Mario Andretti

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

Open Mario Andretti in the Pinball Genie app →

Mario Andretti is a narrow-body racing game with one objective buried under a lot of noise: win three races in first place and you reach the World Championship. Everything else either drives your car around the track or makes the finishing awards bigger. Play it as a race and it makes sense.

The plunge is a real decision

Your plunged ball strikes a captive ball, which climbs a path over three switches into a standup at the top. Whichever switch it last touched decides your award, so plunge strength is everything. Soft gives Jackpot, medium gives Lock Ball and starts regular multiball, hard gives Race Strategy, and full force sends it into the standup for a token score and a gallon of fuel. Once you take an award it is off the menu until you have collected the others.

Laps, fuel and finishing position

Seventeen numbered car lights form the circuit. Lit yellow shots move your car, and so do the spinning cars, the slingshots and the pop bumpers — the cars spin faster as your lap progresses, which is your speedometer. The first race is one lap; every race after is two.

• You start with five gallons and burn one per lap. Empty means your car stops moving no matter what you shoot.
• The right hole is the pit lane. Shoot it when Pit In is lit for three gallons.
• Fuel is money — the game pays ten million a gallon at the end, so never finish with a dry tank.
• Track Awards, Mystery, the Pass/Yield Round and a three-to-four-second Stop Watch all hand out fuel too.

You start every race in first place and the playfield spends the lap trying to take it off you. Green shots pass a car; red shots are a Yield and drop you a position. While you are leading, a green shot instead adds five million to the pass bonus, which is what the end-of-ball bonus pays. Finishing first is fifty million and lights the extra ball standup; second is thirty, third is ten, fourth or worse is nothing. Only a win counts as a Victory Circle.

Checkered Flag: pick a lane

Every finished race offers two awards, one on each flipper button, and the two sides advance independently. Turn one down and it comes back next time. The left side runs Redline Round, Race Strategy, Super Jackpot, Spin Cars Round; the right side runs Multiball, Pass/Yield Round, five jackpots, Multiball. When a side reads Complete you have taken everything on it, and choosing it gives you the other side's award instead.

The Spin Cars Round is the one to steer toward. Two opening skill shots — the first awards Race Strategy, and doubled jackpots for the rest of the ball if you have not had it — then a three-ball round where every rotation of the cars is a jackpot. Feed either mouth of the hairpin and let the ball rattle. The Redline Round is the opposite: five worthless Tach hits buy fifty million a hit afterward, but the moment the Tach lights for fifty, the up post and both outlane saves switch off.

Build before you cash

Jackpots start at thirty million and super jackpots at two hundred, and both are worth raising first. A hairpin shot sets the Tach flashing; hit the Tach before it stops and the jackpot climbs five million. The super jackpot climbs a hundred million from a fast Stop Watch, and from certain Track Awards.

The Stop Watch is a two-shot puzzle. Light it at the left ramp, shoot the right loop to start a timer counting up, then shoot the loop again to stop it — touch nothing else in between or the round dies. The loop returns to the left inlane, so trap and fire immediately. Under three seconds pays the super jackpot advance; three to four gives three gallons; four to seven gives one. Beat the machine's record and it stops the game there and then to take your initials, and awards a free one.

Multiball carries over

Regular multiball walks a ladder: both sides of the hairpin and the right loop for ten million each, then those three relight at twenty with the Tach added, then the right hole joins for the jackpot tier, then the left ramp for a Super Jackpot. Where you stopped carries into your next multiball. The exception is the Super Jackpot — collect one and the next multiball starts you back at the bottom.

The ball saves are a see-saw

This is the detail that catches everyone. The left slingshot arms the right outlane diverter and disarms the left kickback; the right slingshot does exactly the reverse. You are almost never covered on both sides at once, and the ball keeps flipping which side is safe. Everything is enabled for a long spell at the start of each ball, and a right loop briefly raises the up post after that. There is also guaranteed ball time — a third ball that ends too quickly is handed back.

The championship

Three Victory Circles opens the World Championship: two skill shots at the top rollover, then a three-ball round where every major shot advances cars and every completed lap pays a Super Jackpot. This is why the Stop Watch grind matters — arrive with the super jackpot built up and each lap is worth several times more.

How Mario Andretti plays

Mario Andretti is a Gottlieb racing table where nearly every shot drives your car around a seventeen-light circuit. Win races outright to bank Victory Circles, and stack three of them to reach the World Championship.

The loop

1. Advance your car around each lap with lit yellow shots, the spinning rod cars, the slingshots and the jets; those rod cars whirl faster the better your lap is running.
2. Hold your lead by taking green shots and leaving red Yields alone, because only a first-place finish banks a Victory Circle.
3. Keep fuel in the tank at the right pit hole and from awards -- run dry and the car stops dead, while every leftover gallon pays ten million at the end.
4. Finish a race and pick one Checkered Flag award off a flipper button to open rounds, multiballs and Race Strategy.
5. Collect three Victory Circles to start the World Championship, where every completed lap pays a super jackpot.

