Video Pinball (Arcade) and Solar War (Unreleased Atari Arcade) Reviews

Due to issues with loading, I’m posting the reviews from Classic Pinball Video Games separately or in groups like this.

Video Pinball
Platform: Arcade
Released February, 1979
Designed by Ed Logg, Dave Stubben, and Dan Pliskin
Developed by Atari
Requires Overlay to Play Properly
NEVER BEEN RE-RELEASED

It took us quite a while to set up the overlay. I needed a friend to walk us through it, which was a process. Like actually, this screenshot is just plain wrong. You can see it in the bottom right flipper, which doesn’t go there. We had quite a lot of tinkering to do to get this as close to accurate as possible. Still, when this game first appeared on my monitor, I sincerely shed tears of joy. The original game would have a “floating image” similar to Asteroids or Space Invaders using the Pepper’s Ghost effect.

Behold the first* video pinball game ever made: Video Pinball! After playing it, I honestly think this is one of the biggest snubs from my friends at Digital Eclipse in the Atari 50 lineup. An especially insulting snub given that the atrocious Atari 2600 “port” of this game (really no relation at all) made the cut, along with the putrid Ruiner Pinball for the Atari Jaguar, a game so poorly made that I would actually take Video Pinball 2600 over it. Having finally played the coin-op Video Pinball, I’m very frustrated Digital Eclipse did snub it, because not only is it the first of its kind in a moderately famous genre of video games and thus should automatically be in a collection that champions the history of Atari and the game industry, but Video Pinball is actually a very good video game.

*Yeah, there’s a 1977 dedicated console called Video Pinball, also by Atari, but it’s more like Breakout where you raise a paddle than a true flipper. The coin-op is, as far as I can tell, the first video game that’s recognizable as pinball.

You can see the plunger in this. I love the logo. That is a logo that is dying to be brought back if, say, Atari were to buy Zen Studios and get them off Unreal Engine. FYI, we played this with 5 balls and replays set low. The winner of the Vice Family dual: me. Maybe that’s why I liked it so much: I didn’t lose to Angela or Sasha the Kid for a change. Speaking of STK, she liked Video Pinball so much she asked Dad to figure out how to plug it into her V-Pin in a way where the plunger and accelerometer would work. It still won’t risk TILTING probably. How it works is actually clever. I think how it works is if you press the panel down too hard, you hit a button that tilts. For MAME, you have to map TILT, which removes the risk unless you do something like map it to an analog stick, where nudge is 12 o’clock and TILT is all other directions with a tiny bit of wiggle room. We didn’t try that and I don’t even know if it’s possible. You know what? The shooting angles are deadly enough without TILT risk.

And I don’t mean “good for its time” though that’s obviously the case too. Maybe it was snubbed because they thought too much of the charm of the original cabinet was lost. A real Video Pinball had an actual plunger and even the ability to nudge built into the panel. Home versions won’t have that, and someone who isn’t necessarily passionate about the sport of pinball might look at that and say “well, what’s the point? The main gimmicks are gone.” But I’m not advocating for Video Pinball to be put in Atari 50 for historical reasons. My argument is on the gameplay merits, because guys, this is actually a f*cking phenomenal pinball video game that has to be seen to be believed. A fast-paced, era-appropriate shooter based around building up the bonus lights. Video Pinball’s score sheet, rules, and risk/reward factors are actually elite by the standards of real 1979 pinball. The high risk front-and-center targets are tied to an extra ball light in the left inlane while the satisfying orbital shots are all proportionately difficult rebounders.

Video Pinball was pretty much a bust for Atari at around 1,500 units sold. Part of that could certainly be chalked-up to bad timing. Video Pinball not only ran smack-dab into the start of the golden age of solid state pinball with Bally, Williams, and Gottlieb killing it, but it also launched during the golden age of arcades as well. Like, oh, a little game called Space Invaders had just arrived in North America four months earlier. If that isn’t a good enough reason why Video Pinball flopped, I have a second theory: that theme is just not good. Disco? Seriously? They could literally choose any theme and they chose a gaudy green, star-spangled disco theme? It’s not exactly something I could picture children in arcades lining up for. Dad’s theory is that Video Pinball was aimed more at adults as a novelty. “Hey Boomers, it’s pinball, that thing you love, only simulated by a computer! The future is NOW!” Even then, disco is a TERRIBLE theme and the whole table looks like it’s so radioactive that you might grow a tumor by standing too close to it. “Cheap looking” said Sasha. “Tacky” said Angela. Yep and yep.

