GoldenEye

Sega, 1996 — shot-by-shot rules and strategy guide.

Open GoldenEye in the Pinball Genie app →

GoldenEye is Sega at its most inventive. The centrepiece is a rotating satellite dish with a magnet at its hub, loaded by a ramp that rises up out of the playfield when you roll the left inlane. Down at the outhole there is a second magnet that catches draining balls and flings them back into play. Three genuinely shootable ramps give the game a flow that earlier Segas never had. Underneath all of it is a wizard mode gated behind a five-item checklist, and that checklist should be your entire plan for the game.

The five requirements

Everything else is decoration. To light the wizard mode at the Mode Start Lane you need to start and end all five 007 Encounters, complete the 0-0-7 top lanes, finish Shootout, successfully complete Q's Pen, and spell GOLDENEYE with ramp shots. Note the wording on the encounters — you only have to start and end them, not complete them, so a mode you are losing badly is still doing its job. You know the wizard mode is ready when all five mode indicators start flashing together.

• Do the 0-0-7 lanes on ball one. A plunged ball rolls them for free; after that the only route in is a lucky bumper kick, and none of them count during multiball.
• Q's Pen is the piece most players are missing. Three hits on the white target just to arm it, then three more inside fourteen seconds.
• Shootout is not solved with the ball — see below.
• GOLDENEYE is spelled with ramp shots during single-ball play with no encounter running.
• Xenia Extra Ball is one of the five encounters and it is the only extra ball in the entire game. Never pass on it.

Shootout and Eject or Die

Clear the three white targets on the Shootout bank, hit the small yellow target between them, and three guards appear with an instruction to shoot. Players stand there hammering the flippers. The machine has a gun on the front of the cabinet — six pulls of the trigger, two per guard, finishes the mode. The shots climb 2M, 4M, 6M, 8M and 10M, and then Eject or Die lights at both outlanes. This matters enormously because GoldenEye has no kickback. With Eject or Die lit, an outlane drain during single-ball play gets caught by the outhole magnet and thrown back out, and you have six seconds to hit the Center Eject Target or the ball is genuinely over. Six seconds is about one attempt, so make it a good one — and note that the timer stops while the ball is rattling in the bumpers. Eject or Die stacks, so finishing Shootout several times banks several saves.

One target controls the whole economy

The white Satellite Value target in the satellite bank toggles a number through 10M, 25M, 50M, 75M and 100M. That number is the Guard award for clearing all six green Guard targets, and it is also the jackpot value in both multiballs. Setting it before you start anything is the single cheapest decision on the machine. The flip side is a trap: during Tank Multiball, hitting any Guard target cycles the value, so a careless stray hit can turn a 100M jackpot into a 10M one.

The two multiballs are not equal

Hit the Center Eject Target to light the Lock Ramp, then make the ramp to bank a Virtual Lock. Two locks light Satellite Multiball, and the left inlane raises the pop-up ramp for your shot at the dish. Both multiballs use the same four jackpot shots — three ramps and the Mode Start Lane — but Satellite Multiball has a payoff Tank Multiball does not. Sweep all four jackpots without dropping below two balls and the ramp arms again to knock the stuck ball off the dish for 200M, followed by a roving 150M Super Jackpot. Tank Multiball has none of that, which is why you can and often should cancel it outright by pulling the gun trigger during the opening animation. Satellite Multiball stays lit for later.

The GOLDENEYE hurry-ups

Spelling GOLDENEYE pays 10M and immediately lights all three ramps for hurry-ups. Each opens at 50M and bleeds a million a second down to 20M. Collect all three and the left inlane arms the pop-up ramp one more time, and landing that Satellite shot pays your hurry-up total all over again plus another 10M. A clean run is worth over 300M, which dwarfs almost anything else outside multiball. Hesitation is what costs you here, so decide your ramp order before the sequence starts.

Small things that add up

The right inlane lights Mystery at the Mode Start Lane for a couple of seconds — take it on reflex, but know that its 2X award does not spot the top lanes toward the checklist. Ramp combos start at 10M and grow 2M for each unbroken link, resetting the moment you miss. Your bonus is a flat million per ramp and Mode Start Lane shot times your multiplier, and the Collect Bonus lane above the right inlane cashes it mid-ball. And before your very first plunge, pull the trigger during the opening animation — there are a dozen different hidden endings hiding in there.

Goals in GoldenEye

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

• Complete 0-0-7 multiplier · Easy

  Three rollovers across the back. Completing them advances your bonus multiplier, and doing it once is one of the five things standing between you and the wizard mode. There is a noticeable delay between lanes and none of them register during multiball.

  Reward: Bonus multiplier, and a wizard requirement

• Spell GOLDENEYE progression · Medium

  Ramp shots in single-ball, non-mode play spot letters in GOLDENEYE below the display. The last few letters start flashing as you close in. It is worth spelling for its own sake, and it is a wizard mode requirement.

  Reward: Starts the three ramp hurry-ups

• The GOLDENEYE Hurry-Ups mode · Hard

  Spelling GOLDENEYE pays 10M and lights all three ramps for hurry-ups. Each starts at 50M and bleeds a million a second down to 20M before it expires. Collect all three and the left inlane arms the Satellite for one more shot that pays your hurry-up total over again.

  Reward: Up to roughly 320M for the full sequence

• Ramp Combos combo · Medium

  In single-ball, non-mode play every ramp lights another one for a combo. The Far Left and Right Ramps light the Right Ramp; the Lock Ramp lights the Far Left and Lock Ramps. The first is 10M and each unbroken one after adds 2M.

