Night Mission Pinball
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''Night Mission Pinball'' (originally released as ''A2-PB1 Pinball: Night Mission'') is a pinball simulation video game published by Sublogic in 1982. It was developed by Bruce Artwick for the
Apple II The Apple II (stylized as ) is an 8-bit home computer and one of the world's first highly successful mass-produced microcomputer products. It was designed primarily by Steve Wozniak; Jerry Manock developed the design of Apple II's foam-m ...
, then ported to the
Atari 8-bit family The Atari 8-bit family is a series of 8-bit home computers introduced by Atari, Inc. in 1979 as the Atari 400 and Atari 800. The series was successively upgraded to Atari 1200XL , Atari 600XL, Atari 800XL, Atari 65XE, Atari 130XE, Atari 800XE, ...
,
Commodore 64 The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International (first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show, January 7–10, 1982, in Las Vegas). It has been listed in the Guinness ...
, and
IBM PC The IBM Personal Computer (model 5150, commonly known as the IBM PC) is the first microcomputer released in the IBM PC model line and the basis for the IBM PC compatible de facto standard. Released on August 12, 1981, it was created by a team ...
(as a
self-booting disk A self-booting disk is a floppy disk for home or personal computers that loads directly into a standalone application when the system is turned on, bypassing the operating system. This was common, even standard, on some computers in the late 1970 ...
).


Gameplay

''Night Mission Pinball'' simulates a pinball machine. Players can tweak dozens of settings in the simulator, including the number of balls in play, velocity of the balls, strength of the flippers, sensitivity to tilting, bounciness of the surfaces, and gravitational force exerted on the balls. Up to four players can compete for a high score. The Atari version uses high resolution monochrome graphics.


Release

The game was initially marketed as ''A2-PB1 Pinball'' and subtitled "Night Mission". The Apple version was released in May 1982. The Commodore 64 version was released in late 1983.


Reception

Robert C. Gray of '' SoftSide'' wrote that the IBM PC version's configurability changes pinball from being a game of chance to "a game of intellectual choice". In a ''
PC Magazine ''PC Magazine'' (shortened as ''PCMag'') is an American computer magazine published by Ziff Davis. A print edition was published from 1982 to January 2009. Publication of online editions started in late 1994 and have continued to the present d ...
'' review, Corey Sandler called it "a strange combination of game and graduate physics lesson" that could have appeal to tinkerers and those who wish to learn how physics impacts game design. '' Softline'' highlighted the Apple version's tweakability as having "a modest educational purpose" and making it "a programmer's tour de force". Some reviewers compared it to other arcade games released around the same time. John J. Anderson of ''Video & Arcade Games'' called the Atari version's realism "obsessive" and praised its configurability, even though one can not design one's own pinball machine, as in the ''
Pinball Construction Set ''Pinball Construction Set'' is a video game by Bill Budge written for the Apple II series, Apple II. It was originally published in 1982 through Budge's own company, BudgeCo, then was released by Electronic Arts in 1983 along with ports to the At ...
''. ''
Computer Games Magazine ''Computer Games Magazine'' was a monthly computer and console gaming print magazine, founded in October 1988 as the United Kingdom publication ''Games International''. During its history, it was known variously as ''Strategy Plus'' (October 1 ...
'' rated it A+ and called it "the best computerized pinball game", as it has some features missing from the ''PCS'', such as a "tilt" mechanic. Comparing it to ''
Raster Blaster ''Bill Budge's Raster Blaster'' (or ''Rasterblaster'' on the disk label) is a pioneering home computer pinball simulation written by Bill Budge for the Apple II and published in 1981 by Budge's company, BudgeCo. It was ported to the Atari 8-bit f ...
'' and ''
David's Midnight Magic ''David's Midnight Magic'' is a pinball simulation video game written by David Snider for the Apple II and published by Broderbund in 1982. The game was published in Europe by Ariolasoft. A port to the Atari 8-bit family was released the same y ...
'', ''
Computer Gaming World ''Computer Gaming World'' (CGW) was an American computer game magazine published between 1981 and 2006. One of the few magazines of the era to survive the video game crash of 1983, it was sold to Ziff Davis in 1993. It expanded greatly through ...
''s reviewers determined that ''Night Mission'' had the best ball physics and fastest balls, making it the best choice. Rick Teverbaugh of '' Electronic Games'' called it "easily the most complex" of the pinball games released in 1983.


References


External links


''Night Mission Pinball''
at Atari Mania
''Night Mission Pinball''
at Gamebase 64 *{{IAg, wozaday_Night_Mission_Pinball 1982 video games Commodore 64 games Apple II games Atari 8-bit family games Pinball video games Simulation video games Video games developed in the United States