While the scoring format is definitively 70’s-style “build up the bonus lights” it’s the physics that impressed me the most. At the time I’m typing this, I’ve completed thirty-five of the reviews in this feature. I’m just now into the 1990s and playing games that can actually make a case for taking the title of “best video pinball physics” from Video Pinball and its unreleased sequel (up next). Video Pinball 1979 had no peer for over a decade. Nothing even close. For the next few years, balls will be too bouncy. Even the best games have balls that do “bunny hops” totally detached from reality. Video Pinball is comparatively smooth. What the actual f*ck?! How did that happen? Well, I have a theory. First, why did I play Video Pinball out of order? Because I needed a crash course in how to get backdrops working MAME (it turns out in RetroArch you need to create an “artwork” folder in the MAME system folder, then I had to tinker with a few settings to get things to line up right). If you don’t have the backdrops, you cannot play Video Pinball. This is what the game will look like:

What the hell is that? I’ll tell you what is: a historically great video pinball game! Okay, so what’s happening is only the ball, flippers, drop targets, and the score are represented graphically. All surfaces, including the bumpers, orbits, and a satisfying U-Turn element are actually in the game code. The ball bounces off walls, gets banged by bumpers, and activates lights and rollovers. You just can’t see them, or the bonus lights which would normally be represented by LEDs. You need the backdrop and a file called a .lay file to make it work. You know how you can play Asteroids with or without the backgrounds in Atari 50? Video Pinball is like that, only the background is not optional.

While that sounds primitive, it’s also why Video Pinball’s physics engine had no peer for over a decade. Drawing resources on a screen takes computing power. Just saying they’re there and using an overlay for it takes a LOT less. So most of Video Pinball’s 1979 CPU muscle is spent on a physics system that would be the envy of pinball video games well into the 16-bit era. Seriously, I just played Dino Land and it wishes it had pinball mechanics this good. Even David’s Midnight Magic, the champion of home video pinball for the 1980s, would have killed for physics this good.

The right outlane is the most relentless eater of balls this side of Pat “Deep Dish” Bertoletti. Also notice how there’s no Italian Bottom.

Set your expectations accordingly, as this isn’t a “simulation” of the sport like Pinball FX or Zaccaria are. There’s no way to pass the ball consistently, though I did complete several inlane transfers (those will be quite the rarity over the next several dozen reviews). There’s also very clearly a set amount of fixed shooting and rebounding angles, but the variety of them is high enough that it’ll take a LOT of playtime to get a feel for them. The family members I work with at The Pinball Chick put about four hours total into Video Pinball and its unreleased sequel, Solar War. We hadn’t “clocked” it to the point that it was effortless. I came back for two more hours as I finished typing this and STILL hadn’t fully memorized every nuance. So there’s value in this in 2026.

God-tier logo for the first ever video pinball game.

I’m sure Video Pinball might not excite non-pinheads. It has a fairly conservative layout. I mean, the game is called “Video Pinball” so that’s a gimme. The best element is probably the delightful U-Turn in the upper-left corner, but otherwise you’re taking basic shooting angles. It’s not entirely basic, as the flippers aren’t parallel and there’s no Italian bottom. Also, the game can be quite punishing with its difficulty, as the outlanes especially led to plenty of house balls. Probably more than any game in this feature, and it’s obviously by design to make play times go quicker. Make no mistake: Video Pinball is a genuinely fun game weakened by an unambitious layout and a few (frankly realistic) house ball-creating elements. Really, it’s not hard to understand why it flopped. If you’re going to do Video Pinball as a coin-op in 1979, the height of video games AND pinball, you need that game to offer something real pinball doesn’t. Video Pinball doesn’t.

