# How to Return to Base in Data East's Laser War by [solar_espeon](/author/solar-espeon) · September 18, 2026 · [Pinball Tutorial](/news/category/pinball-tutorial) > Data East released its first pinball machine in May 1987. Here, solar_espeon runs through Laser War's locks and multiball, the three Base saucer lanes, the Laser Kick, and an end-of-ball bonus worth paying attention to. [Stern Pinball](https://www.kineticist.com/manufacturers/stern-pinball-inc) is turning 40 years old! While the company’s roots extend back to the 1930s through [Chicago Coin](https://www.kineticist.com/manufacturers/chicago-coin-machine-mfg-co), the modern Stern as we know it was founded in 1986 as [Data East Pinball](https://www.kineticist.com/manufacturers/data-east-usa-inc), and released their first game in May 1987. [*Laser War*](https://www.kineticist.com/games/pinball/laser-war) was the first game to feature stereo sound with a subwoofer, and “Digital Stereo” became a marketing point for many early Data East games. At 2,569 copies produced, it’s not the easiest game to find, but it’s a campy classic with surprisingly catchy gameplay. Here’s how to keep yourself out of the crossfire on Laser War. ## Playfield Overview ![Laser War Playfield Overview](https://admin.kineticist.com/assets/eb7f60d1-fd3d-4d00-bc50-be180a926b8c.png?width=1200&height=628) Laser War is a two-flipper game that color-codes its features rather nicely. 3 banks of 3 standup targets each are labeled with red, yellow, and blue lights; these three banks correspond to nearby kickout saucers with red, yellow, and blue inserts and star rollovers. One large ramp dominates the upper left of the playfield, looping around and dropping the ball on the right flipper in front of the slingshot rather than through the in lane. The top lanes and bumpers are somewhat sectioned off from the rest of the table in the upper right, with the ball only being able to leave this area via the right orbit. Laser War shows scores on 7-digit displays. Any score above 1-2 million is very strong, with default replay scores usually hovering around 1,500,000. Scores above 5,000,000 usually require quite a lot of grinding and repetition. In a multiplayer game, Laser War will use two of the displays that do not correspond to the current player’s score to show how far behind 1st place, or how far ahead of 2nd place, the current player is. ## Abridged Laser War Tutorial ![Abridged Tutorial for Laser War](https://admin.kineticist.com/assets/7740f6bd-4c65-45de-9469-40f0a9f47b6f.png?width=1200&height=628) - Always be making progress toward multiball. Complete a set of colored targets to light that color’s saucer for a lock, then lock a ball to start 2-ball play. In 2-ball, relock both balls within about 15 seconds of each other to advance to 3-ball, where colored targets advance the jackpot and the ramp scores the jackpot. - Be ready to use lane change at all times to rotate which top lanes are lit and get multipliers whenever you can. - Successive shots to the ramp qualify a playfield multiplier of up to 5x, but only for about 7 seconds, making it difficult to use on anything other than another ramp shot or a bonus collect at any saucer. - Lit in lanes relight the left kickback. If the in lanes are not lit, shoot the ramp to light them both. ## Top Lanes and Bumpers ![The W-A-R top lanes lit red, yellow and blue with 2K ADVANCE under each, three pop bumpers above them, and the colored saucers below](https://admin.kineticist.com/assets/9d69b11c-df2b-4092-a16b-c2c49eb6c980.jpg?width=1020&height=1360) Laser War does not have a skill shot. Any plunge must go all the way up to the top of the table toward the W-A-R top lanes. Make an unlit lane to light it. Flipper lane change is available on the right flipper only. Whether lit or not, top lanes score 2,000 points and add 2,000 to the red, yellow, or blue bonus (for the left, center, or right top lanes respectively). Completing WAR at the top lanes advances the bonus multiplier by 1, up to a maximum of 5x. Reaching 5x bonus lights the ramp for extra ball. All pop bumpers score 100. The position of the red and blue pop bumpers directly below the W and R lanes invites a lot of up and down action, where the bumper can cause the ball to trigger one top lane repeatedly. Use flipper lane change liberally to get as many bonus multipliers as possible from this whenever it may happen. The ball can only leave the top lane and bumper area through the lower right of the pop bumper nest. However, there are still many angles and