Five Favorite Pinball Games
Pinball games are physical machines that were popular for decades before the advent of computer games. Because of the design and craftsmanship, the unique quality of each game, and the sheer joy of playing something so substantive (as opposed to programmed video games), several of my previous posts have featured some pinball. In some corners of the world, you can still find machines to play, which are largely maintained by pinball historians and other hands-on enthusiasts. I’ve visited a few pinball museums and other locations with public machines. That has given me the opportunity to play a lot of different pinball games from decades past.
Here are my favorite games. This group of machines begins in the 1960s. While the earlier games evoke the nostalgia of their eras, the 1950s and earlier games were not very controllable. It was largely a game of chance in terms of where the ball would go; skill was barely a factor. While there’s always that element of chance with every pinball game, the later ones allow you to play longer and accumulate more points by playing them well. In addition, there are three 1980s games and one from the 1990s represented here.
Moulin Rouge (1965)
While I’ve played early pinball games from the 1950s and 60s, most are a novelty and not that enjoyable. There isn’t much of a control factor. The ball slips down way too often into that gaping hole between the paddles. And even when the game is on, it’s difficult to get balls back up near the top of the playing area. Entropy reigns.
What a joy it was to discover Moulin Rouge, a 1965 game that plays like it was made a decade later. The theme is self-explanatory, as it carries the name of the famous Parisian cabaret. At first, the design seems a little spare with a large mirror on the backboard that’s held up as some street art. Is the game player supposed to be the star of the show? Interesting. But as I played a few games, the backboard strangely transformed. The Boulevard de Clichy came alive with a beautiful piece of street art showing the cabaret (see picture above).
The outstanding design continues with the game itself. The last time I played this in a pinball museum, I was hooked on it for 45 minutes straight. The flippers give you a lot of control, there are multiple levels of intrigue from top to bottom (and the game gives you a chance to get the ball back up to the top level), there are bulbs that light up, there are holes that shoot the ball out again, and there is a fun A-B-C sequence to complete. Also, the aforementioned picture on the mirror behind the game lights up each part of the image as you complete stages of the game.
Brilliant! I’d buy one of these myself if it came with its own pinball mechanic.
Flash Gordon (1980)
Perhaps you’ve heard of this comic and/or a movie by the same name. It was an old comic and they made this pinball machine around the same time as a movie. Frankly, I’ve never really watched it and have no interest, but Bally made a nice game with this theme.
This game is special in that it was the first to incorporate a squawk box vocalizer for the audio. I did not know this when I was playing it and do not recall hearing much audio; either it was disabled on my machine or the arcade noise around it prevented me from noticing the audio. Also, the game has a split level, giving you two games in one. Here is a picture of the upper section, which has its own flipper. It’s harder than it should be to get the ball back up there, but still plenty entertaining.
This is a fun game. I look forward to playing it again someday.
Seawitch (1980)
Hold on to your seahorses. This one has a live ball. I hit it so hard that the steel ball hit the glass cover a couple of times. And the ball continues to jump through the game. Seawitch has two levels with two sets of paddles. The game supplies lots of action, plenty of light, and all the bulbs and bonus opportunities you could want. There are signal lights to activate when you have scored a bonus, additional points, or a spare ball.
In fact, I’d guess this game has far more components than most games did in 1980. That was a good year for games (well represented on today’s list), but few of the games are nearly this fun to play. Seawitch gives you long plays with a lot of bang for your buck and opportunities to cheat entropy by getting the ball up to the top level again. I love it!
Black Knight 2000 (1989)
I’ve played two versions of Black Knight. The first was made in 1980 and I didn’t really like it much. From that year, give me Seawitch or maybe Flash Gordon instead. But the Black Knight 2000 reboot, released in 1989, is terrific. That year wasn’t quite the millennium yet; why didn’t they call it Black Knight 1989? I guess that name wouldn’t have the same ring to it.
Black Knight 2000 is a multiplayer game that awards extra time to the player with the highest score. This isn’t just a split-level machine where the ball bounces through the top level a couple of times on its initial descent. The top level of this game is there for playing and it’s a thrill. In fact, if this game has a weakness, I’d say it’s the lower half of the playing field, which is somewhat bare. It’s still a nice ride.
Theater of Magic (1995)
This is an incredibly entertaining game, as fun as any pinball machine I’ve ever played on. In keeping with its theme, this game is loaded full of magic tricks and their diversity is stunning. It has a steel frame tunnel for the balls at the top, resembling the marble track on a Rube Goldberg machine. There is a magical box at the top and if you can get the ball in, you can raise it and the ball disappears to activate the multi-ball option.
The main play is to complete several different magic tricks. Cards, metamorphosis, straight jacket, a magic hat, and others are nicely built in. Finally, it leads to a grand finale. I cannot even imagine how many pieces and moving parts this machine has; it must have been either a tinkerer’s dream or a complete nightmare to build and maintain the Theatre of Magic game. My only complaint is the audio, which is somewhat over-the-top; I would disable it if I had my own game of this.
