Line #17 Main/PinballZone


1	[[quoteright:320:[[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2 https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Casino_Night_Zone.gif]]]]
2	[[caption-width-right:320:[[InnocentInnuendo Bouncy fun!]]]]
3
4	->'''Tails''': Whatever you did triggered an eruption! And the lava burned away the cloud bank and revealed... something...\
5	'''Sonic''': Hey, I've seen my fair share of pinball machines. I know one when I see one. Were those really part of the original ruins?
6	-->-- ''VideoGame/SonicFrontiers''
7
8	A level where either the hero or some proxy takes a trip through a massive {{Pinball}} machine, or some other area sharing features with one. The typical style is the inside of a pinball machine, with all that brings. Expect metal pinballs rolling around or being destroyed, flashing neon lights, flippers and bumpers, with loud party type music in the background. Is often a CasinoPark area or a BonusStage.
9
10	If the entire game is devoted to putting a popular character into a pinball machine, then it's a PinballSpinoff. See also PinballGag.
11
12	----
13	!!Video Game Examples
14
15	* ''VideoGame/WarioLand4'' is the TropeNamer, though there weren't actually many pinball elements in that stage.
16	* ''VideoGame/AladdinVirginGames'' included the [[WackyLand whimsical]] "Inside the Lamp" level, in which Genie heads and hands served as flippers.
17	* ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'':
18	** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioSunshine'' has a level that puts Mario in a pachinko game. He has to collect all Red Coins present in it, but the surrounding physics of the pachinko machine makes navigation through it (and thus collection of the coins) very difficult.
19	** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy2'': Part of "Melty Monster Galaxy" takes place inside a giant pinball machine, with Rock Mario serving as the pinball.
20	** "Waluigi Pinball" appears several times in the [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Mario]] series, including as a track in ''VideoGame/MarioKartDS'' and as a level in ''VideoGame/MarioSportsMix''.
21	** ''VideoGame/MarioParty5'': The minigame Panic Pinball has two pairs of characters playing pinball. In each team, one of the characters is controlling one of the flippers, and both have to hit the ball upward so it can in turn hit objects to earn points, including a slot machine with varying benefitial effects. The team that earns the highest score after 60 seconds will win.
22	** ''VideoGame/MarioParty6'': The minigame Ball Dozers puts one player in a gigantic pinball board with a small ball, while the other three players are placed in another with a big ball; both boards have plenty of small rocks that are obstructing the balls, so the objective is to use hammers to crush those rocks in order to clear the balls' paths into the goal. The solo player has to remove more balls due to working alone, but the ball's small size allows it to squeeze through narrow areas between rocks; meanwhile, the big ball moves slowly and requires the removal of more rocks to proceed, so the three players responsible for it have to team up to remove multiple rocks at the same time. In the end, the minigame is fairly balanced for both factions.
23	** ''VideoGame/MarioPartyDS'': Bowser's Pinball Machine takes place inside a normal-sized pinball machine that looks huge for the main characters due to their reduced size. It has several contraptions that require careful navigation and planning, because a misstep can completely ruin a character's prospect to become the Superstar.
24	** ''VideoGame/MarioParty10'': Bowser's Painball places Team Mario inside a large pinball table, with Bowser controlling the flippers. Bowser tries to hit his opponents with spiked balls that are launched into the table, while Team Mario must do their best to avoid them. The top of the table has bumpers that can quickly launch spiked balls that hit them back down, while the middle of the table has a barrier that moves around in a circle that Team Mario can use to protect themselves.
25	** One of the levels in ''VideoGame/CaptainToadTreasureTracker'' is a pinball machine.
26	* ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'':
27	** Almost every game in the series has at least one level where Sonic is buffeted about by flippers, bumpers, and the like (usually within levels decked out with a full casino theme, starting with [[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog1 Spring Yard]] and moving on to [[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2 Casino]] and [[VideoGame/Sonic3AndKnuckles Carnival Night]] Zones), and ''VideoGame/SonicSpinball'' was devoted entirely to the idea of Sonic being the pinball. The in-series tradition may have started because, since Sonic can curl into a ball and move rapidly and the series already featured him careening wildly around loops, through the air, and off of springs, putting him in a pinball machine wasn't much of a stretch.
28	** Collision Chaos from ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehogCD'' was more in tune with the Spring Yard Zone. It's one of the few pinball levels in a ''Sonic'' game without a casino theme. The boss arena of Act 3 is even designed like a giant pinball table, which requires Sonic to use the flippers to propel himself up to the boss.
29	%% ** Other such pinball-levels include Casinopolis from ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure'', Casino Park and Bingo Highway from ''VideoGame/SonicHeroes'', and Act 1 of Casino Street Zone in ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog4 Part I''. Unsurprisingly, most of the aforementioned stages have a casino motif. CasinoPark in ''VideoGame/SonicHeroes'' is the TropeNamer for that trope, and is yet another casino-themed pinball level.
