Apollo 13

Sega, 1995 — shot-by-shot rules and strategy guide.

Open Apollo 13 in the Pinball Genie app →

Apollo 13 is a crowded playfield with narrow shots, almost none of them further than halfway up. Balls come off the ramps fast, the post between the flippers pops up constantly, and the whole game plays as catch-and-shoot rather than flow. The upside is that you are rarely punished for taking a moment to think.

The orbits are the real game

Collecting a lit orbit advances the Odyssey around the moon and back toward Earth, and each stage of that journey hands you a mode. Both orbits start the game lit solidly. After that, the inlanes relight the opposite orbit for a few seconds each — left inlane lights the right orbit and vice versa. The switches sit low in the lanes, parallel to the flippers, so an inlane pass registers easily and immediately gives you something to shoot at.

You do not need to complete the circuit. Anything lit is collected by the switch inside the lane, and a slow ball that trips it again on the way back down credits two orbits from one shot. The journey pays out in stages: Video Mode, Power Down, Power Up, then Splashdown.

• Video Mode is a lunar landing flown on the flipper buttons — left and right for lateral thrust, both together for up. Turning the plunger handle kills your drift, which makes the 109M centre landing manageable.
• Power Down lights six shots at once for 50, 60, 70, 80, 90 and 90 million. A clean sweep is around 450M.
• Power Up uses the same ladder but lights one shot at a time and picks the order for you.
• Splashdown is a timed multiball with the orbits lit for jackpots — the deepest thing on the machine.

The skill shot is a choice, not a shot

Before you launch you pick from three awards: Start Mission, Mystery, or a Multiball Countdown step. There is no aiming involved. Early on, take Mystery until it gives you the two-orbit award — two free orbits are worth an entire spacecraft mode. After that, switch to Start Mission.

Missions

Nine missions start at the right saucer, which stays lit in normal play until you have seen them all. Pop bumper hits rotate which one is flashing, and turning the plunger handle locks it in — but that lock evaporates when you plunge your next ball, so do not bank one for later. While a mission runs almost everything else shuts off, bar the Rocket ramp and a lit BLASTOFF letter.

• Manual Burn lights three shots to correct a seven-degree course error, each worth 50 to 90 million. It scores far more if you never correct it, because getting back on course ends the round.
• Under Volt starts a 42M value falling; a Battery target freezes it and lights every major shot for that value for twenty seconds. A second Battery hit buys another twenty and pays again.
• CO2 runs through the spinner, collecting four items for 10, 20, 30 and 40 million.
• Docking needs four hits anywhere in the D-O-C-K bank for 100M and an extra ball.
• Orbiter, Life Support, Moon's Gravity and Rocket 2-Ball fill out the set.

Play all nine and Master Alarm lights — a forty-second frenzy where every target is a million and adds a million to a Blastoff ramp jackpot. That jackpot does not reset when you take it. Once Master Alarm is reached, the mission saucer only relights after a spinner shot.

Shoot The Moon and the spinner

The M-O-O-N standups must be taken in flashing order, leftmost first. Finishing them lights a hurry-up on the Blastoff ramp that counts down slowly enough to set up properly — but collect it, because an uncollected one falls back to twenty million. Every pop bumper hit adds the bumper's current value to the Moon total, which is why long games see hundreds of millions here.

That connects to the top lanes: completing the 1 and 3 rollovers adds 250K to both the bumper and spinner values, each capped at two million. The spinner backhands, so a maxed one is easy repeat money — and it is the only shot CO2 uses.

Multiball, and then thirteen of them

The LED under the Rocket ramp counts your shots down: three start the first multiball, five the second, seven the third. When it reads one, the next Rocket shot launches three balls with no ball saver and four jackpots at the left orbit, spinner lane, right orbit and mission saucer. Clear all four for a Super at the ramp — or complete M-O-O-N during multiball to light it early.

Collect the eight BLASTOFF letters and the next multiball becomes 13-Ball instead. Three or four balls launch, then eight more arrive at once about five seconds later. The Rocket is lit for jackpots typically worth 100 to 250 million. Be warned: the centre post does not rise after a 13-Ball jackpot, so the returning ball heads straight down the middle. Letters come from the yellow ramp lamp at the start of each ball, from Mystery, and from a ramp combo.

Bonus

The bonus counts four things and nothing else: Rocket ramp shots, Blastoff ramp shots, orbits collected, and missions started. All four count equally, so a safe late ramp shot is worth as much as a hard orbit. Double Bonus doubles the lot, and Hold Bonus carries the count into your next ball.

Goals in Apollo 13

Every goal below is tracked step-by-step, with shot paths drawn on the playfield map, inside the app.

• The Skill Shot Choice skillshot · Easy

  No aiming involved — you pick an award before the plunge. The three options are Start Mission, Mystery, and either a Multiball Countdown step or 13 Million. Take Mystery until it hands you the two-orbit award, then start taking Start Mission.

  Reward: A free mission, a Mystery, or 13M

• Mystery mode · Medium

  Complete D-O-C-K to light Mystery at the spinner lane, then collect it at the top saucer. The common awards are two orbits, a BLASTOFF letter, hold bonus, double bonus and 13 Million, with a fifty million Washing Machine turning up occasionally.

  Reward: Two orbits, a BLASTOFF letter, or up to 50M

• Advance The Spacecraft progression · Medium

  The most valuable thread in the game. Both orbits start the game lit, and after that the inlanes relight them for a few seconds each. Collected orbits move the Odyssey around the moon and back toward Earth, and each stage hands you a mode.

