Demolition Man
Williams, 1994 — shot-by-shot rules and strategy guide.
Open Demolition Man in the Pinball Genie app →Demolition Man is a widebody five-ball game with two gun-grip handles mounted forward of the flipper buttons. Each handle has a trigger that acts as a flipper button and a thumb button on top used by some modes. It is a busy playfield, but the ruleset comes down to two systems: combos, and the Cryo-Claw.
Combos are the game
A combo is any sequence of the seven major shots taken while its flashing red arrow is lit. The elegant part — and the reason this game still plays so well — is that the machine lights the next shots for you. Hit any major shot and it lights whatever is easily reachable from where the ball is about to end up. The left inlane lights the right ramp, right loop and AcMag ramp; the right inlane lights the left orbit and left ramp; the right orbit lights the Computer and Side Ramp.
Values climb 5M, 6M, 7M and onward with no apparent ceiling, dropping back to 5M only when the lit arrows time out. Shots you make in between do not break anything — the lit arrows stay lit. Combos light the Computer every ten, and an extra ball at twelve and again at fifty.
This is why the skill shot matters more than it looks. Plunge full strength so the ball travels all the way to the upper left flipper, then shoot the Side Ramp. It is technically the first lit combo, which is why it pays 5M — and every skill shot you make permanently raises the base value of every combo for the rest of the game.
Explodes, and the counter-intuitive way to light them
The left and right loops and left and right ramps carry Explode lights worth 10M each. You light them by hitting the Underground while it is NOT the current lit combo shot. It may still be lit for the Computer or Demolition Time — that does not disqualify it. Only being the active combo shot does.
The Retina Scan drives an Explode Hurry-Up: one hit triggers the first, four the next. All four Explode ramps light at 15M and start counting down, and every one you collect adds 10M to the next. The round ends when the countdown reaches 5M.
The Cryo-Claw and its five lanes
Access is a two-step people often get the order of wrong. Completing the M-T-L rollovers lights the LEFT INLANE — not the claw. Rolling that lit inlane is what lights Claw Ready on the right ramp. Only then does the right ramp divert the ball up the elevator to the magnetic claw, which you steer with the two gun triggers before dropping into one of five lanes.
- Lock Freeze — the most valuable lane when you are near multiball. It locks as many Freeze lamps as you still need, or starts multiball outright — and when it starts one it adds an extra frozen ball on top.
- Start AcMag — repeated Center Ramp shots for a climbing award, 5M up to 12.5M then 6M up to 13.5M, adding a million per successful ramp.
- Prison Break — fast and reflex-based. The ball drops above the upper left flipper and hands you 15M; a quick Underground doubles it and a quick Side Ramp triples it. Also lights Car Chase, alternating ramps at 5M each.
- Super Jets — bumpers light for 25 hits at a million each, and the ball is dropped straight into the bumper area. Every yellow target adds to the hits remaining.
- Capture Simon — the seven major shots light at 5M but only three shots are offered, with a 25M completion bonus for a 40M total. A left loop into the top lock counts as two Simon awards at once.
All five claw awards increase the second time around.
Four multiballs, each shaped differently
Freeze lamps are lit by the yellow standup targets, balls are locked via the left ramp or the Claw, and multiball starts at the Top Lock off the left loop. Fortress needs one frozen ball and runs three jackpots into a triple Super Jackpot on the right ramp. Museum needs two and lights every shot for a jackpot simultaneously. Wasteland is Fortress with bigger numbers and more than one jackpot lit at a time.
Cryo-Prison is the one to understand before you play it. All the jackpot shots are lit, but they pay nothing directly — they only ADD to a Super Jackpot collected at the right ramp. After each Super you must re-hit a regular jackpot shot to relight it, and you cannot collect another until the current animation finishes.
The two end-games
Completing all five Claw modes lights Demolition Time at the Underground under a blue lamp. It opens with a flat 50M, every major shot lights for 15M, and unusually those shots STAY lit for as long as you keep more than one ball alive. Completing the yellow targets adds a ball and raises the award by 5M; losing a ball lowers it. The total is banked to its own high-score table.
