Rolling the bones since 1991.
Rush (2022) has a great many allusions to the band's discography that extends beyond the songs used in-game, including references to albums that didn't make the cut and reuse of recognizable imagery from their cover artwork.
- The Time Machine Tour
inspired several important parts of the game:- The clockwork aesthetic present throughout much of the game's art package (particularly the Limited Edition, which focuses on gear imagery on the apron and cabinet sides) is largely based on the tour's artwork◊.
- The game's Excuse Plot about traveling through time is naturally derived from the overall theme of the Time Machine Tour.
- The clockwork aesthetic present throughout much of the game's art package (particularly the Limited Edition, which focuses on gear imagery on the apron and cabinet sides) is largely based on the tour's artwork
- The airship seen on the back cover of Clockwork Angels can be seen throughout the game's backglass art and near the back of the Hemisphere ramp on the playfield.
- The clock with unusual symbols on it, a visual motif common to both the Time Machine Tour and the album Clockwork Angels, is omnipresent throughout the game's artwork. Higher-tier versions of the game include a model of Neil Peart's bass drum that not only features the same set of symbols but has a functioning clock hand on it.
- Hemispheres gets various nods:
- The right ramp is dubbed the "Hemispheres Ramp" in promotional material. It has "Rush" engraved on it in cursive, exactly how it's written on the album's cover artwork.
- The brains from the album artwork are visible on the Pro version's backglass and the playfield (the latter fittingly placing them around the insert for "La Villa Strangiato," one of its songs).
- The Limited edition backglass directly replicates most of the front cover, with a naked man standing on a brain.
- 2112 receives many nods:
- The Starman icon is front and center at the bottom of the playfield and also appears in every version's art package.
- Both the Pro version's backglass and the Premium version's side artwork position it on the ground (from the viewer's perspective), exactly as it appears on the original album cover.
- Some lines in-game (like the callout for getting a Combo Super Jackpot) are delivered by Ed Robertson, using the same vocal filter Neil Peart used for a spoken word section in "2112"'s final movement.note
- If the player somehow doesn't add anything to their end-of-ball bonus, they automatically get 21,120 points.
- There are multiple allusions to Test for Echo:
- The inuksuk from the front cover appears throughout the game's art and display videos (including the tilt animation, which depicts it toppling over).
- In the Premium version, the side of the cabinet and the apron underneath the playfield depict satellite dishes peeking through the snow, paying homage to the album's back cover.
- Getting a tilt sometimes causes Alex Lifeson to say "Driven to the edge of a deep, dark hole." This line is verbatim lifted from "Driven," a song that originally appeared on Test for Echo.
- The achievement using The Weapon to automatically score every available shot from right to left is called "The Color of Right," a song from this album.
- The inuksuk
- The owl from the cover of Fly by Night appears prominently both in-gamenote and on every non-Limited Edition backglass.
- Roll the Bones, an album which is otherwise absent from the game's song list, gets referenced visually in other places:
- The Mystery award is named "Roll the Bones", and the area of the playfield where it's acquired features a drawing of two dice (referencing the prevalence of dice on the cover art).
- Two versions' backglasses reference the album's cover, with a boy kicking a skull down a road with dice forming a wall behind him.
- The Pro version's artwork has a nearly 1:1 recreation, the only differences being that the skull is in the talons of an owl and that the wall of dice is only partially constructed (so as to not obstruct other elements of the composition).
- The Limited Edition cabinet features part of the original album artwork on its side, among several others.
- Allusions to Power Windows:
- The cover art alone gets several references.
- The Pro version's backglass artwork is in large part based on the front cover, with the antiquated TVs and window being prominent.
- The eponymous window is visible on the far right of the Limited Edition backglass.
- During "The Big Money," Alex Lifeson will sometimes remark "don't pull out the plug - you'll lose your high score!" This directly references a lyric from the eponymous song (which opens the album) claiming that big money "sometimes pull[s] out the plug."
