Elton John Rulesheet

Games Wiki Rulesheets
#1

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Game Information:

  • Lead Designer: Steve Ritchie
  • Code/Rules: Joe Katz, Bill Grupp
  • Lead Mechanical Engineer:
  • Artwork:
  • Computer Graphics Art Director: Joe Katz
  • Sound Designer:
  • Release Date: November 2023
  • Wiki Rulesheet based on Code Rev:

Elton John is Steve Ritchie’s first game as a designer for Jersey Jack Pinball. Chronicling the life and career of the eccentric musician, the game features a wide selection of “milestones” that can be completed to access the final tour, allowing for many different ways to play the game for a high score.

Rules Overview:

  • Time the plunge at the start of the ball to collect the lit skill shot award. Short plunge and shoot either upper lane (backstage, or the side ramp) to score a super skill shot.
  • Songs can be selected at the start of the game. During each song, shoot the flashing shots to qualify wardrobe items at the backstage shot (the upper loop). Collect all three items for victory laps for the remainder of the song.
  • Shoot the drop target bank to fill out the Rocka-Box and collect albums. Each album corresponds to a different award - five timed modes are hidden among the 31 collectable albums, with a special Champ Multiball available after playing all five.
  • Shoot the Tiny Dancer target to light lock at the crocodile. Lock 2 balls at the crocodile (3 on subsequent plays) for Crocodile Rock Multiball.
  • Collect fuel by completing tasks throughout the game. After collecting enough fuel, the player can choose to either start Rocket Man Multiball at the rocket kicker, or keep collecting fuel to boost the multiball.
  • Spell ELTON JOHN by collecting all 9 stars scattered across the playfield to light lock at the side ramp. Lock 3 balls in the piano to start a Signature Stage Multiball that can be determined with the action button prior to starting it. The multiballs on the left of the display are easier than the ones on the right.
  • There are 8 different milestones that require mastery of one aspect of the game. Achieve 4 different milestones to qualify for the Final Tour wizard mode.

Layout:

Skill Shots:

There are five inserts located above the plunger lane - one is lit at a time, moving from top to bottom and back. The lit award is locked in as a skill shot award as soon as the ball passes the opto above the inserts. From top to bottom, the inserts are:

A chance for a super skill shot is available at either the backstage shot or the side ramp, if the player short plunges the ball to feed the upper flipper. The super skill shot awards “more” of whatever skill shot award was selected.

Songs:

At the very start of the game, the player will be prompted to select one of 15 songs from the following:

  • Honky Cat (5:13)
  • Rocket Man (4:41)
  • Tiny Dancer (6:17)
  • Your Song (4:01)
  • Bennie and the Jets (5:22)
  • Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (3:12)
  • Take Me to the Pilot (3:46)
  • Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting (4:55)
  • Philadelphia Freedom (5:24)
  • Levon (5:22)
  • Crocodile Rock (3:55)
  • The Bitch is Back (3:44)
  • Pinball Wizard (5:15)
  • I’m Still Standing (3:03)
  • Your Sister Can’t Twist (2:41)

All songs play fairly similar - they will light a selection of musical note shots on the playfield, in different sequences depending on the song. Once enough notes have been collected, the backstage shot (upper loop) will light to collect an item.

There are three items per song - the first item collected starts double song for 30 seconds (all shots score 2x), the second item starts double notes for 30 seconds, (all notes count 2x towards item progression) and the third item will enable victory laps for the remainder of the song. The player must collect the second and third items while their respective timers are running (ie. 30 seconds per item).

One of the milestones requires the player to collect all three items in one song.

Albums & The Rocka-Box:

Filling out the 9 squares in front of the center drop targets awards an album, alongside the currently indicated award at the top left of the display. There are a total of 26 “normal awards” and 5 encore modes, indicated with green squares in the status report and added to the rotation after 5 normal awards have been scored. Click the spoilers tab to view the full list of normal awards:

The encore modes are as follows:

  • Tiny Targets - All targets score bonus points.
  • Super Jets - Feed the bumpers via either orbit for bonus points.
  • Backstage Frenzy - All switches score, shoot the backstage shot to boost their value.
  • Super Spinners - Shoot the spinners in front of either the left or right ramp for bonus points.
  • Piano-Matic - Repeatedly loop the side ramp for bonus points.

After playing all five encore modes, the player will be able to start Champ Multiball.

Extra ball is lit after collecting 8 albums off the Rocka-Box.

One milestone requires the player to collect 30 albums off the Rocka-Box.

Multiball Modes:

There are four different multiball modes on Elton John, one of which has four different variations. The four multiball modes are started in different ways.

Balls can be added during any multiball by shooting the “light hurry-up” target near the left eject.

Only Crocodile Rock and Rocket Man multiballs can be stacked. If both running at once, the jackpots in both concurrent multiballs will be doubled.

Crocodile Rock Multiball:

A VUK is hidden under the crocodile toy at the right side of the playfield. Lock can be lit at this VUK by shooting the Tiny Dancer target on the left side of the game. The player can also advance towards this multiball, or even start it, by selecting “Adv. Croc MB” as a skill shot selection.

