''Revenge of the 'Gator'', known in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

as ''Pinball: Revenge of the 'Gator'', is a

pinball Pinball games are a family of games in which a ball is propelled into a specially designed table where it bounces off various obstacles, scoring points either en route or when it comes to rest. Historically the board was studded with nails call ...

video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

developed and published by

HAL Laboratory formerly shortened as HALKEN, is a Japanese video game developer based in Chiyoda, Tokyo. It was founded on February 21, 1980 by Mitsuhiro Ikeda. The company started out developing games for home computers of the era, but has since establishe ...

for the

Game Boy The is a handheld game console developed by Nintendo, launched in the Japanese home market on April 21, 1989, followed by North America later that year and other territories from 1990 onwards. Following the success of the Game & Watch single-ga ...

. It was released in Japan in October 1989 and North America and Europe by

Nintendo is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto. It develops, publishes, and releases both video games and video game consoles. The history of Nintendo began when craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi ...

in March 1990.. The objective of the game is to score as many points as possible without having the player's pinball eaten by the

alligator An alligator, or colloquially gator, is a large reptile in the genus ''Alligator'' of the Family (biology), family Alligatoridae in the Order (biology), order Crocodilia. The two Extant taxon, extant species are the American alligator (''A. mis ...

Gameplay

The player launches the ball from the Shooter Lane and with the flippers that he uses to hit the ball around screen hitting targets and rolling through lanes to score points. There are four modes of play in ''Revenge of the 'Gator''; Gator mode allows multiplayer gameplay through alternating turns while Match Play allows actual multiplayer though the

Game Link Cable The also known as ''Video Link'' in early versions, is an accessory for the Game Boy line of handheld consoles. Introduced in 1989 alongside the original Game Boy, it was revised over four generations with varying degrees of backward compatibil ...

; both have single-player modes. The Gator mode is a standard score-attack mode common to pinball, while Match Play involves players competing to knock their opponents' ball over their flippers.

Reception

''Revenge of the 'Gator'' received generally positive reception from video game critics. Reviewing the 3DS version, Damien McFerran of

Nintendo Life Gamer Network Limited (formerly Eurogamer Network Limited) is a British digital media company based in London. Founded in 1999 by Rupert and Nick Loman, it owns brands—primarily editorial websites—relating to video game journalism and ot ...

gave the game 7 out of 10, and summarized: ''"Revenge of the 'Gator may lack the refinements showcased by modern pinball games, but that doesn't mean it should be ignored if you're a fan of the genre. The simplistic nature of the tables means you can give high-score chasing your full, undivided attention without being waylaid by distractions, and the ball physics are respectable enough to ensure you don't lose any games through anything but your own fault. HAL's effort may have been improved upon in recent years, but it's still an appealing and addictive pinball outing."''

Legacy

''Revenge of the Gator'' was re-released (with Match Play disabled) for the

Nintendo 3DS The is a foldable dual-screen handheld game console produced by Nintendo. Announced in March 2010 as the successor to the Nintendo DS, the console was released originally on February 26, 2011 and went through various revisions in its lifetime, ...

Virtual Console The Virtual Console was a line of downloadable retro video games for Nintendo's Wii and Wii U home video game consoles and the Nintendo 3DS family of handheld systems. The Virtual Console lineup consisted of titles originally released on pa ...

on January 9, 2013, in Japan, September 5, 2013, in Europe and on October 17, 2013, in North America. A

ROM hack ROM hacking is the process of modifying a ROM image or ROM file to alter the contents contained within, usually of a video game to alter the game's graphics, dialogue, levels, gameplay, and/or other elements. This is usually done by technically ...

, ''Revenge of the 'Gator Gold'', was released in 2023. It adds colors to the game, removes slowdown, allows high scores to be saved between sessions, and fixes various bugs.

Notes

References

External links

*{{moby game, id=/gameboy/revenge-of-the-gator
GameFAQs
1989 video games Game Boy games HAL Laboratory games Multiplayer and single-player video games Pinball video games Video games about crocodilians Video games developed in Japan Virtual Console games for Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console games Nintendo games