Separately, completing all four multiballs lights a Demolition Jackpot on the right ramp. The game takes your best jackpot from each multiball mode and multiplies it by how many jackpots you scored in that mode — so both quality and quantity of your multiball play are being recorded the whole game.
Two warnings
The Car Crash target has a well-earned reputation for deflecting the ball straight down the middle. There is a short ball saver to compensate, but it can be disabled in LA-4 ROMs, so do not count on it.
And the outlanes are unusually hostile: the divider posts ship without rubber, the ball takes wild spins in that area, and there are no Specials or awards down there at all. There is nothing to gain from the outlanes on this machine — play away from them.
How Demolition Man plays
Demolition Man is a widebody built on endless combos and a steerable Cryo-Claw. Chain the seven major shots, run the claw's five modes, and freeze balls for four different multiballs, all aiming at the Demolition Time and Demolition Jackpot end games.
The loop
- Start a chain from a return lane and follow the flashing arrows -- each shot you make lights whatever is reachable next, so a clean combo feeds itself.
- Complete the buried M-T-L rollovers to light the left inlane, roll it for Claw Ready, then shoot the right ramp to ride the elevator up to the Cryo-Claw.
- Swing the claw with the gun triggers and drop into one of its five lanes; clearing every lane opens Demolition Time.
- Pick off the yellow targets to freeze balls, then run Fortress, Museum, Wasteland and Cryo-Prison -- all four played lead to the Demolition Jackpot.
- Strike the Underground while it is not your combo shot to arm the four 10M Explode lamps, and drive the captive eyeball for a Retina Scan the jets have been fattening all game.
Reading the lights
- Combo Arrows (shot arrows) — lit: A flashing red arrow marks a live combo shot, and making one automatically lights whatever the ball can reach next, so the chain keeps handing you a target -- a dead shot between is harmless, and only letting the arrows time out breaks the run. · then: Ride the chain for values that climb with no ceiling, opening around 5M. Every tenth combo lights the Computer award at the Underground, and reaching twelve -- then fifty -- lights an extra ball.
- Explode Lamps (multiplier) — lit: The two loops and two ramps hold 10M Explode lamps that only light when you strike the Underground while it is not your current combo shot, and being lit there for the Computer or Demolition Time does not spoil it. · then: Collect each lit loop and ramp for a flat 10M apiece. Driving the captive eyeball into the Retina Scan can kick off the Explode Hurry-Up, a countdown across all four shots that pushes the next value up every time you cash one.
- M-T-L Rollovers (ladder) — lit: The three M-T-L rollovers hide behind the ramps almost out of sight, so play them by ear; balls dropping off the AcMag center ramp roll them through, and each completed set steps your bonus multiplier from 2X toward 5X. · then: Completing M-T-L switches on the LEFT INLANE rather than the claw -- the step most players get wrong. Roll that lit inlane for Claw Ready on the right ramp, shoot the ramp to reach the Cryo-Claw, and note that 5X also lights an extra ball at the left loop.
- Cryo-Claw Lanes (mode) — lit: With the claw armed the right ramp diverts onto an elevator that lifts the ball to the magnetic claw, which you swing left and right with the two gun triggers to drop into one of five mode lanes. · then: Lock Freeze banks freezes or starts a multiball with a bonus ball; Prison Break hands you 15M plus a reflex shot to triple it; Capture Simon can build to 40M. Finish all five lanes and Demolition Time lights at the Underground.
- Retina Scan (status) — lit: The captive eyeball on the far left pays a base 5M, and every jet bumper hit quietly adds to it, so the bumpers are building this shot all game whether you watch them or not. · then: Drive it hard enough to shove the eyeball into the target above; a soft hit just ejects to the left inlane for nothing. Three Retina Scans light an extra ball, and this is also the shot that starts the Explode Hurry-Up.
- Car Crash (status) — lit: Two captive cars sit behind the impact target; each hit adds value and turns on another Car Crash lamp, and once all three glow the next hit banks it for 3M, 6M then 10M -- doubled if the top car rides the full length of its lane. · then: Take it with all three lamps lit, and brace yourself -- this target is notorious for punching the ball back down the center, and the short save that covers it can be switched off entirely.