The first Crocodile Rock multiball only requires two balls to be locked at the crocodile. Subsequent multiballs during the same game require three balls to be locked there.

During Crocodile Rock multiball, shoot the flashing shots to score jackpots and light the crocodile for a super jackpot after scoring enough. If the player quickly locks 2 balls at the crocodile before the other ejects, the super jackpot will be doubled.

Collecting two super jackpots (not including the double super jackpot) during this multiball awards a milestone.

Rocket Man Multiball:

Completing tasks throughout the game adds fuel to the rocket, shown at the bottom right of the display. Once at least one tank of fuel has been fully loaded into the rocket, the rocket kicker will light to start Rocket Man Multiball. Subsequent multiballs in the same game require one additional fuel tank to be loaded.

Once the player shoots the rocket VUK, they can either start the multiball or hold the action button to abort it. There are different perks awarded depending on how many tanks have been loaded, hence why the player might want to abort the multiball:

  • 2 tanks - Extra ball saver
  • 3 tanks - Easier to light super jackpot
  • 4 tanks - +1 ball
  • 5 tanks - All jackpots including super jackpot are permanently lit

During Rocket Man Multiball, by default, the player must shoot 7 unique jackpot shots to light the super jackpot at the rocket kicker. Once the super jackpot is scored, the process resets, but more jackpots are needed to relight the super.

Signature Stage Multiball:

There are four mutually exclusive Signature Stage multiballs that can be started at the side ramp, and selected with the action button. Balls can only be locked for these multiballs at the side ramp in single-ball play. To light the locks, the player must spell ELTON JOHN by collecting all 9 stars at the 9 major shots.

The older the tour is in chronological order, the longer the ball save for it is; but the most recent tours are also the most valuable.

Signature Stage multiballs lock out other multiballs from being started. Fuel for Rocket Man multiball can be collected, but the multiball can’t be started. Albums can still be earned during any Signature Stage multiball.

Every super jackpot scored during a Signature Stage multiball spots a letter in SUPERSTAR!. Spelling out SUPERSTAR! awards the cumulative Superstar Jackpot and awards a milestone.

The four Signature Stage multiballs are:

  • 1970 - Hollywood: All shots are lit to score jackpots, with combo shots adding +1x multiplier to the jackpot value. After 2 jackpots are scored, the side ramp is lit to score a super jackpot worth 4M +1x for each subsequent loop of the side ramp. If a Superstar Jackpot is scored during this multiball, the side ramp will prematurely feed the ball to the bumpers.
  • 1975 - Los Angeles:
  • 2009 - Las Vegas:
  • 2023 - London:

Simply starting any Signature Stage multiball is enough to earn a milestone. Another milestone is awarded after playing all four.

Champ Multiball:

After playing all five encore modes awarded by collecting enough albums, Champ Multiball will be qualified.

Starting Champ Multiball awards a milestone.

Other Scoring:

Honky Cat Hurry-Up & Kickback:

If the kickback isn’t lit at the left outlane, it can be relit by completing a Honky Cat hurry-up. Shoot the target near the left eject to light the hurry-up, then shoot the left eject when lit to light a random shot from the left flipper to score the hurry-up value. If the hurry-up is successfully made, kickback will be lit.

Subsequent Honky Cat hurry-ups require more shots to the left target.

A milestone is awarded after collecting four hurry-ups.

Combos:

There is a wide variety of 3-shot combos recognized by the game. The full list of combos can be viewed in attract mode and are listed in the below spoilers tab. Each letter corresponds to the “star” in front of that shot on the playfield.

List of Combos
Name Shot 1 Shot 2 Shot 3
The Classic N J T
1-2-3 N J O
Crescendo N H J
One Time O (Croc) L N
Stop & Go O (Croc) E N (Rocket)
Rhythm O (Croc) E O (Croc)
Tomcat L T O
High Speed L T T
The Feed J T T
Redline J T O
9.1, 9.2, 9.3 T T T
King’s Ransom T T O
The Headliner E J O
Hyper-ball E J T
The Maneuver E H J
B-Side E H O (Croc)
Fire Power E O (Croc) L
Side to Side E O (Croc) N
Standing O E O (Croc) N
V.I.P O O O
Crowd Pleaser O T T

Collecting three unique combos counts as a milestone.

Collecting five unique combos lights extra ball.

Milestones:

There are nine different milestones awarded for completing different features in the game:

Collecting any four of the nine unique milestones allows access to the Final Tour wizard mode.

Extra Balls:

The Tiny Dancer target lights for extra ball after:

  • Making 15 piano ramp shots
  • Collecting 8 albums off the Rocka-Box
  • Scoring 5 unique combos

End-of-Ball Bonus:

Final Tour (Wizard Mode):

Once the player has achieved four unique milestones (described in their respective section), they will gain access to the wizard mode, the Final Tour.

#2

This is how Champ Multiball plays.

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#3

I’m a little surprised it crashed then and there, considering there’s even footage of the multiball display in the launch video.