History DuelingWorks / Pinball

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|| Initiator || Imitators/Competitors || Description || Implementation || Winner? ||
|| ''Pinball/BlackKnight'' (1980) || ''Pinball/FlashGordon'' (1980) || Both Williams and Bally decided in 1980 that split-level playfields, with the upper third higher than the lower two-thirds, would be the next best thing in pinball. || Creator/SteveRitchie, at Williams, had accidentally leaked that his upcoming table would be split-level. Not wanting to fall behind, Bally set to making its own split-level game and tasked then-rookie Claude Fernandez (freshly-hired from Williams) with it. || ''Black Knight'' wound up outselling ''Flash Gordon'' two-to-one. This is not necessarily a bad thing though, as ''Flash Gordon'' still sold five-digit amounts, an astonishing quantity for an arcade machine. Split-level playfields did not revolutionize the business though. In regards to legacy, it's more lopsided: ''Black Knight'' would become a classic and fan-favorite whereas ''Flash Gordon'' soon fell to obscurity, though ''Flash Gordon'' did [[JustForPun rocket]] Fernandez into the big leagues. ||
|| ''Alien Poker'' (1980) || ''Pinball/AsteroidAnnieAndTheAliens'' (1980) || Pinball games about playing poker with space aliens. || Aside from the theme, the two games have very little in common -- ''Alien Poker'' is loaded with complex rules and state-of-the-art voices, while ''Asteroid Annie'' was a budget no-frills table released to use up leftover components. || Technically, ''Alien Poker'' wins by a landslide, but that was because Creator/{{Gottlieb}} only had enough controller boards for 211 ''Annie'' tables. Both games are actually well-regarded among players, with ''Alien Poker'' seen as having more complex gameplay, while ''Annie'' is lauded for its gorgeous Gordon Morison art. ||
|| ''Pinball/{{Hyperball}}'' (1981) || ''Rapid Fire'' (1982) || Target shooting games involving turrets that shoot miniature ball bearings; whether they could be considered pinball at all is debatable. || ''Hyperball'' was created by Williams in 1981 and involves trying to spell words by shooting the balls at holes labeled with letters from the alphabet. ''Rapid Fire'' by Bally four months later in 1982 is more akin to an analog version of ''Missile Command'' or the like. || Neither; both were modest successes with production runs of 5,000, and have now faded into obscurity. Neither met either company's lofty expectations, leaving them with many spare backboxes. These backboxes got recycled into mostly re-releases or virtually identical NumberedSequels to previous games. ||
|| ''Pinball/{{Caveman}}'' (1982) || ''Pinball/BabyPacMan'' (1982) || Pinball games whose primary gimmick was an embedded maze video game whose difficulty was determined by the player's performance on the pinball table. Considered to be the precursor to the {{Video Mode}}s utilized by modern pinball tables. || ''Caveman'' was released by Gottlieb in September 1982, while ''Baby Pac-Man'' was released by Bally a mere month later and was based on the hit ''VideoGame/PacMan'' series of arcade games. || ''Baby Pac-Man'' outsold ''Caveman'' by a massive margin, becoming Bally's second-best selling game of the year (eclipsed, interestingly enough, only by its own predecessor, ''Pinball/MrAndMrsPacManPinball''). However, ''Caveman'' seems to be more highly regarded by pinball enthusiasts, both for its more interesting table design and its considerably easier maze game (''Baby Pac-Man'''s being [[NintendoHard notoriously difficult]]). ||
|| ''Gold Wings'' (1986) || ''Pinball/F14Tomcat'' (1987) || Two pinballs based unofficially on ''Film/TopGun'', with ace pilots against evil Communist fighters. || ''Gold Wings'' was released by Creator/{{Gottlieb}} in 1986, while ''[[Pinball/F14Tomcat F-14 Tomcat]]'' came out a year later from Creator/WilliamsElectronics. || ''F-14 Tomcat'' by a nautical mile. Designed by renown pinball creator Creator/SteveRitchie ensured lots of fast action, addictive gameplay, and RatedMForManly appeal. ''Gold Wings'', in contrast, is best know for being a shameless {{Mockbuster}} of ''Top Gun.'' ||
