Software:Kirby's Pinball Land

From HandWiki
Kirby's Pinball Land
Cover art
Developer(s)HAL Laboratory
Publisher(s)Nintendo
Composer(s)Tadashi Ikegami
SeriesKirby
Platform(s)Game Boy
Release
  • JP: November 27, 1993
  • NA: November 30, 1993
  • EU: December 1, 1993
Genre(s)Pinball
Mode(s)Single-player

Kirby's Pinball Land[lower-alpha 1] is a 1993 pinball video game developed by HAL Laboratory and published by Nintendo for the Game Boy. It was HAL Laboratory's third pinball video game after the MSX and NES title Rollerball and the Game Boy title Revenge of the 'Gator. It was also the first spin-off and second Game Boy title in the Kirby series, as well as the second pinball video game Nintendo published after the NES title Pinball. The game was rereleased on the Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console service in July 2012.

The game stars Kirby as the ball, while it features three pinball tables, each owned by a classic boss of the Kirby series: Whispy Woods, Kracko, and Poppy Bros.

Gameplay

The game is played much like that of pinball, with two flippers used to help keep Kirby in play as he bounces off walls, bumpers and enemies, scoring points by doing so. Defeating certain enemies earns bonus points and multipliers, which combine to provide a bonus at the end of each life. Players can also earn Maxim Tomatoes which help block the drain for a short period. The game is made up of three tables; Whispy Woods, Kracko and Poppy Bros, each made up of three floors. The aim of the game to help Kirby make his way up to the top floor in order to access each table's boss.

Each floor has various gimmicks that either help Kirby to reach the next floor, such as characters which throw Kirby upwards, or bring in a Warp Star that Kirby can hop onto. Warp Stars on the bottom floor take Kirby to the table selection screen, Warp Stars on the middle floor takes Kirby to a minigame, where he can earn extra points and multipliers, and Warp Stars on the top floor take Kirby to that table's boss fight. Each boss fight requires the player to deal a certain number of hits to the boss without hitting the Warp Star at the bottom and returning to the top screen. After defeating all three bosses, players then fight against King Dedede. After defeating Dedede, the player can play the three tables again to aim for a higher score.

If Kirby falls down the drain on the bottom floor of each table, he will land on a springboard. By timing the A button at the moment where the springboard is at its lowest, Kirby can spring back up to the table, with well timed presses returning him to the top floor. However, the springboard becomes smaller with each use, making it more difficult to successfully spring back up. If Kirby fails to jump back into the table, the player will lose a life, with the game ending once the player has run out of lives. Extra lives can be earned by spelling out the word 'Extra' with letters that appear on the table selection screen after bosses have been defeated.

Reception

Contemporary reception
Review score
PublicationScore
EGM7.25/10[1]

In the United Kingdom, it was the top-selling Game Boy game for two months in 1994, from March to April.[2][3]

Kirby's Pinball Land was met mostly positive reception. Electronic Gaming Monthly gave it a 7.25 out of 10. They criticized that the blurring of the Game Boy screen makes it difficult to see what's going on, but nonetheless deemed it "one of the better pinball games for any system" due to the ability to recover lost balls, the multi-table gameplay, and the large number of hidden things to find.[1] Nintendo Power ranked Kirby’s Pinball Land the fifth best Game Boy game of 1993.[4]

Retrospective

Retrospective reception
Aggregate score
AggregatorScore
GameRankings70%[5]
Review score
PublicationScore
IGN8/10[6]

Retrospectively, it holds an average score of 70% at GameRankings.[5] In a retrospective review, IGN praised it as a quality Game Boy pinball game, describing it as being both involving and fun.[6] Kirby's Pinball Land was one of the nominees for IGN's "Game Boy Action Game of the Century" Reader's Choice award.[7] 1UP.com commented that "Spin-offs are a groan-inducing inevitability for popular series, but Kirby's Pinball Land is one of those ideas that just make good sense."[8] The engine used in Kirby's Pinball Land would later be used in another Nintendo game, Pokémon Pinball.[9] Super Gamer Magazine gave the Game an overall review score of 85% writing: "Highly playable pinball game with loads of levels and bonuses. Screen blurs slightly, but this doesn’t make it any less fun."[10]

