# Top Ten: The Best Pinball Video Modes of the 90s by [solar_espeon](/author/solar-espeon) · June 1, 2026 · [Pinball](/news/category/pinball) > After considering which video modes were the worst efforts of the 90s in a previous list, it’s time to flip the script with our look at the best video modes of the 1990s. After considering which video modes were the [worst efforts of the 90s](https://www.kineticist.com/news/worst-video-modes-90s) in a previous list, it’s time to flip the script. Whether it can be chalked up to theme immersion, tight gameplay, or lucrative rewards, even the early days of the dot matrix have fantastic, creative, and memorable video modes that improve the gameplay experience.  Here’s our list of the ten best video modes from the 1990s. ## #10: Dalek Chase - Doctor Who (Bally Williams, 1992) ![Dalek Chase Dr Who](https://admin.kineticist.com/assets/0299365b-fb29-45ed-bc1c-e2a36f80e4bb.png?width=1200&height=628) Video mode on [Doctor Who](https://www.kineticist.com/games/pinball/doctor-who-1992) is one of that game’s several viable strategies due to the game’s innovative and remarkably well-balanced ruleset with Doctors serving as power-ups. To play video mode, spell Escape at the lower right standup targets, then shoot the lane just left of the lock saucers; this lane goes around the back of the game and into the pop bumpers, and will fall into the TARDIS for video mode if the ball leaves the bumpers to the right. Entering the TARDIS will start video mode if Escape is completed, or spot a letter if it is not. Collecting Doctor 1 will spot additional Escape letters for you when you hit the lower right standups or enter the TARDIS with Escape not yet complete.  This is a side-scrolling video mode where the Doctor jumps over oncoming obstacles as he is chased by a Dalek. Pressing one flipper button does a short jump, and pressing both does a long jump. One underappreciated piece of this video mode’s controls is that there’s a brief window where you can turn a short jump into a long one by pressing the second flipper button while the Doctor is already in midair, giving just a little bit of extra grace on your reaction time. After 5-15 jumps, the video mode wave ends, usually giving between 5,000,000 and 8,000,000 points times bonus multiplier; remember to jump into the TARDIS at the end for a bonus This video mode sometimes gets a bit of flak from players, who say it’s too simple or too repetitive, especially since the early waves are the same every time. Those claims are not unfounded, but the video mode’s value and controls, as well as the post-video mode animations on the DMD, mean it’s still worth your time, and it just barely sneaks onto our list. ## #9: Destroy the Mothership - Attack from Mars (Bally Williams, 1995) [Attack from Mars](https://www.kineticist.com/games/pinball/attack-from-mars)’ video mode is a very loose interpretation of the classic arcade game Missile Command. It is only available as a mystery award from Stroke of Luck, collected at the scoop in the upper right when lit. To light the scoop, use flipper lane change to light all four of the in/out lanes at the bottom of the table.  During this video mode, the left and right flipper buttons change the angle of an autofire gun, and you need to ensure said gun blasts flying saucers that are descending toward your turret before any of them hit the ground. If you destroy 50 saucers, a mothership descends that requires 80 hits to destroy. Once during the video mode, you can press the ball launch button to serve as a smart bomb and clear all of the saucers on screen as a sort of bailout button. Attack from Mars’ video mode is simple to control and play, achievable, and provides another form of theme cohesion by illustrating yet another unique way the Martians are trying to attack. While this mode’s strategy is often boiled down to just alternating moving all the way left and all the way right to spray your turret’s bullets, it still works well as a way to spice up gameplay. An honorable mention worth including here: Save the Children, a similar mode in [Medieval Madness](https://www.kineticist.com/games/pinball/medieval-madness) (Bally Williams, 1997), does slightly improve on the controls and aesthetics over Attack from Mars’ video mode, but just barely missed this list because it’s so hard to see (requiring 8 completions of the F-I-R-E bottom lanes) that very few players have encountered it at all. ## #8: Escape in the Mine Cart - Indiana Jones: The Pinball Adventure (Bally Williams, 1993) ![Escape in the Mine Cart Indiana