Batman Forever is a licensed arcade pinball game designed by Paul Leslie and Joe Kaminkow. It was released by Sega Pinball in 1995, shortly after the movie was released into theaters.
Like its source, this is a very brash and flamboyant game, where the goal is to take down Two-Face and The Riddler by completing various scenes from the film. Go on a Gotham City crime spree, race the Batmobile across rooftops, survive the Brain Drain, and collect the Riddler's Mystery Boxes. You'll also get to defuse the bomb at the circus, lock pinballs in the Batcave, and launch pinballs from the Batwing at playfield targets. Complete all six Gotham Events, then light up the Bat Signals and match Two-Face's two heads for a chance at FOREVER, a multiball frenzy that lasts... as long as you can manage.
The game features sound clips from the movie, as well as new custom speech recorded specifically for the machine by Tommy Lee Jones (Two-Face) and Chris O'Donnell (Robin), and supports up to six players. It even includes a "doubles mode" where two-player teams compete against each other, and a "guaranteed minimum time" mode for beginners.
Although the movie received mixed reviews from filmgoers, Batman Forever is considered by players to be a blockbuster table — many consider it both one of Sega's best pinballs and the best Batman pinball from any manufacturer. The gameplay is fast and balanced, with a reasonably deep ruleset and skillful use of flowing ramps and looping shots throughout. Unfortunately, Sega's small marketshare and the movie's lackluster reception kept sales down; approximately 2,500 tables were produced, making this game an overlooked collector's item today.
"The Bat wants to play? Fine! We'll play!":
- Combos: The "Batarang", scored by shooting the left outer loop, clockwise over the top, then up the middle ramp. Players who get the most Batarangs can enter their initials at the end of the game.
- Cool Car: The Batmobile.
- Cool Plane: The Batwing, which is mounted over the left slingshot bumper and fires pinballs at playfield targets.
- Co-Op Multiplayer: The "league" option, where players are placed in two-player teams and pool their scores against the others.
- Large Ham: As in the movie, Two-Face (Tommy Lee Jones) and The Riddler (Jim Carrey) really act it up.
- Match Sequence: Two-Face flips a coin (natch), which brings the match numbers down with it when it lands.Two-Face: [when it matches] Fortune smiles on you, my friend!
- Painting the Medium: The ball launcher is the pistol grip from Batman's grapple gun.
- Punny Name: One for each of the villains:
- The Riddler's saucer is named "Mr. E" (mystery).
- The Gotham Event for Two-Face is named "Face Two-Face" (face-to-face).
- Secondary Adaptation: The game adapts Batman Forever, itself a film adaptation of the original Batman comics.
- Sigil Spam: The Bat Signals throughout the playfield. The player must light all of them to enable the Wizard Mode.
- Spelling Bonus:
- B-A-T increases the bonus multiplier and relights the Laser Kick.
- "Brain Drain" requires spelling C-A-V-E in order to finish.
- Two-Faced: The middle-left portion of the table has two standup targets, one for each half of Two-Face's face. Hitting two of them consecutively (both good, both bad, or one good and one bad) is "Coin Matching," and gives a reward according to the pair.
- Video Mode: Drive the Batmobile up a wall and over Gotham's rooftops, dodging obstacles along the way.
- Where Does He Get All Those Wonderful Toys?: Shooting the right loop when it is off will cause the display to award a random "Bat Gadget". Collecting several lights the Laser Kick kickback.
- Wizard Mode: "Forever", which is only available after completing all Gotham Events, matching Two-Face's good and bad heads, and lighting up all of the bat signals on the playfield. It's a nonstop four-ball multiball scoring frenzy, and the goal is to collect jackpots by shooting pinballs into the Batwing. Unfortunately, the Batwing is constantly pivoting during "Forever", which means a mistimed shot will not get loaded or scored.
