Popeye Saves the Earth

Bally, 1994 — shot-by-shot rules and strategy guide.

Open Popeye Saves the Earth in the Pinball Genie app →

Popeye Saves the Earth is a cluttered widebody with short flippers, a wide centre drain, and several shots you cannot see clearly from where you stand. But there is a clean route through it, and knowing that route is the difference between a two-minute ball and a real game.

Two playfields

Downstairs: P-O-P standups left and E-Y-E right, a Round House loop each side, a left ramp, an Animal sinkhole, Bluto's head in the middle with a jab target either side and the Lockjaw hole as his mouth, pop bumpers behind him, the O-Y-L rollovers above those, a Fight Bluto sinkhole, and the Escalator. SEA and HAG targets sit on opposite sides.

Upstairs splits in two: the Animals section, fed by the Animal sinkhole, and Kneedeep, a mini-playfield reachable only via the Escalator, holding the Swea' Pea gates, the Super Animal exit and the 2X Wheel. A rotating skill wheel on the right takes the plunge and empties into the right inlane.

Start at the wheel

The plunge lands on a disc carrying eight awards in fixed order: 100K, 10M, Light Lock, Spinach Can, OYL, Spot Animal, 2M and Spot Item. Light Lock is the one to want. Take it, shoot Lockjaw, and Bluto Multiball can be three shots from the start of a ball — the shortest route to points here. Many of these machines have a weak plunger and a stopper on the launch rail that bounces the ball back, so the shot is not always controllable.

Loops and the ramp

The Round House loops are the biggest repeatable score downstairs. A lit loop pays 2M and each consecutive lit loop doubles it — 2M, 4M, 8M, 16M, 32M. Consecutive is literal: hit any other switch in between and you are back to 2M. Only one inlane is lit for Light Loop at a time, and the lit side swaps every time you press a flipper, so check before you commit. Right inlane lights the left loop and vice versa.

The left ramp is the quiet workhorse. Its counter pays out every fourth shot — four lights a Spinach Can, eight lights the extra ball, twelve another Can, sixteen spots an animal. It also feeds the right inlane, which lights the left loop. When nothing better is lit, shoot the ramp.

About that extra ball: it lights in the left outlane, and the only way to collect it is to drain there. Once the light is on, stop nudging away from the left side.

Spinach Cans

Five shots carry a Spinach Can — the left ramp, both loops, the Animal sinkhole and the Fight Bluto sinkhole. A lit Can doubles the entire value of that shot, jackpots included, and stays lit for the rest of the ball or until you use it. Spelling POPEYE lights one, as do the ramp counter, the Escalator and the wheel. The first is always the left ramp — convenient, because a Can there doubles a jackpot.

Multiballs

• Bluto Multiball — hit both jab targets to light Lockjaw, lock three. Jackpots are 30M times the jackpot number, collected on the left ramp and relit at Lockjaw, capped at 180M even doubled. Drain to one ball with nothing collected and you get about twenty seconds to restart at Lockjaw.
• Sea Hag Multiball — collect four Items from the left ramp lit by the SEA and HAG targets, then the Animal sinkhole starts a four-ball instant multiball. Return each item at a different shot: a POPEYE target, an OYL rollover, a Swea' Pea gate and the 2X Wheel.
• Mutant Spinach Multiball — five balls, after four Fight Bluto wins in one game.

Upstairs, and what to skip

On the Animals section, use the left flipper kicker to push the ball out of the left lane into the animal lane. Each animal is 5M and opens a short window to save it with a loop — and it drops you into the left inlane, which lights the right loop for exactly that save. Save all five and a hurry-up around 50M starts at the left ramp.

On Kneedeep, hit the two standups to light Super Animal, then take either Super Animal (a double-value animal) or the 2X Wheel exit, which collects the extra ball when lit and doubles whatever the wheel lands on next. Hunting Swea' Pea behind the three gates is only worth it if you are chasing the wizard mode — narrow gaps, heavy rubber, and almost no feedback when you find him.

Fights, and the end of the game

Completing O-Y-L adds a bonus multiplier and lights the Fight Bluto sinkhole. The four rounds have no clock — you win or he does. Earth Pavers is a wall race to fifteen blocks and every pop bumper hit smashes one, so feed the bumpers. Never Green Logging is a race to six trees, Blutonium Waste a race over six barrels and the toughest of the four, and Spill Oil Co. a tug of war. Lit loops count towards winning, and the timer runs on while the ball is out of play.

Rescue Olive is the wizard mode, and the checklist is brutal: Sea Hag Multiball, all five animals, Bluto Multiball, Swea' Pea and all four fights, in one game. Only then does the six-ball round start — and you still have to light all five Spinach Cans and shoot Lockjaw for the Super Jackpot.

Goals in Popeye Saves the Earth

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

• The Skill Shot Wheel skillshot · Medium

  The plunge drops the ball onto a rotating disc carrying eight awards: 100K, 10M, Light Lock, Spinach Can, OYL, Spot Animal, 2M and Spot Item. With a healthy plunger this is a learnable shot, and Light Lock is the one that shortens the whole game.

