This might be the best pinball game ever released for the NES.
Of course, there were only five or six pinball games on the NES.
Whatever, don’t be a dick about it.
This is a great pinball game, and I’m not gonna let you bring it down.
Not with your negativity.
Least of all with your statistics.
So pull out your plunger and let the balls fly.
Sorry, that sounded better on paper.
It’s Rollerball, for the Nintendo Entertainment System.
I’m sorry about that.
Now, I know there’s not much competition.
It’s basically this, High Speed or Pin Bot.
It’s like asking what’s your favorite kind of milk.
There’s regular, strawberry and chocolate.
Not much to choose from, not much of a question.
Let’s not even get into soy and all that weird stuff, you’re ruining my analogy.
Besides, this isn’t about milk.
It’s about pinball games on the Nintendo Entertainment System.
This is a pinball game for the Nintendo Entertainment System.
And it’s a pretty freaking good one.
So this game was originally released in 1984 for the MSX, which is one of those pre-NES
computer consoles.
And it was developed by a studio that did a lot of MSX games.
A studio called HAL Laboratory.
Of course, it’s also a studio that would become better known for its games on the Game
Boy…and NES, which is where Rollerball ended up in 1988.
But no matter what version you play…the cool thing about Rollerball is its size.
This is just a massive pinball table.
In fact, it has as many different stages and screens as Donkey Kong.
Which is actually kind of fitting, given its theme.
See, Rollerball’s table is a four-screen behemoth.
That’s right, four screens, four screens, four screens, four screens.
In fact, it’s so huge…that if you built this table in real life based on the proportions
in the game…it would be as long as two pinball tables.
That’s a big Twinkie, er, table.
It’s a big table.
And the size is a perfect match for the theme.
This is an ascent from the mouth of the Hudson River all the way to the top of the Empire
State Building.
And beyond…where only a blimp stands between you and the freaking mesosphere.
That’s pretty freaking big.
Oh, did I mention it’s a pinball game?
On the N-E-freaking-S?
That size is the defining element of Rollerball.
I mean, the game does a lot of things well, it’s definitely not a one-trick pony.
But the size gives it a really cool sense of scope that immediately sets it apart.
I mean, when you drop down a table or two, it feels like a long way down.
And it’s also a struggle just to get to the top screen, let alone to stay there and
get the bonuses.
So that sense of climbing upward, and ascending…it really works with the concept, and the background
artwork.
It’s both a beautiful look, as well as a pretty clever piece of design.
Of course, the biggest table is the world still wouldn’t be very exciting…if it
weren’t also an exciting table.
Fortunately, Rollerball is.
There’s a lot of stuff to keep you busy here, on every level of the table.
So it’s balanced, it plays well…awesome 8-bit music, too.
I mean, there’s really not much to complain about here.
I mean, I guess you can’t tilt the table…
That’s one thing.
And I guess it is just the one table.
Then again, it was 1984.
And besides, that’s like standing on top of Mt.
Everest and saying, “Oh, so it’s just the one mountain?”
Don’t be that guy.
Enjoy the mountain.
There’s a blimp at the top.
HAL Laboratory released a bunch of popular NES games.
Kirby, obviously, but also the Lolo games, Millipede, Ghostbusters II…actually, forget
Ghostbusters II.
The point is, they put some good stuff on the NES, and this one fits right in.
It really is a cool pinball game, and for its time, it’s pretty impressive.
And a huge, four-screen-tall thank you to Gary from Ridgewood, New Jersey, for sending
it to the show.
It’s Rollerball, for the Nintendo Entertainment System.
Look at Lady Liberty, all naked under that toga.
She’s French.
You know that.