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Spider-Man

Stern, 2007 — shot-by-shot rules and strategy guide.

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Spider-Man is one of Steve Ritchie's fastest layouts and one of the most welcoming rulesets Stern has shipped. A beginner can flail at it and still start battles; an expert can stack four things at once. The structure is unusually clean — four villains, three levels each, a reward at the end of every wave. Learn which shot feeds which villain and you get to choose what your game looks like.

Two skill shots, and one of them matters more

The standard skill shot is a full plunge into the flashing WEB lane. It pays 250k rising by 25k, doubles the pop bumpers for the ball, and — the part people miss — adds five to your bonus multiplier. The super skill shot is a soft plunge that dies on the upper right flipper, followed by the side ramp: 500k rising by 50k, plus 100k on the Venom Value and progress toward a Venom battle. On ball three the standard skill shot doubles your end-of-ball bonus and the super triples it, once each per game. The save after a super skill shot is very short.

The three waves

Four villains, each with three battles. Beating all four once lights the extra ball at the left orbit; twice lights both orbits for Battle Royale; three times lights the Light Lock target for a Special. That ladder is the spine of the game.

White arrows and shot multipliers

Six major shots carry white spider arrows: both orbits, all three ramps and Doc Ock. Sweep the set and every arrow starts strobing — the very next shot you make gets a 2x multiplier for the rest of the ball. This is a decision, not an accident, so pick deliberately. Putting it on the side ramp is enormous, because the third Venom battle is eight side ramp shots and the biggest Black Suit Supers are there too. Completing the arrows also lights both orbits to start one of five forty-second timed modes, and finishing that mode upgrades your multiplied shot from 2x to 3x.

Black Suit Multiball

Hit the Light Lock target until the locks light at the orbits, then shoot a green-lit orbit three times. Two jackpots sit at each major shot, twelve in total. The jackpot value starts at 250k on ball one and grows 500 points per pop bumper hit across the whole game, not per ball, which is why feeding the pops is never wasted time here. Clear all twelve and Super Jackpot pairs light: two at the left ramp at four times value, two at the side ramp at eight. Anything you start before or alongside your third lock comes into the multiball with you.

Spider Sense is your add-a-ball

Completing the three Spider Sense standups arms the lane behind them with an award tied to whatever you have running — mode time, added value, or an add-a-ball during multiball. Awards stack and stay lit until collected or until the ball ends, and one trip through the lane takes everything. The detail that matters is ordering: awards are assigned to your active modes oldest first, so if you started Green Goblin and then a Doc Ock multiball, the first completion arms a Green Goblin award and you need a second completion before the add-a-ball appears. The lane sits behind the upper right flipper and only opens with that flipper raised.

Venom Value, and why the spinner matters

Two of the three Venom battles pay a running number called the Venom Value on every shot. It starts at 250k, caps at 750k, and holds from ball to ball. Every spinner rotation adds 1,250, every super skill shot 100k, every completed Venom battle 25k. A plain side ramp shot collects it any time. Building it early turns the eight-shot third battle from a chore into a scoring round — especially with a 3x multiplier on that ramp.

Battle Royale

The reward for the second wave, and the best scoring in the game. Every shot is lit at 250k, the four villain shots pay 750k the first time each, and everything you collect is added into a Royale Jackpot waiting at the right ramp. Completing every red spider shot adds another 1,500,000. Round one pays at least 3,250,000, and cashing it advances the round and adds a ball for the first two. Grind the left orbit to pad the jackpot first. From round three Venom must be shot via the side ramp. One last kindness: when Battle Royale is ready both outlanes flash, and a drain is replunged as a Last Chance.

How Spider-Man plays

Spider-Man is a stacking-heavy Stern built around four villains -- Sandman, Doc Ock, Green Goblin and Venom -- each fought three times. Clear them wave by wave -- the first sweep hands you an extra ball, the second opens Battle Royale, the third lights a Special -- while running as many battles and multiballs together as you can hold.

The loop

  1. Learn which shot wakes which villain: the three-bank drops for Sandman, the saucer lowers Doc Ock, the standup wall starts Green Goblin, and the side ramp off the upper right flipper drives Venom.
  2. Sweep the six white spider arrows to arm a shot multiplier and to light one of five timed modes at the orbits.
  3. Down the whole roster once for the extra ball, a second full pass to unlock Battle Royale, a third for the Special.
  4. Qualify locks at the Light Lock target and start Black Suit Multiball, stacking it with a Doc Ock multiball and any running battle.
  5. Work the spinner and the pops in the background -- one builds the Venom Value, the other grows the Black Suit jackpot across the whole game.