It’s just pinball in digital form, and not even perfect pinball since, state-of-the-art or not, the physics aren’t lifelike. They’re AMAZING by what will be the standards of digital pinball for a long while, but not by the standards of actual tables that are, presumably, just a few feet away from customers in 1979 arcades. Dad was right: Video Pinball exists only as an intended novelty. Atari did that a lot (see my review of Starship 1) and so it’s to be expected of them. But even if you only look at Video Pinball as a historic curio or (sigh) a novelty, PLEASE don’t forget that Video Pinball is also a damn good video pinball game in a vacuum. One that this pinhead thinks holds up to the test of time. Do the right thing, Digital Eclipse, and don’t forget about Solar War. Seriously, DO NOT FORGET ABOUT SOLAR WAR! In fact, let’s look at Solar War too!
Verdict: YES!
Holds title of Greatest Pinball Video Game Ever Made from February 1979 to Circa 1980
Classic Pinball Video Games Ranking: #16 of 125
Percentile: 87%

Solar War
Platform: Arcade
Unreleased Finished Prototype
Designed by Mike Albaugh and Dave Theurer
Developed by Atari
Requires Overlay to Play Properly
NEVER RELEASED*

*My policy with unreleased coin-ops is that route testing doesn’t count as a release because technically the game isn’t “gold” yet and locked-in for mass production. See my review of fellow Atari Cornfield occupant Cloud 9. HOWEVER, in the case of Solar War, I’m getting mixed signals on it, because the Killer List of Video Games specifically calls it a “prototype” but also says that three-hundred conversion cabinets were manufactured. Presumably as a conversion kit for Video Pinball. Hold on, wait. I’m confused. Is Solar War a prototype or is it a game that saw at least 305 units distributed? It’s one or the other, right? The story is even weirder, as allegedly it was a Greek distributor who bought all 300 conversion kits. Apparently you couldn’t walk twenty feet without bumping into Solar War in Greece. They must have been building homes out of the f*cking things. If any of my European readers saw this in the 70s and 80s, please leave a comment because, seriously, 300 is a lot of units and it just doesn’t sound right, does it?

I actually crossed this one off the list because I didn’t think the overlay was out there, but then the same friend who walked us through setting up Video Pinball found the overlay floating around the MAME community. So I figure now is as good a time as any to say THANK YOU to everyone who has ever developed for MAME. You have given so much joy to my life and the lives of so many people out there, and what you do is often a pretty thankless job. Well, I’ll say “thank you!”

Okay, let’s assume Solar War really is a canceled game. Maybe it’s not! Maybe there’s a bunch of Greeks reading this who are like “oh, this was EVERYWHERE in Greece! We used them as school desks and sometimes when the soccer ball was lopsided we just used Solar War instead! And in the event of a famine? Boiled Solar War with a pinch of nutmeg and some salt is good eat’n!” But even if all that’s true, the story of Solar War is nothing short of a gaming tragedy. As good as Video Pinball was, this slays it and would have held the title “best pinball video game” for a solid decade until Devil’s Crush came along.

The ball is the one in the upper left corner. We called this the “leap tall buildings in a single bound” shot. And it’s not hard to imagine the four rollover targets as the Daily Planet.

There’s not a ton of info out there on Solar War but what is known is that it was going to be both a stand-alone sequel and an optional conversion kit for Video Pinball with a change in themes, and not originally a space theme either. No, it was originally going to be Superman! Which means this is the second time I’ve reviewed a game that started life as a Superman game before being changed into another IP and ultimately never being released at all. It’s a cursed video game franchise, I keep telling you! In the case of Solar War, it doesn’t require a ton of imagination to FEEL like a Superman pinball table. Solar War’s main objective is to “tour the table” by hitting all the letters.

Lovely that I can just remove the background to highlight the letters.

Had it been a Superman game, the idea would be each letter represents a person Superman needs to rescue. The four rollovers right next to a curved wall even give a Daily Planet vibe while Angela coined the “able to leap tall buildings in a single bound” shot. Not only does it genuinely feel like a table based on the Man of Steel, but it works brilliantly too. Solar War’s layout is light year better than Video Pinball’s or really almost any video pin that’ll release over the next two decades. The original Video Pinball’s unconventional flipper arrangement paired with a conservative layout has given way to a two flipper widebody design with an Italian Bottom and a HUGE variety of ambitious targets. In addition to the eight letter targets, there’s four rollover lanes (God how I wish it had lane switching), a locker with rewards, lights for the bumpers (confusingly done using the ball sprite), two satisfying orbits, and even an open plunger lane that the ball can return to. On top of all that, the bonus point system from the first game carried over here. This is a busy layout, but it’s a hell of a lot of fun too.

