History Pinball / Hyperball

* EndlessGame: The game ends only when the player runs out of Energy Centers.
* HoldTheLine: The point of the game is to defend your Energy Centers against the attacking bolts.
* LifeMeter: The Energy Centers.

%%* EndlessGame

%%* ShootEmUp
%%* SmartBomb: The "Z Bomb".

After fourteen months of development, Williams management was hyped for the game, with some predicting sales of up to ''50,000'' units. Unfortunately, ''Hyperball'' proved to be a troublesome table in the field: the rapid-firing balls clattering against each other and the glass produced noise levels of 90 decibels (enough to cause permanent hearing damage with prolonged exposure), and the ball-feeder and firing mechanisms were prone to jamming, distortion, and other problems. Its hybrid gameplay also doomed it: video gamers dismissed it as another pinball table, while the pinheads weren't quite sure what to do with it. Worse, the default difficulty settings were NintendoHard, which quickly frustrated the curious.

In the end, only 5,000 tables were manufactured -- a modest success, but nowhere near the numbers planned, and the unused hardware ended up being recycled for other pinball games instead. Some pinball purists insist that ''Hyperball'' is not a pinball game at all, saying it's more akin to a target-shooting game than anything else. It has gathered a cult following, however, for fans who enjoy its unique white-knuckled action.

* AlternateCompanyEquivalent: Four months after the release of ''Hyperball'', Creator/{{Bally}} introduced ''Rapid Fire'', which used the same dual-grips-to-shoot-ball-bearings-at-alien-invaders gameplay. Williams employees internally derided it as [[SerialNumbersFiledOff "Operation Xerox".]]
* CallAHitPointASmeerp: The player doesn't have Shields or Hit Points, he has "Energy Centers".

* EndlessGame
* HoldTheLine: This is the player's objective, to defend his Energy Centers against the attacking bolts.

* ShootEmUp
* SmartBomb: The "Z Bomb".

* StarfishAliens: The attackers are moving lights which evolve into lightning bolts.

* RecycledSet: Both ''Hyperball'' and its competitor ''Rapid Fire'' had their backboxes recycled for use on other games, mostly re-releases of other Williams and Bally games.

Almost every renown creator has a work that didn't perform as well as people had expected. Creator/KevinCostner has ''Film/{{Waterworld}}'', Creator/JossWhedon has ''Series/{{Firefly}}'', and Tim Schafer has ''VideoGame/{{Psychonauts}}''.

Although it is housed in a {{Pinball}} cabinet, ''Hyperball'' doesn't play like a pinball. The center of the playfield is empty, and all along the perimeter is a series of lettered targets. During the game, lightning bolts travel up the sides until they reach the top, then strike downwards to hit the player's Energy Centers. His only defense is to shoot the bolt before it drops, using two gun-grips to aim the Hyper-Cannon, a turret that fired three-quarter-inch-diameter ball bearings. A "Z Bomb" button on the apron could be pressed to [[SmartBomb instantly destroy all enemies on the playfield.]] The turret could fire '''250''' balls per minute, and the game's fast nature required players to rapidly pull the triggers to keep the balls launching. Spelling words during the game would yield more points, and every fifth wave would be a bonus "Reflex Wave", which involved shooting the lightning bolts in less than three seconds.

Creator/SteveRitchie has '''Hyperball'''.

* StarfishAliens: The attackers are moving lights which evolve into lightning bolts.

Although it is housed in a {{Pinball}} cabinet, ''Hyperball'' doesn't play like a pinball. The center of the playfield is empty, and all along the perimeter is a series of lettered targets. During the game, lightning bolts travel up the sides until they reach the top, then strike downwards to hit the player's Energy Centers. His only defense is to shoot the bolt before it drops, using two gun-grips to aim the Hyper-Cannon, a turret that fired three-quarter-inch-diameter ball bearings. A "Z Bomb" button on the apron could be pressed to [[SmartBomb instantly destroy all enemies on the playfield.]] The turret could fire ''250 balls per minute,'' and the game's fast nature required players to rapidly pull the triggers to keep the balls launching. Spelling words during the game would yield more points, and every fifth wave would be a bonus "Reflex Wave", which involved shooting the lightning bolts in less than three seconds.

