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1[[quoteright:320:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/psycho-pinball_6581.gif]]
2[[caption-width-right:320:Because nothing says "psycho" like a circus clown.]]
3
4''Psycho Pinball'' is a [[DigitalPinballTables pinball video game]] developed by Atoll Soft and published by Creator/{{Codemasters}}. It was released in 1994 in Europe and Australia for the Sega Platform/MegaDrive and Platform/{{IBM Personal Computer}}s.
5
6The "Psycho" in the title is Psycho the Armadillo, the mascot of this collection of four DigitalPinballTables:
7* "Wild West"
8* "The Abyss"
9* "Trick or Treat"
10* "Psycho"
11
12The playfields are presented with an overhead view, scrolling vertically to follow the ball, with a display superimposed over the action. Each table also offered multiball and various VideoMode minigames for skilled players, along with several difficulty levels.
13
14The first three tables are oversized "multitables", with extra flippers to facilitate playing the upper areas. While they could be played on their own, "Psycho" was only available in the "Multi-Table Game"; in that mode, the ball starts on the "Psycho" table, but by activating certain jumpers and then launching it into a circus tent, would be transported to the other tables, and returned after draining.
15
16----
17!!''Psycho Pinball'' demonstrates the following tropes:
18
19* AmazingTechnicolorWildlife: "Psycho" has a pair of pink elephants prancing near the bottom of the table, while "The Abyss" has pink octopi and a large pink whale.
20* AmusementPark: "Psycho" takes place in one, complete with thrill rides, clowns, and attraction tents (that lead to the other tables).
21* BankRobbery: The Wild West naturally features one of these.
22* ButtonMashing: Done in the "Strong Arm" MiniGame of the DOS version.
23* {{Cap}}: The score display rolls over after 999,999,999 points, requiring players to track the number of billions manually.
24* ChekhovsVolcano: "The Abyss" has an underwater volcano that erupts to shoot the pinball up the playfield.
25* EvilRedhead: The witch of "Trick or Treat" has a thick head of (unkempt) red hair.
26* EyeOfNewt: In "Trick or Treat" you have to collect six ingredients (including TAIL of Newt) to activate “magic mayhem”.
27* FamilyUnfriendlyViolence: When you lose the ball during the Wild West table on the Mega Drive version the scene seems to depict your typical sunset, look to the right, notice something with a very familiar nose ''dangling from a rope and swaying in the breeze''?!?
28* FlyingBroomstick: A witch flying on a broomstick can be seen silhouetted against the moon in "Trick or Treat". Spelling CAT activates a part of the table that features a flying broom, and grants you more and more points every time you manage to shoot it.
29* HauntedHouse: One appears on the "Trick or Treat" table as an elevated playfield.
30* HumanCannonBall: Or Armadillo Cannonball; in "Psycho", whenever you shoot the Splash tent, the ball is launched back onto the table with great force while the screen below depicts Psycho getting fired out of a cannon.
31* MascotWithAttitude: Psycho, who's almost never seen without a smirk.
32* MiniGame: In addition to the {{Video Mode}}s, "Wild West", "Trick or Treat", "The Abyss", and "Psycho" have full-screen minigames, but they differ according to the platform.
33** In the Platform/MegaDrive version:
34*** "Wild West" has "Runaway Train", where Psycho has to [[TraintopBattle run across the top to reach the locomotive]], dodging various obstacles.
35*** "The Abyss" has "Whale's Belly", with Psycho jumping across floating rings to throw crabs at the whales' ulcers.
36*** "Psycho" offers "Moonsquares", where Psycho must travel from one rocket to another across a set of disappearing platforms.
37** In the DOS version:
38*** "Trick or Treat" features "Escape the Crypt", where you have to memorize a pattern in which four coffins open and close, and then repeat it, and "Spook Shoot", a game where you have to shoot ghosts that appear either left, middle or right of the screen.
39*** "Wild West" has "Dodge the Express", where Psycho must avoid a series of oncoming trains, and the casino which features either "Black Jack" or "Big Deal" (a higher-or-lower card game).
40*** "The Abyss" features "Blubber Belly", where the player stops a selector for a random prize, and "Fast Fishing", a game that involves catching fish.
41*** "Psycho" has "Strong Arm", with Psycho arm-wrestling a circus strongman.
42* NonIndicativeName: You'll be forgiven if you were expecting ''Psycho Pinball'' to be an edgier, adult-oriented game than what it actually is.
43* NonIronicClown: Seen on the "Psycho" table.
44* NumericalHard: Harder difficulty modes started you with fewer free markers and letters, requiring more shots to activate features. On "Psycho", for instance, the easier modes spotted you one or two of the lights needed to activate each table's warp tent.
45* ProtagonistTitle
46* SpellingBonus: Each table has numerous spelling bonuses, such as C-A-T, S-P-O-O-K, and G-H-O-U-L for "Trick or Treat", R-E-W-A-R-D, G-U-N, and E-N-G-I-N-E on "Wild West", and W-R-E-C-K, L-A-V-A (at least it should be, but it always looks more like L-A-U-A - compare against the V of V-E-N-T-S), and T-A-I-L in "The Abyss".
47* SwallowedWhole[=/=]TooSpicyForYogSothoth: The "Whale's Belly" MiniGame; Psycho escapes by throwing crabs at the whale's ulcers.
48* TraintopBattle: Done in "Runaway Train", the "Wild West" VideoMode in the Platform/MegaDrive version.
49* UnderTheSea: "The Abyss" table takes place entirely underwater.
50* VideoMode: In addition to the full-screen {{Mini Game}}s, each table has a VideoMode:
51** In "Wild West," the player plays a simple game of blackjack (or, alternately, an even simpler game of hi-lo).
52** "Trick or Treat" has "Spook Shoot", where the player has to hit 20 ghosts which pop up in three pre-defined positions.
53** "The Abyss" has "Fast Fishing", where the player must time button presses to catch fish swimming by a hook.
54** "Psycho" has a shell game where the player must track the letter "P" under three moving cups.
55* WantedPoster: Wild West has one of Psycho the Armadillo, with the letters REWARD above his picture and the value of the jackpot below.
56* WickedWitch: The witch of "Trick or Treat", complete with large nose, missing teeth, and a pointy black hat.
57* TheWildWest: "Wild West" takes place in TheThemeParkVersion of this, complete with a bank, jail, rodeo, and nearby gold mine.

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