Reading the lights

• The Pit Hole (status) — lit: The right pit hole lights each lap for a Track Award, and it also collects Victory Circle, Pit Stop refuels and Pass/Yield cash-outs depending on what is running. · then: Read the numbered car light you are parked on, then take the pit before the lap turns over, since Track Awards never stack. It is your only shot for fuel and the spot a first-place finish pays its Victory Circle.
• Left Ramp Award Hub (shot arrows) — lit: The left ramp is the award hub: it shows Race Strategy for a spell following each lap you ran without ending a race, holds Mystery when that toggles on, and lights the Stop Watch at the loop when the loop is free. · then: Ramp it on Race Strategy for a scoring boost that lasts the ball, or on Mystery for anything up to five hundred million. Race Strategy outranks Mystery, so a lit Strategy hides the Mystery award entirely.
• Stop Watch Loop (status) — lit: Lit for Stop Watch, the right loop starts a clock counting up on your first shot and halts it on the next; touch anything in between and the attempt dies. · then: The loop returns to the left inlane, feeding you straight back for the stop shot, so trap and fire fast -- a sub-three-second stop drops a hundred million onto the super jackpot, a three-to-four buys three gallons of fuel, and the quickest time on the machine earns a free game.
• Tach Targets (status) — lit: A hairpin shot sets the Tach flashing; the Tach is a throwaway in normal play yet the entire objective of the Redline Round. · flashing: While it flashes after a hairpin, a Tach hit adds five million to the jackpot -- a combo you can repeat all game. · then: Chain hairpin-into-Tach to pump the jackpot, or open Redline Round for two balls where every Tach past the opening five is worth fifty million. Know the trap: once Redline's Tach lights for fifty, the post and both outlane saves switch off.
• Hairpin & Spinning Cars (status) — lit: The horseshoe in the middle sweeps the rod cars, and either mouth sends the ball out the far side; the cars whirl faster as your lap heats up. · then: Feed either side to drive laps and, during the Spin Cars Round, cash a jackpot on every rotation -- even the prongs under each car count, so a ball rattling the horseshoe racks up spins by itself. This is the richest round the machine offers.
• Pass & Yield Standups (status) — lit: The two upper standups swing between friend and foe: green for a Pass that gains a place or a lit extra ball, red for a Yield or a position lost. · then: Take green to hold the lead and, once you are already first, bank five million per green onto the pass bonus; leave red alone. In the Pass/Yield Round every lit shot opens green and climbs a ladder up to a hundred million, the extra ball and the Spin Cars Round.
• Skill Rollovers & Lock (status) — lit: The captive ball's path over three switches sets your skill award, and the top rollover reopens as a skill shot at the front of multiballs and championship rounds. · then: Plunge for a lock to open regular multiball with a third ball, then climb its jackpot ladder from ten to twenty million and on to a Super Jackpot at the left ramp. Where you stop on the ladder carries into your next multiball, unless you collect that Super Jackpot, which resets it.
• Turbo Standups (status) — lit: The yellow standups above the left slingshot arm Turbo on the first hit and pay it on the second. · flashing: A flashing Turbo target is live; land the second hit before it dies to score, and each completed pair raises the next award. · then: Hit one to start it flashing, then hit it again quickly for five million, climbing another five million every time you repeat the pair.

Lane change: not verified for this machine yet.

Start scoring

• Ball one — Set your skill shot by pull strength alone -- ease it for a jackpot, a medium hit to lock a ball, a hard one for Race Strategy -- and start driving laps. Learn the outlane see-saw early: the left slingshot arms the right diverter and drops the left kickback, the right slingshot does the reverse, so you are rarely covered on both sides. — Captive Ball Skill Shot, Run The Race, The Slingshot Ball Saves
• Building — Win races to stack Victory Circles while feeding the jackpots: pump the jackpot five million at a time with hairpin-into-Tach combos and a hundred million per fast Stop Watch. Open rounds off the Checkered Flag and keep the tank full so the car never stalls. — Pass And Yield, Build The Jackpot, The Stop Watch, Checkered Flag Awards
• The big one — Three first-place finishes light the World Championship, a three-ball race that opens with two skill shots and pays a super jackpot for every lap you complete. Bank fast Stop Watches beforehand so each championship lap pays far more. — World Championship

Does Mario Andretti have an action button?

No extra button on the cabinet — a manual plunger and two flippers is everything. What this game does instead is hand the choice to your flipper buttons: finish a race and an award sits on each side, and you take one with a tap. Left and right advance separately, so it is a real decision every time.

Goals in Mario Andretti

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

• Captive Ball Skill Shot skillshot · Medium

  Your plunge drives a captive ball up a short path over three switches. The award is set by the last switch it touched, so plunge strength is the whole game: soft for Jackpot, medium for a ball lock, hard for Race Strategy, and full force sends it into the standup for a token award plus a gallon of fuel.

  Reward: Jackpot, Lock Ball, Race Strategy or a gallon of fuel

• Run The Race progression · Medium

  Seventeen car lights make up the circuit and everything you do drives your car around it. The first race is one lap and every race after is two. Finish enough races and you are pointed at the World Championship, which is the reason to play this machine at all.

