Terminator 2: Judgment Day
Williams, 1991 — shot-by-shot rules and strategy guide.
Open Terminator 2: Judgment Day in the Pinball Genie app →Designed by Steve Ritchie (programming Dwight Sullivan, art Doug Watson), T2 was a single production run of ~15,202 units — no Pro/Premium/LE split exists; the only variance across machines is ROM revision. It pioneered the gun-grip trigger auto-launcher (no plunger rod) and one of pinball's first mandatory ball-savers.
Skill Shot
No manual plunger — pull the trigger to auto-launch, then time a second trigger pull to hit the lit target on the moving 5-bank of standups. First success pays 1,000,000; each subsequent ball's successful skill shot is worth 1,000,000 more than the last.
Multiball — the Cannon
Knock down the skull drop target (center, below the T-800 skull graphic) to feed a saucer that loads the motorized Cannon. Pull the trigger as the Cannon swings past its lit standup to fire and start a 2-ball multiball. During multiball, the ball already loaded in the Cannon counts as the first lock; re-lock further balls at up to three saucers — the left eject (Database) saucer, the left orbit saucer, and the skull saucer — to raise the Jackpot multiplier: 1 ball locked = 1x (10M), 2 locked = 2x (20M), 3 locked = 3x (30M), fired by the Cannon again. Collecting a 2x or 3x Jackpot lights Super Jackpot (50,000,000): reload the Cannon and hit the independently-moving skill-shot target while another ball is still live. Multiple Super Jackpots are possible per multiball.
Modes and awards
- Payback Time — Alternate the left ramp (Cyberdyne AI Lab) and right ramp (Skynet Command Center); each ramp needs 5 hits, alternating, to light 10 "Security" circles (each consecutive alternating shot also pays 1,000,000). Completing all 10 auto-starts a ~20-second window where 6 shots — both ramps, the chase loop, the skull drop target, the escape-route saucer, and the 3 green pop-bumper timer lights — each pay a flat 5,000,000 in any order. This is T2's closest thing to a climactic mode; there is no true wizard mode.
- Chase Loop (right orbit) — An escalating value ladder: 250K → 500K → 750K → 1M → 1.25M → 5M, then sticky at 5M for the rest of the ball (resets each new ball). Fast consecutive shots stack an uncapped "Million Plus" bonus (+1M per quick consecutive make) on top.
- Escape Route — A 6-step award ladder advanced by completing the red center 3-bank and collected at the left orbit saucer (the kickout hole isn't directly shootable — it's fed via the left orbit): Security Pass → Hold Bonus → Return Lanes (unlocks Hurry-Up and Video Mode) → Multiball → Extra Ball → 10,000,000. Carries over ball to ball; an aggressive timer applies from step 4 onward.
- Hurry-Up — Qualified via the Escape Route return lanes or a Database award. Starts at 15,000,000, decays to a 3,000,000 floor over ~15 seconds; collected at the right orbit.
- Video Mode — Pinball's first-ever video mode. Qualified the same way as Hurry-Up, collected at the left orbit; use the flipper buttons to shoot descending Terminators (3 shots per wave) on the DMD.
- Database — Shoot the lit left eject saucer for a random pull from a 16-item award table (Extra Ball, Multiball, Hurry-Up, points, Video Mode, Chase Loop Advance, and more). The skull saucer does not award Database — it only loads the Cannon and serves as a Jackpot-multiplier lock location.
Multipliers
- Bonus Multiplier (2X–8X): advanced by completing the 3 top lanes (repeatedly); maxing it out (6X or 8X, operator-adjustable) lights an Extra Ball at the skull drop target. Hold Bonus (Escape Route award #2) carries accumulated bonus and multiplier into the next ball (doubled if collected on ball 3).
- Jackpot Multiplier: a separate system tied to how many balls are locked during multiball, counting the ball already loaded in the Cannon as the first lock (1/2/3 balls locked = 1x/2x/3x), independent of Bonus X.
Extra Balls (four paths)
Maxing Bonus X; Escape Route award #5; a random Database pull; and catching the falling Extra Ball box in Video Mode.
