For the most efficient pure scoring, focus only on the Zone drop targets around the bottom of the playfield; shoot the lit ones when possible for 10,000 each. Completing the word Zone three times will light them all for the rest of the ball.
Other features: A-B advances bonus multiplier. T-R-I scores and advances the shown value; eventually worth extra ball and special. Z-O-N-E lights the spinner, the top saucer, all the drops, and an out lane special, one reward each completion.
Scores 1,000 points and a bonus advance. Lighting both A and B advances the bonus multiplier. Bonus multiplier is carried from ball to ball unless it is maxed out at 5X. A and B letters can also be earned from the in lanes.
Scores 5,000 points, or 10,000 when lit. Lit by completing Z-O-N-E twice. Not able to be shot directly, just hope for a good bounce out of the bumpers.
Lighting all of T-R-I scores and advances the value shown in the lower right of the big playfield graphic. Awards go 3,000 - 5,000 - 10,000 - extra ball - special; collecting the special resets the award to 3,000. The lit T-R-I award and lit T-R-I letters are carried from ball to ball.
The T button is in the left semi-orbit, behind the spinner. Shot from the right flipper; ball cannot fall back down through this lane from the top of the playfield.
The R button is in a candy-cane shaped lane in the upper right of the playfield. Can be shot from either flipper, or from a good bounce off the lowest bumper, but an early backhand shot from the right flipper is easiest.
The I button is in the far right lane that connects to the top of the playfield. No gate at the top, so the ball can go up from a left flipper shot or down from near the top A-B lanes.
Four drop targets around the playfield. Unlit targets score 1,000; lit targets score 10,000. At first, only one target will be lit, with the light rotating between targets every few seconds. Knocking down all four targets lights a number, which does the following:
Optimal competitive strategy beelines for award 3 so every drop target is lit for 10,000, then has a drop target party.
All Zone targets and number awards are reset between balls.
Tri Zone has a conventional in/out lane setup. Out lanes are worth 500 points, or special when lit by completing Zone 4 times. In lanes score 1,000 points, advance bonus, and can award A on the left and B on the right for bonus multiplier.
Alley passing the in lanes is pretty good, but since 5X multiplier can't be carried over and max bonus is only 19,000, it's mildly outranked by the Zone targets or working toward the Tri special.
As mentioned in the previous section, max bonus is 5x 19,000 = 95,000 points. This is a pretty good sum, but takes a decent amount of work. Bonus multiplier is advanced by lighting A and B; base bonus is advanced by the top A-B lanes, the in lanes, and the T-R-I rollover buttons.
Bonus multiplier is carried from ball to ball unless it has been maxed at 5X, in which case it resets.
Bonus can be a good portion of scoring in this game, but the 10,000 point drop targets and the 50,000 point T-R-I special (if it is set for such) make it so bonus isn't overpowering on its own.
There is no way to hold the base bonus or a 5X multiplier.
Special can be set to award a free game, extra ball, or 50,000 points. Extra ball cannot be worth points, and is either on or off.
The first T-R-I award can be set to 3,000 or 5,000; the latter makes the first extra ball and T-R-I special slightly easier. Collecting the special always makes the next T-R-I award 3,000 no matter what.
The Z-O-N-E letters can be set to award the 1 and the 2 (light spinner and light top saucer) together on the first completion, instead of being separate.
Strangely, according to the settings list in the manual, if extra ball is off, the 1 and 2 can only be awarded separately: I wonder if at some point one of 1-2-3-4 would have lit an extra ball instead, like on Disco Fever that was released right before this game.
The bonus multiplier can be set not to carry over between balls at all. There is no setting allowing a 5X bonus multiplier to be carried over under any circumstance.
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