  Reward: One of eight awards, up to 10M

• Round House Loops combo · Hard

  The best repeatable score on the lower playfield. A lit loop pays 2M, and each consecutive lit loop doubles that — 2M, 4M, 8M, 16M and at least 32M. Consecutive means exactly that: touch any other switch in between and the value drops back to 2M.

  Reward: 2M doubling per consecutive loop

• Spell P-O-P-E-Y-E progression · Easy

  Three standups on each side. Completing either half pays 2M, or 3M if you got them in order. Completing the whole name lights one of the five Spinach Cans, which is where the real value lies.

  Reward: 2M or 3M per half, and a lit Spinach Can

• The Five Spinach Cans multiplier · Medium

  Five shots on the playfield carry a Spinach Can: the left ramp, both Round House loops, the Animal sinkhole and the Fight Bluto sinkhole. A lit Can doubles the entire value of that shot, including a jackpot, and stays lit for the rest of the ball or until you use it.

  Reward: Double value on the lit shot

• O-Y-L And The Bonus Multiplier multiplier · Easy

  Three rollovers above the bumpers. Spelling OYL adds one to the bonus multiplier and lights Fight Bluto, and the lit lanes rotate on every flipper press, so most completions cost nothing.

  Reward: +1 bonus multiplier, lights Fight Bluto

• The Left Ramp Counter progression · Medium

  Every left ramp shot is counted all game and an award lands every fourth one. Four ramps lights a Spinach Can, eight lights the extra ball, twelve another Can, sixteen spots an animal, twenty another Can. Roughly every other award is a Can, which makes the ramp the most productive repeat shot here.

  Reward: An award every four ramps

• The Outlane Extra Ball secret · Medium

  One of the strangest rules in pinball. Eight left ramp shots light the extra ball — in the left outlane. The only way to collect it is to drain there. Once you know it is coming, treat the left outlane as a kickback rather than a disaster.

  Reward: An extra ball, collected by draining

• Save The Animals mode · Hard

  Get the ball to the Animals section and use the left flipper kicker to push it out of the left lane into the animal lane. Each animal you collect is worth 5M and starts a short window to save it with a loop shot. Save all five and a hurry-up starts around 50M.

  Reward: 5M per animal, roughly 50M for all five

• What To Do On Kneedeep strategy · Medium

  The mini-playfield has three exits and only two of them are worth your time. Hit the two standups to light Super Animal, then take either Super Animal for a double-value animal or the 2X Wheel for an extra ball and a doubled wheel award.

  Reward: Double animal value, or a doubled wheel award

• Choose Your Escalator Award mode · Medium

  A lit Escalator lets you scroll through awards with the flippers before it lifts you upstairs. There is a time limit and whatever is showing when it expires is what you get, so decide early rather than cycling the list.

  Reward: One chosen award

• Bluto Multiball multiball · Medium

  Lock three balls in Lockjaw. Jackpots are worth 30M multiplied by the jackpot number, collected at the left ramp and relit at Lockjaw. A Spinach Can on the ramp doubles the value, though nothing exceeds 180M.

  Reward: 30M x jackpot number, up to 180M

• Sea Hag Multiball multiball · Hard

  Collect four Items — a can opener, a baby bottle, ketchup and a flower — then the Animal sinkhole lights for an instant four-ball multiball. During it you return each item to its owner at a different shot for a large payoff.

  Reward: Around 50M for returning all four items

• The Fight Bluto Cartel mode · Medium

  Four head-to-head rounds started at the Fight Bluto sinkhole once OYL lights it. There is no clock — either you beat him or he beats you — and the four differ only in animation and what the tug of war is over.

  Reward: Progress towards the five-ball multiball

• Find Swea' Pea secret · Hard

  From Kneedeep, shoot the three gates to search behind three doors. The map on the display marks where he is hiding and the doors correspond to the gates. It is genuinely hard, and the game barely acknowledges it when you succeed.

  Reward: A large award, and a wizard mode requirement

• Stampede mode · Hard

  The Geomap above the flippers holds the same five animals as the upper playfield. Spot all five there — the skill wheel and Escalator both do it — and Stampede starts, a frenzy round where every switch on the machine is worth 100K.

  Reward: 100K per switch

• Mutant Spinach Multiball multiball · Hard

  Beat all four Fight Bluto rounds and a five-ball multiball follows. It is rarely seen because getting four wins in one game against a mode with no timer and short flippers is a long afternoon's work.

  Reward: A five-ball multiball

• Rescue Olive wizard · Hard

  The end of the game and a genuinely brutal checklist. Complete Sea Hag Multiball, all five animals, Bluto Multiball, Find Swea' Pea and the four Fight Bluto rounds. Only then does a six-ball multiball start — and you still have to collect all five Spinach Cans and shoot Lockjaw for the Super Jackpot.

  Reward: Super Jackpot

• Your Route Through The Game progression · Easy

  This is a cluttered widebody with short flippers and a wide centre drain, so the games that score are the ones with a short route. Multiball is three shots away if the wheel cooperates, and the left ramp quietly does everything else.

  Reward: A repeatable route through the game