Jones](https://admin.kineticist.com/assets/a2629bb6-f0b4-437c-89ee-a45b5f414459.png?width=1200&height=628) Escape in the Mine Cart is one of the 12 main modes on [Indiana Jones: The Pinball Adventure](https://www.kineticist.com/games/pinball/indiana-jones-the-pinball-adventure), and is started at the left scoop. It becomes a true test of your reaction time and hand-eye coordination. This video mode takes place on a fast-moving mine cart. Periodically, the mine cart will encounter a 3-way fork in the road, with one or more of the routes being blocked off. You must press the left flipper to take the left path, the right flipper to take the right path, or neither to continue straight. After 8 and 16 splits, the game gets faster, really moving at a blur towards the end; pass 25 splits to win the mode. Escape in the Mine Cart makes its way onto this list because of the brisk pace it demands. Even strong pinball players with good reaction times can miss on this mode if they’re not fully focused, but at the same time, the main goal always feels attainable. Shuttle Simulation from [Star Trek: The Next Generation](https://www.kineticist.com/games/pinball/star-trek-the-next-generation) (also Bally Williams, 1993), a similar path-choosing video mode, just doesn’t quite match the frenetic energy of the Indy version. ## #7: Lunar Lander - Apollo 13 (Sega, 1995) ![Lunar Lander Apollo 13](https://admin.kineticist.com/assets/9a2a6b11-6e3b-43ad-8476-622d3bc3e954.png?width=1200&height=628) The only non-Bally Williams game to make the list, [Apollo 13’s](https://www.kineticist.com/games/pinball/apollo-13) video mode is lit after shooting 2 lit orbits in a game, and started by shooting the saucer on the far right. As 90s video modes go, it’s impressively unique. During this video mode, you control the Eagle lunar module. The DMD is split into two halves: the left half shows a map of the moon with the three possible targets and your fuel gauge, while the right half shows a close-up of your ship so that you can better align with the landing pads as they get closer. Pressing the left flipper fires the left thruster, which causes the ship to move to the right; pressing the right flipper fires the right thruster, moving the ship left. Pressing both flippers fires the bottom thruster so the module can gain height. Pulling the launch handle on the front of the game instantly stops all horizontal momentum, which makes it much easier to position yourself precisely. To win the mode, you must land the lunar module on one of the three flat landing pads; you cannot hit any other terrain along the way, and all 3 of the module’s feet must be touching the pad.  This video mode controls very well, and there’s really nothing else like it. The ability to stop your horizontal momentum on a whim does wonders to speed the mode along, so that you don’t spend a ton of time trying to make sure everything is lined up perfectly. And if there are any shortcomings here, it’s that you do need to be lined up perfectly; the collision detection is quite demanding when it comes to the module’s legs landing on the pad, and there’s very little margin for error, which can be a slight point of frustration sticking out amongst what is otherwise fantastic design. ## #6: Stand Up and Take Your Medicine! - Creature from the Black Lagoon (Bally Williams, 1992) ![Stand up and Take Your Medicine Creature](https://admin.kineticist.com/assets/6aebe90f-27bb-4135-95cc-0290318467c4.png?width=1200&height=628) [Creature from the Black Lagoon](https://www.kineticist.com/games/pinball/creature-from-the-black-lagoon) is incredibly campy and cheesy all the way down, and this video mode fits in perfectly. The premise is that a Peeping Tom, who looks suspiciously like famous game designer [Dwight Sullivan](https://www.kineticist.com/people/dwight-sullivan), is peeking into the car containing the player and their date at a drive-in movie. To play this video mode, shoot the right ramp 9 times to light it, then shoot the Slide shot on the far right. 