  Reward: 10M, +2M per unbroken combo

• The Six Guard Targets strategy · Medium

  Four green targets on the Satellite bank and two more flanking the Lock Ramp. Clearing all six in single-ball play pays the current Satellite Value, which is anywhere from 10M to 100M depending on how you set it.

  Reward: The current Satellite Value

• Set The Satellite Value multiplier · Medium

  One white target controls how much a large part of the game pays. It cycles the value through 10M, 25M, 50M, 75M and 100M, and that number is both the Guard award and the jackpot value in both multiballs. Set it to 100M before you start anything.

  Reward: Jackpots and Guard awards worth up to 100M

• Virtual Locks progression · Medium

  Hit the Center Eject Target to light the Lock Ramp, then make the ramp to bank a Virtual Lock. Two locks light Satellite Multiball. Your first two multiballs need one Center Eject hit each; the third needs two.

  Reward: Lights Satellite Multiball

• Satellite Multiball multiball · Hard

  The good one. Both ramps, the Right Ramp and the Mode Start Lane are lit for jackpots at your Satellite Value. Complete all four without dropping below two balls and the Pop-Up Ramp arms for a 200M shot to knock the stuck ball off the dish.

  Reward: Jackpots to 100M, a 200M dish shot, 150M Super

• Tank Multiball multiball · Medium

  The lesser multiball. Same four jackpot shots, same values, but no Satellite payoff. You can cancel it outright by pulling the gun trigger during the opening animation, which keeps Satellite Multiball lit for later.

  Reward: Four jackpots at the Satellite Value, relit on completion

• Shootout secret · Medium

  The mode nobody solves on their first try. Three guards appear and you are told to shoot — but not with the ball. The machine has a gun on the front. Six trigger pulls, two per guard, and you are done.

  Reward: 2M, 4M, 6M, 8M, 10M and Eject or Die

• Eject Or Die secret · Hard

  There is no kickback on this machine, so Shootout is your ball save. With Eject or Die lit, an outlane drain during single-ball play gets caught by the magnet and thrown back out — and you have six seconds to hit the Center Eject Target or your ball is genuinely over.

  Reward: A saved ball, or a lost one

• Mystery secret · Easy

  The right inlane lights the Mode Start Lane for Mystery for a couple of seconds. It is cheap and it is fast. Be aware that the 2X award does not spot the 0-0-7 lanes toward the wizard mode requirement.

  Reward: 10M or 2X

• Xenia Extra Ball mode · Easy

  The only extra ball in the whole game. The Center Eject Target lights for a hurry-up and one hit ends the mode with an extra ball in the bank. If a mode comes up and this one is available, take it over anything else.

  Reward: Extra ball

• Satellite Hurry-Up mode · Medium

  A 007 Encounter built on one shot. The value opens at 90M and drops 5M at a time until it bottoms out. The left inlane raises the Pop-Up Ramp for you, so the real problem is getting a ball through that inlane quickly.

  Reward: Up to 90M

• Nerve Gas Plant mode · Hard

  Clear all six Guard targets and then make the Lock Ramp inside thirty seconds. The first target is 25M, the second 20M, the rest 15M each, and the finishing ramp is 30M. It is a lot of work for a mode, but a clean run is worth well over 100M.

  Reward: Roughly 150M for a full clear

• Train Encounter multiball · Medium

  A two-ball 007 Encounter with a ball save at the start. The Far Left Ramp begins lit; making it lights the Right Ramp, which relights the Far Left, and so on. Shots pay 30M, 25M, 20M, 15M and 10M — so the first two are the ones that matter.

  Reward: 30M down to 10M per alternating ramp

• Send Spike mode · Medium

  Thirty seconds to link cities on the world map. Either the Lock Ramp or the Right Ramp counts, and both are loopable, so pick whichever one you hit cleanest and shoot it repeatedly rather than alternating.

  Reward: Points per lit ramp for 30 seconds

• Q's Pen mode · Hard

  The white Q target has to be hit three separate times in single-ball, non-mode play just to start the mode. Then you get fourteen seconds to hit the Q bank three more times, for 10M, 20M and 30M. Finishing it is a wizard requirement, and it is the one most players are missing.

  Reward: 10M to start, then 10M, 20M and 30M

• The Wizard Checklist progression · Hard

  Five separate boxes have to be ticked, in any order, before the Mode Start Lane will light for the wizard mode. You will know it is ready when all five mode indicators start flashing at once.

  Reward: Lights the wizard mode

• The Wizard Mode wizard · Hard

  Every ball on the playfield with little or no ball save. Switches are worth 3M each and ramps 20M — but the number that matters is fifty: every fifty switch hits adds another ball into play. Keeping balls alive beats shooting ramps.

  Reward: 3M per switch, 20M per ramp, a new ball every 50 switches

• Novice Mode secret · Easy

  A pre-game choice most players never see. When the game starts you have eight seconds to pick Novice Mode instead of a regular game. Novice gives you unlimited balls for two full minutes, after which your next drain ends the game.

  Reward: Two minutes of unlimited balls

• Bonus And Collect Bonus strategy · Easy

  Your base bonus is a flat million for every ramp shot plus every Mode Start Lane shot you made, multiplied by the 0-0-7 multiplier. The Collect Bonus lane above the right inlane cashes it mid-ball, which is worth knowing when you are sitting on a big multiplier.

  Reward: 1M per ramp and lane shot, multiplied