History NintendoHard / Pinball

{{Pinball}} games can be tough enough on their own. For most casual players, the pinball experience can be summed up as: Launch ball, watch it bounce off some bumpers and flippers, and make a beeline for the drain or the inescapable outlanes, all in the span of about 20 to 30 seconds; repeat two more times. If you're lucky, you might trigger a jackpot or special mode, but that joy will probably be short-lived thanks to drainages that seem to be beyond the player's control. In addition, nearly every machine released from the mid-[[TheEighties 80s]] and onward have a lot of rules and awards [[GuideDangIt not explained to the player until they stumble across it or read the rules online]]. As a result, non-enthusiasts may [[ItsHardSoItSucks just walk away dismissing pinball as a scam to shake money out of customers' wallets under the false pretense of providing a fun experience]].

* A few Creator/WilliamsElectronics games in TheNineties (for instance, ''Pinball/FishTales'') came standard with "lightning" flippers, which are 1/8 of an inch shorter than standard pinball flippers, which is definitely much more than it sounds like.[[note]]There are two reasons for this. The first is that the gap between standard-length flippers is just ''barely'' wider than the diameter of the ball, but lightning flipper gaps are significantly wider. The second is that the games are designed to allow you to catch the ball by rolling it up a raised standard flipper, but not the shorter lightning flippers.[[/note]] Sometimes games that normally use standard flippers will be customized to use lightning flippers for a SelfImposedChallenge and/or to reduce play times during tournaments.

* ''Jive Time'' was one of the few tables on ''[[VideoGame/ThePinballArcade The Pinball Arcade Williams Collection]]'' to have ''five'' balls instead of the standard three, and for good reason. There are ''no return lanes'', and one of the shots on the left side can direct the ball straight to an outlane. It doesn't help that the two kickers are right next to the flippers, where the ball can be knocked around, making it harder to control, thanks to the lack of said return lanes. There is also a very wide gap in the center that can drain a ball easily unless the Lamp Post is activated (and it can be taken away very quickly with a bad shot). High scores are also at the mercy of the spinner, which gives [[LuckBasedMission entirely random bonuses]].

* ''Jive Time'' was one of the few tables on the Williams Collection to have ''five'' balls instead of the standard three, and for good reason. There are ''no return lanes'', and one of the shots on the left side can direct the ball straight to an outlane. It doesn't help that the two kickers are right next to the flippers, where the ball can be knocked around, making it harder to control, thanks to the lack of said return lanes. There is also a very wide gap in the center that can drain a ball easily unless the Lamp Post is activated (and it can be taken away very quickly with a bad shot). High scores are also at the mercy of the spinner, which gives [[LuckBasedMission entirely random bonuses]].

* ''Pinball/{{Defender}}'' can be this for new players, as those expecting a conventional pinball game are surprised by its wave-based design, VideoGame-style structure, or the manually-activated kickback. If the operator has removed the center post between the flippers, the game becomes even harder as a result.

* [[SonicTheHedgehog Sonic]] PinballSpinoff ''VideoGame/SonicSpinball'' is basically ''four'' gigantic pinball tables (all of them tough as hell, ''especially'' the last one) that all have to be beaten with '''no continues or passwords.'''[[note]]Though there is a level select code available.[[/note]] Good luck with that.