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Pinball

Last Updated: June 1st, 1999

Name: Pinball
System: NES
Genre: Arcade
Developer: Nintendo
Publisher: Nintendo
Release date: 1985
Age rating: N/A
Players: Two; alternating

Mario and Pauline make a cameo appearance in the Bonus Stage.

Review by: Harnold

• Pinball is a dual-field non-scrolling pinball game. The design is pretty basic when compared to newer tables... but hey, it's a classic game now, and pretty fun when you're bored. Note: this review may be a tad biased; I've liked pinball games for as long as I can remember :) Mario makes an appearance here in the bonus game.

  Objective: Get as many points as possible by hitting the ball into various targets and drop holes. Point values range from 10 to 5,000. You are given 3 balls, and you earn another after your first 50,000 points.

• It's easy to rack up big points in the upper field - try to spend as much time there as possible. If the ball drops to the lower field, it's fairly difficult to get back up, and it's very easy to lose a ball by an errant hit off the lower bumper. When you're in the lower field, immediately try to:
  1. Get the kickbacks (have all 3 chicks hatched at once)
  2. Flip over all five N-Cards to get a cool 5,000 and a center post

  This will allow you to concentrate on earning points.

• An easy way to get back to the upper field is to hit the ball into the drop hole in the upper-right corner. You will enter a bonus game where you control Mario, trying to free Pauline from a box above you. Anyway, whenever you lose the ball in the bonus game, the ball will be shot back into play in the upper level.

• Lots of elements from Pinball reappear in future Mario games:
  • Penguins - Mario's Super Picross, SMW2, SM64, MK64, and Yoshi's Story
  • Seals - In SMB3, The king of World 6 was transformed into a seal
  • N-Cards - The N-Spade Card Game in SMB3

• Graphics: 2.0
  It was one of the first games for the NES, remember. However, graphics are not especially important for the pinball genre.

  Sound: 3.8
  Some sound effects are re-used. Typical pinball table sounds.

  Play control: 4.5
  Ball doesn't go where you expect it to go after hitting it with the flippers. Practice makes perfect.

  Challenge: 4.7
  Very easy to lose a ball.

  Satisfaction: 4.5
  I love pinball games.

  Design: 2.5
  Playing fields are not too complex.

  Replay value: 4.0
  Tough game, and it will keep you coming back for more until the basic design starts to bore you.

  Overall: 3.7
  Great game to play when you are bored. I recommend it.

• +
  Really, really fun. I enjoyed this game.

  -
  Simple design and below-average graphics.

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