  Reward: 50M for a win, 30M for second, 10M for third

• Pass And Yield strategy · Medium

  You start every race in first place and the playfield is trying to take it off you. Green shots pass a car and move you up; red shots are a Yield and drop you a position. Once you are already leading, a green shot instead adds five million to the pass bonus.

  Reward: +5M pass bonus per green shot while leading

• Fuel And Pit Stops progression · Easy

  You start with five gallons and burn one every lap. Empty means your car will not move, whatever you shoot. Fuel is also worth real money — the game pays ten million a gallon at the end, so there is a genuine reason not to run the tank dry.

  Reward: 10M per gallon at the end of the game

• Checkered Flag Awards mode · Medium

  Every finished race offers you a choice of two awards, one on each flipper button, and the two sides advance separately. Turn one down and it will be offered again next time, so this is a real decision rather than a formality.

  Reward: Your pick of one round or award per race

• Redline Round multiball · Hard

  A two-ball round that opens with a skill shot at the top rollover, then asks you to hit the Tach five times for nothing much before every further Tach is worth fifty million. Know the trap: the moment the Tach lights for fifty, the up post and both outlane saves all switch off.

  Reward: 50M per Tach hit once lit

• Multiball multiball · Medium

  Regular multiball starts from a skill shot, a Checkered Flag choice, a random award, or automatically on ball three if you have not played it yet. It begins with a skill shot for a third ball, then walks you up a jackpot ladder that gets richer as you clear each tier.

  Reward: 10M shots rising to 20M, then jackpots, then a Super Jackpot

• Carry Your Progress strategy · Medium

  Where you stopped in the multiball ladder carries into your next multiball, so a short round is not wasted work. The one exception is a Super Jackpot — collect one and the next multiball restarts you at the bottom of the ladder.

  Reward: Skip straight to the tier you reached

• Pass/Yield Round mode · Medium

  A single-ball round where every lit shot starts out green. Each green shot you make bumps the award up one step and flips that shot to red. Cash out at the right hole whenever you like — hit a red shot and the round ends, though you still have a window to collect.

  Reward: A ladder from a gallon of fuel up to 100M, an extra ball and the Spin Cars Round

• Spin Cars Round multiball · Hard

  The most lucrative round on the machine. Two skill shots come back to back before the round proper begins — take the first one, because Race Strategy and its doubled jackpots ride on it if that award is still outstanding — and then it is three balls, with every rotation of the cars paying a jackpot.

  Reward: A jackpot every time the cars spin

• Race Strategy multiplier · Medium

  Lit at the left ramp for a while after any lap that did not finish a race. It hands you a scoring boost that lasts the rest of the ball — usually ten million on a whole class of shot, thirty million on pit stops, or a doubling of the jackpot or super jackpot.

  Reward: 10M-30M per shot for the rest of the ball, or doubled jackpots

• The Stop Watch mode · Hard

  Shooting the right loop is one way to put Stop Watch on it; the left ramp is the other, and that works whenever the loop is not already lit for something else. Your first loop shot starts a clock counting upward and the next one halts it — touch anything else in between and the round dies, leaving you to relight it.

  Reward: +100M super jackpot under three seconds, fuel up to seven

• Stop Watch Champion secret · Hard

  A shortest-stop-watch table sits next to the high scores here, and beating the record buys you a free game. Stranger still, the machine breaks off on the spot to collect your initials instead of holding the entry back until your ball is over.

  Reward: Free game and an initials entry

• Track Award mode · Medium

  At the start of every lap the right hole lights for a Track Award, and the number next to your car light on the track decides what you get. They do not stack — one per lap, and it has to be collected before the next lap begins.

  Reward: Fuel, 30M-50M, jackpots, extra ball or super jackpot advances

• Mystery Award secret · Medium

  Mystery flicks on and off at the left ramp as you hit slingshots, bumpers and the Tach — so it is genuinely random whether the light is there when you get a shot. The prize table runs from a gallon of fuel to five hundred million.

  Reward: Fuel, jackpots, multiball, Race Strategy, or 500M

• Build The Jackpot strategy · Hard

  Jackpots start at thirty million and super jackpots at two hundred, and both are worth raising before you cash them. The jackpot climbs five million at a time from a hairpin shot followed by a Tach hit while it is still flashing; the super jackpot climbs a hundred million from a fast Stop Watch.

  Reward: +5M jackpot per combo, +100M super jackpot per fast Stop Watch

• Turbo combo · Medium

  A two-part shot on the yellow standups above the left slingshot. The first hit sets Turbo flashing; a second hit before it times out pays five million, and the award climbs by five million each time you do it again.

  Reward: 5M, then 10M, 15M, 20M and up

• The Slingshot Ball Saves strategy · Medium

  This machine's outlane saves are a see-saw and most players never notice. The left slingshot arms the right outlane diverter and disarms the left kickback; the right slingshot does exactly the reverse. You are almost never protected on both sides at once.

  Reward: Knowing which side is safe

• World Championship wizard · Hard

  Win three races outright — three Victory Circles — and you reach the championship. It opens with two skill shots at the top rollover, then a three-ball round where every major shot pushes your car around the track and every completed lap pays a super jackpot.

  Reward: A super jackpot per lap