30	%% ** Casino Night Zone returns in ''VideoGame/SonicGenerations''. In the [=3DS=] version it is the stage representing Sonic 2, whereas in the [=PS3=]/360/PC version it is a pre-order bonus that later got released as DLC, and acts like a mix of the original level with the Casinopolis pinball stages.
31	** ''VideoGame/SonicMania'' has the twist of setting the requisite bumper-filled Zone inside of a movie studio, called Studiopolis Zone. In addition to bumpers, the level features many callbacks to oddities that Sega has produced, such as the Segasonic Popcorn Machine, and Gallop Lotto referencing ''Daytona USA''. The elements make a return, in a different form, in the WildWest stage Mirage Saloon Zone, which contains a number of stage elements found in the aforementioned Collision Chaos.
32	** One ''Sonic 1'' GameMod, ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehogMegamix'', upgrades Spring Yard Zone to City Outskirts Zone, adding in faster sections and loop-de-loops in the process.
33	** ''VideoGame/SonicFrontiers'': A pinball minigame is featured on Chaos Island, where you must beat it with at least five million points to reach the island's Titan. Extra notable that this is a pinball machine powered by the technology of [[{{Precursors}} the Ancients]], something that Sonic even provides some LampshadeHanging on why it's here to begin with.
34	* ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsBirthBySleep'' gives us Pete's Rec Room, an area in the underground section of Disney Town that features a giant pinball machine in which the characters can climb into the plunger and launch themselves into. While in the pinball machine, a spherical barrier appears around the character (making them the pinball) and the player controls the flippers with the shoulder buttons.
35	* ''VideoGame/TheIncredibleMachine 2'' contains pinball levels, complete with flippers, bumpers, and the pinball itself. You can also make your own.
36	* Level 42 advanced on ''VideoGame/MarbleBlastGold'' is set in a giant pinball machine. It's very hard to play, given that you have to hit the bumpers ''just'' right, and the level's set at a 45 degree angle.
37	* The Pinball hole in the Platform/{{Apple II}}GS classic ''VideoGame/ZanyGolf.''
38	* The {{Creator/Marvel}} villain Arcade tried to kill ComicBook/SpiderMan and several ComicBook/XMen by throwing them into a deadly giant pinball machine. ''VideoGame/MarvelUltimateAlliance'' features said pinball; you have to reach a high score by hitting the right targets (as well as fight [[ComicBook/SpiderMan Spidey villains Rhino and Shocker]]), at which point the flippers open to let you through and balls start raining from the sky.
39	* ''[[VideoGame/ArmyMen Army Men: Sarge's Heroes 2]]'' culminates inside a pinball machine.
40	* ''VideoGame/MadWorld''[='s=] casino level has bumpers all over the place. Not for the player character to move themselves in, but to redirect thrown enemies to extend combos and earn more points.
41	* ''VideoGame/{{Parodius}} Da!'' has a pinball-themed stage, whose boss is a cross between a ''VideoGame/{{Gradius}}'' Core and a pinball machine.
42	* ''Nitro Ball'', an obscure run-and-gun shooter by Creator/DataEast, is set in a world inspired by pinball tables.
43	* Sweet Tooth's Carnival of Carnage in the rebooted ''VideoGame/TwistedMetal''.
44	* In ''VideoGame/SectionZ'', Section O is filled with flippers and deadly pinballs that bounce around the screen.
45	* In ''VideoGame/TheFairlyOddparentsShadowShowdown'', the penultimate section of "Vicky Strikes Back" is centered around what is essentially pinball.
46	* In ''VideoGame/TinyToonAdventuresBusterBustsLoose'', at one point during the [[LevelsTakeFlight Buster's Sky-jinks]] level, Buster reaches a pinball temple, which he must climb up to collect an important item Calamity Coyote left at the top. If Buster collects all the colored balls, then pinball flippers will appear, which can help him on his way up. When Buster does reach the top, the item is revealed to be the script for the next episode, which leads to the final level of the game.
47	* The Mega CD version of ''VideoGame/SpiderManVsTheKingpin'' has Mysterio placing Spidey in a giant pinball machine after shrinking him.
48	* "The Go-Go Bowing Road" in ''VideoGame/GraffitiKingdom'' has a pinball-themed room, complete with giant flippers and pinballs that try to crush the player.
49	* ''VideoGame/Splatoon2: Octo Expansion'' contains a few stages in which Agent 8 must roll around large 8-balls and guide them to the goal. Several of these stages contain a variety of pinball-inspired mechanics, including wireform habitrails, pop bumpers, up-kickers, and whirlpool ramps. While most of these stages have the simple objective of guiding the 8-ball to the goal, others are more creative -- for example, one stage has Agent 8 using a long-ranged Charger to manipulate balls on a giant pool table, while another has them use a cannon to operate a simplified bingo machine.