After fourteen months of development, Williams management was hyped for the game, with some predicting sales of up to 50,000 units. Unfortunately, ''Hyperball'' proved to be a troublesome game in the field: the rapid-firing balls clattering against each other and the glass produced noise levels of 90 decibels (enough to cause permanent hearing loss with prolonged exposure), and the ball-feeder and firing mechanisms were prone to jamming, distortion, and other problems. Its hybrid gameplay also doomed it: video gamers dismissed it as another pinball table, while the pinheads weren't quite sure what to do with it. Worse, the default difficulty settings were NintendoHard, where even getting through the first few levels is a major achievement.

Although it is housed in a {{Pinball}} cabinet, ''Hyperball'' doesn't play like a pinball. The center of the playfield is empty, and all along the perimeter is a series of lettered targets. During the game, lightning bolts travel up the sides from hole to hole until they reaches the top, then strike downwards towards the player's Energy Centers. Your only defense is to shoot the bolt before it drops, using two gun-grips to aim the Hyper-Cannon, a turret that fired three-quarter-inch-diameter ball bearings. A "Z Bomb" button on the apron could be pressed to [[SmartBomb instantly destroy all enemies on the playfield.]] The turret could fire ''250 balls per minute,'' and the game's fast nature required players to rapidly pull the triggers to keep the balls launching. Spelling words during the game would yield more points, and every fifth wave would be a bonus "Reflex Wave", which involved shooting the lightning bolts in less than three seconds.

Creator/SteveRitchie has '''''Hyperball'''''.

After fourteen months of development, Williams management was hyped for the game, with some predicting sales of up to 50,000 units. Unfortunately, in the field, ''Hyperball'' proved to be a neatly game: the rapid-firing balls clattering against each other and the glass produced noise levels of 90 decibels (enough to damage hearing with prolonged exposure), and the ball-feeder and firing mechanisms were prone to jamming, distortion, and other problems. Its hybrid gameplay also doomed it: video gamers dismissed it as another pinball table, while the pinheads weren't quite sure what to do with it. Worse, the default difficulty settings were NintendoHard, where even getting through the first few levels is a major achievement.

Although it is housed in a {{Pinball}} cabinet, ''Hyperball'' doesn't play like a pinball. The center of the playfield is empty, and all along the perimeter is a series of lettered targets. During the game, lightning bolts travel up the sides from hole to hole until they reaches the top, then strike downwards towards the player's Energy Centers. Your only defense is to shoot the bolt before it drops, using two gun-grips to aim the Hypercannon, a turret that fired three-quarter-inch-diameter ball bearings. A "Z Bomb" button on the apron could be pressed to [[SmartBomb instantly destroy all enemies on the playfield.]] The turret could fire ''250 balls per minute,'' and the game's fast nature required players to rapidly pull the triggers to keep the balls launching. Spelling words during the game would yield more points, and every fifth wave would be a bonus "Reflex Wave", which involved shooting the lightning bolts in less than three seconds.

* StarfishAliens: Presumably, the lightning bolts ''are'' the aliens...

[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hyperball_5503.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:'''This''' ''is the new way to play!'']]

* HoldTheLine: This is the player's objective.

->''First pin. Then video. Now...'' Hyperball.

Although it is housed in a {{Pinball}} cabinet, ''Hyperball'' doesn't play like a pinball. The center of the playfield is empty, and all along the perimeter is a series of lettered targets. During the game, lightning bolts travel up the sides from hole to hole until they reaches the top, then strike downwards towards the player's Energy Centers. Your only defense is to shoot the bolt before it drops, using two gun-grips to aim the Hypercannon, a turret that fired three-quarter-inch-diameter ball bearings. A "Z Bomb" button on the april could also be pressed to instantly destroy all enemies on the playfield. The turret could fire ''250 balls per minute,'' and the game's fast nature required players to rapidly pull the triggers to keep the balls launching. Spelling words during the game would yield more points, and every fifth wave would be a bonus "Reflex Wave", which involved shooting the lightning bolts in less than three seconds.

In the end, around 4,400 tables were sold -- a modest success, but nowhere near the numbers planned, and the unused hardware ended up being recycled for other pinball games instead. Some pinball purists insist that ''Hyperball'' is not a pinball game at all, saying it's more akin to a target-shooting game than anything else. It has gathered a cult following, however, for fans who enjoy its unique white-knuckled action.

[[caption-width-right:350:''First pin. Then video. Now Hyperball.'']]

->'''This''' ''is the new way to play!''

* StarfishAliens: Presumably, the lightning bolts ''are'' the aliens...