Yeah, baby — Stern’s 2001 Austin Powers swaggers onto the floor with all the groovy confidence of its shagadelic namesake, and Lonnie Ropp and John Borg packed the playfield with toys worthy of a swinging spy. There’s a laser cannon gun, a Dr. Evil who rises menacingly from the playfield, a vertical spinning Time Machine magnet, and a “dancing” Austin to keep the mod party going. It’s a loud, irreverent, deeply 2000s machine, and once you crack its structure it reveals a satisfying mode-and-multiball chase underneath the innuendo.
The core loop is elegantly clear: hit each main shot four times to start a mode or multiball, then chase the toilet and center shots to ignite the multiball action. There’s serious reward for ambition here — the first time you start each of the six modes pays a fat secret bonus, and winning a mode pays it again, so completion-minded players rack up points the casual flailer never sees. The center-shot multiball stays available only until you conquer it by hitting every shot and finishing at the center for the super jackpot, while the toilet demands a grueling stretch of shots to win. The skill shot is a treat: plunge hard into the flashing lane and switch the blinking light with your flippers.
To truly beat the game, you’ll thread Virtucon multiball, complete every mission, and finish at the Austin scoop and Moonbase once all modes are done. Austin Powers is pure turn-of-the-millennium fun — a machine that doesn’t take itself seriously yet quietly rewards the disciplined player who learns its loop. Oh, behave.