Electronic Pinball

The Good
Electronic Pinball (also known as Flipper) is an early example of simulated pinball. It was released for the Interton Electronic VC-4000 (part of the 1292 APVS family), and the best thing about it is the way you don’t have to insert a quarter. The game is not as sophisticated as much later pinball sims, such as Pinball Dreams, but it does include all the basic elements, such as flippers and bouncing balls.

The score for hitting one of the six circles in the center of the screen varies depending on what number is in the circle. I had spent a lot of time in one game watching the ball fly from circle to circle. Two twirling mills above them open or close the gates on both sides of the screen; let the ball go through them, and a life is lost. You have to keep an eye on the ball at all times; it tends to go down in between the flippers when you are not watching.

Several variations are available, and these include allowing a second player to join in, enabling two pairs of flippers to appear on screen instead of one, and switching between different ball speeds. The graphics and sounds may be rudimentary, but this is what you’d expect from such an early console.

The Bad
A tilt feature is also available, but all this does is send the ball back to the launching area. This is accompanied by flashing lights and a rather annoying sound that repeats until you launch the ball again or start a new game. The flashing lights are a major problem for people who suffer from epilepsy. There was no reason why the developers could not have restricted these for half a second.

The Bottom Line
In conclusion, Electronic Pinball may be primitive, but it is quite a joy to play. I had a good time watching the ball fly from circle to circle, so there was less time that I had to use the flippers in each game I have played. Minus one for the flashing lights.