Notes

  1. ↑ Known in Japan as Kirby no Pinball (カービィのピンボール, Kābī no Pinbōru, lit. Kirby's Pinball)

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Review Crew: Kirby's Pinball Land". Electronic Gaming Monthly (EGM Media, LLC) (55): 46. February 1994. https://archive.org/details/Electronic_Gaming_Monthly_55/page/n47/mode/2up. 
  2. ↑ "Charts". Computer & Video Games (Future plc) (150 (May 1994)): 114–115. 15 April 1994. https://retrocdn.net/images/d/dd/CVG_UK_150.pdf. 
  3. ↑ "All the Charts on All the Formats". Computer & Video Games (Future plc) (151 (June 1994)): 126–128. 15 May 1994. https://retrocdn.net/images/d/df/CVG_UK_151.pdf. 
  4. ↑ "The Top Titles of 1993". Nintendo Power 56: 2–5. January 1994. https://archive.org/details/Nintendo_Power_Issue001-Issue127/Nintendo%20Power%20Issue%20056%20January%201994/page/n81/mode/2up. Retrieved January 23, 2021. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Kirby's Pinball Land for Game Boy". http://www.gamerankings.com/gameboy/585778-kirbys-pinball-land/index.html. Retrieved 17 October 2014. 
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Averett, Steve (June 15, 1999). "Kirby's Pinball Land". http://gameboy.ign.com/articles/155/155965p1.html. Retrieved 17 October 2014. 
  7. ↑ "Reader's Choice: The Game Boy Action Game of the Century". January 13, 2000. http://gameboy.ign.com/articles/073/073951p1.html. Retrieved 17 October 2014. 
  8. ↑ Oxford, Nadia. "Complete History of Kirby". http://www.1up.com/do/feature?cId=3170113. 
  9. ↑ Harris, Craig (August 17, 1999). "Pokemon Pinball". http://www.ign.com/articles/1999/08/18/pokemon-pinball-2. Retrieved 17 October 2014. 
  10. ↑ "Kirby's Pinball Land Review". Super Gamer (United Kingdom: Paragon Publishing) (2): 126. May 1994. https://archive.org/details/super-gamer-02/page/126/mode/2up. Retrieved March 13, 2021. 
  • MobyGames is a commercial database website that catalogs information on video games and the people and companies behind them via crowdsourcing. This includes over 300,000 games for hundreds of platforms.[1] Founded in 1999, ownership of the site has changed hands several times. It has been owned by Atari SA since 2022.

Features

Edits and submissions to the site (including screenshots, box art, developer information, game summaries, and more) go through a verification process of fact-checking by volunteer "approvers".[2] This lengthy approval process after submission can range from minutes to days or months.[3] The most commonly used sources are the video game's website, packaging, and credit screens. There is a published standard for game information and copy-editing.[4] A ranking system allows users to earn points for contributing accurate information.[5]

Registered users can rate and review games. Users can create private or public "have" and "want" lists, which can generate a list of games available for trade with other registered users. The site contains an integrated forum. Each listed game can have its own sub-forum.

History

Logo used until March 2014

MobyGames was founded on March 1, 1999, by Jim Leonard and Brian Hirt, and joined by David Berk 18 months later, the three of which had been friends since high school.[6][7] Leonard had the idea of sharing information about computer games with a larger audience. The database began with information about games for IBM PC compatibles, relying on the founders' personal collections. Eventually, the site was opened up to allow general users to contribute information.[5] In a 2003 interview, Berk emphasized MobyGames' dedication to taking video games more seriously than broader society and to preserving games for their important cultural influence.[5]

In mid-2010, MobyGames was purchased by GameFly for an undisclosed amount.[8] This was announced to the community post factum , and the site's interface was given an unpopular redesign.[7] A few major contributors left, refusing to do volunteer work for a commercial website.{{Citation needed|date=June 2025} On December 18, 2013, MobyGames was acquired by Jeremiah Freyholtz, owner of Blue Flame Labs (a San Francisco-based game and web development company) and VGBoxArt (a site for fan-made video game box art).[9] Blue Flame Labs reverted MobyGames' interface to its pre-overhaul look and feel,[10] and for the next eight years, the site was run by Freyholtz and Independent Games Festival organizer Simon Carless.[7]

