball falls out, what is lit is what you get.
Guns 'n Roses has a conventional in/out lane setup. There is a kickback in the left out lane, referred to as Patience. It is lit at the start of each ball and unlit when used. Shoot the upper loop to relight it. The Super Kickback mystery award will make this kickback permanently on for the rest of the ball. The right out lane scores Michelle bonus, a seemingly-random multiple of 1,000,000 points that may or may not have something to do with ball time or switch hits- not sure. The two in lanes each light the G or R ramp on the opposite side for increased value as described in Ramp scoring above.
Bonus is calculated as 200,000 points per G ramp hit on that ball, plus 100,000 points per R ramp hit on that ball, plus 1,000,000 per Guitar mode started over the course of the game, plus a base 1,000,000 points, all multiplied by the bonus multiplier. Bonus multipliers are earned completions of the JAM top lanes (2x-4x-6x-8x-10x), or the 20x Bonus mystery award. Bonus tends not to be too valuable unless you combo the ramps a lot as your strategy or you collect 20x Bonus from the mystery award. Bonus multiplier can never be carried from ball to ball and there is no mid-ball bonus collect.
As far as I could find, the game manual does not list settings that allow extra balls to be worth points in competition play. They would likely just be disabled outright. Presumably, this would mean that the Extra Ball guitar mode would simply be skipped, or spotted for you with no reward.
Multiball restart can be set to be available after a short multiball even if a jackpot was collected, instead of appearing only after a drain out with no jackpot.
By default, the 3rd multiball is the first one where band member progress is reset between balls. This can be changed to be any multiball from the 1st through 4th.
The number of G and R ramps made for the purposes of end of ball bonus can be preserved across balls. By default, they are reset.
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