Combos and money shots
T2 predates the modern on-DMD "COMBO!" callout but has two real chaining mechanics: the ramp-alternation Security combo (1M per consecutive alternating ramp shot) and the Chase Loop Million Plus stack (uncapped +1M per fast consecutive right-orbit shot once the base ladder caps at 5M). The top human-executed scoring line is running a Cannon multiball while Payback Time is also active, so ramps, the chase loop, and Jackpots all pay simultaneously.
Physical layout
Two ramps (left/AI Lab, right/Skynet), two orbits (left/Escape Route, right/Chase Loop), a center skull drop target feeding a saucer and the Cannon, a red 3-bank of standups, a moving 5-bank skill-shot target, 3 pop bumpers under a large chrome skull toy, 3 top lanes, and a gun-grip trigger launcher — no spinner or captive ball on this table.
How Terminator 2: Judgment Day plays
Every ball launches from a pistol grip whose trigger also swings and fires the motorized Cannon, so this table lives and dies by that toy. Load the Cannon for multiball jackpots, trade the two ramps back and forth until Payback Time kicks in, and overlap the two for the fattest scoring.
The loop
- Knock the skull drop target down so the kicker behind it drops the ball in the saucer and loads the swinging Cannon.
- Sight the barrel against the display and squeeze the trigger as it sweeps past the lit standup, starting the multiball or banking a jackpot.
- Re-lock balls in the eject, orbit and skull holes to push the pending jackpot to double or triple before the Cannon fires.
- Swap the two ramps without repeating a side until all ten Security circles glow, tipping you straight into Payback Time at a flat five million a shot.
Reading the lights
- Security Circles (status) — lit: A lit Security circle marks one banked alternating ramp shot, five owed to each side, and hitting the same ramp twice in a row breaks the run rather than adding to it. · then: Light all ten and Payback Time fires on its own, opening a roughly twenty-second window where six scattered shots each pay a flat five million in any order. Get a multiball going first so those payouts land on top of your jackpots.
- Cannon Jackpot Multiplier (multiplier) — lit: During multiball the Cannon's standup is the lit jackpot target, and how many balls you re-lock first sets the pending value to one, two or three times, with the two side holes timing out fast while the skull saucer holds its ball as long as one is still loose. · flashing: After you collect a doubled or tripled jackpot the moving five-bank flashes for the fifty-million Super Jackpot. · then: Fill all three lock holes for a thirty-million triple jackpot, then reload through the drop target with another ball still alive and time the independently moving target for the fifty-million Super. That reload-while-live demand is the real drain risk in the mode. · control: Action button: pull the gun-grip trigger to fire the loaded Cannon at the lit standup the instant the swinging barrel crosses it (the display calls to get the jackpot)
- Escape Route Ladder (ladder) — lit: The red center three-bank arms the next rung, and whatever you have climbed stays put from ball to ball rather than resetting on a drain. · flashing: The kickout hole flashes with whichever award is next in line to collect. · then: Feed the left orbit so it loops the ball around the back and tips it into the kickout hole, banking the flashing award and climbing Security Pass, Hold Bonus and the return-lane unlock toward an extra ball and a ten-million payoff. From the fourth rung on you must re-clear the three-bank against a timer before each collect.
- Return Lane Qualifiers (lanes) — lit: Once the ladder reaches its return-lane rung both inlanes light, and rolling one arms a feature that then waits at an orbit to be started. · then: The right inlane sets up Video Mode at the left orbit, where the buttons aim a crosshair at descending Terminators and a caught falling box is an extra ball; the left inlane lights Hurry-Up at the right orbit, a value that bleeds from fifteen million down to three.
- Top Lane Bonus Multiplier (lanes) — lit: A lit top rollover is one you have already rolled, and clearing all three at once bumps your end-of-ball bonus a step up the 2X, 4X, 6X, 8X ladder before the lanes reset for another pass. · then: Complete the trio over and over to climb the bonus multiplier; reaching its top step lights an extra ball that you then collect at the skull drop target. · control: Either flipper button: tap a flipper button to shift which of the three back rollovers is lit so you can slide the unlit one into the path the ball is taking (the ball rolls up toward the back lanes)
- Database Saucer (status) — lit: With its insert lit, the far-left hole is holding a random Database award, and it re-lights on its own through the ball for repeat pulls. · then: Take it from a settled left-flipper shot for a cheap Video Mode start, a lit Hurry-Up or straight points; the same hole doubles as a jackpot re-lock spot once multiball is on.
