Pinball (1984 video game)

Last updated
Pinball
P NES.PNG
North American box art
Developer(s) Nintendo R&D1
HAL Laboratory [1]
Publisher(s) Nintendo
Programmer(s)
Composer(s) Yukio Kaneoka
Series Mario
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 [3]
    • NA: October 1984
  • Famicom Disk System
    • JP: May 30, 1989
Genre(s) Pinball
Mode(s) Single-player, multiplayer
Arcade system Nintendo VS. System

Pinball [lower-alpha 1] is a pinball video game developed by Nintendo and HAL Laboratory and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It is based on a Game & Watch unit of the same name, and was first released for the Famicom in Japan in 1984. It was later released as an arcade game for the Nintendo VS. System in Japan and North America in 1984. In 1985, it was a launch game for the Nintendo Entertainment System in North America.

Contents

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 latter can 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 on November 19, 2006 in North America, December 2 in Japan, and December 15 in PAL region, and on Wii U on October 24, 2013. It was released on Nintendo Switch Online on May 26, 2022.

Reception

Pinball received mixed to positive reviews. German magazine Power Play said that although the game was fun, it was not worth its price at the time, and thought it should be cheaper. [5] French publication Tilt praised the speed of the game, but noted the games drawbacks in having limited multiplayer support and the odd physics glitch. [6] Corbie Dillard from Nintendo Life reviewed it in 2006, stating that for 500 Wii Points, "you'd be hard-pressed to find a better game for those times when you just need a quick and simple pinball fix without a lot of bells & whistles". [4]

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. [7]

Notes

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

Related Research Articles

<i>Duck Hunt</i> 1984 video game

Duck Hunt is a 1984 light gun shooter video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). The game was first released in April 1984 in Japan for the Family Computer (Famicom) console and in North America as an arcade game for the Nintendo VS. System. It became a launch game for the NES in North America in October 1985, and was re-released in Europe two years later.

<i>Mario Bros.</i> 1983 video game

Mario Bros. is a 1983 platform game developed and published by Nintendo for arcades. It was designed by Shigeru Miyamoto and Gunpei Yokoi, Nintendo's chief engineer. Italian twin brother plumbers Mario and Luigi exterminate creatures, like turtles (Koopas) and crabs emerging from the sewers by knocking them upside-down and kicking them away. The Famicom/Nintendo Entertainment System version is the first game to be developed by Intelligent Systems. It is part of the Mario franchise, but originally began as a spin-off from the Donkey Kong series.

<i>Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels</i> 1986 video game

Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels is a 1986 platform game developed and published by Nintendo. A sequel to Super Mario Bros. (1985), it was originally released in Japan for the Family Computer Disk System as Super Mario Bros. 2 on June 3, 1986. Nintendo of America deemed it too difficult for its North American audience and instead released an alternative sequel, also titled Super Mario Bros. 2, in 1988. It was renamed The Lost Levels and first released internationally in the 1993 Super Nintendo Entertainment System compilation Super Mario All-Stars. It has been rereleased for Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, Wii, Wii U, Nintendo 3DS and Nintendo Switch.

<i>Donkey Kong 3</i> 1983 video game

Donkey Kong 3 is a shooter video game developed and published by Nintendo. It is the third installment in the Donkey Kong series and was released for arcades worldwide in 1983, the Family Computer in 1984, then in North America for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1986. The gameplay departs from previous Donkey Kong games, and it stars an exterminator named Stanley instead of Mario. The game was a modest financial success in Japan, but its commercial failure in the United States rendered the Donkey Kong series inactive until the release of Donkey Kong (1994) and Donkey Kong Country.

<i>Wrecking Crew</i> (video game) 1985 video game

Wrecking Crew is an action game developed and published by Nintendo. Designed by Yoshio Sakamoto, it was first released as an arcade video game for the Nintendo VS. System in 1984, titled Vs. Wrecking Crew with a simultaneous two-player mode. It was released as a single-player game for the Family Computer (Famicom) console in 1985, and as a launch game for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) later that year. A sequel, Wrecking Crew '98, was released in Japan in 1998 for the Super Famicom.

<i>Balloon Fight</i> 1984 video game

Balloon Fight is an action video game developed by Nintendo and HAL Laboratory and published by Nintendo. The original arcade version was released for the Nintendo VS. System internationally as Vs. Balloon Fight, while its Nintendo Entertainment System counterpart was released in Japan in 1985 and internationally in 1986.

<i>Mach Rider</i> 1985 video game

Mach Rider is a vehicular combat racing video game developed by HAL Laboratory and published by Nintendo. It was first released for the Famicom console and Nintendo VS. System arcade board in Japan in 1985, then in North America for the VS. System in 1985 and Nintendo Entertainment System in 1986, and then for the PAL region in 1987. It was released on the Virtual Console for the Wii (2007), Nintendo 3DS (2013), Wii U (2014), and on the Nintendo Switch Online service (2024).

<i>Tennis</i> (1984 video game) 1984 video game

Tennis is a tennis video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Family Computer (Famicom). It was originally released in Japan in 1984, with an arcade game version titled VS. Tennis released for the Nintendo VS. System the same year, becoming a hit at Japanese and American arcades that year; it was the sixth top-performing arcade game of 1984 in the United States. Tennis is one of 17 launch games for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) in North America and Europe. The game was re-released for the Game Boy as a launch game in North America.

