Super Mario Bros.

Gottlieb, 1992 — shot-by-shot rules and strategy guide.

Open Super Mario Bros. in the Pinball Genie app →

Gottlieb's Super Mario Bros. is a busier machine than it first looks. Count what you are working with: three flippers, the extra one perched on a platform above the main playfield; four sinkholes; two ramps; a loop that returns the ball to the bumpers; and a revolving blue castle in the top right corner. The stated goal is to rescue the princess by destroying seven castles, and the game does something almost no other machine does: destroyed castles carry over between games, so a well-played machine may only need one more.

Becoming Super Mario

Every serious decision on this playfield routes through one question: are you Super? Advance S-U-P-E-R at the right ramp while it is lit, or at the left and right holes while they flash. Then hit the left ramp standup target while it is flashing fast — a slow flash on that target is worth 5M, a fast flash turns you Super.

Being Super changes four things at once. Round awards double, and that includes extra balls. The right ramp goes from 100K to 500K. Multiball becomes three balls instead of two. And the castle flashes for destruction, which is the only way to knock one down. Protect the state — once the kick save on the left outlane has been used, draining down that lane knocks you back to ordinary Mario.

Shells, then the key

Rounds are the mode structure, and every one costs the same two things. Light three turtle shells by hitting spot targets or ramps that have shells lit, then collect the key by dropping the ball into one of the three holes with the key lamp lit. The bumpers and slingshots toggle which shots carry shells, so outside a round you actively want the ball rattling around the middle rather than trapped up.

Once you have the key the machine offers two rounds at random and gives you about two seconds to pick with the flippers. Hesitate and it takes the left flipper option for you. Six rounds exist:

• Bomb — light the fuse at the flashing left ramp target, then any hole pays 30M, and the upper playfield hole stays lit at 20M for the rest of the ball. That residue is the real prize.
• Yoshi's Countdown — a single shot to the Yoshi target, opening at 24M and falling. The countdown freezes during multiball.
• Luigi's Cave Count-Up — the mirror image, climbing to a 48M ceiling before you collect from the cave targets.
• Castle Extra Ball — one shot into the castle for an extra ball, or two if you are Super when it starts.
• Exclamation — the best scoring round on the machine, walking up 1M, 2M, 3M, 5M and 10M as you keep hitting the marked targets.
• Mega Bumper — every pop bumper is worth a million, so stop aiming and keep the ball alive in the middle.

Multiball

Light 1-2-3-4 in order and then drop into the left hole. The sequence runs left ramp, then the Yoshi target up on the platform, then the right loop that dumps the ball out among the bumpers, and finally the right ramp taken from the upper flipper. Plan two and four together — if you get up to the platform for the Yoshi target, the right ramp is right there.

Two balls normally, three if you are Super. The objective is simply to get balls into the castle, and each one is a jackpot: 5M, then 10M, then 20M, then 40M.

The parts people miss

Quick Shot is the cheapest extra ball on the machine and almost nobody chases it. Roll the right inlane and the left ramp starts flashing; hitting it collects from a ladder of 1M, 2M, 5M, 7M, an extra ball, then 10M.

Yoshi bonus is a slow burn worth knowing about. Every Yoshi target hit adds 500K to a total that is paid when you drain and carries into your next ball rather than resetting. Two hits in a row outside a round lights the target for three million on the next one, and a Yoshi hit also briefly flashes the feather target for 5M.

Bonus Chance is a three-reel gamble at the left hole, lit by the cave targets outside a round. Most results are small — 200K for nothing, a million or two for cherries or mushrooms, 5M for any three of a kind. Three sevens pays two hundred million. The mystery award at the right hole, lit by the rollover under the right plastic ramp, can hand you three bonus chances at once, along with extra shells, extra balls or an instant Super Mario.

Video mode, and the trick inside it

Four bullet lamps sit in front of the castle and each roll of the left inlane lights one. Fill them and the next castle shot drops you into a side-scrolling run where the right flipper jumps and the left flipper sprints. Finish it and you get 10M — but pin the left flipper down for the whole run: at a sprint rather than a walk, Mario is worth 30M at the finish line.

The same trick has a second life. Once your final castle has fallen and that ball drains, a brief cut-scene sends Mario at the castle; time a jump during it and the payout is 30M rather than 10M again. Finish all six rounds in one game, meanwhile, and the castle flashes for special — briefly, so be ready for it.

How Super Mario Bros. plays

Super Mario Bros. is round-based: light three turtle shells and grab a key to play a round of your choosing, and spell S-U-P-E-R to become Super Mario, which doubles round awards and upgrades multiball. The long haul is toppling all seven castles to rescue the princess -- and fallen castles carry over from one game to the next.

The loop

1. Let the ball rattle the bumpers and slings to move the lit turtle-shell lamps around; light three shells and take the key from a hole showing its key lamp.
2. Cash the key into one of two offered rounds -- decide fast, because the game chooses for you if you freeze.
3. Spell out S-U-P-E-R with lit ramp and flashing hole shots, then strike the fast-flashing left ramp target to turn into Super Mario and double everything you score.
4. Light the numbered shots 1 through 4 in sequence -- the left ramp, the Yoshi target, the right loop, then the right ramp off the upper flipper -- and drop into the left hole for multiball, feeding the castle for jackpots that climb to forty million.

