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If you’re a rock fan or even just a fan of music in general, chances are you’ve heard of the band Rush at some point. They were significant contributors to “prog-rock” in the late 70s, briefly shifting to synthesizer-driven rock in the 80s before returning to their more traditional roots in the 90s… as traditional as you can call a band that constantly places random props on stage.
Writing this article, I barely had any knowledge about the band whatsoever prior to the release of Stern’s Rush in 2022, so the fact that the game very quickly won me over with its “easy to learn, hard to master” rules and cornball sense of humor speaks to how great it truly is. While the layout is unmistakably Borg, the rules were headed by Tim Sexton & Raymond Davidson, inviting a plethora of strategies comparable to mode boosting in Black Knight: Sword of Rage and the many methods of collecting years, comparable to trophy collecting in Avengers Infinity Quest. I’ve gotten a lot of questions from people asking how to best play Rush for high scores – I hope this article can help.
Take part in a wide variety of scenarios to collect time machine years for a trip to the far future of 2112, all accompanied by the music (and humor) of Rush.
The playfield of Rush is roughly a mirror image of that of TRON: Legacy, a common complaint that was lobbied against the game at release. However, just because it looks similar doesn’t mean it plays the exact same. Two banks of targets are located near the left and right flippers; on the left side are the instrument drop targets, which are important to complete as they will collect instruments that can be “activated” at the standup target behind them. On the right side of the playfield are the RUSH standup targets, which light the Bastille Day hurry-up at the right ramp when completed – all four targets must be shot again during the hurry-up to complete it.
The left side of the playfield is primarily occupied by the left orbit, which must be made as a precise shot between the game’s three bumpers, alongside the scoop and dead-end lane directly above it – and two side shots that must be made from the upper flipper. There are two entrances to the scoop, one that can be shot directly from the flippers (ideally made as a backhand from the left flipper) and one that can only be hit from the upper flipper. A great way to consistently shoot for the upper scoop is to shoot the left orbit and hold the upper flipper such that the momentum from the orbit shot propels the ball into the scoop.
The game’s major gimmick is the time machine located at the dead center of the playfield. Shooting the time machine starts modes, collects combo jackpots and albums, and starts multiball modes – needless to say, it’s an important shot to master and can best be hit with a controlled shot from the left flipper. If the time machine isn’t lit for anything, it will eject the ball directly to the flippers; otherwise, it will always feed the ball to the upper flipper. To the right of the time machine is the spinner lane, an easy way to feed the upper flipper and shoot for the side ramp and upper loop on the left side of the playfield.
The right half of the playfield is home to the game’s steep right ramp and two “light lock” targets gating it. The ramp and the targets are important shots to master, as Far Cry Multiball – awarded after locking two balls - can be a very lucrative multiball mode if played well. The right orbit is comparatively less important and can generally be ignored unless required during a mode. Also, on the right half of the playfield is an oft-ignored shot behind the upper flipper, used as an alternate way of collecting extra balls and to start the drum solo scoring feature when lit. Just like the right orbit, this shot is best left ignored – shots into the bumpers, even off the plunger, can be deadly.
The action button has several different uses, none of which are that obvious. If nothing is currently lit at the button, it will reposition the diverter between the two ramps, swapping where the ramps send the ball – generally not worth considering, but it can help if you struggle with post passing and want the ball on a certain flipper badly. If the button is flashing blue or green, holding it will use “The Weapon” and either spot every single playfield shot or add-a-ball, depending on what albums the player has and what modes are active. Using “The Weapon” strategically is key to massive scores on Rush.
Scoring on Rush is slightly lower than average for its era. Great players can expect to break a billion, but a great starting point for newer players is 50M or 100M. Scoring gradually becomes higher and higher as the game goes on – the farther you get in the game, the more points are at stake!
My #1 rule of thumb on Rush is to avoid full plunging at all costs. The bumpers on this machine can be deadly, and you’re better off short plunging to the upper flipper. This is also how you gain access to the game’s skill shots – they can either be awarded at the side ramp or side scoop or increased in value with repeated shots to the upper loop. Most importantly, each skill shot awards additional ball save time, a godsend on Rush machines set up for tournament play.
I’ve seen a few people confused about the song modes on Rush—not only what to do during them but also how they’re lit or determined. I hope this section will clear some things up.
Song modes are lit at the time machine by collecting the colored records flashing around the playfield. The song mode that starts is determined by what colored record the player has the most of. For instance, if the player has more green records than any other color, Limelight will be the next mode to start. You can boost the value of modes by collecting more records of any color before starting them.
Song modes are important to complete, especially in the early game, as each mode completed awards +5 years towards the next time machine upgrade, or +10 years if the mode was completed with a total score of at least 80M. Regardless of the score, each mode completed also allows the player to place a 2x shot multiplier on any colored record shot on the playfield. For multipliers, I like to ignore the right orbit at all costs and prioritize the innermost shots: the upper loop, dead-end, spinner lane, and right ramp.
The six song modes play in the following ways:
The other rule on this game that people ask me about all the time are the combo jackpots and their importance to overarching scoring strategy. They might not seem significant at first glance but they can be quite significant because of the albums that they award.
The flashing “1” inserts in front of every single shot indicate that they will start a 3-shot combo sequence – just shoot the flashing “2” and “3” shots that light following it to complete the combo and light the time machine for the combo jackpot, worth a value that increases with every subsequent combo jackpot you collect. While the points from combo jackpots are solid, especially with a 2x collect available at the side ramp immediately following scoring one, the big draw of combo jackpots are the albums awarded by scoring them.
I provided a graph in this section listing which albums correspond to which songs and, thus, which multiballs or song modes they’re linked to. If you have a matching album and currently running song mode or multiball, the action button will start flashing to activate the Weapon when held. If a song mode is running, the Weapon will collect all lit shots; if a multiball is running, then it will add-a-ball. You can have weapons of both types active, in which case the mode that was started first will be prioritized. This is a great way to get tons of mileage out of modes and multiballs!
There are six different multiball modes to start on Rush – three of them are started by shooting the time machine enough times, while the three others are started in other ways. Most of the multiballs are mutually exclusive, except for Headlong Flight that can stack with any currently running multiball.
At the start of the game, most of the multiball modes will only be 2-ball affairs. You can add balls either by completing the return lanes and collecting the mystery award at the scoop or by upgrading the time machine by collecting years (through other game achievements).
The multiball lit at the time machine can be changed by shooting the dead-end lane.
The instrument drop targets are another overlooked aspect of Rush's scoring strategy. They behave similarly to the drop targets on The Walking Dead and are similarly important, but for different reasons—they will increase the values of certain playfield features or award perks that can greatly boost scoring when “activated” at the standup target behind the drops. Lock an instrument in by shooting any drop target, then complete the drop targets to collect it. Freewill multiball lights after collecting one of each instrument.
The three instruments are:
Bastille Day hurry-up is a quick but difficult way to earn time machine years and some decent points. Once the RUSH standup targets have been completed, a shot to the right ramp starts the hurry-up, at which point the standup targets must be completed again to complete the hurry-up.
Bastille Day is generally not worth going for on its own, but during a hectic multiball, it might be worth going for. You can also substantially increase the base hurry-up values by looping the right ramp at any point during the hurry-up.
Here are my overall strategies for how I’d best approach scoring on Rush:
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