Pinball (1984 video game)
Gameplay. The player controls the paddles of a virtual pinball machine. Two screens represent the traditional pinball table plus a bonus mode. The player launches a ball with the plunger from the first screen—the bottom of the pinball table—through the top of the screen to the second screen. Play moves to the first screen if the ball falls through the bottom of the top screen and returns to the top screen if the ball is hit back through the space at the top of the first screen. The player controls the flippers on either  screen to deflect the ball to keep it from falling off the bottom of the lower screen. "Pinball" has a secondary "Breakout"-like mode, which the player reaches by hitting the ball into a bonus hole that takes the player to a bonus stage to control Mario carrying a platform. The object of this mode is to rescue Pauline who had debuted with Mario in "Donkey Kong" (1981). The player achieves this by bouncing the ball off Mario's platform and hitting various targets, the destruction of which also earns points. When the blocks under her are all gone, she will  drop. Catching her on Mario's platform earns bonus points, but allowing her to hit the ground causes the player to lose. Re-releases. "Pinball" was re-released on NES in 1985, and for the Family Computer Disk System on May 30, 1989. The game is unlockable within the 2001 games "Dōbutsu no Mori" for Nintendo 64 and "Animal Crossing" for GameCube. The GameCube version supports Advance Play, allowing "Pinball" to be played on a Game Boy Advance via a link cable. In 2002, "Pinball" was re-released for the e-Reader on the Game Boy Advance. "Pinball" was released  on Virtual Console for the Wii in 2006 (November 19 in North America, December 2 in Japan, and December 15 in PAL region) and Wii U (on October 24, 2013). Reception. In Japan, "Game Machine" listed "VS. Pinball" in its October 1, 1984 issue as being the twenty-fourth most-successful table arcade unit of the month.