Stern’s Iron Man, released in 2010 and designed by John Borg, is a famously fast and punishing machine — a stripped-down, no-mercy brawler that trades sprawling rules for sheer speed and danger. Its showpiece is a motorized Iron Monger figure that rises menacingly from beneath the playfield to be bashed into submission, the mechanical heart of a table that’s become a beloved cult favorite for its brutal, addictive pace.

The game is built around three multiballs, each with its own route: shoot the spinners and then pound the Iron Monger toy for Iron Monger Multiball, hit Whiplash five times for his multiball, and knock down eight drones before striking War Machine for that one. War Machine can be layered onto another multiball provided you start it first, and during it there’s unlimited add-a-ball for twenty seconds at the kicker — a window for huge scoring. The marquee chase is Do or Die, a 35-million hurry-up unlocked after clearing the fast-scoring modes, all three multiballs, and the drones.

Sharp players prep each mode to within a shot or two of starting before launching anything, smoothing the climb to Do or Die, and they start Iron Man’s 2X scoring just before Do or Die to collect that hurry-up at double value — up to 70 million. There’s even a wrinkle on hard settings, where the Iron Monger only rises if you hit the center spinner as your final shot. Brutal, brisk, and endlessly replayable, Iron Man is Borg distilling pinball to its most ruthless essence — a short, sharp shock of a machine that dares you to survive long enough to cash in.