Austin Powers

Stern, 2001 — shot-by-shot rules and strategy guide.

Open Austin Powers in the Pinball Genie app →

Austin Powers is a mode game built on six main shots, it tells you what to do through one thing: the stack of five lights under each of those shots. Most players never look, start four modes they never finish, and wonder why the score does not move.

Read the light stacks first

• The four lower lights count down what you still owe that shot. One flashing with three dark means four more hits; three solid with the fourth flashing means the next hit starts the mode.
• The red light at the top is dark if you have never started that mode.
• The red light is lit while the counter is still running if you started that mode and failed it. The mode is available again at the same price.
• All five solid means you finished it. Shooting it again pays a flat million and does nothing else — stop feeding it and go somewhere useful.

This matters because the display badly undersells modes. Starting one is around ten million and completing one around fifteen, neither announced. A successful laser shot reads as three million and is worth closer to thirty. Play for completions, not for the numbers you can see.

The six modes and what each wants

• Mini Me — four completions of the counterweighted spinner starts a hurry-up. One more spin locks the value in, then keep shooting to collect against it.
• Fat Bastard — four ramps start a four-ball multiball with a long ball saver. All six main shots need four hits each, and only the fourth hit on a shot pays the super jackpot.
• Big Frickin' Laser — four left ramps arm it, a fifth loads the ball into the cannon on the apron. Fire it at the Austin hole with the lockdown bar button. Each miss can be bought back with a quick ramp, but the third miss kills the round.
• Time Machine — four shots up to the spinning disc start a two-ball multiball. Six shots are lit for jackpots and an unlit one is worth nothing, so look before you shoot.
• Sub-Drill — a timed round asking for four shots on each ramp.
• Henchmen — one shot each at all six main shots against a clock, the red light above each staying on until you make it.

Stacking, and what blocks what

The best scoring decision here is what you have running when a multiball starts. Mini Me and Sub-Drill both want repeated hits, and both have their timers frozen during multiball. Start one immediately before Fat Bastard and you spend it with four balls in play and a long saver underneath you.

The exclusions are worth memorising. Fat Bastard and Time Machine lock out everything else. Henchmen blocks nearly everything. The laser's retry timer blocks other modes and, annoyingly, blanks the S-H-A-G lights so you cannot see which letters to shift the lanes for. Mini Me blocks nothing at all, which is exactly why it is the mode to leave running.

The things that are not on the six-shot map

MOJO multiball comes from spelling MOJO on the left standups, and its only job is bashing Dr. Evil ten times. He drops, the six shots open, and a Time Machine shot pays a super jackpot and pops him back up for another ten. He starts at a million and climbs about a hundred thousand a hit. Elsewhere, S-H-A-G lives in the lanes — S and G on the outlanes, H and A on the inlanes — and the two top rollovers advance the bonus multiplier at roughly a million a step, which is why the Bonus 6X skill shot is worth taking seriously.

Two ball saves the playfield never mentions

• Drain immediately after scoring the Time Machine in single-ball play and the game makes one attempt to relaunch you. The corollary matters more: once Time Machine is no longer available, that shot loses its saver and becomes genuinely dangerous.
• Complete S-H-A-G with an outlane letter during single-ball play and you get the ball back. It has to register as single-ball play — two balls draining into opposite outlanes at once does not count.
• On multiball, the shoot-again light stops blinking well before the save actually expires. The music runs in an ABAC pattern and the save ends near the start of the C section. Listen rather than watch.

The end of the road

Start your fourth mode and the extra ball lights. Start your sixth and Virtucon opens: a multiball with an unusually long saver where each of the six shots pays a jackpot on its first hit and all six relight once cleared. Here is the payoff for having actually completed modes rather than merely starting them — a completed shot pays a double jackpot every single time you hit it, with no need to leave. If you finished Time Machine, you can simply stand there and shoot the disc.