You can see a video of someone playing it here:
Finding a Pinball Game
If you’d like to play pinball, here is a map of current public locations. There aren’t many of these games left, but it’s a much different experience than playing on a computer or phone. And if you can find a good selection of old games somewhere, perhaps you’ll look for one of my favorites.
https://pinside.com/pinball/map/mapbox?f=locations#1.71/35.2/-66.4/0/26
Here’s a map showing North American locations:
https://pinballmap.com/
This site is a good general resource for pinball games; I consulted it as I was writing the above reviews.
https://pinside.com/pinball/machine
Photos by the author and family members. Yes, the top image is my high score.
I grew up on Pinball and have my favorites. I won't mock yours in any way. First and foremost is Steller Wars. I loved that machine and could never get sick of it. Then I liked Playboy from the 70s and Evil Kinievel from the same time period. Then in 1984 I wont a Harlem Globetrotters machine in my school raffle. Best day of my life lol. I played the hell out of that machine. But, with pinball they are all great unless the flippers stick or have no power. Then it is the worst thing ever.
That's right; they're all good. If I had a few dozen machines, I'd spend most of my time playing these ones, but would love to try others. I've played Evil Knievel before; those others you mentioned I will try to find!
I think the ones in the mid 80s are my favorites. Just enough electronics and tech to make it interesting but not too much like today. If you ever get to Vegas there is a pinball museaum in the arts district downtown. It is amazing and is probably the biggest in the world. You'd love it!!!!!
The only ones I've played were Theatre of Magic and Black Knight 2000. Wish Farsight Studios could have kept their pinball arcade license.
Apparently, Theatre of Magic was supposed to be called David Copperfield but they couldn't get the license from him!
My favourite will always be Doctor Who and Addams Family. Two greats that I loved as a kid and would get again if I ever get the money for it. I know my state had a place selling them, not sure if they are still open or not though.
Yes, I like Dr. Who and played that somewhere within the last few years. I don't remember if I've tried Addams Family, but will look for it if anyone has a machine.
My family always competed on Addams Family and played a lot. The sounds for it are so amazing.
@donkeypong, I remember I followed your last pinball blog also. But this one more addition than before one. I've played some time pinball games through machines of club, laptop and my smart phone. But pinball machine gave me massive experience more than others. It increase my passion of playing. Currently I can't play but hope connect with pinball again very soon. I played before seawitch and Black Knight games. It's really interested to played. But I couldn't play Theater of Magic. I think It's more interesting and if I have chance to play can get incredible experience seriously.
Thank you for posted interesting gaming blog.
Thanks. I'm not quite sure it's "gaming", which is more video game oriented. I decided to use the "games" tag for this post instead. I was thinking of writing a board game post also. There are lots of fun things to do that don't necessarily involve video games. :)
Hey, dude. Have you ever tried Pinball Fantasies for the Amiga? That system is well emulated. Absolutely gorgeous game. Give it a go! I also remember going to a local bar as a kid and playing pinball while my folks got drunk. Thats also where I learned about Asteroids and Space Invaders. Top it all, my NY Isles were dominating the NHL!
Good times. Yes, I remember the Amiga computer and some early games on there, but not sure if I played their pinball.
I loved playing pinball on my computer. It's a shame if you are a pinball lover and are born late. I really do envy oldies for that and your post made me envy them more. God I would love to have a real mechanical feeling of a pinball machine. Computer gaming lacks the feel of arcade.
Probably one of the best machines ever made, I remember my friend had one, especially when he moved house as this was taken off the van, set up and then played until sun down. This game use to be in the Bowling Alley by where I use to live as a kid. I'd always get the free game! Only on the first play, I think I only ever got enough points on the second time like once. Because when you get a free game the amount needed for a free game doubled. At least it was programmed that way at the machine in the bowling alley. Happy days! #pinball
That's very cool. Some of my memories were similar.
Wow, this is some good walking down the memory lane. I actually never had the opportunity to play pin ball. But I could remember when I was young, my mum played it a lot. Though on the computer.
Theatre Of Magic is one of the last pinballs to be produced with Circus Voltaire by Bally and Williams. The Pinball 2000 system was a bitter failure, and rightly so, causing the two largest manufacturers to shut down this sector. That said, a kind of revival has existed for some time and in addition to the manufacturer Stern, other projects have emerged such as Jersey Jack Pinball with his magnificent Wizard Of Oz. There were also new batchs for Medieval Madness and Bride Of Pinbot !
I played pinball, this tradition of playing machine games was lost, due to the modern video games that have appeared over the years, and to be more specific the teenagers prefer a game of Black Knight and play "call of dusty", instead of playing pinball or another machine game.