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Virtual Pinball

1993 video game

Image credit is listed at the end of this article.

Virtual Pinball is a follow-up to EA's 1983 title Pinball Construction Set from the same author, Bill Budge, released 10 years later for the Sega Genesis. One to four players can choose from either 29 premade tables or design one using in-game editor tools. Designing options include ten different backgrounds and six themes, and a player can choose where objects are placed, the style of music, and the ball speed. Virtual Pinball lacks the unlimited floppy disc storage used by the original, and the ability to create self-booting disks that can be played without the construction set software.

01Gameplay

The player can play the 29 existing games, go to the blueprint plans, or play one of the ten user created games. It also allows the player to change the Game theme, Parts theme, Board background, Skill level, ball action, and music.

Workshop Mode allows starting with a blank game where up to 256 parts can be placed anywhere on the board. These parts include Bumpers, Flippers, Walls, Kick Walls, Targets, Tracks, Specials, Launchers, Blasters, and Grabbers. All of these items are related to items found on a real table.

A game starts with four balls. The ball is launched by pressing and holding the A button, with the time held determining the power of the launch. All left flippers are controlled by the D-pad, while all right flippers are controlled by the C button. Hitting B will nudge the table, and can be used in conjunction with the D-pad to nudge in a certain direction.

Scoring

Parts Point Values
Small bumpers100
Kick Walls100
Spring100 top surface
Rollovers100
Sling Shots100
One Way Gate100 top surface
Large Bumpers200
Ghost Ball1,000 on release
Spinner1,000 for each revolution
Drop Targets5,000
Moving Targets5,000
Pegs5,000
Tracks5,000 on entry
Worm Hole5,000 on entry
Kick Hole10,000 on entry
Jackpot1,000,000 when active
Watch videos about Virtual PinballExplainers and documentaries on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article Virtual Pinball, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

Images, from Wikimedia Commons:

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