Above Virtucon, the backglass shows a Moon Base multiball almost nobody has seen. It is understood to need all six modes completed rather than started, which is a far harder bar, and nothing on the playfield counts it down for you. One last practical note: this game is known for missing switch registrations, especially at Mini Me and the Time Machine. Watch the light stack, not the shot — if the counter did not move, the hit did not happen.

How Austin Powers plays

Austin Powers is Stern's swinging-sixties spy comedy where the six main shots run a stack of modes and multiballs. Read the light stacks, start rounds and multiballs, fire the laser cannon at Austin's hole, and open Virtucon by starting six modes.

The loop

1. Plunge into the lit top rollover for the Bonus 6X skill shot, and shift the lit lane with the flippers to climb your end-of-ball bonus multiplier, which quietly turns each step into roughly a million by the time the bonus is tallied.
2. Read the five-light stack on each main shot to spot the one sitting a single hit away from a fresh round, then begin modes like the Mini Me hurry-up, Sub-Drill, and Henchmen at their shots.
3. Bring up the multiballs: four Fat Bastard ramps for the four-ball, four Time Machine disc shots for the two-ball, and spell MOJO for the Dr. Evil round.
4. Arm the Big Frickin' Laser with four left ramps, load the cannon with one more, and pull the lockdown-bar trigger as the barrel sweeps across the Austin hole.
5. Start six different modes to open Virtucon, where any mode you actually finished pays a double jackpot at its shot every time you hit it.

Reading the lights

• Top Rollover Lanes (lanes) — lit: Just one of the two rollovers across the top is lit as each ball begins; only that lit lane pays the plunge skill shot, and rolling both of them steps your end-of-ball bonus multiplier. · then: Take the lit lane off the plunge for Bonus 6X, then flip the glow over and roll the second lane to raise the multiplier -- each step adds about a million to the bonus the display never brags about. The lit lane starts over with each new ball, so this is a fresh pick every time rather than something you bank. · control: Either flipper button: a tap of either flipper slides the lit lane across to the other rollover, so you can move it under the ball (before the ball drops back down from the top)
• Mode Light Stacks (status) — lit: Each of the main shots wears a little column of lights showing just how much of its mode is left to do -- the fuller the column, the nearer that round is to starting. · then: Sweep your eyes across the columns and take whichever one is a single strike from opening a round; the fourth mode you start in a game lights an extra ball as well. Learning to read them at a glance is the biggest single step up on this table.
• MOJO and Dr. Evil (letters) — lit: The two left standups spell MOJO; finishing the word -- or drawing it from a mystery award -- starts a two-ball multiball whose whole job is the Dr. Evil bash toy. · then: Knock Dr. Evil down ten times to drop him and open the six main shots, then collect the Time Machine super jackpot, which pops him straight back up for another ten and climbs his value with each hit.
• Fat Bastard Ramp (status) — lit: Four runs up the Fat Bastard ramp light a four-ball multiball with a long ball saver; the ramp feeds back to the Mini Me lane, so repeat shots chain naturally. · then: Work each of the six main shots up to four hits -- and it is only that fourth strike on a given shot that pays its super jackpot, while anything beyond four on a shot already done is dead weight, so quit feeding a finished one. Arm a repeat-hit mode such as Mini Me first, since its timer freezes while the balls are out.
• Time Machine (status) — lit: Send the ball up to the spinning disc four times to open a two-ball multiball; the disc grabs each one, holds it, then spits it out the rear into the loop. · then: Shoot only the lit jackpot shots -- an unlit one scores nothing -- and clear all six to relight the whole set for another pass.
• Big Frickin' Laser (mode) — lit: Bank four left ramps to arm the laser, then one further ramp drops the ball into the motorized cannon out on the apron, which swings around and rakes across the playfield. · then: Drop the shot into the Austin hole for a payoff near thirty million, far past the modest figure on the display. You get three tries, each retry bought with another quick ramp, and a miss on the third ends the round on the spot -- so wait for a clean sweep. · control: Action button: the lockdown-bar button fires the loaded cannon, sending the ball wherever the barrel happens to point -- so it is timing, not aim (as the sweeping barrel lines up with the Austin hole)
• S-H-A-G Lanes (letters) — lit: The letters of S-H-A-G sit in the return and outlanes -- S and G out wide, H and A on the inlanes; a lit letter is one you still need to spell the word for its hurry-up. · then: Finish the word to start the hurry-up, and lean on the inlane letters since they arrive for free -- if an outlane letter completes S-H-A-G during single-ball play, the game quietly hands the ball back. · control: Left flipper button: a flipper press shifts which S-H-A-G letters are lit, letting you set up whichever one you still owe (any time the letters are showing, though the laser round's retry timer blanks them)

