 | This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page . (Learn how and when to remove these template messages)
|
| Psycho Pinball | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | Codemasters |
| Publisher(s) | Codemasters |
| Platform(s) | {{ublMega Drive|MS-DOS}} |
| Release |
|
| Genre(s) | Pinball |
| Mode(s) | 1-4 players |
Psycho Pinball is a 1994 pinball video game published and developed by Codemasters, released for Mega Drive in the United Kingdom and MS-DOS in the United States and Europe. [1]
There are four differently themed tables: Wild West (American Old West), Trick or Treat (Halloween), The Abyss (Caribbean underwater), and Psycho (an amusement park). While the first three are regular tables, Psycho broke new ground; it is connected to the others by activating certain jumpers, then launching the ball into one of the tents. The ball continues on the other table, returning to drop from the tent in Psycho when it drains. It is also the only one with a spring ball launcher and no multiball (presumably because of the potential for one of the balls to transition between tables).
Wild West is an open table with few obstacles; this makes it very difficult to make high scores, unlike Trick or Treat, which is a much more enclosed table and more ramp multipliers. The Abyss is the only one with two levels of play, and the multiball is usually reduced to two balls. To activate the multiball, the player has to trap a ball in one of the vent holes, and then knock it out of its trajectory when it is being thrown from one vent to another. It is possible, although difficult, to trap additional balls in the vents for use in a multiball.
One of its main features is minigames on each table. They range from simple panel games to full arcade sequences, all activated by hitting certain triggers, and then sending the ball to a particular location on the table. Panel games include Blackjack in Wild West;Spook Shoot (the player has to hit 20 ghosts which appear in three positions, corresponding to the three joypad buttons, or two flippers and a tilt on the PC) on Trick or Treat;Cup Confusion on Psycho (a shell game to find the letter P under one of three moving cups); or Fast Fishing (pressing the C button when fish pass by) in The Abyss.
The arcade minigames are much more elaborate and require more effort. The player is in direct control of Psycho, an armadillo, and must reach the bonus plaque.
The Trick or Treat table does not have such an arcade minigame, although early magazine previews show a minigame with brooms that never made the final game.
In the PC version there are three different games (activated in a practically identical manner):
It also adds Big Deal, a higher-or-lower card game, to the casino in Wild West (alternating with Blackjack).
A glossary of terms, commonly used in discussing pinball machines.
Medieval Madness is a Williams pinball machine released in June 1997. Designed by Brian Eddy and programmed by Lyman Sheats, it had a production run of 4,016 units. As of April 3, 2022, the Pinside pinball community lists it as the #2 highest-ranked pinball machine ; many adherents consider it the greatest of all time.
Pin-Bot is a pinball machine released by Williams in October 1986. It was designed by Python Anghelo and Barry Oursler.
The Addams Family is a pinball machine released in March 1992. It was designed by Pat Lawlor and Larry DeMar and released by Midway. It was based on the 1991 film of the same name, and features custom speech by the stars of the film, Anjelica Huston and Raul Julia. It is the best-selling solid state pinball machine of all time with 20,270 units sold.
Cirqus Voltaire is a 1997 pinball game, designed by John Popadiuk and released by Williams Electronics Games. The theme involves the player performing many different marvels in order to join the circus. Some of the game's distinctive features include a neon light running along the right-hand ramp, a pop bumper that rises up from the middle of the playfield at certain times, and a magnet at the top of the left ramp that can catch balls and divert them into the locks. The most notable feature is the Ringmaster, a head that rises at certain times and taunts the player.
Attack from Mars is a 1995 pinball game designed by Brian Eddy, and released by Midway.
Fish Tales is a fishing-themed pinball game released by Williams in 1992. It is one of the top 20 most produced pinball machines of all time, selling more than 13,000 units.
Theatre of Magic is a pinball machine designed by John Popadiuk, produced by Midway.
Monster Bash is a pinball machine produced by Williams. The game features some Universal Monsters including The Creature from the Black Lagoon, The Wolf Man, Frankenstein's monster, the Bride of Frankenstein, Dracula and The Mummy.
White Water is a 1993 pinball game designed by Dennis Nordman and released by Williams. The theme is based on white water rafting, which is reflected in the game's 'wild' ramps and very fast game-play.
Red & Ted's Road Show is a 1994 widebody pinball game designed by Pat Lawlor and released by Williams. It is part of WMS' SuperPin line of widebody games.
FunHouse is a pinball machine designed by Pat Lawlor and released in November 1990 by Williams Electronics. Starring a talking ventriloquist dummy named Rudy, the game is themed after the concept of an amusement park funhouse. FunHouse is one of the last Williams games to use an alphanumeric display; the company switched to dot matrix the following year.
Jack-Bot is a 1995 pinball game which was designed by Barry Oursler and Larry DeMar, and released by Williams. It is the third game in the Pin-Bot series, following Pin-Bot (1986) and The Machine: Bride of Pin-Bot (1991).
The Machine: Bride of Pin-Bot is a 1991 pinball game designed by Python Anghelo and John Trudeau, and released by Williams. It is the second game in the Pin-Bot series, and is the last game produced by Williams to use a segmented score display rather than a dot-matrix screen. It is also one of the few pinball games produced that uses a variable-brightness segmented display.
Who Dunnit is a Midway pinball machine with a 1940s style and a murder mystery theme. The playfield features up to five different murder mysteries in which the player must find clues and evidence by making indicated shots. The machine accepts up to four players, and features four-ball play.
Judge Dredd is a four-player pinball game produced by Bally Manufacturing in 1993, based on the British comic strip Judge Dredd in 2000 AD. Nearly 7,000 were made.
Harley-Davidson is a Sega Pinball pinball machine released in September 1999 and was the last machine released by this company. It was designed by Jon Borg and Lonnie D. Ropp.
The Champion Pub is a pinball game released by Williams Electronics Games in 1998. The theme of the game revolves around boxing in a 1920s pub.
Hurricane is a pinball machine released by Williams Electronics in August 1991. It was designed by Barry Oursler as the third game in Oursler's amusement park themed pinball trilogy. The first being Comet, released in 1985, and the second being Cyclone, released in 1988.
3-D Ultra Pinball: Thrillride is a 2000 pinball game developed for Windows and Macintosh by Dynamix Inc. and for the Game Boy Color by Left Field Productions, and published by Sierra On-Line. The game is part of the 3-D Ultra Pinball series of pinball games.
