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Video Pinball was a pinball video game released for the Atari 2600 in 1981, based on the arcade and console versions.
Gameplay[ | ]
The Atari 2600 version's playfield is a box-shaped pinball table complete with bumpers, spinners, targets, and rollovers. Each player starts with three balls. Every time you hit the "Atari" rollover four times, you get an extra ball. The extra ball is indicated by a large X at the bottom of the screen. Playing this game required skillful control of the flippers which are located at the center of the bottom of the screen. When the ball drops to the bottom of the screen, you send it back into the playfield by using the flippers. The flippers are controlled with the Joystick Controller. The player has to guide the ball within the playfield, hitting bumpers, spinners, targets, and rollovers to score points.
The Joystick Controllers are also used to to "nudge" the ball, but the player shouldn't nudge the ball too much, or it will cause a "tilt". If the player tilts the game, the ball in play scores no more points and any extra balls are lost.