Lane change: the flipper buttons move the lit lane. A tap of either flipper slides the lit top rollover across to its neighbor, so move it under the ball before the ball drops back down. Plunging into the lit lane takes the Bonus 6X skill shot, and rolling both lanes steps your end-of-ball bonus multiplier, each step adding roughly a million once the bonus is paid; one lane lights fresh as every new ball begins.

Start scoring

• Ball one — Take the lit top-lane skill shot for Bonus 6X and keep shifting and completing the top lanes for the multiplier, since each step is real money the display hides. Read the light stacks and start the modes whose shots you are already hitting, and know the two hidden saves -- a Time Machine drain and an outlane S-H-A-G finish in single-ball play both hand the ball back. — Lit Lane Skill Shot, Build The Bonus Multiplier, Reading The Mode Lights, The Ball Saves Nobody Sees
• Building — Start the round modes and multiballs -- the Mini Me hurry-up is the safest to leave running, its timer paused during multiball -- and grind Dr. Evil for a climbing value through MOJO. Stack a repeat-hit mode into Fat Bastard's four balls, and mind the machine's known switch quirks so a good shot that did not register gets taken again. — Mini Me Hurry-Up, MOJO Multiball, The Dr. Evil Ladder, Stack Before The Big One, Know The Machine's Quirks
• The big one — Start six different modes to open Virtucon, the game's payoff: jackpots on all six shots, a long saver, and -- for every mode you actually finished, not merely started -- a double jackpot at its shot you can hit over and over. Above it sits Moon Base, a rumored multiball said to demand all six modes completed, which is why almost nobody sees it. — Virtucon Multiball, Moon Base

The Fire Button on Austin Powers

On the lockdown bar.

One button sits on the lockdown bar and it exists for a single feature: the Big Frickin' Laser. Once the cannon on the apron is loaded it swings out and sweeps across the playfield, and the button pulls the trigger. That makes it a timing shot rather than an aiming one — the ball goes wherever the barrel happens to be pointing.

• Cannon loaded and sweeping: Fires the ball up the playfield at the moment you press. Line the barrel up with the Austin hole first.
• Barrel crossing the Austin hole: A made shot is worth roughly 30 million once the mode credit lands, despite a 3M display.
• After a missed laser shot: Shoot the left ramp again quickly to reload and fire again — no need to rebuild the four ramps.
• On your third firing attempt: A miss here kills the round immediately, so wait for a clean sweep instead of snapping at it.

Goals in Austin Powers

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

• Lit Lane Skill Shot skillshot · Medium

  One of the two top rollover lanes is lit at the start of every ball. Plunge into the lit one and you take Bonus 6X, which is worth well over six million once the bonus pays — far more than the display suggests while you are collecting it.

  Reward: Bonus 6X, worth 6M and up

• Reading The Mode Lights progression · Easy

  Every main shot carries a stack of five lights that tells you exactly how much work is left on that mode. Learning to read the stack in a glance is the single biggest improvement most players can make on this machine, because it tells you which shot is one hit from starting a ten-million round.

  Reward: Knowing which shot to take next

• Mini Me Hurry-Up mode · Medium

  Four separate shots through the Mini Me spinner start the hurry-up — a single rip counts once, however many times the blade turns. The next spinner shot locks in a value and further shots collect against it, with the flashing lights under the lane counting down what you still owe.