Reading the lights

• S-U-P-E-R & Super Mario (letters) — lit: The S-U-P-E-R letters advance at the right ramp while it is lit and at the left and right holes while they flash. When the word is done, the left ramp target starts flashing to cash it -- read the flash rate. · flashing: A slow flash on the left ramp target is worth five million points; a fast flash is the Super Mario cash-in you actually want. · then: Hit the fast flash to become Super Mario: every round award doubles (extra balls included), the right ramp jumps from 100K to 500K, and multiball comes with three balls in place of two. Guard it -- once the left-outlane kick save is spent, draining there knocks you back to ordinary Mario.
• Shells, Key & Rounds (mode) — lit: A lit shell sits on whichever shots the bumpers and slingshots have currently toggled it onto -- so keep the ball rolling through the pops rather than cradling it. Light three shells and a key lamp appears on the holes. · then: Collect the key at any hole whose lamp is lit to begin a round, and decide fast -- two rounds come up at random and the game defaults to the left-flipper choice if you freeze. Exclamation is the big scorer, climbing 1M to 10M; the bomb round keeps the upper hole lit at 20M for the remainder of the ball; and clearing all six rounds in one game flashes the castle for the Special.
• 1-2-3-4 Multiball (shot arrows) — lit: Four numbered arrows must be lit in sequence -- 1 the left ramp, 2 the Yoshi target up top, 3 the right loop, 4 the right ramp off the upper flipper. Watch which number is flashing, because they only score in order. · then: With 1 through 4 done, drop the left hole to start multiball -- two balls, or three if you armed Super Mario first. Then bury the ball in the castle again and again; each castle shot is a jackpot and they escalate 5M, 10M, 20M, 40M. Pair up 2 and 4 -- a clean Yoshi hit leaves you on the platform with the upper flipper ready for the fourth.
• Seven Castles (status) — lit: The revolving castle flashes for destruction only while you are Super Mario, and only one castle falls per Super state. Seven have to come down in all to rescue the princess. · then: Become Super, shoot the flashing castle to topple one, then rebuild S-U-P-E-R and line up the next. Those fallen castles are remembered between games -- find a cabinet where earlier players already knocked down most of the seven and you could finish the rescue on a single ball for a replay, so glance at how many remain before paying in.
• Video Mode Bullets (status) — lit: In front of the castle sit four bullet lamps, and each pass through the left inlane lights one. Once all four glow, your following castle shot stops scoring normally and instead launches a side-scrolling running-and-jumping stage. · then: In the run the flippers become a controller -- tap the right to jump gaps, and here is the trick the game never tells you: hold the left button down the whole way to sprint, which pays 30M at the finish rather than the 10M walk. Another hidden sprint shows up once your last castle has fallen -- land a jump during it for a second 30M.
• Yoshi Bonus (status) — lit: The Yoshi target sits on the raised platform, reachable only with the upper flipper. Each hit adds 500K to a running Yoshi bonus that pays out when the ball drains -- and it does not reset, carrying forward into your next ball instead. · then: Work the upper flipper on purpose, since time up top is never wasted. Land two Yoshi hits back to back outside a round and it lights for a 3M shot next time; outside a round a Yoshi strike also winks the feather insert on for a 5M grab. It doubles as number 2 in the multiball sequence, so platform time is never idle.
• Quick Shot Ramp (shot arrows) — lit: Rolling the right inlane sets the left ramp flashing for Quick Shot. Unlit that ramp is nearly worthless, so the flash is the whole difference between a dead shot and a live one. · then: Take the flashing ramp to climb a ladder -- 1M, 2M, 5M, 7M, an extra ball on the fifth step, then 10M. The right ramp returns you to that same inlane, so you can run the loop straight up to the easiest extra ball the game gives up.

Lane change: not verified for this machine yet.

Start scoring

• Ball one — Get Super Mario lit early: build the word, take the fast flash, and every round you play then pays double. Run the shell-and-key cycle for your first round, and work the Quick Shot ladder off the right inlane for an easy extra ball. — Become Super Mario, Shells, Then The Key, Quick Shot
• Building — Spend rounds where they pay. The exclamation round walks up to 10M a shot, the bomb round leaves a 20M hole for the remainder of that ball, and Luigi's cave tops out at 48M. Bank Yoshi hits on the platform between rounds, and arm the video mode so you can hold the run button for 30M. — Exclamation Round, Bomb Round, Luigi's Cave Count-Up Round, Run, Do Not Walk
• The big one — The biggest points live in multiball -- run the 1-2-3-4 sequence, start Super for three balls, and climb the castle jackpots to 40M. Beyond that sit the two endgame marks: light the castle Special by clearing all six rounds, and topple the seventh castle to rescue the princess for a replay. — Multiball, The Special, Destroy Seven Castles

Does Super Mario Bros. have an action button?