50	* ''VideoGame/SlapCity'' has Bumpertown stage, the "second-most dangerous place in the city". Bumpers are everywhere in this stage, and they are capable to knock over fighters and deal some damage.
51	* ''VideoGame/CartoonNetworkRacing'' has Tilt We Meet Again.
52	* ''VideoGame/{{SSX}}'' and its sequel, ''SSX Tricky'', have the Tokyo Megaplex, which the course description explicitly compares to a pinball machine. Specifically, it's a [[AmazingTechnicolorBattlefield neon-drenched]] indoor complex where you navigate doors, bumpers, blocks, buttons, and flippers that add up to what many fans regard as [[ThatOneLevel the most challenging course in the game]], and also the only course in the game with multiple laps, with a wind tunnel (where you can score big air for bigger tricks) taking you back up to the top at the end. ''Tricky'' adds some verticality on top, with rails and pipes hanging over the surface.
53	* ''VideoGame/GrappleForceRena'' has a level set inside something very pinball themed, with bumpers and chutes and a general pinball shape.
54	* ''[[VideoGame/MikuMonogatariYumeToTaisetsuNaMono Miku Monogatari: Yume to Taisetsu na Mono]]'' has Stage 3 - 6, with its first part is based on pinballs. You must use the chutes, bumpers, and flippers to reach the topmost part where a portal would take you to the boss. In Hard mode, the timer for this part is significantly shorter than normal.
55	!! Non-VideoGame Examples
56
57	[[AC:AnimeAndManga]]
58	* In ''Manga/DragonBall'', Pilaf's castle contained a huge pinball DeathTrap.
59
60	[[AC:ComicBooks]]
61	* Extremely rare comic book example: one chapter of ''ComicBook/{{Iznogoud}}'' has the protagonist trapped in a pinball machine wasteland.
62	* The Creator/{{Marvel}} villain Arcade likes to throw captured super-powered individuals in a deadly giant pinball.
63
64	[[AC:{{Literature}}]]
65	* In ''Literature/DoctorWhoMeetsScratchman'', Harry's idle thought about [[TheDevil Scratchman]] and the Doctor playing pinball for the universe inspires Scratch to trap them in a giant pinball game. When Sarah Jane points out that this isn't even a contest, Scratch plucks a couple of other thoughts from Harry and it becomes a giant pinball game that is ''also'' a HumanChess match ''and'' a game of skittles.
66
67	[[AC:TabletopGame]]
68	* One of the rooms (The Music/{{Tommy}} Memorial Room) in the User Friendly Dungeon of Splannng in the ''Dungeons and Toons'' setting for ''TabletopGame/{{Toon}}''. The [[GameMaster Animator]] is advised to describe the elements of the room without saying what it actually ''is'', and wait for one of the players to say "[[TemptingFate We're in a giant pinball machine!]]" before activating it.
69
70	[[AC:WesternAnimation]]
71	* In the ''WesternAnimation/ActionMan2000'' series, the episode "Out of the shadows" features Alex and Brandon participating in an extreme sports competition set in a giant pin ball-shaped playing field.
72	* In the "Soos' Really Great Pinball Story" segment of the ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'' episode [[Recap/GravityFallsS1E14BottomlessPit "Bottomless Pit"]], Soos, Dipper, and Mabel get trapped in Stan's old pinball machine, and they can only escape by manually turning the machine off.
73	* ''WesternAnimation/TheMagicSchoolBus'': In "[[Recap/TheMagicSchoolBusS3E7MakesARainbow Makes a Rainbow]]", The kids spent an episode in one of these, learning about light, lasers, and reflection.
74	* The third episode of [[WesternAnimation/TotalDrama Total Drama World Tour]] has a challenge taking place inside a giant pinball set of a Japanese gameshow.
75	* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Turbo}} F.A.S.T.'' has Chet competing in a pinball machine as part of a demolition derby.
76	* ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'':
77	** ''WesternAnimation/SonicTheHedgehogSatAM'' had an episode that put Sonic in a pinball machine, presumably inspired by his game counterpart's frequent pinball adventures.
78	** ''WesternAnimation/AdventuresOfSonicTheHedgehog'' had an episode that was clearly inspired by ''VideoGame/SonicSpinball'', and he ends up in a giant pinball machine in "Robotnikland".
79	* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Wakfu}}'', the [[BarrierWarrior Feca Demigod]] Black Bump's temple is actually a giant pinball table where gigantic marbles bounce against the walls, pillars and his own barrier in an attempt to crush his enemies. [[spoiler: He's HoistByHisOwnPetard when Yugo and Amalia manage to redirect the balls against the unprotected stone floor, breaking it open.]]

Context Main / PinballZone