South Park is an arcade pinball game produced by Sega Pinball in 1999. It proved to be the last pinball game released by Sega before the pinball division was sold to Gary Stern and reformed as Stern Pinball.
As one would expect, the game is based on the infamous animated show from Trey Parker and Matt Stone, and brings with it the show's notorious Toilet Humor, foul language, and obscene attitudes. Help Stan kiss Wendy, retrieve Mr. Hankey for Kyle, give Cartman an anal probe, recruit the kids for Chef's football team, and kill Kenny repeatedly. Hit Mr. Hankey to start multiball, then flush pinballs down the toilet for the jackpot — and be prepared to save the townsfolk in case of unexpected volcano eruptions.
The consensus among pinball players is that South Park is an easy and unbalanced game whose primary appeal is the license. Unfortunately, that also worked against the game in many locations — even with the objectionable elements toned down, many family-friendly establishments refused to carry the game (or drew the ire of angry parents when they did), while patrons at adult-oriented venues were hesitant to play a game based on a cartoon (this was before the show became accepted by the mainstream). As a result, fans of the game often use the terms "overlooked" and "underrated" to describe it.
This pinball game demonstrates the following tropes:
- Adjustable Censorship: The game's profanity level could be set to either "PG-13" or "G-rated". The latter replaced the offensive names and voice clips with inoffensive ones, and changed the end-of-game match sequence to a belching contest. There were also decals for covering up the offensive playfield art, such as Mr. Hankey the Christmas Poo.Stan: "They killed Kenny!"Kyle: "Rats!"
- Anal Probing: Cartman's mode.
- Anti-Frustration Feature: If you play poorly on the first two balls, the Extra Ball is lit at the start of the third.
- Big Brother Bully: Kyle to Ike.Ike: "Don't kick the baby!"
- Bowdlerise: Mildly; the original version of the game software (see Video Mode, below) included more offensive language than what appears in the final product, such as "fuck". Comedy Central demanded the change soon after the game's release.
- Character Catchphrase: But of course.Stan: "Oh my god, they killed Kenny!"Kyle: "You bastard!"
- Fat Bastard: Cartman.
- Jerkass: Cartman, of course.
- Leitmotif: The machine plays an instrumental version of Cartman's
Signature Song "Kyle's Mom's a Bitch" during his character mode. - Lip Lock: Averted when Kenny is killed on G-rated settings. Kyle's lips still move as if he's saying "You bastards!"
- Match Sequence: Terrance and Phillip fart out several numbers (contained within bubbles), and one of them eventually pops to reveal the match pair.
- Non-Human Sidekick: Mr. Hankey.
- Skill Shot: Hit the target below Mr. Hankey for 5 million (or more) points.
- Spiritual Successor: The two South Park-themed tables in Zen Pinball 2.
- Take That, Audience!: Pressing Start without any credits prompts the game to quip"Come on! Even Kenny's family has a quarter."
- They Killed Kenny Again: Of course this is going to happen, but the player is the one doing it. "You bastards" indeed.
- Toilet Humour: Lots, such as the "Super Fart Bumpers" or Terrance & Phillip farting for the end-of-game match sequence. The playfield even has a toilet where Mr. Hankey the Christmas Poo pops out of.
- What the Hell, Player?: Kill Kenny, and Kyle faces the player to say "You bastard!"
- Wizard Mode:
- The sub-Wizard Mode is "Spooky Vision", and is available if you start all five characters' modes but fail to complete all of them. This is a five-ball multiball where the objective is to hit each character's shot a number of times.
- If all five missions are completed, "Volcano" is available, another five-ball multiball where the goal is to save the town from an erupting volcano. Hit 15 lit shots (worth 10 million each) to save the town and reap a 60 million bonus.
