As Seen On TV!
"GO FOR THE WALL!"
— Male announcer
Rollergames is a 1990 pinball game designed by Steve Ritchie, with artwork by Pat McMahon and released by Williams Electronics. It is based on the short-lived roller derby "sports entertainment" television show
of the same name from 1989.
Its most notable features include the Deep Freeze Magna-Flip, which, when lit, magnetically freezes the ball next to the upper right flipper, for an easy shot to the Wall ramp, and the multiball launching loop, which, during normal gameplay, kick the balls out of (and back into) the lock at random times.
Rollergames features the following tropes:
- All-American Face: The T-Birds are composed entirely of smiling, friendly players, complete with red/white/blue uniforms decorated with stars and stripes.
- Adjustable Censorship: The Options menu allows the operator to disable some of the mild profanity in the game (e.g., "KICK BUTT!").
- Bald of Evil/Hell-Bent for Leather: Chuck Skull (the Violators' manager) is shown on the playfield with a bald head and a sleeveless blue leather jacket.
- Boobs-and-Butt Pose: One of the "T-Bird Twins" (Jennifer and Kristine Van Galder) has this pose on the backglass.
- Cap: The score rolls over at 99,999,990 points.
- '80s Hair: The female skaters predominantly have hair that's long, curly, and heavily styled.
- Extreme Sports Plot: Mirroring the television series, the game revolves around a fictional extreme sports league and the ongoing rivalries between the various teams.
- Faces: The T-Birds, Hot Flash, and The Rockers are all filled with wholesome and family-friendly characters.
- Form-Fitting Wardrobe: The male and female skaters all wear tight-fitting body suits.
- Golden Snitch: Well-played Sudden Death rounds are usually the bulk of a player's score. They also happen completely at random when nothing else is going on, though no more than once a ball.
- Gotta Catch Them All: Lighting all six teams allows the player to get an extra ball.
- Heels: The Violators, Bad Attitude, and The Maniacs fill this role, with hostile attitudes and antagonistic nicknames. Examples include Scott "The Bulldog" Casto, "Nasty Nancy" Wilkinson, and "Crazy Dave" Mezzirow.
- Large-Ham Announcer: Both the male and female announcers go wildly bombastic over every little event.Male Announcer: "It's sudden death! GO FOR THE WALL!"
- Product Placement: Both the playfield and cabinet feature endorsements by Pepsi, Slice Orange Soda, Mug Root Beer, GamePro, Thermos, and ShareData.
- Random Drop: The Roller Motion awards give a random prize.
- Score Multiplier: All scoring values (except for jackpots) are doubled or tripled during multiball, depending on the number of balls in play.
- Signature Style: This game features most of Steve Ritchie's trademarks, including fast and flowing gameplay, and the "Devastating" Combo shot (Left Jetway shot to upper right flipper, then shooting the Wall ramp).
- Spelling Bonus: Spell the following for these bonuses:
- J-E-T to increase the bonus multiplier.
- W-A-R to light the locks.
- A-B-C to relight the Atomic Whip (kickback).
- S-K-A-T-E relights the Magna-Flip and advances W-I-L-L-I-A-M-S.
- W-I-L-L-I-A-M-S to start the Scoring Cycle hurry-up bonus, which scores up to four million points, and is carried over from game-to-game. It is collected by shooting the Pit.
- Sleeves Are for Wimps: On the playfield, Chuck wears a denim vest with torn sleeves to show off his thick arms.
- Timed Mission: Sudden Death has a time limit, though shooting the ramp gives more seconds.
- Zonk: One of the Roller Motion awards is the Penalty Pit, which gives the player zero points.
Male Announcer: "DEVASTATING!"