- Freeze Lamps & Multiball (status) — lit: The scattered yellow targets light your Freeze lamps, a lit Freeze lets you lock a ball at the Top Lock off a clean left loop, and each multiball asks for more frozen balls than the one before it. · then: Fortress opens on one freeze, Museum on two, then Wasteland and the odd Cryo-Prison. Work the ramp and Underground jackpots up to the triple Super Jackpot on the right ramp, and playing all four multiballs lights the compounding Demolition Jackpot there.
Lane change: not verified for this machine yet.
Start scoring
- Ball one — Make the skill shot -- a full plunge round to the upper left flipper, then the Side Ramp -- because every one permanently fattens your combo base. Then start chaining combos, pick off yellow targets, and let the jets build the Retina Scan. — Skill Shot, Combos — The Heart Of The Game, Retina Scan, The Yellow Targets
- Building — Arm the four Explode lamps at the Underground, complete M-T-L to reach the Cryo-Claw, and run its five lanes while you freeze balls for Fortress and Museum. Car Crash and the Retina hurry-up fill the gaps. — Explode Shots, Access The Cryo-Claw, Claw: Capture Simon, Fortress Multiball, Explode Hurry-Up
- The big one — The two end games are the ceiling. Demolition Time follows all five claw modes with a flat 50M start and every major shot lit at 15M that never times out. Play all four multiballs for the Demolition Jackpot, which pays for every jackpot you scored across each one. — Demolition Time, Demolition Jackpot
The Gun-Handle Thumb Buttons on Demolition Man
On top of each pistol grip, mounted on the cabinet sides ahead of the flipper buttons.
Two pistol grips stick out of the cabinet in front of the flipper buttons. The trigger on each one is simply a second flipper button — though the triggers are also what swing the Cryo-Claw — while the thumb button on top of each grip is the real extra control. Almost everything it does is a hidden award, and nearly all of them want both thumbs at once.
- Any jackpot lit during multiball: Both thumbs turn the next jackpot into a Secret Jackpot. Super jackpots are excluded.
- Big Points award from the top lock: Both thumbs pay 5 million and an Eat at Joe's graphic; add both triggers and it becomes 10 million.
- Right after the third Capture Simon shot: Both thumbs award a 10 million capture bonus on top of the capture itself.
- Outlane drain during Capture Simon: Both thumbs still capture him as the ball goes — you lose the bonus but keep the capture.
- Just after the second Retina Scan hit: Both thumbs award the Smithers bonus, 10 million with the eye-poke animation.
- Anytime during the AcMag mode: Both thumbs hand over a free AcMag award, complete with the exploding cow.
Goals in Demolition Man
Every goal below is tracked step-by-step, with shot paths drawn on the playfield map, inside the app.
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Plunge full strength so the ball travels all the way round to the upper left flipper, then shoot the Side Ramp. It is technically the first lit combo, which is why it pays 5M — and every skill shot you make permanently raises the base value of every combo for the rest of the game.
Reward: 5M, +5M per repeat, and +1M to all combo values
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Combos — The Heart Of The Game
Combos are what Demolition Man is actually about. Seven major shots, each with a flashing red arrow, and the elegant part is that hitting a shot automatically lights whatever shots are reachable from where the ball ends up. You can keep going indefinitely.
Reward: 5M, then 6M, 7M... with no apparent limit
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The four loop and ramp shots carry Explode lights worth 10M each. The trick is how you light them: you have to hit the Underground while it is *unlit* as a combo. It may still be lit for Computer or Demolition Time — that is fine, it just must not be the current combo shot.
Reward: 10M per Explode shot
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Drive the captive eyeball into the upper target. The value starts at 5M and every jet bumper hit adds 100K, so the bumpers are quietly building this shot the whole game. Three Retina Scans light an extra ball.
Reward: Retina value (5M base, +100K per jet), extra ball at three
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The Retina Scan starts it — a single hit the first time, four hits the time after. What you get is a countdown across all four Explode ramps, opening at 15M, and each one you collect pushes the next value up by 10M.
Reward: 15M countdown, +10M per collect
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Two captive cars behind an impact target. Each hit adds to the value and lights another Car Crash light; with all three lit, the next hit collects. Worth 3M, 6M then 10M — and doubled if the top car reaches the end of the captive lane.