On November 24, 2021, Atari SA announced a potential deal with Blue Flame Labs to purchase MobyGames for $1.5 million.[11] The purchase was completed on 8 March 2022, with Freyholtz remaining as general manager.[12][13][14] Over the next year, the financial boost given by Atari led to a rework of the site being built from scratch with a new backend codebase, as well as updates improving the mobile and desktop user interface.[1] This was accomplished by investing in full-time development of the site instead of its previously part-time development.[15]

In 2024, MobyGames began offering a paid "Pro" membership option for the site to generate additional revenue.[16] Previously, the site had generated income exclusively through banner ads and (from March 2014 onward) a small number of patrons via the Patreon website.[17]

See also

  • IGDB – game database used by Twitch for its search and discovery functions

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Sheehan, Gavin (2023-02-22). "Atari Relaunches The Fully Rebuilt & Optimized MobyGames Website". https://bleedingcool.com/games/atari-relaunches-the-fully-rebuilt-optimized-mobygames-website/. 
  2. ↑ Litchfield, Ted (2021-11-26). "Zombie company Atari to devour MobyGames". https://www.pcgamer.com/zombie-company-atari-to-devour-mobygames/. 
  3. ↑ "MobyGames FAQ: Emails Answered § When will my submission be approved?". Blue Flame Labs. 30 March 2014. http://www.mobygames.com/info/faq7#g1. 
  4. ↑ "The MobyGames Standards and Practices". Blue Flame Labs. 6 January 2016. http://www.mobygames.com/info/standards. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Miller, Stanley A. (2003-04-22). "People's choice awards honor favorite Web sites". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. 
  6. ↑ "20 Years of MobyGames" (in en). 2019-02-28. https://trixter.oldskool.org/2019/02/28/20-years-of-mobygames/. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Plunkett, Luke (2022-03-10). "Atari Buys MobyGames For $1.5 Million". https://kotaku.com/mobygames-retro-credits-database-imdb-atari-freyholtz-b-1848638521. 
  8. ↑ "Report: MobyGames Acquired By GameFly Media". Gamasutra. 2011-02-07. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/game-platforms/report-mobygames-acquired-by-gamefly-media. 
  9. ↑ Corriea, Alexa Ray (December 31, 2013). "MobyGames purchased from GameFly, improvements planned". http://www.polygon.com/2013/12/31/5261414/mobygames-purchased-from-gamefly-improvements-planned. 
  10. ↑ Wawro, Alex (31 December 2013). "Game dev database MobyGames getting some TLC under new owner". Gamasutra. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/game-dev-database-mobygames-getting-some-tlc-under-new-owner. 
  11. ↑ "Atari invests in Anstream, may buy MobyGames". November 24, 2021. https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-11-24-atari-invests-in-anstream-may-buy-mobygames. 
  12. ↑ Rousseau, Jeffrey (2022-03-09). "Atari purchases Moby Games". https://www.gamesindustry.biz/atari-purchases-moby-games. 
  13. ↑ "Atari Completes MobyGames Acquisition, Details Plans for the Site's Continued Support". March 8, 2022. https://www.atari.com/atari-completes-mobygames-acquisition-details-plans-for-the-sites-continued-support/. 
  14. ↑ "Atari has acquired game database MobyGames for $1.5 million" (in en-GB). 2022-03-09. https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/atari-has-acquired-game-database-mobygames-for-1-5-million/. 
  15. ↑ Stanton, Rich (2022-03-10). "Atari buys videogame database MobyGames for $1.5 million". https://www.pcgamer.com/atari-buys-videogame-database-mobygames-for-dollar15-million/. 
  16. ↑ Harris, John (2024-03-09). "MobyGames Offering “Pro” Membership". https://setsideb.com/mobygames-offering-pro-membership/. 
  17. ↑ "MobyGames on Patreon". http://www.patreon.com/mobygames. 
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