9 right ramps is not particularly difficult, but the right ramp is detached from the main scoring strategies on Creature (namely, multiball and Move Your Car), so this video mode isn’t seen as much as it really should be. During the video mode itself, the Peeping Tom dodges back and forth, and pressing the left or right flipper buttons will throw a left or right cross punch that, hopefully, hits the Peeping Tom in the face. Score enough hits in a set time (usually 17 hits in 15 seconds) to knock him out and score 15,000,000 points. You can add insult to injury–or I guess, add more injury to injury, if you think about it–by continuing to press the flipper buttons during the Knockout screen to punch the Tom’s head off, resulting in a fountain of blood and a Fatality declaration as a nod to Mortal Kombat, which had just been released. The strategy in this mode is minimal, as simply alternating two punches on each side as quickly as possible is enough to win. Its impact comes from the amazing callouts, the surprisingly good dot animations, and the fact that this mode perfectly personifies the wacky world of Creature from the Black Lagoon pinball. If you’ve never seen or played this mode, give it a try when you next find CFTBL in the wild. ## #5: Caution - Indianapolis 500 (Bally Williams, 1995) ![Caution Indianapolis 500](https://admin.kineticist.com/assets/f350bd63-3ae8-4d5b-8771-0c6d5f555adf.png?width=1200&height=628) Caution is an excellently done racing video mode in an excellently made racing pinball game. It’s one of the 11 main modes on [Indy 500](https://www.kineticist.com/games/pinball/indianapolis-500); modes are lit by shooting the left orbit and started by shooting the right orbit. Caution has a simple premise: use the left and right flippers to move your car left and right to avoid obstacles. Squares with numbers or the letters EB on them will appear intermittently, giving points by the millions or an extra ball. Indy 500 does a good job highlighting the items, making them stand out from the debris by having them be brighter on the display, the tires, oil slicks, and wrecked cars. Also, you can get into a bit of a rhythm after building some experience with the mode, since the game always alternates one item and one obstacle. You get 1,000,000 points per obstacle dodged, and the mode ends when you crash or dodge 30 obstacles. Caution mode handles well, is just the right length, and rewards skill rather than just being a test of where the random obstacles happen to be. The only reasons why Caution isn’t higher on our list are that the points even for a good video mode aren’t as lucrative as they probably should be, and because–mild spoiler alert–other video modes with similar gameplay have it beat. Which ones? Keep reading! ## #4: Save the Girl - Junk Yard (Bally Williams, 1996) ![Save the Girl Junk Yard](https://admin.kineticist.com/assets/946adf71-a4c1-4495-99cd-b2c834b56f40.png?width=1200&height=628) Save the Girl fits perfectly into the absurd world of [Junk Yard](https://www.kineticist.com/games/pinball/junk-yard), and is by far the superior of the game’s two video modes. To play Save the Girl, first collect the Hair Dryer and Toaster pieces of junk from around the game, then shoot the doghouse scoop. If you don’t have the Hair Dryer and Toaster, you’ll play Run From Spike instead, which is a simple button-mashing mode. The goal of Save the Girl is to use your hair dryer/toaster amalgamation to shoot slices of hot toast at an intimidating dog named Spike, who is chasing a girl who is trying to take a bath. There are two windows to shoot at: press the left flipper button to shoot left, and the right flipper to shoot right. If you hit Spike 3 or 4 times as displayed before running out of time or toast shots (and without shooting the girl), you win the mode. The only real reward to this mode is points, but it can be played repeatedly with every 4th shot to the scoop, and each replay gets harder and more valuable. The time limit and toast ammo count go down, Spike can run faster, and both Spike and the girl will fake you out more, leading to more missed shots. The premise of this mode is incredibly silly, but the gameplay is simple to understand, and it’s incredibly rewarding to hone the reaction time necessary to take down the higher levels. Junk Yard understood the assignment when it comes to video modes, and the result is equal parts bizarre and hilarious.  ## #3: Duel of Wills - The Shadow (Bally Williams, 1994) ![Duel of Wills the Shadow](https://admin.kineticist.com/assets/20d6d61a-517f-4416-93a5-f0039108c4de.png?width=1200&height=628) Sometimes better known as Phurba Attack, Duel of Wills is one of the 6 main Scene modes on [The Shadow](https://www.kineticist.com/games/pinball/the-shadow), which are started at the right saucer. Like Caution earlier in the list, Duel of Wills is another video mode that uses the flipper buttons to move left and right to dodge obstacles, but its speed and snappiness are where it really shines. To complete the Duel of Wills, you must dodge 30 phurbas while also collecting items that appear periodically and award points by the millions or an extra