After Atari lost the Superman arcade license (or exchanged it for the real Superman pinball table), they had to rework the game using an eight character name because of the eight targets you’re seeking. “Orion XIV” was initially chosen before settling on the generic space theme and going with SOLAR WAR. Apparently the prototype for Superman was actually SUPER (space) MAN. That’s not his name. That’s an adjective and a noun.

But that’s not all. Solar War isn’t simply Video Pinball with a different layout. The physics engine has been subtly but noticeably tweaked. It might be the placebo effect but myself, Dave, and Angela could swear there’s sharper shooting angles. This wasn’t universally agreed upon as Dad and Sasha the Kid insist the angles are more or less the same which led to quite the argument over whether they would keep the same exact angles with only two flippers. What all five of us agreed on was that the ball is floatier, slowing down the action and making rebounding easier (ironically floaty physics would eventually become a common knock against modern pinball sims). The nudge is more jolty too, which makes sense since the machine’s physical nudge mechanism would have been upgraded as well, though I wasn’t exactly sure of the specifics. Either way, all gamers lost out when Solar War was canceled. It’s so good. Genuinely fun, and not just for 1979/80. It holds up.

What you’re seeing is Time 2000, which looks good, but our friend, professional designer Dave Sanders, considers it to be the single worst pinball table ever made from a logic point of view. Atari should NEVER have been in the pinball business, period. Atari’s pins were poorly designed and famous for design flaws that made shorting out the electrics easy. The bigger problem was they didn’t make money for arcade operators. All Atari pins were wide-bodies, and wide-bodies require more space, obviously. In essence, arcade operators would have to decide between using space for three normal pinball machines or two Atari ones (insanely, they made an even bigger table, Hercules, which was truly recklessly stupid. LOOK AT HOW BIG IT IS, and it’s a terrible game).

Now here’s where I have to be the devil’s advocate. From a business point of view, it makes sense to cancel Solar War. The tragedy is that this layout and theme wouldn’t have been much more successful than Video Pinball’s minimalist night at the disco. The whole coin-op Video Pinball project and its sequel were doomed to fail from the start. You have to understand that Video Pinball released against the hottest period the pinball industry (hell, the whole arcade industry) had ever seen up to that point with nothing to compare it to historically. The 1990s? No, actually. Addams Family was the biggest seller ever, but 7 of the 10 best selling pins of all-time and 13 out of the top 20 released between 1976 and 1980.

That means Video Pinball released against tables like Flash (19,505 units), KISS (17,000 units), Playboy (18,250 units), Star Trek (16,842) Mata Hari (16,260 units) and Eight Ball (20,230, only forty short of Addams Family’s record). Had Solar War come out, it would have run smack dab into Firepower (17,410 units) which became one of the highest earning pins in arcade history. Releasing Video Pinball in 1979 was tone deaf to what was happening in the industry at large. I enjoyed both these games so much that I literally sent a note to Digital Eclipse head Mike Mika *begging* for them to at least talk about putting Video Pinball and Solar War in the next Atari 50 update because they’re amazing, but they should also have never existed at all. Sadly, both can be true. Tragedy all around with these games.

Both Atari coin-op video pins are punishing, so even without the fear of tilt, I think they work. You’re not going to be able to just bend the ball to your will. These are OUTSTANDING, but Solar War especially is the nicest treat I’ve had in years at IGC. I didn’t expect to get to play it, and it’s phenomenal. A true mix of late 70s pinball design mentality and high-concept table touring. Again, huge thanks to the MAME community who rescues games like this from oblivion.