Lane change: the flipper buttons move the lit lane. The three back rollovers are a flipper-button lane change: tap either flipper as the ball heads for them to slide the lit lane sideways under its path. Rolling all three steps your end-of-ball bonus up the 2X to 8X ladder, and topping that out lights an extra ball you collect at the skull drop target.
Start scoring
- Ball one — Take the free trigger-timed skill shot on every ball, since it only pays more each time you repeat it and carries no drain risk. Then drop the skull target and load the Cannon early, while you still have the most time and balls to cash it. — Opening Skill Shot, Skill Shot Streak, Best Opener, Load the Cannon
- Building — Grind the Escape Route ladder at the three-bank and left orbit for hold bonus and extra balls, and rip the right orbit back-to-back to lock its value at five million and pile Million Plus on top. Meanwhile trade the ramps to creep the Security circles toward Payback Time. — Escape Route, Chase Loop Million Plus, Security Ramp Alternation, Safe Scoring: Escape Route EB Loop
- The big one — There is no true wizard mode here, so the ceiling is overlap: keep a Cannon multiball alive as the tenth Security circle lands so every shot pays both a jackpot and a flat five million. Chaining a doubled or tripled jackpot into the fifty-million Super on the moving target is the single biggest hit on the machine. — Payback Time + Multiball Stack, Super Jackpot, Payback Time
The Gun-Grip Trigger on Terminator 2: Judgment Day
Front right of the cabinet, in place of the shooter rod.
T2 gives you a heavy pistol grip instead of a plunger, and the trigger stays live for the whole ball. It launches, it takes your skill shot, and it fires the motorized cannon — which means every Jackpot and the Super Jackpot in this game is collected by pulling the trigger, not by a flipper shot.
- Start of every ball: Pull to launch — there is no rod. Time it so the moving 5-bank light sits on a target for a million.
- Skull drop target knocked down: The saucer behind it loads the cannon; pull the trigger as the cannon swings past the lit standup to start multiball.
- During multiball, cannon reloaded: Fire at the lit target for the Jackpot — 1x, 2x or 3x depending on how many balls you re-locked first.
- Just collected a 2x or 3x Jackpot: Reload, then fire at the moving target for the 50 million Super Jackpot while another ball is still alive.
- Lining up a cannon shot: Sight along the barrel against the display rather than watching the toy, then squeeze as it crosses.
Goals in Terminator 2: Judgment Day
Every goal below is tracked step-by-step, with shot paths drawn on the playfield map, inside the app.
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Pull the gun-grip trigger timed to strike the lit target on the moving 5-bank as the ball autoplunges — worth 1,000,000 with no drain risk.
Reward: 1,000,000 skill shot, no drain risk
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Make the skill shot on every ball of the game — each success is worth 1,000,000 more than the last.
Reward: 1M on ball 1, +1M each successive ball (e.g. a 3-ball streak nets 1M+2M+3M = 6M)
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Alternate the two ramps to light Security circles and bank 1,000,000 per consecutive shot — the gate into Payback Time.
Reward: 1,000,000 per consecutive alternating ramp shot; all 10 Security lights auto-starts Payback Time
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Hit the right orbit repeatedly without breaking rhythm — the base ladder climbs to a sticky 5,000,000, then every fast consecutive shot stacks another +1,000,000 on top.
Reward: 250K-5M ladder (sticky at 5M) + uncapped Million Plus bonus that grows another 1,000,000 with each fast consecutive make
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The core setup chain for multiball and jackpots: drop the skull target, let the saucer load the cannon, then fire it.
Reward: A good cannon hit pays a Jackpot, or (pre-multiball) starts 3-ball multiball
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Escape Route Target-Bounce Loop
A home-play farm: catch on the right flipper, carom through the escape-route standups, then shoot the left orbit so the ball feeds the kickout hole. Each lap collects the next award on the six-step ladder, so the extra ball and the 10,000,000 arrive on separate laps. Extra balls are disabled in most tournament settings.