ball. Elevating this mode over others like Caution is that pulling the gun trigger acts as a one-time smart bomb, clearing all of the phurbas on screen. The player character moves left and right surprisingly quickly, making it an action-packed mode with plenty of close calls. Easy to understand, hard to master, and full of constant rewards–the Phurba Attack is memorable for good reason. ## #2: Look, Waterskiers! - Fish Tales (Bally Williams, 1992) ![Look, Waterskiers! Fish Tales](https://admin.kineticist.com/assets/026fecc5-3d71-41bd-aa53-40d50806fec4.png?width=1200&height=628) [Fish Tales](https://www.kineticist.com/games/pinball/fish-tales) gives everybody the chance to live out one of their wildest dreams…firing torpedoes at annoying lakegoers. Okay, maybe that’s awfully intense, but the result is an extremely memorable and satisfying video mode. The second captive ball award lights this video mode, which is started by making the back saucer (via the left orbit). During waterskiers video mode, press the flippers or the cast button to shoot a torpedo, with the goal of hitting one of the skiers or boaters on the lake. Targets that are farther away score more points, but require leading the torpedo shot more than closer targets. You get 20 torpedoes, but there will be about 22-23 skiers over the course of the mode. Bonus points are awarded for hitting 10 or 20 skiers, and hitting enough back-row skiers will cause either an extra ball or a Big Score (20,000,000 points) to appear as well. Waterskiers video mode controls well, with no input delay, and is remarkably simple with a high skill ceiling. The 40,000,000-60,000,000 and possible extra ball available for a completion is well worth the time and the audiovisual package just makes the mode an all-around joy to play. Video modes just like this could have easily been added to a selection of other games with minimal changes and they would have been very welcome additions.  ## #1: ‘Freeway’ Video Mode - The Getaway: High Speed II (Bally Williams, 1992) ![‘freeway’ Video Mode the Getaway High Speed Ii](https://admin.kineticist.com/assets/e7094ff2-02c0-4036-8c78-f203859909b8.png?width=1200&height=628) This was always going to be at the top of this list, wasn’t it? [The Getaway](https://www.kineticist.com/games/pinball/the-getaway-high-speed-ii) gets it exactly right with its video mode, perfectly balancing difficulty and rewards while staying true to the game’s theme and even incorporating its unique hardware. The Getaway’s video mode can be played as either a Burn Rubber mystery award from the upper right saucer, or by shooting the same saucer after shifting to 3rd Gear. (To advance through the Gears, shoot orbits or the upper loop.)  Like several other video modes on this list, The Getaway prompts you to dodge obstacles, pressing the left and right flipper buttons to move your car around other traffic. The longer you survive, the more points you score, with a possible extra ball available on the path along the way and a 5,000,000 bonus waiting for you at the end. The game even shows on screen what your running total for the mode is, leaving no surprises at what rewards are available. What brings this video mode to another level, though, is the ability to pull the gearshift plunger up or down to increase or decrease your car’s speed, making the mode harder or easier–but also making the mode more or less valuable.  The Getaway comes as close as a pinball machine can to recreating the experience of driving down an interstate at high speed (no pun intended). It’s a nice surprise to see this video mode come up from the Burn Rubber mystery. It’s easy to learn but difficult to master, can be hugely valuable if played well, and is all around a perfect addition to The Getaway as a whole. If you agree or disagree with our choices or think we missed something, let us know in the comments below! ## Related - Game: [The Getaway: High Speed II](/games/pinball/the-getaway-high-speed-ii) - Game: [Junk Yard](/games/pinball/junk-yard) - Game: [Fish Tales](/games/pinball/fish-tales) - Game: [Creature from the Black Lagoon](/games/pinball/creature-from-the-black-lagoon) - Game: [Attack from Mars](/games/pinball/attack-from-mars) - Game: [Indiana Jones: The Pinball Adventure](/games/pinball/indiana-jones-the-pinball-adventure) - Game: [Indianapolis 500](/games/pinball/indianapolis-500) - Game: [Apollo 13](/games/pinball/apollo-13) - Game: [The Shadow](/games/pinball/the-shadow) - Game: [Doctor Who](/games/pinball/doctor-who-1992) --- _Canonical URL: https://www.kineticist.com/news/best-90s-video-modes_