So it turns out, Atari’s two arcade video pins are really good. I want to believe time heals all wounds and it’s time for Video Pinball and Solar War to be celebrated. They’re fantastic games released at the worst time possible, or in the case of Solar War, (probably) not released at all. And if it does get that Atari 50 release, Solar War can finally get appreciated by a wider audience. It’s an absolute masterpiece, and I’m on my knees, Digital Eclipse. (shrug) It’s not like it’s the first time.
Verdict: YES! – Creates Split in “Greatest Pinball Video Game Ever Made” Title
Solar War holds title of Greatest Pinball Video Game Ever Made from  circa 1980 to July 20, 1990
Video Pinball holds title of Greatest Pinball Video Game Ever Released from February, 1979 to December, 1981
Classic Pinball Video Games Ranking: #10 of 125
Percentile: 92%

FINAL RANKINGS

1. Pro Pinball: Timeshock (1998 – PlayStation)
2. Akira Psycho Ball (2002 – PlayStation 2)
3. Worms Pinball (1999 – PlayStation)
4. True Pinball (1996 – PlayStation/Sega Saturn)
5. Digital Pinball: Necronomicon (1996 – Sega Saturn)
6. Slam Tilt (1996 – Amiga)
7. Psycho Pinball (1994 – Sega Genesis)
8. Kyuutenkai: Fantastic Pinball (1995 – PlayStation/Sega Saturn)
9. Devil’s Crush (1990 – TurboGrafx-16)
10. Solar War (Unreleased Circa 1980 – Arcade)
11. Metroid Prime Pinball (2005 – Nintendo DS)
12. David’s Midnight Magic (1981 – Apple II)
13. Battle Pinball (1995 – Super Famicom)
14. Pro Pinball: Big Race USA (2000 – PlayStation)
15. Full Tilt! Pinball (1995 – Windows)
16. Video Pinball (1979 – Arcade)
17. Kirby’s Pinball Land (1993 – Game Boy)
18. Digital Pinball: Last Gladiators Ver. 9.7 (1997 – Sega Saturn)
19. Alien Crush (1990 – TurboGrafx-16)
20. Pinball Illusions (1995 – Amiga CD32)
21. Pinball Fantasies (1993 – Amiga CD32)
22. Super Pinball Action (1991 – Arcade)
23. Fireball (1988 – MSX2)
24. Pinball Dreams (1992 – Amiga)
25. Sonic Pinball (2003 – Game Boy Advance)
26. Pokémon Pinball: Ruby & Sapphire (2003 – Game Boy Advance)
27. Pro Pinball: The Web (1996 – PlayStation)
28. Pinball aka Play It! Pinball (2000 – PlayStation 2)
29. Epic Pinball (1993 – MS DOS)
30. Speed Ball (1987 – Arcade)
31. Pinball Action (1985 – Arcade)
32. Revenge of the ‘Gator (1989 – Game Boy)
33. Pro Pinball: Fantastic Journey (2000 – PlayStation)
34. Dragon’s Revenge (1993 – Sega Genesis)
35. Little Mermaid II: Pinball Frenzy (2000 – Game Boy Color)
36. Alien Crush Returns (2008 – WiiWare)
37. Midnight Magic (1986 – Atari 2600)
38. Getaway: High Speed II (1995 – Game Boy)
39. Slamball (1984 – Commodore 64)
40. Mechanicus (1991 – Commodore 64)
41. Pinball Dreams (1995 – Game Gear)
42. Pinbo (1984 – Arcade)
43. Bumper Bash (1983 – Atari 2600)
44. Royal Flush (1994 – MS DOS)
45. Queen of Hearts (1983 – Apple II)
    YES! **TERMINATOR LINE** NO!
46. Time Scanner (1987 – Arcade)
47. Power Rangers Zeo: Full Tilt Battle Pinball (1996 – PlayStation)
48. Golden Logres (1999 – PlayStation)
49. Pokémon Pinball (1999 – Game Boy Color)
50. Muppet Pinball Mayhem (2002 – Game Boy Advance)
51. Pinball (1983 – Intellivision)
52. Patriotic Pinball (2003 – PlayStation)