Reward: 3M / 6M / 10M, doubled on a full car travel
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Three rollovers hidden behind the ramps, stepping the bonus multiplier through 2x, 3x, 4x, 5x. Reach 5x and an extra ball lights on the left loop. Every time you complete the sequence, Access Claw lights — which is the real reason to care about them.
Reward: Bonus multiplier, extra ball at 5x, lights Access Claw
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This game's random award, in the same family as Twilight Zone's Camera. Lit every ten combos and collected at the Underground. The table is unusually strong — two of the awards are effectively free progress toward multiball and Explodes.
Reward: Random award
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Two steps that people often miss the order of. The *left inlane* is what the MTL rollovers light — not the claw itself. Roll that lit inlane and Claw Ready appears on the right ramp; only then will the ramp divert you up the elevator.
Reward: Claw available — pick your mode
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The most valuable claw lane and the one to take when you are close to multiball. It locks as many Freeze lamps as you still need, or starts multiball outright — and when it starts one, it does so with an *extra* frozen ball on top.
Reward: Instant locks, or multiball with a bonus ball
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Repeated Center Ramp shots for a climbing value, in the same shape as Judge Dredd's Safe Cracker. Awards run 5M up to 12.5M, then 6M up to 13.5M, adding a million for every successful ramp. The ball returns to the left inlane.
Reward: 5M-12.5M climbing, +1M per ramp
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Fast and reflex-based. The ball drops above the upper left flipper and you are handed 15M immediately — but a quick shot into the Underground doubles it, and a quick Side Ramp triples it. It also lights Car Chase.
Reward: 15M, doubled or tripled on the reflex shot
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The bumpers light for 25 hits at a million each, and the ball is dropped straight into the bumper area so none of it is wasted. Every yellow target you hit adds to the hits remaining, so this mode is longer than it first appears.
Reward: 1M per bumper hit, 25 hits
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The seven major shots light at 5M each, but only three shots are on offer. Each 5M also builds toward a 25M completion bonus, so finishing all three is worth 40M rather than 15M. A left loop into the top lock counts as two.
Reward: 5M x3 plus 25M completion = 40M
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Twilight Zone's Greed targets in spirit. Worth 1M plus 1M per hit up to twenty, resetting each ball. Their real job is lighting Quick Freeze — depending on the operator setting that takes one, two or three complete sets.
Reward: 1M-20M, and lights Quick Freeze
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The entry multiball, needing just one frozen ball. Jackpots are Center Ramp, Underground and Left Ramp, then the Right Ramp lights for a Super Jackpot worth triple. Base runs 20M to 35M depending on how many balls you froze.
Reward: 20M-35M jackpots, triple Super Jackpot
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Needs two frozen balls. Every shot on the playfield is lit for a jackpot at once, and once you have made them all the Right Ramp lights for the Super. Base is 25M minimum and the bumpers add a million each.
Reward: 25M+ jackpots on all shots
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Fortress's structure all over again, only the values are fatter — you froze more balls to get here. The real difference is that several jackpots can sit lit at once rather than one, which makes this far friendlier when multiball turns chaotic.
Reward: Larger jackpots, multiple lit at once
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The odd one out, and worth understanding before you play it. Every jackpot shot is lit but none of them pay — they only ADD to a Super Jackpot that you collect at the right ramp. After each Super you must re-hit a regular jackpot shot to relight it.
Reward: Accumulating Super Jackpot at the right ramp
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Finish all five Claw modes and the blue light at the Underground offers this. It opens by handing you a flat 50M, then lights every major shot for 15M — and, unusually, those lamps do not time out. Keep two or more balls alive and they simply STAY on.
Reward: 50M start, 15M on every shot, separate high-score table
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The other end-game, earned by completing all four multiballs and collected on the right ramp. It pays a fixed amount for each jackpot you scored in each multiball — 15M in Fortress, 20M in Museum, 25M in Wasteland, 30M in Cryo-Prison — and every mode counts one more jackpot than you actually collected, so it is worth at least 90M even if you never scored one.
Reward: Compounded across all four multiballs
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