speeds at which a ball can leave the pops. Trajectories sending the ball toward the center drain and right out lane are both reasonably common. A ball leaving the pops is one of the most dangerous parts of the game, so always be on your guard. ## Locks and Multiball ![Locks and Multiball](https://admin.kineticist.com/assets/374c57c7-f980-48d5-b474-477e4078342d.png?width=1200&height=628) To light a lock, complete a bank of colored standup targets by solidly lighting all 3 targets in the bank. These targets score 5,000 when not lit, 10,000 when lit, and 15,000 points plus a bonus advance when flashing. Hitting a flashing target lights it solidly. Depending on game settings and whether or not multiball has been played, the game may start with all 3 targets flashing so they can be hit in any order, or just one target can be flashing and you’ll have to hit them in left to right order to light them. When one or more color target banks are completed, the large red insert in the middle of the table reading Return to Base will flash. Shoot a saucer corresponding to a completed bank — red to the left of the ramp, yellow to the right of the ramp, and blue in the lower right — to lock that ball. On standard settings, shooting a color saucer before completing that color’s targets will spot one of the targets in the corresponding bank. This means that, if you can find a saucer lane to use as a bailout shot, you can still qualify locks while entirely avoiding the horizontal momentum induced by shots to standup targets. This functionality can be disabled, which would require the targets to be used to qualify a Base lock. The red and blue saucers eject the ball back the way it came, but the yellow saucer ejects the ball to the top lanes area. As soon as 1 ball is locked, a 2nd ball is fed to the shooter lane, and 2-ball multiball begins as soon as that second ball enters the playfield. Now, the goal is to relock both balls. A relock can occur at any color saucer, but you can’t relock both balls at the same saucer. Once one ball is relocked, you have about 15 seconds to relock the second ball as well, or the first ball will be kicked out. Relocking both balls successfully will spit a 3rd ball into the shooter lane, and 3-ball multiball starts when the 3rd ball is plunged. Only in 3-ball multiball is the jackpot qualified. The Ion Jackpot starts at 100,000 points. Hitting an unlit color standup target will light it and add 100,000 to the Ion Jackpot, for a maximum of 1,000,000 points if all 9 targets are hit. Shoot the ramp to collect the Ion Jackpot. The Jackpot can only be earned once per 3-ball multiball, so be sure to build it up as high as you can before making any ramp shot. In addition, hitting a certain number of color targets in 3-ball multiball before collecting the Ion Jackpot — 6 by default, but can be anywhere from 3 to 9 — lights a Special that alternates between the out lanes on bumper or slingshot hits, and can score a free game, an extra ball, or 100,000 points. Multiball never really gets more difficult to start or qualify, so starting it should always be the primary focus in single ball play. Carefully consider which standup targets have a controllable feed or which saucers are particularly easy to find on the flipper. Note that the yellow saucer lane is often easier to shoot from the left flipper rather than the right. ## More About the “Base” Saucer Lanes ![The three Base saucers lit red, blue and yellow, with the numbered 1, 2 and 3 award inserts in front of them reading LITES 100K, BONUS HOLD and XTRA BALL](https://admin.kineticist.com/assets/18170614-a164-40fd-b615-e379cc33587b.jpg?width=1020&height=1360) Whether it is lit for a lock/relock or not, shooting a color saucer adds 3,000 points to that color’s bonus, then scores that color’s bonus (ignoring any bonus multipliers earned from the top lanes; those only come into play at the end of the ball). The red and yellow saucer lanes have spinners in front of them, which score 100 points per spin normally or 500 per spin if the red or yellow standup targets have been completed. The three saucer lanes will also each be lit or flashing with a white 1, a yellow 2, or a red 3. When one of these is flashing in front of a saucer, shoot that saucer to light the number solidly. Lighting 1 at all three saucers lights the ramp for 100,000 points. Lighting 2 at all three saucers lights the ramp for Hold Bonuses. Lighting 3 at all three saucers lights the ramp for Extra Ball. After an award is lit at the ramp in this way, the saucers