- The cover art alone gets several references.
- Vapor Trails gets a few references:
- One element that recurs throughout the game's artworknote is a half-red planet with visible streak lines behind it that heavily resembles the spherical object on the album's front cover.
- The skill shot animation - which depicts a pinball speeding by and "cutting" through a black background, leaving a white stripe - directly replicates the cover art.
- In addition to the original cover art being visible on the side of the cabinet, the Limited Edition backglass replicates the woman seen on the front of Permanent Waves.
- Signals gets a number of nods:
- The dalmatian and fire hydrant from the cover can be seen on both the Pro and Limited edition backglasses (much more prominently on the latter).
- A game mechanic allowing players to receive perks and spot shots by pressing the action button is called "The Weapon," a song from Signals.
- Both the Pro and Premium versions' backglass art features a rabbit in a hat, much like the cover of Presto.
- Moving Pictures:
- The cover artwork (depicting the Legislative Assembly of Ontario's building) gets two separate nods:
- The building can be seen in the background of the Pro version's backglass art.
- The Premium version's backglass is largely themed around the cover, including one of the red-clad movers running into the building, holding one of the artworks seen on the original album.
- There's an achievement named after the album that is obtained by using The Weapon on all three of the songs from the album included in the game ("Limelight," "Tom Sawyer," and "Red Barchetta").
- The cover artwork (depicting the Legislative Assembly of Ontario's building) gets two separate nods:
- The nut and bolt seen on the cover for Counterparts appears in two separate versions' art packages.
- They're visible in the top right of the Pro model's backglass art.
- The original album art can be seen on the side of the Premium cabinet's backbox.
- Both the Premium and Limited Edition cabinets have small bubbles in their side artwork that contain artwork directly lifted from Rush albums. In addition to ones that are referenced at other points in the art package, there are a few that are otherwise left out:
- Both higher-tier cabinets partially show the cover art for A Farewell to Kings and Grace Under Pressure.
- The Limited Edition cabinet includes Caress of Steel's front cover.
- The side of the Premium version's cabinet depicts speed lines surrounding the band's logo in a manner highly reminiscent of the front cover◊ of their self-titled debut album.
- On the playfield, the "Working Man" insert is accompanied by a drawing of a road with a snake on it that's modeled on the cover◊ to the live compilation album Working Men.note
- The "R-U-S-H" drop targets are decorated with fireworks, a cannon, a guillotine, and a piece of cake. All of these images allude to "Bastille Day", which opens with the line "there's no bread, let them eat cake" and mentions that "la guillotine will claim her bloody prize" in the chorus.
- The display animations for scoring during Far Cry Multiball, which plays the song of the same name from Snakes & Arrows, recreates the picture accompanying its lyrics in the original album's liner notes◊. While the original photo depicts a baby in a carriage on a dock being struck by lightning, this only happens in-game if the player achieves a Super Jackpot - otherwise, lightning strikes behind it instead.
- Combo jackpots invariably call up animations recalling the band's catalog:
- Collecting a combo jackpot briefly displays the cover of every studio album Rush has ever released.
- Getting a combo super jackpot shows every iteration of the band's logo (as it never stays the same between albums).
- The "Tom Sawyer" mode displays various rotisserie cookers and washing machines when the player successfully makes shots to progress. This references the band's habit out of placing these devices on stage during concerts, humorously "replacing" their bass amp.
- The live album Exit... Stage Left receives two references:
- The cover artwork appears on the side of the Limited Edition cabinet.
- The achievement for using The Weapon to "shoot" every shot from left to right is called "Exit... stage left," just like the album.
- Some of the achievements for acquiring in-game albums are named after the band's compilation albums:
- Getting 5 albums in a single game awards "Rush Through Time."
- Obtaining every single album in one game awards "Chronicles."
- Getting 5 albums in a single game awards "Rush Through Time