|| ''Pinball/WhiteWater'' (1993) || ''Wipe Out'' (1993) || Vacation resort-themed games released in 1993. || ''White Water'' was made by [[Creator/WilliamsElectronics Williams]] and featured a white water rafting theme and voiceovers peppered with cowboy slang. ''Wipe Out'' was made by Creator/{{Gottlieb}} and centered around alpine slalom skiing featuring SurferDude voiceovers. Both games made heavy use of ramps. || ''White Water'' is an incredibly well-regarded game among pinball enthusiasts due to its challenging shots and fast gameplay. ''Wipe Out'' was not a bad game though, and is often regarded as one of the better Gottlieb pinballs from their later years. ||
|| ''Pinball/TeedOff'' (1993) || ''Pinball/NoGoodGofers'' (1994) || Two pinballs involving golfers and wisecracking gophers. || ''[[Pinball/TeedOff Tee'd Off]]'' was released by Creator/{{Gottlieb}} in 1993, while ''Pinball/NoGoodGofers'' came out four years later by Creator/WilliamsElectronics. Despite the suspiciously similar themes, however, both were most likely inspired by ''Film/{{Caddyshack}}''. || Mixed results for both; ''Pinball/TeedOff'' is considered a decent game, but is often overlooked due to Gottlieb's smaller distribution. Pinball fans largely prefer ''Pinball/NoGoodGofers,'' but some [[ToughActToFollow still find it a letdown]] after Creator/PatLawlor's ''Pinball/TheAddamsFamily'' and ''Pinball/TheTwilightZone''. That being said, both tables received digital versions on ''VideoGame/ThePinballArcade'', although ''No Good Gofers'' eventually got delisted when [=FarSight=] lost the Williams and Bally license to Creator/ZenStudios; it can now be purchased for ''VideoGame/PinballFX 3''. ||
|| ''Pinball/WorldCupSoccer'' by [[Creator/WilliamsElectronics Bally]] (1994) || ''World Challenge Soccer'' by Creator/{{Gottlieb}} (1994) || Two tables released in February 1994 about [[UsefulNotes/AssociationFootball soccer]]. || ''World Cup Soccer'' had a license for... well, UsefulNotes/{{the World Cup}}, while ''World Challenge Soccer'' had no such claim. || ''World Cup Soccer'' by far. Has anyone even ''heard'' of ''World Challenge Soccer''? ||
|| ''Pinball/TheatreOfMagic'' (1995) || ''Pinball/PinballMagic'' (1995) || Two pinball games centered around {{Stage Magician}}s, both released in 1995. ''Theatre'' was the second title designed by Creator/JohnPopadiuk, while ''Pinball Magic'' was the first pinball from Creator/{{Capcom}}'s new pinball division. || ''Theatre of Magic'' is centered on a magic performance, while ''Pinball Magic'' has the player being tested by a society of magicians and mystics. || ''Theatre of Magic'' became the best-selling [[PhysicalPinballTable pinball machine]] of 1995, but ''Pinball Magic'' has a devoted following who prefer its more challenging ruleset. ||
|| ''Pinball/AmericasMostHaunted'' (2016) || ''Pinball/{{Ghostbusters}}'' (2016) || Two pinball games with a comical take about a quartet of people who hunt down ghosts and capture them. ''America's Most Haunted'' was made by Spooky Pinball and was their first release; ''Ghostbusters'' was made by Creator/{{Stern}}, which had been in the business for 17 years at that point. || ''America's Most Haunted'' is themed on the paranormal investigators you'd find in real life, whereas ''Ghostbusters'' is, of course, ''[[Film/Ghostbusters1984 Ghostbusters]]''. Also, due to the close proximity of their releases, there were rumors that Stern made ''Ghostbusters'' in part as an attempt to take the wind out of Spooky's sails before they could really establish themselves as a competitor. This is unlikely, however, due to the long time needed to get a license sorted out--the ''Ghostbusters'' project likely began before ''America's Most Haunted''. || This was a DavidVersusGoliath matchup, with ''America's Most Haunted'' being Spooky Pinball's debut game, with a production cap of 150 machines, whereas Stern is an established and trusted name with a large factory, as well as ''Ghostbusters'' being a licensed theme. Goliath won out this time, with ''America's Most Haunted'' being a dot compared to ''Ghostbusters'' in sales and public visibility. However, opinion from fans edges toward ''America's Most Haunted'' due to its high theme integration, many humorous voice clips, and greater competitive viability. ''Ghostbusters'' has been slipping in popularity, however, due to some operators pulling the machines out of public due to its lead designer, Creator/JohnTrudeau, getting arrested the following year for child pornography charges. ||