The Party Zone

Last updated
The Party Zone
PartyZone pinball.jpg
Captain B. Zarr is the centre figurehead of The Party Zone.
Manufacturer Midway
Release dateAugust 1991 [1] [2]
System Williams WPC (Dot Matrix)
Players1-4
DesignDennis Nordman [3]
ProgrammingJim Strompolis [4]
ArtworkGreg Freres
MechanicsZaofia Bil, Win Schilling
Music Dan Forden [5]
Sound Dan Forden
ThemeHappiness
Marketing Slogan"You are now entering: The Party Zone"
"Big Bang, Big Bucks!"

The Party Zone is a crossover solid-state pinball machine released in 1991 by Midway (under Bally) designed by Dennis Nordman and programmed by Jim Strompolis. It is in a single playfield format and collaborates characters from previous pinball machines. It is the second pinball machine released after the Bally-Midway division was sold, yet still operated under the "Bally" name. [6]

Contents

Backglass

The backglass as well as the playfield contain characters from previous games (who all meet up on this game at the Cosmic Cottage): [7]

Reception

The Party Zone has received a total user rating of 7.490 on a scale of 10 and currently ranks #97 in the "Pinside Ranking". [8] One reviewer noted:

Almost criminally underrated because of its theme. Great ramp, lots to shoot for, funny sounds and animations, and great comedic art from Greg Freres. Major knock is only a two ball multiball, and its linear ruleset gets a little old for repeat plays, but for a fun and casual game it totally rocks!

— guymontag451, pinside

The knowledgeable staff and moderators of pinside have provided a rating of 8.317 out of 10, somewhat varying from the opinions of the public reviewers.

The Internet Pinball Database reviews of The Party Zone are divided into the categories: art, audio, playfield and gameplay. The average user rating given is 7.8/10. Individual ratings for the characters are 8.0/10 for art; 7.7/10 for audio; 7.9/10 for playfield and 7.8/10 for gameplay. 47% of users who reviewed the game gave it a rating of 9/10". [9] One user made this comment:

The Party Zone is a gem. A fantastic audio and visual pinball ride. Its unique and comical theme, coupled with a colorful, well-crafted and designed playing field, make 'The Party Zone' by Bally such an irresistible pinball machine.

— Laser Beam (Rating 9.8/10), ipdb

Digital version

This game was released by FarSight Studios as a licensed table for The Pinball Arcade as the 32nd Table Pack, with the exclusion of the songs "Come Fly with Me" and "Purple Haze" due to license issues, notably, when a player scores the "Big Bang", the soundtrack plays "Pinball Wizard". After Farsight Studios lost the license for Williams pinball tables in the summer of 2018, the table was removed from the game and later reappeared in the second wave of Williams tables available as downloadable content for Zen Studios' Pinball FX 3 in December of the same year after it obtained the license.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pinball</span> Arcade entertainment machine

Pinball games are a family of games in which a ball is propelled into a specially designed table where it bounces off various obstacles, scoring points either en route or when it comes to rest. Historically the board was studded with nails called 'pins' and had hollows or pockets which scored points if the ball came to rest in them. Today, pinball is most commonly an arcade game in which the ball is fired into a specially designed cabinet known as a pinball machine, hitting various lights, bumpers, ramps, and other targets depending on its design. The game's object is generally to score as many points as possible by hitting these targets and making various shots with flippers before the ball is lost. Most pinball machines use one ball per turn, and the game ends when the ball(s) from the last turn are lost. The biggest pinball machine manufacturers historically include Bally Manufacturing, Gottlieb, Williams Electronics and Stern Pinball.

Stern is the name of two different but related arcade gaming companies. Stern Electronics, Inc. manufactured arcade video games and pinball machines from 1977 until 1985, and was best known for Berzerk. Stern Pinball, Inc., founded in 1986 as Data East Pinball, is a manufacturer of pinball machines in North America.

A glossary of terms, commonly used in discussing pinball machines.

<i>Medieval Madness</i> 1997 Williams pinball machine

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.

Patrick M. Lawlor is a video game and pinball machine designer.

<i>Bram Stokers Dracula</i> (pinball) 1993 pinball machine

Bram Stoker's Dracula is a 1993 pinball machine released by Williams. It is based on the 1992 film of the same name.

