Make the saucer on the plunge. Keep shooting the spinner with the left flipper until the collect left bonus and collect right bonus are both lit at the saucer and 2x bonus is lit. Once all of those awards are collected, use the left flipper to pass to the right. The right flipper should always be used to shoot the saucer at any point in the game. Be sure to have a good idea about how the saucer kicks out or how to save a reject from the saucer from a shot that was too hard or to soft.
Scores 500 points. The left and right arrows alternate with each switch hit. The arrow lit when the top saucer is entered will also be lit at the left saucer, corresponding to a collect of one of the two bonuses. If the left saucer is already lit for both bonus collects, the top saucer will just score 5,000 points instead.
The top saucer will also toggle whether it is lit for double bonus after every 2 switch hits.
The first saucer shot on each ball will light the 1,000 when lit pop bumper and the right spinner.
Finally, any saucer shot regardless of what is lit will award 3 advances to both bonuses.
A and B are top lanes on either side of the top saucer. C and D are standup targets on either side of the top bumpers. E and F are the in lanes. Hitting any of these targets or lanes scores 500 points, and awards the letter if lit. A, C, and E also advance the left bonus, while B, D, and F advance the right bonus. On 3-ball play, C and D are always tied together, so that collecting one letter gives credit for both; on 5-ball play, C and D are always separate. E and F can also be tied together in the same way as a setting independent of the 3/5 ball setting.
Completing A-F once lights the 20,000 super bonus. Completing A-F a second time turns the 20,000 super bonus into a 30,000 nitro bonus. Additional completions of A-F after the second score a special. The super or nitro bonus does carry from ball to ball. It is not included in the left saucer bonus collectl super and nitro bonus are only scored at the end of balls. Game settings can decide whether the super and nitro bonuses are affected by double bonus.
The checkered flag bumpers and unlit lower bumper score 100 points. The lower bumper scores 1,000 when lit. It is lit for the duration of the ball after the top saucer is hit once.
Scores 100 points per spin, or 1,000 / spin when lit. Like the 1,000 point bumper, the spinner is lit for the rest of the ball after making the top saucer once.
On 3 ball play, the left saucer is always lit for advance left + right bonus. It will score 3,000 points, advance both bonuses 3 times each, then score the lit bonuses (with the double bonus multiplier if applicable) if collect left bonus or collect right bonus is lit.
On 5 ball play, the left saucer will only be lit for advance left + right bonus if neither of the bonus collect lights are lit, and even then, it will only advance the two bonuses once each alongside the 3,000 points instead of 3 times each.
Both bonuses max out at 29,000 points. Max both out, get both collects lit, and light the double bonus- together these make the left saucer a repeatable shot worth 116,000 points. Nothing else in the game comes within an order of magnitude of value for a single shot. Once bonuses are high, double bonus is on, and both collects are lit, this shot is the only thing that matters. Dial it in from the right flipper, and know how to transfer the ball to the right flipper if it is on the left. (If 5 ball rules are in play, be sure the bonus is high first before starting the transfer strategy, since the left saucer does not advance the bonus if a collect is lit during 5 ball play.)
Be sure to know two things: 1) how the return feed is from a saucer kickout, and 2) what to do to get the ball back under control if the shot to this saucer was too fast and gets rejected. Despite being a heart pounding game about racing, Nitro Ground Shaker is a test of patience, with the best scores going to who can hit the left saucer the most.
Should never be hit ever aside from a missed shot toward the left saucer. Gives 500 points and advances both targets, though.
Each target scores 500 points. All targets down scores 5,000 the first time, extra ball the second time, special the third time. The special can be collected more than once in a ball, but when the ball drains, the drop target award will reset to 5,000. If the ball drains when the drops are lit for extra ball, though, that light will stay in memory.
If extra balls are on, it's not too difficult to clear these twice and grab the extra ball, but there's just no points there. If extra balls are off, ignore the drop targets completely.
Nitro Ground Shaker has a conventional in/out lane setup. The out lanes score 1,000 points, and are lit alternately for special if both the left and right bonuses reach 15,000. The in lanes score 500 points. The left in lane awards E and advances the left bonus. The right in lane awards F and advances right bonus.
Left bonus is advanced by the A lane, C target, and E lane. Right bonus is advanced by the B lane, D target, and F lane. Both bonuses are advanced by the top saucer (3 advances), the left saucer (on 3 ball, always 3 advances; on 5 ball, 1 advance, and only if neither collect bonus light is lit), and the left solo standup (1 advance). Both bonuses max out at 29,000 points. The only bonus multiplier is 2x, awarded by the top saucer when lit green on every other switch hit. Max bonus is 2x 2x 29,000 = 116,000 points.
Completing A through F once lights a 20,000 super bonus, and completing them twice lights a 30,000 nitro bonus. These are scored at the end of the ball only (not from any left saucer collect), and they may or may not be affected by double bonus, but they do carry over from ball to ball. The left and right bonuses and the double bonus cannot be carried between balls.
In competition/novelty play, specials score 50,000 points, and extra balls score 25,000.
On 3 ball play, C and D are always collected together, while on 5 ball play, they are always separate. E and F can be tied together or not independently of the 3/5 ball setting.
Double bonus can be set to light at the top saucer with every 3rd switch hit instead of every other.
The 20,000 super bonus and 30,000 nitro bonus can be set to either ignore or use the double bonus.
The out lane special can be on one out lane alternating, or solidly lit on both. Also, the threshold that both the left and right bonuses must meet to light the out lane special can be set to 10,000, 15,000, or 20,000.
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