Pinball Tutorial· 13 min read
Turtle Power: Learn how to play Stern’s 2020 release, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!
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Time to discuss another machine I have a massive soft spot for! Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles has had a lot of different incarnations over the years and even had a prior pinball machine released by Data East based on the 1990 live-action film. This 2020 release by Stern Pinball uses the humor and characters of the 80s cartoon series and pairs it with an incredibly difficult John Borg layout to learn your way around and rules by Dwight Sullivan that remain as satisfying as always, albeit leaning a tad simpler than his other recent releases.
This machine’s fast-playing layout has made it a go-to for many tournament locations, giving it the reputation of a machine that shows no mercy towards anyone who plays it. And that’s exactly what I’m into as a player! Let’s dive into this radical Stern release and check out how it ticks.
A pinball adaptation of the 1980s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon. Shredder has taken the Pizza-o-Meter, a device with multiversal capabilities, to control an army from Dimension X; in the process forcing the Turtles to fend off against their fiercest opponents.
The best way to describe this John Borg-designed layout is to compare it to the lower half of The Munsters mixed with the upper half of TRON: Legacy – it shares the learning curve of the former machine for sure. The left side of the playfield is dedicated to an underarm (or behind the flipper) shot designed after Splinter’s lair, with a wide bar target spelling LAIR in front of it. The flipper gating off the lair entrance also serves as the table’s upper flipper. The upper flipper flanks the entrance to the left orbit, which either sends the ball around the back of the table or sends it to the upper flipper if anything is lit at the upper loop or side ramp.
The next two shots are the toughest in the machine but also some of the most important. The left ramp is gated by two “X” standup targets and requires a precise shot to hit, but is required to light episodes and is used as a mode shot during many of the episodes. The pizza parlor is where episodes are started when lit via the two ramps and despite seeming wide open, is gated by a pizza standup target that can result in deadly rejects for mistimed shots. Balls are also locked for ninja pizza multiball at this saucer, and released onto the upper flipper.
The bumper area resembles the one on Whirlwind. There are three bumpers, two lanes that increase the bonus multiplier above them, and in front of them, a standup target that starts 2x scoring once LAIR has been spelled (if training is already lit). Looping around the bumpers is the upper loop shot, which scores mondo jackpot during the two multiballs and otherwise increases the Krang kombo award that can be cashed out by hitting the side ramp directly below it. One more pizza target is located below the side ramp and adds time to any timed rule when flashing.
The right ramp is a similarly tight shot to the left ramp, but can be hit from either the left or right flipper – and on some copies is easier to hit from the right flipper. This ramp feeds the upper flipper but will feed a post that releases the ball at the start of turtle power multiball, or when an APRIL hurry-up is scored. The right orbit is located to the right of the post flanking the right ramp entrance and almost always sends the ball to the upper flipper; but when balls from the plunger enter this lane, a gate will activate that sends the ball into the bumpers. One more bar target marked APRIL is located next to the right orbit.
Doesn’t seem like too difficult of a layout, right? Well, getting in the way of some of the shots and making the machine quite a bit more unforgiving is the pizza spinning disc located below the pizza parlor entrance. This disc spins as standup targets like the pizza ones or the “X” targets near the left ramp are hit and can send balls flying out of control! It also holds the balls for a neat effect at the start of ninja pizza multiball. Keep an eye out if the disc is spinning and prepare to recover the ball accordingly.
Scoring on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is far lower than average for its era. A good score for players brand new to this machine would be 10M, but the best players can expect scores of above 100M.
As is typical for a Dwight Sullivan-coded machine, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ first ball prompts the player to select a turtle to play as. Each turtle impacts the rest of the game in different ways. The full chart can be viewed elsewhere, but the initial perks for each turtle are:
The character selection also changes which shots are the skill shot at the start of each ball. The skill shot timer is very generous and can be increased by hitting the “more time” target below the side ramp.
