Pinball (1984 video game)

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Pinball
P NES.PNG
North American cover art
Developer(s)Nintendo R&D1
Publisher(s)Nintendo
Programmer(s)
Composer(s)Yukio Kaneoka
SeriesMario
Platform(s)Famicom/NES, Arcade
Release
  • Famicom/NES
    • JP: February 2, 1984
    • NA: October 18, 1985
    • EU: September 1, 1986
  • Arcade (Vs. Pinball)
    • JP: July 26, 1984[1]
    • NA: October 1984
  • Famicom Disk System
    • JP: May 30, 1989
Genre(s)Pinball
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer
Arcade systemNintendo VS. System

Pinball[a] is a pinball video game developed and released in 1984 by Nintendo for the Famicom. It is based on a Game & Watch unit of the same name, and was later released as an arcade game for the Nintendo VS. System in Japan and North America that year. In 1985, it was a launch game for the Nintendo Entertainment System in North America.

Gameplay[]

The player controls the paddles of a virtual pinball machine. Two screens represent the traditional pinball table plus a bonus mode. The player launches a ball with the plunger from the first screen—the bottom of the pinball table—through the top of the screen to the second screen. Play moves to the first screen if the ball falls through the bottom of the top screen and returns to the top screen if the ball is hit back through the space at the top of the first screen. The player controls the flippers on either screen to deflect the ball to keep it from falling off the bottom of the lower screen.

Pinball has a secondary Breakout-like mode, which the player reaches by hitting the ball into a bonus hole that takes the player to a bonus stage to control Mario carrying a platform. The object of this mode is to rescue Pauline who had debuted with Mario in Donkey Kong (1981). The player achieves this by bouncing the ball off Mario's platform and hitting various targets, the destruction of which also earns points. When the blocks under her are all gone, she will drop. Catching her on Mario's platform earns bonus points, but allowing her to hit the ground causes the player to lose.

Re-releases[]

Pinball was re-released on NES in 1985, and for the Family Computer Disk System on May 30, 1989.

The game is unlockable within the 2001 games Dōbutsu no Mori for Nintendo 64 and Animal Crossing for GameCube. The GameCube version supports Advance Play, allowing Pinball to be played on a Game Boy Advance via a link cable. In 2002, Pinball was re-released for the e-Reader on the Game Boy Advance.

Pinball was released on Virtual Console for the Wii in 2006 (November 19 in North America, December 2 in Japan, and December 15 in PAL region) and Wii U (on October 24, 2013).

Reception[]

In Japan, Game Machine listed VS. Pinball in its October 1, 1984 issue as being the twenty-fourth most-successful table arcade unit of the month.[3]

Notes[]

  1. ^ Japanese: ピンボール, Hepburn: Pinbōru

References[]

  1. ^ "Flyer Fever - Golf / Pinball (Japan)". Archived from the original on July 20, 2018. Retrieved September 2, 2017.
  2. ^ "Satoru Iwata – 1999 Developer Interview". Retrieved April 15, 2017.
  3. ^ "Game Machine's Best Hit Games 25 - テーブル型TVゲーム機 (Table Videos)". Game Machine (in Japanese). No. 245. Amusement Press, Inc. 1 October 1984. p. 35.

External links[]

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