Metallica Remastered: What's New?

Metallica Remastered has begun releasing at locations across the world! To commemorate the new machine’s arrival, I figured I’d discuss the changes that have been made to the machine from the old one to spread the word about how scoring has slightly changed. The original Metallica had software designed by the legendary Lyman Sheats (RIP), but the software for this remaster was headed by Raymond Davidson who patches up some of the original machine’s rules while introducing some new ones.

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For brevity’s sake, this article will be written with the assumption that you know the rules of the original Metallica and its interesting multiball / mode structure. If you’re brand new to the machine, fellow contributor James McFatter has compiled his own tutorial for the 2013 Metallica, and there are plenty of YouTube videos that can function as tutorials as well. This article will discuss the ins and outs of the new code and touch on what changed between the original’s final code release and this new remaster.

New Mode! 72 Seasons

Before: Completing the pick targets at any time, whether during multiball or single-ball play, lit super spinner and advanced towards band members. The third band member lit (ie. 6 completions of pick targets) would light special at the right outlane. Blackened mode would start after collecting all four band members (ie. 10 completions of pick targets).

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Now: A new mode has been added to incentivize completing the pick targets during single-ball play. During multiball, the pick targets behave just as they did before and will light the snake to lock a ball and start 2x playfield for 20 seconds. During single-ball, non-mode play, however, completing all four targets will start a countdown to collect 72 switch hits before the ball drains. These switch hits can only be collected during single-ball play. Hitting the pick targets during this countdown boosts the value each switch adds to the targets during 72 Seasons.

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Once all 72 switch hits have been made, 72 Seasons will start. All four pick targets are lit to score a toy jackpot that increases with each one scored, and increases by continuing to hit switches around the playfield. The mode ends once either 72 seconds have expired, or all four toy jackpots are scored.

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Like before, completing the pick targets will light super spinner during both single-ball play and multiball. However, they will no longer advance band members. The new rule for band members is described later in this guide and involves collecting jackpots during the four multiballs to qualify them.

New Mode! Hardwired Hurry-Up

Before: N/A

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Now: Hardwired Hurry-Up is a new addition to the game that allows players to score points while qualifying Crank it Up modes. The mode lights at the scoop when all five “hardwired” inserts have been lit solid, hitting each major shot once in the process. While Hardwired is lit, and the player is still in single-ball play, the “hardwired” inserts can be shot again to boost the value of each hurry-up. Hardwired can only be started during single-ball, non-mode play.

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Hardwired lights all five shots to score the hurry-up value that was set at the beginning of the mode, which starts at 2M and increases by 250k with each “boost” scored prior. Four unique shots must be hit to light the final shot of the set for the hardwired jackpot, which starts at the combined value of all four hurry-ups.

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Completing the five "hardwired" inserts while the hurry-up is lit at the scoop, along with boosting the hurry-up value substantially, awards a self-destruct use at the action button. This spots a shot during the hurry-up (prioritizing the left shots on the playfield) and up to 3 can be stacked at once.

New Rule! Resurrection Ball Save

Before: N/A

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Now: Hitting the grave marker drop targets increases bonus X and counts down towards lighting both outlanes for resurrection, which will save the ball if it drains down either lit outlane. 3 grave marker hits are required to light resurrection the first time, increasing by 3 for every subsequent resurrection.

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Resurrection cannot be advanced if either ball save is already lit. If the “proper” ball save is running at the start of a multiball or Crank it Up mode, resurrection will not be used up; it will only unlight once the ball save has expired and a ball drains down the lit outlane.

New Rule! “And Justice for All” Multiball

Before: Hitting lit shots during Lady Justice just scored points awards that increased with each rapid flashing shot hit.

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Now: This multiball is exclusive to machines with the topper installed but has a substantial impact on Lady Justice mode and its importance to the game rules. Hitting the flashing shots during Lady Justice now lights up letters on the topper in red; when METALLICA is spelled out completely, “And Justice for All” multiball will start, with left and right shots alternating for jackpots. Super jackpots can be earned at one of the ramps when lit, and their multiplier is increased by spelling METALLICA again through jackpots and double jackpots. The first three super jackpots add a ball.

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Like the other multiball modes in the machine, And Justice for All can only be stacked with coffin multiball in which case the latter must be started first. Normal Lady Justice mode can still start at any time, but “red” METALLICA letters can only be earned if Lady Justice is running on its own. And Justice for All is not required to complete the game, just an extra bonus for customers who bought the topper.

Rules Change! Band Members & Blackened Mode

Before: Band members were qualified by completing sets of pick standup targets. Once all four were lit, Blackened mode would start.

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Now: Band members are directly linked to the machine’s four multiball modes: electric chair, grave marker, snake, and coffin. Starting a multiball, or collecting a super jackpot during any of themboosts the level of the corresponding band member by 1 up to a max of 8. The level of each band member correlates to scoring during Blackened mode, which now must be started at the scoop when qualified by lighting all four band members.

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The band members and multiballs they correspond to are as follows:

• Robert: grave marker (super jackpots, every multiplier on the super jackpot adds +1 level)
• James: electric chair (super jackpots)
• Lars: coffin (normal jackpots, only one super jackpot is required to reach level 8)
• Kirk: snake (snake combo jackpots & super jackpots)

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Multiball scoring has also been increased and now depends on the totals of all items collected, not just the items corresponding to the multiball.

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Blackened mode has also been substantially changed to a mini-wizard multiball mode that takes priority over Crank it Up if both are lit. The band members' levels are used to determine the jackpot value and add balls to the 4-ball multiball. All scoring is multiplied by the number of balls in play minus 1, and a variety of red (jackpot) and purple (2x jackpot) shots are available. Hitting the purple shots relights the red shots and "blackens" the purple shot made. A super jackpot can be earned by blackening every single shot!

Rules Change! Crank it Up Score Balancing

Before: Players would often prioritize “For Whom the Bell Tolls” and “Fade to Black” Crank it Up modes over the other two.

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Now: The four Crank it Up modes have been slightly refined in the remaster to offer more situational usage for all four modes and reduce scoring discrepancies from the original release.

• For Whom the Bell Tolls: The completion bonus (for making all 5 shots 3 times) now behaves properly, starting at 15M + 2.5M per completed mode (on the original it was always 50M due to a glitch). Jackpot scoring at the shots that already have all 3 inserts lit has been reduced. Still a great mode but now feels more equal to the other options.
• Fade to Black: No changes from the original. This mode can still be juicy thanks to the spinners included by default on the remaster and is the “safest” mode of the four, but scores tend to be lower than in others. Remember to aim for the flashing shots for more mode progress!
• Battery: This mode received substantial changes from the original to make it a viable option. Battery was objectively the worst Crank it Up mode on the original machine because of the high risk and low reward involved for shooting Sparky repeatedly. On the remaster, hitting Sparky now lights all five shots to increase the value of hitting him, with the flashing shot adding 2x to the value. Massive scores are possible now in Battery with accurate shooting and well-timed recovery skills, becoming a proper high-risk, high-reward mode.
• Enter Sandman: No changes from the original but this mode was always one I tend to champion. At its core it’s a weaker version of Bell Tolls, but the precision shooting where all switches change the shots that must be made next appeals to why I enjoy playing this machine. Not a bad mode at all – still not my first choice but it can be worth quite a bit.‍
• End of the Line: The “wizard mode” of Metallica is infamous for scoring way more than anything else in the machine. While still incredibly valuable, scoring has now been slightly reduced. Only 25% of each Crank it Up mode value is used for each super jackpot, and the super jackpots’ order is now determined in order from lowest-to-highest scoring mode.