  Reward: Locked hurry-up value

• Fat Bastard Multiball multiball · Hard

  Four Fat Bastard ramps start a four-ball multiball with a generous ball saver. The job is to hit all six main shots four times each; only the fourth hit on a shot pays the super jackpot, and hits past four on an already-finished shot pay nothing at all.

  Reward: Super jackpot on the fourth hit of each of six shots

• Big Frickin' Laser mode · Hard

  Four left ramps arm the laser. One more ramp loads the ball into the cannon on the apron, which swings out to aim; you fire it with the lockdown bar button and try to drop the ball in the Austin hole. You get three attempts in total, and each retry has to be bought with another quick ramp.

  Reward: Roughly 30M for a successful shot

• Time Machine Multiball multiball · Medium

  Four shots up to the spinning disc start a two-ball multiball. Six shots are lit for jackpots; a shot with its lights out pays nothing, so check before you commit. Clearing all six relights all six.

  Reward: Jackpot on each of six lit shots

• Sub-Drill mode · Hard

  A timed round asking for four shots on each ramp. The flashing lights beneath each ramp count what you still owe. It locks out the laser but leaves everything else available, and its timer pauses during multiball.

  Reward: Mode start and completion credit

• Henchmen mode · Hard

  One shot each at all six main shots against a timer. The red light above each shot stays lit until you make it, so the playfield tells you at a glance what is left. It locks out most other modes while it runs.

  Reward: Mode start and completion credit

• MOJO Multiball multiball · Medium

  Spell MOJO on the left standups and you get a two-ball multiball whose only job is to hit Dr. Evil ten times. When he drops, the six main shots open up, and the Time Machine pays a super jackpot and sends him straight back up for another ten.

  Reward: Super jackpot per cycle, plus a climbing Dr. Evil value

• The Dr. Evil Ladder multiplier · Medium

  Dr. Evil is worth a million on the first hit and climbs by roughly a hundred thousand each time after. It sounds slow, and it is — thirty bashes come out around forty-five million — but during MOJO Multiball it is free points while you are waiting for a shot to open up.

  Reward: 1M rising by about 100K per hit

• S-H-A-G Hurry-Up mode · Medium

  The four letters live in the inlanes and outlanes: S and G on the outlanes, H and A on the inlanes. Completing the word starts a hurry-up, and there is a hidden mercy rule attached to the outlane letters.

  Reward: Hurry-up value

• Build The Bonus Multiplier multiplier · Easy

  The two top rollover lanes advance the end-of-ball bonus multiplier, and each step is worth about a million on its own. That is real money for a shot you take by accident every time the ball wanders up top.

  Reward: About 1M per multiplier step

• Virtucon Multiball wizard · Hard

  Start six modes and Virtucon opens up. It has an unusually long ball saver, and each of the six shots pays a jackpot on its first hit with all six relighting once cleared. The payoff for having actually completed modes is that a completed shot can be hit over and over for a double jackpot.

  Reward: Jackpots on all six shots, double jackpots on completed modes

• Moon Base secret · Hard

  The backglass shows a multiball above Virtucon that almost nobody sees. It is understood to need every one of the six modes completed, not merely started — which is a far harder bar than Virtucon, and why it stays a rumour on most machines.

  Reward: Unconfirmed

• Stack Before The Big One strategy · Hard

  The best scoring decision on the machine is what you have running when Fat Bastard starts. Mini Me and Sub-Drill both want repeated hits on shots, and both have their timers frozen during multiball — so start one of them right before the four-ball round and spend it in relative safety.

  Reward: Mode progress paid for with multiball balls

• The Ball Saves Nobody Sees secret · Easy

  Two rescues are built in that the playfield never mentions. Drain straight after scoring the Time Machine in single-ball play and the game tries once to relaunch you. Complete S-H-A-G with an outlane in single-ball play and you also get the ball back.

  Reward: A free ball from either of two hidden saves

• Know The Machine's Quirks strategy · Easy

  This game has some well-known switch problems, and playing around them costs nothing. Mini Me and the Time Machine sometimes fail to register a good shot, and the left ramp can skip the switch that spots your S-H-A-G letter.

  Reward: Fewer wasted shots