Duotron

This is the 2-player version of Magnatron.

Duotron is a basic bonus-build game with a booster shot added.

Bonus goes up to 15K, earned by the uppermost side lanes, the outlanes, the A, B and C side stand-up targets when you’ve lit that letter and the center saucer. Light the stand-up targets by making the corresponding lettered lane, either at the top or in the return lanes. While you can’t shoot at the upper side chutes directly, the ball can easily get deflected into them from the bumpers; many of your UTAD bonus advances will come from balls that fall into these. Balls in the chutes are ejected back upwards.

The center semicircle shot will give you five bonus advances if you knock the captive ball around to the opposite side. Three shots and your bonus is at maximum.

The center saucer shot opens the ball save gate at the right outlane. It scores 1000 to start and goes up 1K each time you shoot it up to 5K.

Unlike most games, this one has two “close gate” switches – balls through either return lane close your gate, as does using it. This makes shooting for the saucer to open the gate less valuable than on other machines.

Double bonus is awarded on the last ball and cannot be scored on other balls.

Strategy comes down to your accuracy and the way balls come down from the top. If the rebounds from the captive ball shot are safe, that’s the fastest way to build bonus. If not, UTAD is the alternative. Once your bonus is maximized, you have a similar decision: faster points at the saucer or slower but maybe safer points up top.