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.

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. It opens with two skill shots in a row — the first is worth taking because it awards the doubled-jackpots Race Strategy if you have not had it yet — then a three-ball round where every rotation of the cars is 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

  The right loop lights for Stop Watch when you shoot it, or from the left ramp when the loop is not lit for something else. Shoot it once to start a timer counting up and once more to stop it — and hit nothing else in between, or the round dies and has to be relit.

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

• Stop Watch Champion secret · Hard

  The machine keeps a shortest-stop-watch table alongside the high scores, and beating it wins a free game. The odd part is that the game stops there and then to take your initials rather than waiting for the end of your ball.

  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