Reward: Extra ball + 10,000,000 per completion cycle; up to about 6 laps per ball is achievable, though inconsistent
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Once Payback Time is running, hammer whichever of its 6 shots is most reliable on the machine — every one pays a flat 5,000,000 for about 20 seconds, in any order.
Reward: 5,000,000 flat per shot for ~20 seconds, any of the 6 qualifying shots, any order
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Light and start the signature 3-ball multiball by loading and firing the cannon.
Reward: Starts 3-ball Cannon Multiball
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During an active multiball, re-lock balls at up to three saucers to multiply the Jackpot value before firing the cannon.
Reward: 1x/2x/3x Jackpot = 10M/20M/30M depending on how many balls you re-lock
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Chain a 2x or 3x Jackpot into the 50,000,000 Super Jackpot by reloading the cannon and hitting the independently-moving target — requires reloading the cannon while another ball is still live on the playfield, so there's real drain risk.
Reward: 50,000,000 Super Jackpot; multiple collects possible per multiball if enough balls survive
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The game's closest thing to a climactic mode: light all 10 Security circles via alternating ramps, then hammer any of 6 shots for a flat 5,000,000 during the ~20-second window.
Reward: 5,000,000 flat per shot across 6 qualifying shots during the ~20-second window
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A 6-step award ladder advanced at the center 3-bank and collected at the left orbit saucer — the path to Security lights, Hold Bonus, Video Mode/Hurry-Up unlocks, Multiball, an Extra Ball, and 10,000,000.
Reward: Security Pass, Hold Bonus, Return Lanes (Hurry-Up/Video Mode unlock), Multiball, Extra Ball, or 10,000,000 by ladder step
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Pinball's first-ever video mode: qualify it through the Escape Route return lanes or a Database award, then shoot down descending Terminators on the DMD.
Reward: Catching the falling Extra Ball box mid-mode nets an extra ball (one of T2's 4 extra-ball paths)
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A fast-decaying points award — qualify it, then race to the right orbit before the value bottoms out.
Reward: 15,000,000 decaying to a 3,000,000 floor over ~15 seconds - faster hits pay more
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Build end-of-ball bonus multiplier by repeatedly rolling the three top lanes; maxing it out also lights an Extra Ball.
Reward: Steps Bonus X 2X→4X→6X→8X (end-of-ball multiplier); maxing it lights an Extra Ball at the skull target
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A separate multiplier system from Bonus X: the number of balls you re-lock during multiball sets the Jackpot to 1x, 2x, or 3x before you fire the cannon.
Reward: Sets the pending Jackpot to 1x/2x/3x (10M/20M/30M) based on balls re-locked before firing the cannon
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Payback Time + Multiball Stack
T2 has no dedicated wizard mode — this is the closest thing: keep a cannon multiball alive while Payback Time is also running so every shot double-dips, the top human-executed scoring line in the game.
Reward: Stacks Jackpots with Payback Time's flat 5,000,000/shot - the game's top scoring line (no true wizard mode)
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The recommended first sequence off the plunger: free skill shot, then set up the cannon while you still have max time and balls to exploit it.
Reward: Free 1,000,000+ skill shot, plus a loaded cannon ready for a Jackpot or multiball start
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A concrete, timed shot-by-shot script for a new player's opening ball.
Reward: Skill shot banked (1M+), cannon loaded, and the Security ramp rhythm started toward Payback Time - all inside 30s
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Safe Scoring: Escape Route EB Loop
A ball-preservation strategy: loop the Escape Route standups for extra balls before pivoting to points — more playtime compounds into a higher final score. Home/casual only; extra balls are disabled in most tournament settings.
Reward: Extra balls via the Escape Route ladder (repeatable, but not on every machine) before pivoting to Chase Loop/Jackpot points
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The far-left standalone hole hands out a random award when its insert is lit — a cheap way to pull Video Mode, a Hurry-Up light, or points without setting anything up first.
Reward: One random Database award (points, a lit Hurry-Up, a Video Mode start, or other rule advances)
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