Banzai Run

Williams, 1988 — shot-by-shot rules and strategy guide.

Open Banzai Run in the Pinball Genie app →

Banzai Run's upper playfield does not sit above the lower one — it stands vertically, on the backglass, which is why the machine towers over everything around it. Play up there is short and frantic because the slope is brutal, and that shapes the strategy: everything below is preparation for a trip lasting a few seconds.

Laps first, always

The ramp is the best shot on the machine and it is not close. It scores a lap, feeds your bonus, raises the value of the lower captive ball, advances you toward multiball, and eventually lights an extra ball — all from one shot. Roll the left inlane before you take it and the ramp is worth two laps instead of one. You begin every game with one lap already banked.

• Four laps takes the lower captive ball from 10,000 to 25,000.
• Seven laps takes it to 50,000, which is a genuinely safe, repeatable shot.
• Around eight laps lights an extra ball at that captive ball.
• Twenty-five laps awards Finish Line: 750,000 plus an extra ball, after which the lap count resets and the eight-lap extra ball does not come back.
• Ignore the two 1-Lap targets. They light after each Hill trip, but they are drain shots and the ramp gives you the same lap for far less risk.

Challenge, then pass

You start the race in sixth place, and five opponents have to be lit and then passed. The first four each own a bank of three targets on the lower playfield: Green Machine on the top rollovers, Blue Beard and Red Hot on the left, and Yellow Belly through the middle. Completing a bank challenges that racer, and the Hill lights while any challenged racer is still unpassed. Actually passing them means hitting their shot on the upper playfield — the loops on either side, the target in the middle, or the Red Hot hole up in the corner.

The Bumper Saucer is the most useful hole on the machine and it does most of this work for you. It spots whichever opponent target best helps you finish a bank, relights the left outlane kickback, and later becomes the Time Lock. It can be shot straight on through the gap in the Yellow Belly targets rather than only from inside the bumpers.

Do not pass everyone at once

This is the counterintuitive part. Clearing every flashing racer on one trip closes the Hill until you challenge somebody new down below, which costs you access to the whole upper playfield. A better plan is to leave one challenged racer standing and spend your Hill time on Cycle Jumps instead.

The Cycle Jump lives at the Red Hot hole. It starts at 75,000 and climbs 25,000 every time you collect it, and the value carries between balls. Completing the A-B-C targets first — the A inside the left loop, the B and C inside the right — doubles the jump for that trip only and also extends the timer on the centre post protecting your lower flippers. Red Hot also drops you back to the lower playfield, so it ends the trip; take it last.

Multiball and the King

Defeat all four racers and the Lock Shot on the Hill lights immediately. That timing is worth planning around: if the last racer you beat is one of the ones up there, you can lock straight away, but if you finish with one of the lower three you have to make another whole trip. Get Red Hot out of the way early to avoid that.

Once you have locked, the second ball goes to the plunger and the ramp is lit for two laps for the entire multiball. The fifth opponent is the King of the Hill, and beating him is a two-stage job. First put a ball in the Bumper Saucer to start the Time Lock, then get up the Hill and hit the captive ball inside about twenty seconds. The timer pauses while a ball is actually on the Hill, so a failed trip usually leaves room for two or three more attempts before the second ball is released. Collect A-B-C and then the captive ball on the same trip and you get a million plus an extra ball.

After the King is down, the ramp is lit for the rest of multiball for two laps and a 250,000 Victory Lap, with no cap on how many you can take. This is where a serious score actually comes from, so protect both balls and keep feeding that ramp.

An honest bonus

There is no hidden number and no multiplier. Your end-of-ball bonus is 10,000 per lap plus 20,000 per racer defeated, and that is the whole formula — you can count it yourself as you play. Racers you beat carry between balls until multiball happens, then reset; the ones you already beat still pay on that ball, which is why they slide over to the Prior Race side of the standings instead of vanishing.

One last thing worth knowing on location. If the magnet that lifts balls to the Hill has failed, the game compensates: each shot to the Hill entrance spots a challenged racer, locks a ball when lock is lit, or defeats the King during multiball. You lose the Cycle Jumps and everything that only exists up top, so scores drop hard, but the game is still finishable.

Goals in Banzai Run

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

• Cycle Stunt Skill Shot skillshot · Medium

  Plunge straight into the Hill entrance. It pays 100,000 the first time and climbs by 100,000 each time to a ceiling of 500,000, and it does more than score — it advances your race position and sends you straight up to the Hill.