No dedicated button on this one — but during the video mode the flipper buttons stop being flippers and become a controller. Hold the left one down to keep Mario sprinting instead of strolling, and tap the right one to jump. Out on the playfield the third flipper up on the platform runs off a normal flipper button too.

Goals in Super Mario Bros.

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

• Become Super Mario multiplier · Medium

  The state that changes everything. Advance S-U-P-E-R at the ramps and holes, then hit the left ramp target while it flashes fast. Super doubles every round award — extra balls included — turns the right ramp from 100K into 500K, and upgrades multiball from two balls to three.

  Reward: Double round values, 500K ramps, three-ball multiball

• Shells, Then The Key progression · Medium

  Every round in this game costs the same two things. Light three turtle shells, then collect the key from one of the holes that has its key lamp lit. Only then do you get to pick what you play — and you get about two seconds to decide.

  Reward: A round of your choosing

• Bomb Round mode · Medium

  Two shots for the best long-term payoff in the game. Light the fuse at the left ramp target while it flashes, then put the ball in any hole for 30M — and the upper playfield hole stays lit for 20M for the whole rest of the ball.

  Reward: 30M, plus a 20M hole for the rest of the ball

• Yoshi's Countdown Round mode · Medium

  A single-shot round with a falling value. It opens at 24M and drops the longer you take, so this is not one to line up carefully. One useful wrinkle: the countdown freezes during multiball.

  Reward: Up to 24M

• Luigi's Cave Count-Up Round mode · Medium

  The mirror image of Yoshi's round — the value climbs instead of falling, and it stops at 48M. Wait too long and you risk the ball, but cashing it early is leaving half of it on the table.

  Reward: Up to 48M

• Castle Extra Ball Round mode · Medium

  One shot, one extra ball. Enter the castle during this round and it is yours — and if you are Super Mario when the round starts, the award doubles, which means two extra balls from a single shot.

  Reward: An extra ball, or two if you are Super

• Exclamation Round mode · Easy

  The best scoring round on the machine. The exclamation targets pay increasing amounts as you keep hitting them, walking up 1M, 2M, 3M, 5M and finally 10M. Take this round every time it is offered.

  Reward: 1M climbing to 10M per shot

• Mega Bumper Round mode · Easy

  Each pop bumper is worth a million during this round. It is the one round where the correct play is to stop aiming entirely and just keep the ball alive in the middle of the playfield.

  Reward: 1M per bumper

• Multiball multiball · Hard

  Light 1-2-3-4 in order, then drop into the left hole. Two balls normally, three if you are Super Mario. Every ball you put in the castle is a jackpot, and the jackpots climb steeply — 5M, then 10M, then 20M, then 40M.

  Reward: Jackpots of 5M, 10M, 20M and 40M

• Destroy Seven Castles progression · Hard

  The long game, and the strangest rule on the machine. Seven castles have to fall to rescue the princess, and destroyed castles carry over between games — so you can walk up to a machine with six already down and finish the job in one ball.

  Reward: A replay and your initials on the machine

• Quick Shot combo · Medium

  Roll the right inlane and the left ramp starts flashing. Hit it and you collect from a ladder that climbs 1M, 2M, 5M, 7M, an extra ball, and then 10M. It is the cheapest extra ball on the machine and almost nobody chases it.

  Reward: 1M up to 10M, with an extra ball on the fifth step

• Bonus Chance strategy · Medium

  A three-reel gamble at the left hole, lit by the cave targets outside a round. Most results are small — 200K for nothing, a million or two for cherries or mushrooms, five million for any three of a kind. Three sevens pays two hundred million.

  Reward: 200K to 200M

• Mystery strategy · Easy

  The right lane rollover lights mystery at the right hole, and the award list is unusually strong for a machine of this era — extra shells, extra balls, an instant Super Mario, or three bonus chances in a row.

  Reward: Shells, an extra ball, Super Mario or three bonus chances

• The Yoshi Bonus strategy · Medium

  Every Yoshi target hit adds 500K to a bonus paid when you drain — and the total carries into your next ball rather than resetting. Two hits in a row outside a round also lights the target for three million on the next hit.

  Reward: 500K per hit, banked across balls

• Video Mode mode · Medium

  Four bullet lamps sit in front of the castle. Fill them all by rolling the left inlane and the next castle shot drops you into a side-scrolling run where you jump gaps with the right flipper and sprint with the left.

  Reward: 10M for finishing, 30M if you run it

• Run, Do Not Walk secret · Medium

  The video mode pays triple if you know one thing about it, and the machine never tells you. There is a second version of the same trick that only appears after your final castle falls.

  Reward: 30M instead of 10M, twice over

• The Special secret · Hard

  Complete all six rounds in a game and the castle flashes for special — but only for a limited time. It is the hardest thing on the machine because the shell-and-key cycle has to be run six separate times.

  Reward: Special at the castle

• Where The Extra Balls Are progression · Medium

  This game hands out extra balls in more places than most players realise, and one of them is effectively free once you know the loop.

  Reward: Multiple extra balls per game