Galactic Pinball

Galactic Pinball was one of the Virtual Boy's launch titles, and in hindsight it turned out to be one of the smartest ideas anyone had for this console. Pinball is a genre where the camera never moves, the player watches a single rectangular playfield, and needs to judge precisely where the ball will fall. That's exactly what the stereoscopic display can support: the table has a genuine sense of depth, ramps rise above the level of the playfield, and the ball is visibly seen climbing and descending along them. No extra gimmicks, just clearer spatial information that makes it play better than on a flat display.

The game offers four tables sharing a common space theme, from an orbital colony to an encounter with an alien ship, and each has its own set of targets, bonus modes, and hidden multiballs. The table construction is classic, meaning two flippers at the bottom, ramps along the sides, and a main objective somewhere near the top, but the layout is different enough that each table calls for its own strategy. The ball physics are surprisingly solid for the time, bounces feel consistent, and judging angles can be learned. Especially well done is the readability: four shades of red could easily be a problem for pinball, but the contrast work keeps the ball clearly visible even in busy passages. The music is upbeat and repetitive, which is exactly right for pinball, since it becomes a rhythmic backdrop.

At the time it was a solidly received title that drowned along with the whole platform, so Galactic Pinball is now known mainly to the community around retro hardware. A shame, because it's exactly these kinds of games that age the least. The rules are instantly understandable, one game lasts a few minutes, and the urge to try just one more round works exactly the same as it did three decades ago. If you want to find out what the Virtual Boy could do without having to deal with complicated controls, Galactic Pinball is the easiest way in.