<i>F1 Race</i> 1984 video game

F1 Race is a racing video game developed by HAL Laboratory and published by Nintendo for the Famicom in 1984. A version was released in 1990 for the Game Boy in Japan and in 1991 in Europe and North America, including the Four Player Adapter for four-player gameplay.

<i>Devil World</i> 1984 video game

Devil World is a maze video game developed by Nintendo and Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It was released for the Famicom in Japan on October 5, 1984, and for the Nintendo Entertainment System in Europe on July 15, 1987. It was re-released on the Wii's Virtual Console in Japan on January 22, 2008, and in PAL regions on October 31, 2008. Nintendo of America's content policies prohibiting religious icons prevented the game's release in North America. It is Shigeru Miyamoto's first console-only game after a legacy of arcade development, and for many years was his only game not to be localized to North America until it was released as part of the Nintendo Switch Online service in 2023.

The Virtual Console is a defunct line of downloadable video games for Nintendo's Wii and Wii U home video game consoles and the Nintendo 3DS family of systems.

<i>Golf</i> (1984 video game) 1984 video game

Golf is a golf video game developed by Nintendo and HAL Laboratory and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It was originally released for the Famicom in Japan in 1984, with a port to the Nintendo VS. System as VS. Golf or Stroke and Match Golf, released in arcades internationally, followed by another arcade version called VS. Ladies Golf. The original was re-released for the NES in North America in 1985, and for the Famicom Disk System in 1986 in Japan.

<i>Alien Crush</i> 1988 video game

Alien Crush is a pinball video game developed by Compile for the PC Engine/TurboGrafx-16. It was released in 1988. The game is the first installment in the Crush Pinball series. It was followed by three sequels, Devil's Crush, Jaki Crush, and Alien Crush Returns. Alien Crush was later re-released via emulation on the Virtual Console for Wii, 3DS, and Wii U, and for PlayStation 3 through PlayStation Network.

<i>Devils Crush</i> 1990 video game

Devil's Crush is a pinball video game developed by Compile for the TurboGrafx-16 and released in 1990. The second installment in the Crush Pinball series after Alien Crush, the game has an eerie occult theme with skulls, skeletons, and demons. It was later followed by Jaki Crush and Alien Crush Returns.

<i>Alien Crush Returns</i> 2008 video game

Alien Crush Returns is a WiiWare pinball video game developed by Tamsoft and published by Hudson Soft. It is a sequel/remake to 1988's Alien Crush, and is the fourth installment in the Crush Pinball series. It was released in Japan on August 26, 2008, in North America on November 3 and in Europe on November 7.

<i>Wii Party</i> 2010 party video game published by Nintendo

Wii Party is a party video game developed by NDcube and published by Nintendo for the Wii video game console. The game heavily borrows game play elements from the Mario Party series, another Nintendo franchise. It is also the first game in the Wii series that Shigeru Miyamoto did not produce. The game was released in Japan on July 8, 2010, in North America on October 3, 2010, in Australia on October 7, 2010, and in Europe on October 8, 2010. Wii Party was revealed by Satoru Iwata in a Financial Results Briefing on May 7, 2010. It received mixed to positive reviews from critics and sold 9.35 million copies worldwide as of September 2021. A sequel, Wii Party U, was released for the Wii U on October 25, 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Famicom 3D System</span> Accessory for the Nintendo Family Computer

The Famicom 3D System is a Japan-exclusive accessory for the Nintendo Family Computer released in 1987.

<i>Super Mario Bros.</i> 1985 video game

Super Mario Bros. is a platform game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). It is the successor to the 1983 arcade game Mario Bros. and the first game in the Super Mario series. It was originally released in September 1985 in Japan for the Family Computer; following a US test market release for the NES, it was converted to international arcades on the Nintendo VS. System in early 1986. The NES version received a wide release in North America that year and in PAL regions in 1987.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amiibo Tap: Nintendo's Greatest Bits</span> 2015 application

Amiibo Tap: Nintendo's Greatest Bits, known as Amiibo Touch & Play: Nintendo Classics Highlights in the PAL regions, was an application developed and published by Nintendo for the Wii U's Nintendo eShop in 2015. The application was used to play demos of 30 popular Nintendo Entertainment System and Super Nintendo Entertainment System video games by scanning, Amiibo figurines, Nintendo's toys-to-life series of products.

References

  1. "Satoru Iwata – 1999 Developer Interview". shmuplations.com. January 7, 2022. Archived from the original on September 14, 2019. Retrieved September 10, 2022.
  2. "Satoru Iwata – 1999 Developer Interview". Archived from the original on September 14, 2019. Retrieved April 15, 2017.
  3. "Flyer Fever - Golf / Pinball (Japan)". Archived from the original on July 20, 2018. Retrieved September 2, 2017.
  4. 1 2 Dillard, Corbie. "Review: Pinball (Virtual Console / NES)". Nintendo Life. Retrieved 4 March 2013.
  5. 1 2 Müller, Ralf. "Pinball". Power Play. Retrieved 4 March 2013.
  6. 1 2 Blottière, Jean-Michel. "Pinball". Tilt . Retrieved 4 March 2013.
  7. "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.