Reading the lights

  • The Villain Waves (ladder) — lit: Each villain arms at a shot of its own: Sandman when you drop the three-bank, Doc Ock through his saucer, Green Goblin once the five standups fall, and Venom by way of the side ramp. Whichever is lit stays a live battle until you finish its current level, and a villain already put down stays down as you climb the three waves. · then: Put all four villains down once and an extra ball lights at the left orbit; a second full sweep opens Battle Royale across both orbits; a third arms the Special back at that lone Light Lock standup. Battles stack freely, so keep a few going at once.
  • The White Arrows (shot arrows) — lit: A white spider arrow rides on each of the six major shots -- both orbits, every ramp, and the Doc Ock saucer. A lit arrow is one still owed, and once the last one goes on the whole set strobes as your cue. · flashing: Once they strobe, the next shot you take, whatever it is, gets doubled for the rest of that ball -- so steer it onto the side ramp or right ramp rather than wherever the ball happens to land. · then: Completing the set also lights the orbits for a timed mode -- one of five that each run about forty seconds -- and finishing that mode bumps your multiplied shot from double to triple. Starting all five of them counts toward the game's final challenge.
  • Venom & the Side Ramp (mode) — lit: Venom lives entirely on the side ramp, which is only makeable off the upper right flipper -- so owning that little flipper is the whole battle. One ramp shot begins the timed opening fight; each of the two that follow needs four side-ramp hits just to qualify, and a plain side ramp always banks the current Venom Value. · then: Build the Venom Value early -- the spinner adds a little on every rip and a super skill shot adds a lot -- because two of the battles pay that value on every shot, so a fat value makes the later fights worth many times as much. This is the shot to spend a multiplier on.
  • Doc Ock Multiballs (mode) — lit: Doc Ock is the one villain whose battles are multiballs. Saucer shots count the figure down until he lowers into play, and a magnet planted in front of him snatches the ball and, some rounds, hurls it straight back at him for a free jackpot. · then: Collect jackpots at the saucer until five light a Super, and make the saucer your super-jackpot target every round -- the third Doc Ock round is the richest feature the game has. It also stacks cleanly with Black Suit Multiball, started in whichever order you like.
  • Black Suit Multiball (mode) — lit: Pound the lone Light Lock standup to qualify the locks, watch both orbits go green, then lock three balls there -- the third one launches multiball straightaway. A pair of jackpots waits at every major shot. · then: Feed the pop bumpers whenever you can beforehand, because the jackpot base climbs a little on every pop hit and never resets, so it grows all game. Clear all twelve and two Super pairs arm -- one at the left ramp worth quadruple, one at the side ramp worth eightfold -- and beating those relights the ordinary jackpots.
  • W-E-B & H-E-R-O (letters) — lit: Two letter sets both feed your end-of-ball bonus multiplier: W-E-B across the three top rollovers, and H-E-R-O across the inlanes and outlanes, which you spell just by playing. A lit letter is one still owed. · flashing: The flashing top lane is the standard skill shot -- a full plunge into it pays, jumps your bonus multiplier by five, and keeps the pop bumpers paying double until the ball drains. · then: Complete either word to step the multiplier, but the skill shot dwarfs both in a single plunge -- and landing it on your third ball doubles the entire end-of-ball bonus, once a game.
  • Spider Sense (status) — lit: Complete the trio of Spider Sense standups and the lane tucked behind them lights an award, its nature set by whichever mode, villain or multiball you have going -- extra mode time, added value, or an add-a-ball. The awards pile up and hold their light until you either cash them or lose the ball. · then: Collect them all in one pass through the Spider Sense lane, which opens only with the upper right flipper held up. In a multiball you can push through to an add-a-ball by completing the targets a second time, and stacking two multiballs can hand you an add-a-ball from each.

Lane change: not verified for this machine yet.

Start scoring

  • Ball one — Dial in the plunge. Sent hard into the flashing WEB rollover it pays and lifts your bonus multiplier by five; feathered soft, it dies on the upper right flipper, the platform every super skill shot launches from. Then chip the villains down one by one -- the first full sweep lights your extra ball at the left orbit. — W-E-B Skill Shot, Super Skill Shot, The Three Waves
  • Building — Stack everything. Sweep the white arrows for a shot multiplier and a timed mode, get a Doc Ock multiball going so the scary targets stop mattering, and qualify Black Suit Multiball with a battle already running so it comes along for the ride. — The White Arrows, Doc Ock Multiballs, Black Suit Multiball, Stack Everything
  • The big one — Beat all four villains twice to light Battle Royale, the best mode on the machine -- every shot is lit, the four villains pay a premium, and it all piles into a Royale Jackpot you cash at the right ramp. Beat them a third time for the Special; and if both outlanes flash, a Last Chance replunges you rather than let you drain on the doorstep. — Battle Royale, Extra Ball And Special, Last Chance

Does Spider-Man have an action button?

Stern built this one years before it started bolting a button onto the lockdown bar, so the flippers are all you press. Your other control is the shooter rod, and it is worth dialling in: a full plunge into the flashing WEB lane pays and hands you five bonus multipliers, a soft one sets up the super skill shot off the upper right flipper. An auto-plunger takes over when the game needs to feed the ball itself.

Goals in Spider-Man

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

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