will start flashing a number once again. It appears to be somewhat random which number is picked, and the awards are not always made available in 1-2-3 order. The extra ball lit at the ramp for completing the 3s can be collected multiple times in one game. ## The Ramp and Playfield Multipliers ![The Ramp and Playfield Multipliers](https://admin.kineticist.com/assets/699d5537-edb8-4199-a79e-f27fb5d19ffa.png?width=1200&height=628) Shots to the ramp score 25,000 points in addition to anything else that is lit at the ramp. Shooting the ramp itself or making a lit in lane will cause the “Ramp Multiplies Scores” insert near the flippers to flash for about 7 seconds. While this insert is flashing, shots to the ramp increase a playfield multiplier by 1, up to a maximum of 5x. The playfield multiplier itself also only lasts for about 7 seconds, and you must continuously shoot the ramp to re-up the time. Since the ramp drops the ball in front of the right slingshot rather than into the right in lane, this is quite difficult to do. The ramp can also be set to award 3 advances of each bonus, and relight the in lanes if they are not lit. Both of these features can be independently disabled in the operator settings. ## “Laser Kick” Left Out Lane Kickback ![The Laser Kick left outlane with its arrow insert lit and the LITE LASER KICK & RAMP target above it](https://admin.kineticist.com/assets/5a84232e-8eb6-4988-8b66-a62b31fa0abc.jpg?width=1020&height=1360) The Laser Kick fires the ball upwards behind the red standup targets and in a path that curves toward the yellow standup targets. The Laser Kick unlights once used, and can only be relit by making a lit in lane. If the in lanes are not lit, shooting the ramp relights them, unless the game is set to particularly difficult settings. The Laser Kick can be set to either on or off at the start of each ball. ## End of Ball Bonus ![End of Ball Bonus](https://admin.kineticist.com/assets/141c7d12-671c-4b68-b4c8-422442cffefa.png?width=1200&height=628) Laser War has three separate bonuses: fittingly, they are red, yellow, and blue. Bonuses are advanced by 1,000 by shooting a flashing standup target of that color; 2,000 by making that color’s top lane; or 3,000 by shooting that color’s saucer lane. Shooting the ramp can also award 3,000 points to each bonus. A single color’s bonus is equal to the sum of all lit numbers in the circle of inserts near the slingshots, and each bonus maxes out at 31,000. Bonus multipliers are earned by completing the WAR top lanes, and max out at 5x. Outside of the initial plunge, the top lanes can be accessed via the yellow saucer lane or the right orbit. Shooting a saucer lane scores that color’s bonus, ignoring the bonus multiplier. At the end of the ball, all 3 bonuses are scored with the bonus multiplier applied, for a potential end of ball bonus of 5x 3x 31,000 = 465,000 points. Base bonus is only carried from ball to ball if Hold Bonuses was earned by shooting the ramp after lighting the yellow 2 at all three color saucers. The bonus multiplier can never be held from ball to ball. Reaching 5x bonus and maxing out one color at 31,000 bonus are not particularly difficult tasks, so the end of ball bonus ends up being valuable enough that it shouldn’t be disregarded. ## espie’s Laser War Recommendations ![espie’s Recommendations](https://admin.kineticist.com/assets/082bbbaa-aa5e-458d-8e70-dc6f51ef96b4.png?width=1200&height=628) - Always spend single-ball play trying to get back into multiball. Multiball is never particularly hard to qualify, and the playfield multiplier is too difficult to build up and lasts for too little time to be worthwhile. - Watch the top lanes for up and down action to fast track your way to bonus multipliers. - If colored saucers are set to spot colored targets toward lighting locks, you may want to consider never shooting for targets directly and getting all of your lock progress from saucer shots. This is often safer and also potentially more valuable than going for targets thanks to the extra bonus advances and bonus collects. - When you reach 3-ball play, the game is extremely enthusiastic about “shoot the Ion Cannon!”, but it’s very worthwhile to build the jackpot value first, even if doing so comes at the cost of one of your three balls. Since there’s only one jackpot per multiball, collecting it at just 100,000 or 200,000 leaves a lot of points on the table. ## Related - Game: [Laser War](/games/pinball/laser-war) --- _Canonical URL: https://www.kineticist.com/news/laser-war-tutorial_