53. Pinball aka Hudson Pinball (2005 – PlayStation Portable)
54. Pinball Hazard (1996 – Amiga)
55. Super Pinball: Behind the Mask (1994 – SNES)
56. Time Cruise (1991 – TurboGrafx-16)
57. 3-D Ultra Pinball: Thrill Ride (2000 – Game Boy Color)
58. Rollerball (1984 – MSX)
59. Ottifanten Pinball (2005 – Game Boy Advance)
60. Dragon’s Fury (1991 – Sega Genesis)
61. Thomas the Tank Engine Pinball (1995 – Amiga)
62. David’s Midnight Magic (Atari 8-Bit)
63. Pinball Jam (1992 – Atari Lynx)
64. Pinball Prelude (1996 – Amiga CD32)
65. Super Pinball II: The Amazing Odyssey (SNES)
66. Pinball aka Vs. Pinball (1984 – Arcade)
67. Pinball aka Black Box Pinball (1984 – NES)
68. Sonic Spinball (1993 – Sega Genesis)
69. Sonic Spinball (1994 – Sega Master System)
70. Lucy Shot (1990 – Sharp X68000)
71. Rollerball (1988 – NES)
72. Hyper 3-D Pinball aka Tilt! (1997 – PlayStation/Sega Saturn)
73. Neo Golden Logres (2000 – Sega Dreamcast)
74. Elemental Pinball (2002 – PlayStation)
75. Extreme Pinball (1996 – PlayStation)
76. Pin•Bot (1990 – NES)
77. Super Robot Pinball (2001 – Game Boy Color)
78. Battle Pinball (1994 – 3DO)
79. Austin Powers Pinball (2002 – PlayStation)
80. High Speed (1991 – NES)
81. Pinball Quest (1989 – NES)
82. Obsession (1995 – Amiga)
83. Jaki Crush (1992 – SNES)
84. Family Pinball aka Rock ‘n Ball (1989 – NES)
85. Flipnic: Ultimate Pinball (2003 – PlayStation 2)
86. Microsoft Pinball Arcade (2001 – Game Boy Color)
87. Hollywood Pinball (1999 – Game Boy Color)
88. Pinball Fun (2003 – PlayStation 2)
89. The Pinball of the Dead (2002 – Game Boy Advance)
    TRULY PUTRID STUFF STARTS HERE
90. Grand Cross (1994 – Arcade)
91. Crüe Ball (1992 – Sega Genesis)
92. ParanoiaScape (1996 – PlayStation)
93. Pinball Graffiti (1996 – Sega Saturn)
94. Mario Pinball Land aka Super Mario Ball (2004 – Game Boy Advance)
95. Virtual Pinball (1993 – Sega Genesis)
96. Pinball (1991 – CD-i)
97. Video Pinball (1981 – Atari 2600)
98. Pinball Pinball (1990 – Sharp X68000)
99. Raster Blaster (1981 – Apple II/Atari 8-Bit)
100. Thunderball! (1979 – Odyssey 2)
101. Night Mission (1982 – Apple II)
102. Powershot Pinball (2006 – PlayStation 2)
103. Power Pinball (1989 – Amstrad CPC)
104. Super Pinball (1988 – NES)
105. The Pinball (1999 – PlayStation)
106. Dragon Beat: Legend of Pinball (1997 – PlayStation)
107. Ruiner Pinball (1995 – Atari Jaguar)
108. PaTaank (1994 – 3DO)
109. Pac-Man Pinball Advance (2005 – Game Boy Advance))
110. KISS Pinball (2001 – PlayStation)
     ACTUAL WORST GAME I’VE EVER PLAYED IN MY LIFE CONTENDERS START HERE
111. Pinball Mania (1995 – Amiga)
112. Dino Land (1991 – Sega Genesis)
113. Galactic Pinball (1995 – Virtual Boy)
114. Moon Ball Magic (1988 – Famicom Disk System)
115. Casino Games (1989 – Sega Master System)
116. Sega Flipper (1983 – Sega SG-1000)
117. Pinball Tycoon (2003 – Game Boy Advance)
118. Pinball Advance (2002 – Game Boy Advance)
119. Hero Shūgō!! Pinball Party (1990 – Game Boy)
120. Spinball (1983 – Vectrex)
121. Wizard Pinball (1994 – Sega Game Gear)
122. Time Scanner (1989 – Amiga)
123. Advanced Pinball Simulator (1989 – Commodore 64)
124. Real Pinball (1994 – 3DO)
125. Panic Road (1986 – Arcade)