The four skill shots are:
Making the character’s skill shot immediately lights a return lane for weapon hurry-up, which can be cycled with the flippers. Weapon hurry-up is a simple two shot hurry-up: hit the flashing orbit (opposite of the return lane that started the hurry-up), then hit the side ramp for double the first value.
This game’s missions are called “episodes” to fit with the theme of the game and because all of them have a consistent plotline of Shredder forcing the villains to team up against the Turtles. “Start episode” is lit at the pizza parlor by hitting the left and right ramps, one time each. Change the lit episode by shooting the “X” targets near the left ramp and follow the guide below to know which light corresponds to which episode.
Episode progression requires the player to hit enough yellow shots, then any of the four colored turtle shots to complete the mode for a completion bonus. Completed episodes usually average between 2M and 3M at base value, but the episode scoring increases with each one completed.
The eight episodes and their playfield inserts are:
There are two wizard modes available after enough episodes are played and both incentivize the player to complete as many as possible. Team-Up multiball is lit after four are played and the completed episodes add perks to the multiball. Final Battle is lit after all eight are played and each completed episode adds to the big points awarded when the mode starts.
This multiball is what a lot of players will be going for if score is their priority, requiring mastery of the pizza parlor shot. Locking 3 balls there (by making 3 shots to the parlor) starts the multiball and releases the balls onto the spinning pizza disc. Before the balls release, the ingredients and their effects on the multiball will be displayed. These can be changed by hitting the pizza standup targets prior but are generally not worth aiming for.
To light the mondo jackpot at the upper loop, defeat 6 Foot Soldiers. The ramps, parlor, and upper flipper shots all defeat the Foot, with the left ramp and upper flipper shots defeating 3 and 2 respectively. The upper loop mondo jackpot, worth 500k + 250k per jackpot, can be scored once 6 have been defeated and looped repeatedly for 2x and 3x jackpots. Super jackpot is lit at the lair shot as soon as a mondo jackpot has been scored, worth 3M + 500k per each jackpot scored since the last super jackpot.
After playing this multiball, it cannot be started again until four episodes have been played.
While less substantial points-wise than Ninja Pizza, Turtle Power serves its role as a utility multiball that can help with episode completion and progression towards other objectives. Start it by hitting the right ramp four times, so long as 1-2-3 Foot isn’t running. It also lights automatically if the player chose Donatello at the start of the first ball.
During Turtle Power, all shots are lit green to score awards. Collecting 4 awards lights the upper loop mondo jackpot for 350k + 50k per jackpot, which can be looped by hitting the upper loop repeatedly for 2x and 3x jackpots. Scoring a mondo jackpot once again lights the super jackpot at the lair shot, this time worth 500k + 125k per super jackpot x the number of super jackpots that have been scored, to a maximum of 3x. Balls can be added to this multiball by completing all four colored turtle shots, and then hitting the right ramp.
After playing this multiball, it cannot be started again until four episodes have been played.
Spelling LAIR by hitting the left bar target four times in quick succession lights training if it isn’t lit. If training is lit, then it will light 2x playfield at the center standup target. The target must then be requalified by starting an episode.
Read below for info on the listed features:
Spelling APRIL by hitting the right bar target five times in quick succession lights Battle Again. If Battle Again is lit, or APRIL is completed the 2nd, 4th, etc. times in a game, then April hurry-up will start.
Read below for info on the listed features:
As both combos have some overlap and have flexibility as to when they can be started, both will be listed in the same section.
It wouldn’t be a recent Stern release without some silliness involving the action button. Pizza eating contest tends to sneak up on players who aren’t expecting it, but it lights after collecting 7 pizza slices by shooting the pizza standup targets (or 2 if playing as Michelangelo). The music and lighting will change when pizza eating contest is available and the targets will start strobing faster than usual.
As soon as you hit the flashing target, get your hand on the action button and start mashing it as quickly as possible! Each mash earns one pizza slice, and the goal is to get 40 in just under 10 seconds. Completing the contest scores around 2M to 3M and will often light extra ball on default (non-competition) settings. Just make sure the ball isn’t out of control before you start mashing the button.
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