  Reward: 100K climbing to 500K, plus race progress

• Building Laps progression · Easy

  Laps are the quiet backbone of the whole game — they set the captive ball value, feed your bonus, and eventually hand you extra balls. You start with one already banked, and the ramp is by far the most efficient way to add more.

  Reward: Extra ball around eight laps, Finish Line at 25

• The Lower Captive Ball strategy · Easy

  Easy, safe and increasingly valuable. It pays 10,000 to start, 25,000 once you reach four laps and 50,000 from seven laps onward, and it can carry an extra ball as well. Once the ramp has done its work this is one of the best risk-to-reward shots on the machine.

  Reward: 10K, 25K, then 50K per hit

• Challenging the Four Racers progression · Medium

  You start the race in sixth place. Green Machine, Blue Beard, Yellow Belly and Red Hot each have their own bank of three targets on the lower playfield, and completing a bank challenges that racer — which is what lights the Hill.

  Reward: The Hill lit, and 50,000 per racer passed

• Riding Banzai Hill mode · Hard

  The upper playfield is on the backglass and it is steep, so trips up there are short. A magnet carries the ball up and drops it to the left flipper. Passing a racer means hitting that racer's own shot on the Hill.

  Reward: 50,000 per racer passed

• Cycle Jump multiplier · Medium

  The Red Hot hole on the Hill pays a Cycle Jump that starts at 75,000 and climbs 25,000 each time, and the value carries between balls. It is the main reason to ride the Hill even when you have no racer to pass.

  Reward: 75K climbing by 25K per jump

• The A-B-C Targets multiplier · Hard

  The A sits inside the Yellow Belly loop and the B and C inside the Blue Beard loop. Completing them buys you two things at once: extra time on the centre post down below, and a doubled Cycle Jump for the rest of this Hill trip.

  Reward: Longer centre post, 2X Cycle Jump

• The Bumper Saucer strategy · Medium

  The busiest hole on the playfield. It spots opponent targets, relights the left outlane kickback, fires the Freestyle playfield, acts as the Time Lock during multiball, and restarts multiball. If you are not sure what to shoot, shoot this.

  Reward: Spotted targets, kickback, Time Lock

• Light the Spinners strategy · Easy

  Both spinners pay 1,000 a spin on their own and 3,000 when lit, and the inlanes cross-light them — the left inlane lights the right spinner and the right inlane lights the left. Small money, but it costs nothing to collect on the way past.

  Reward: 3,000 per spin when lit

• The Top Rollovers combo · Easy

  Three rollovers across the top challenge Green Machine when completed, and the flipper buttons rotate which are lit. The right one is walled off from the other two and feeds the upper right flipper, which is a useful place to be.

  Reward: Green Machine challenged

• The Center Post strategy · Medium

  While you are on the Hill, a post rises between the lower flippers and blocks every centre drain until its timer runs out. The lights and sound tell you how long is left, and completing A-B-C up top buys you more of it.

  Reward: Centre drain protection

• Freestyle secret · Medium

  Once all four racers have been challenged, the target banks reset and a second completion lights that racer on a hidden mini-playfield on the backglass. A ball is then fired across eight targets, and if it hits a lit one that racer is passed for free.

  Reward: A free racer pass and 50,000

• Locking for Multiball multiball · Hard

  Defeat all four racers and the Lock Shot on the Hill lights immediately — so if the last racer you beat is up there already, you can lock without another trip. Otherwise the game will nag you back up the Hill.

  Reward: Two-ball play and a shot at the King

• The King of the Hill wizard · Hard

  The fifth and final racer, and the whole point of the game. Put a ball in the Bumper Saucer to start the Time Lock, then get up the Hill and hit the captive ball inside about twenty seconds. The clock pauses while you are actually on the Hill.

  Reward: 1 million, or 1 million plus an extra ball

• Victory Laps combo · Medium

  Once the King is beaten, the ramp is lit for the rest of multiball for two laps and a 250,000 Victory Lap. There is no cap on how many you can collect, so this is where a good Banzai Run score actually comes from.

  Reward: 250,000 and two laps per ramp

• Your Bonus, Calculated Openly progression · Easy

  There is no mystery number and no bonus multiplier here. Your bonus is 10,000 for every lap plus 20,000 for every racer you have defeated, which means every lap and every pass you make is money you can count while you play.

  Reward: 10,000 per lap plus 20,000 per racer

• When the Hill Is Closed secret · Easy

  If the magnet that carries balls up to the Hill is not working, the game compensates rather than dying. Every shot to the Hill entrance does the job the upper playfield would have done, one step at a time.

  Reward: The game stays completable