  Reward: Video Mode, Power Down, Power Up, then Splashdown

• Video Mode mode · Medium

  The first spacecraft award. Land the lunar module using the flipper buttons — left and right for lateral thrust, both together for upward. Fifty million for a left landing, one hundred and nine for centre, eighty-four for right, and twenty-five if you crash.

  Reward: 25M to 109M

• Power Down mode · Medium

  A timed round with six shots lit at once, paying 50, 60, 70, 80, 90 and 90 million. Starting the round is worth ten million on its own, so clearing it out completely lands around four hundred and fifty million.

  Reward: 10M to start, up to 450M complete

• Power Up mode · Hard

  The same scoring ladder as Power Down but only one shot is lit at a time, and each one you make lights the next. Harder, because the game chooses your order for you and the clock is still running.

  Reward: Up to 450M

• Splashdown wizard · Hard

  The end of the spacecraft journey and the deepest thing on the machine. Two more orbits after Power Up brings the Odyssey home for a timed multiball with the orbits lit for jackpots.

  Reward: Timed multiball with orbit jackpots

• Shoot The Moon mode · Medium

  Take the M-O-O-N targets in their flashing order and the Blastoff ramp lights for a hurry-up. It counts down very slowly, so treat it as a shot you can set up properly rather than panic at — but do collect it, because an uncollected one drops back to twenty million.

  Reward: 20M base, far more in a long game

• Running The Missions progression · Medium

  Nine missions, started at the right saucer, which stays lit in normal play until Master Alarm is reached. Bumper hits rotate which one is flashing, and turning the plunger handle locks the flashing one in — but the lock is lost when you plunge your next ball.

  Reward: 10M base per mission, 100M-700M each

• Orbiter mode · Medium

  The left orbit lights for fifty million counting down fast to ten. Make it and a diverter feeds the ball back to the left inlane with the right orbit lit for triple whatever the left orbit just paid. Realistically only the first attempt is big.

  Reward: Up to about 200M on the combo

• Manual Burn mode · Hard

  The spacecraft is seven degrees off course and three shots are lit to correct it — either left orbit, spinner and Rocket ramp, or Blastoff ramp, right orbit and mission saucer. Each shot pays 50 to 90 million, and the round ends the moment you get back on course. It scores far more if you deliberately do not.

  Reward: 250M typical, 500M-plus if you avoid finishing

• CO2 mode · Medium

  The carbon dioxide level is climbing and you have until it reaches twenty to gather four items, each collected on the spinner. They pay 10, 20, 30 and 40 million, and finishing all four adds a bonus the bumpers have been building during the mode.

  Reward: 100M plus a bumper-built bonus around 40M

• Under Volt mode · Hard

  A forty-two million value starts falling and the Battery targets are lit to freeze it. Freeze it, and every major shot is worth that frozen value for twenty seconds. A second Battery hit resets the timer and pays the value again — the trick is not to burn that second hit on an accidental double bounce.

  Reward: 400M-700M played well

• Life Support mode · Medium

  The Food and Water standups are lit for 20, 30, 40 and 50 million. The centre post rises for a few seconds after each one, so let the ball come off the post and trap it rather than swinging at it.

  Reward: 140M plus a 150M completion

• Docking mode · Medium

  Hit anything in the D-O-C-K bank four times for 10, 20, 30 and 40 million and an extra ball. Any target in the bank counts, so this is a mission you can bang out from a trapped ball without needing accuracy.

  Reward: 100M and an extra ball

• Rocket 2-Ball multiball · Medium

  A two-ball round where the Rocket ramp is the only scoring shot, paying 10, 20, 30, 40 and then 50 million a hit. If your bumper value is already high, the bumpers can be the better place to spend the round.

  Reward: 10M climbing to 50M per Rocket shot

• Master Alarm wizard · Hard

  Play all nine missions and Master Alarm lights at the right saucer. Forty seconds where every target scores a million and adds a million to a jackpot sitting on the Blastoff ramp. The jackpot does not reset when you collect it, so a player with the ramp dialled in can run this enormous.

  Reward: 1M per target, uncapped ramp jackpot

• Regular Multiball multiball · Medium

  The Rocket LED counts your shots down. Three shots start the first multiball, five the second, seven the third. Three balls, no ball saver, and four jackpots lit at the left orbit, spinner lane, right orbit and mission saucer.

  Reward: 20M-40M jackpots, then a Super at the ramp

• 13-Ball multiball · Hard

  Complete the eight BLASTOFF letters and the next multiball is thirteen balls instead of three. Three or four launch, then eight more arrive at once about five seconds later. The Rocket is lit for jackpots typically worth 100 to 250 million.

  Reward: 100M-250M jackpots, then a Super at the ramp

• Blastoff Combos combo · Hard

  When the yellow lamp is out, a BLASTOFF letter can still be taken as a combo. Which combo depends on where the ramp diverter is pointing: ramp into ramp, or ramp into left orbit into ramp. Any other switch in between kills it.

  Reward: A BLASTOFF letter toward 13-Ball

• Build The Spinner strategy · Easy

  Completing the 1 and 3 rollovers adds 250K to both the bumper value and the spinner value, each topping out at two million. Since the spinner backhands and CO2 runs entirely through it, getting that number up early quietly pays for the rest of the game.

  Reward: Spinner and bumpers up to 2M each

• Fun With Bonus progression · Easy

  The bonus is a straight count of the four things this game actually wants you to do. Knowing that changes what you shoot at when the ball is getting dangerous.

  Reward: Millions per counted shot, doubled with the Mystery award