<i>Checkpoint</i> (pinball) 1991 pinball machine

Checkpoint is a 1991 pinball machine released by Data East. It featured the first dot matrix display (DMD) ever incorporated into a pinball game. For Checkpoint, Data East used a "half-height" DMD. By way of comparison, Williams later produced machines with standard DMDs that were twice the height. Checkpoint also features video mode minigames on its display.

<i>White Water</i> (pinball) 1993 pinball machine

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.

<i>Scared Stiff</i> (pinball) 1996 pinball machine

Scared Stiff is a 1996 pinball game designed by Dennis Nordman and released by Midway, featuring horror show-hostess Elvira. It is the follow-up to 1989's Elvira and the Party Monsters, also designed by Nordman.

<i>Xenon</i> (pinball) 1980 pinball machine by Bally

Xenon is a 1980 pinball machine designed by Greg Kmiec and released by Bally. The game was not only the first talking pinball table by Bally, but also the first with a female voice.

<i>Elvira and the Party Monsters</i> 1989 pinball machine

Elvira and the Party Monsters is a 1989 pinball game designed by Dennis Nordman and Jim Patla and released by Midway, featuring horrorshow-hostess Elvira. It was followed 1996 by Scared Stiff, also designed by Nordman.

<i>Harley-Davidson</i> (Bally pinball) 1991 pinball machine

Harley-Davidson was a pinball machine arcade game manufactured by Midway and released under the Bally label in February 1991. Barry Oursler and Mark Sprenger designed the pinball game utilizing the Williams Pinball Controller arcade system board platform. This was the first pinball game sold under the Bally label to use the Williams WPC system and their last to use an Alphanumeric Display.

<i>Dr. Dude and His Excellent Ray</i> 1990 pinball machine

Dr. Dude and His Excellent Ray is a pinball machine designed by Dennis Nordman and released in 1990 by Midway. The theme of the game revolves around gaining coolness.

<i>Junk Yard</i> (pinball) 1996 pinball machine

Junk Yard is a pinball game released by Williams Electronics in 1996. The game was advertised with the slogan "The meanest game in the whole darn town.".

<i>The Phantom of the Opera</i> (pinball) Pinball machine

The Phantom of the Opera is a pinball machine released by Data East in 1990. The game is based on the 1910 French novel The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux, but not based on the 1986 musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber or movie of the same name, although released around the same time. The game was designed by Joe Kaminkow and Ed Cebula.

<i>Cyclone</i> (pinball) 1988 pinball machine

Cyclone is a pinball machine released by Williams Electronics in 1988. It features an amusement park theme, Coney Island, and was advertised with the slogan "It'll blow you away!". Ronald Reagan and Nancy Reagan both appear in the backglass shown riding the rollercoaster.

<i>Sorcerer</i> (pinball) 1985 pinball machine

Sorcerer is a 1985 pinball machine designed by Mark Ritchie and released by Williams Electronics. The table is placed in the "Internet Pinball Data Base Top 100 Rated Electronic Pinball Machines" chart.

<i>Lost World</i> (pinball) 1977 pinball machine

Lost World is a pinball machine released by Bally in 1977. The game features a fantasy theme. It should not be confused with the pinball machine Escape from the Lost World from 1987.

Bugs Bunny's Birthday Ball is a 1990 pinball game designed by John Trudeau and Python Anghelo and released by Midway. It is based on Warner Bros.' Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons. This is the first of only two licensed pinball tables ever to feature the Looney Tunes characters.

Lyman F. Sheats Jr. was an American pinball champion, game designer and coin-operated game operating system software engineer who had worked for Bally, Williams, and Stern Pinball, among other companies.

References

  1. ↑ http://mirror2.ipdb.org/files/1764/Bally_1991_Party_Zone_Manual.pdf pg.1
  2. ↑ "Pinball". Archived from the original on 2013-10-23. Retrieved 2012-10-06.
  3. ↑ http://pinside.com/pinball/archive/dennis-Nordman"The Party Zone"
  4. ↑ http://pinside.com/pinball/archive/jim-strompolis "The Party Zone"
  5. ↑ http://pinside.com/pinball/archive/dan-forden "The Party Zone"
  6. ↑ "MobyGames".
  7. ↑ http://pinside.com/pinball/archive/party-zone/details "Trivia"
  8. ↑ Pinside ratings
  9. ↑ Internet Pinball Database ratings


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.