FAMILY PINBALL

What would otherwise be a basic (perhaps even subpar) pinball game is redeemed by an assortment of gameplay modes and a(n albeit superficial) sprinkling of Namco references.

Gameplay

The first of its four modes offers a single (Pac-Man-themed) table. Even though it includes an unlockable ghost-hunting challenge, this is the only vanilla pinball table on the cart.

Other than that, there are two head-to-head modes (Battle and Sports), both of which feature multiple tables best described as Pong-meets foosball. I reckon to most these might be the game's biggest draw, but the surprise highlight for me is the pachinko-inspired Nineball. In it, you place bets and try to land balls in what the manual describes as bingo patterns. This leads to slow and careful, low-stakes play that I dug quite a bit.

Theming

Outside of the aforementioned Pac-Man table, the only other Namco reference is a chance to choose from six of the company's characters from other games prior to each play. This choice determines paddle length, ball speed, and bounce strength; but it's the only time you see the characters in game. (The US manual and Japanese Game Catalog wiki both say there are three paddle lengths, with Pac-Man being intermediate; but a comparison of screenshots shows that Pac-Man uses the same sprites as the characters with long paddles.) That aside, Family Pinball's largest missed opportunity, I'd say, was not using these franchises to skin the other six tables. A Genpei Tōma Den hockey table? Tower of Druaga Nineball? Yōkai Dōchūki battle mode? Yes, please.

Localization

Family Pinball was eventually localized into the US as Rock 'n' Ball; with all of the Namco references replaced by lackluster rock 'n roll imagery. I actually owned this game briefly in my early 20s. (It had been an easy purchase, considering we were at peak lows in NES cart prices, I was a fiscally irresponsible ginger, pompadour-deep into my own rockabilly phase, and the novelty of one of the game's selectable characters matching that physical description was hard to pass up). Despite that, I barely ever played it, and I think a large part of why it felt so off-putting to me was the superficiality of that rock n roll theme. There are few things as cringe as an Elvis impersonator being the beginning and end of a gag. This was no less true in the 80s as it is today, and is doubly so for someone who grew up spitting distance from Graceland itself. On top of that, the US title screen looks like something you'd see on an ashtray in a Beale Street souvenir shop. So, booting it up is like being immediately asked to turn it right back off.

I've since learned this localization was apparently all handled through subsidiaries of Japan's Nippon Television, which makes the decisions seem even odder in retrospect.

Packaging Design

Surprisingly, I really enjoy the Rock 'n' Ball cover art. Due to its scale and framing, it looks more like a bowling game than pinball, but the illustration is youthful, energetic, and refreshingly contemporary—like something you'd've see targeting skating rink kids at the time; a stark contrast, even in typography, from the faux-50s art direction of its in-game assets. Odd even that none of the six characters drawn on the cover even accidentally resemble any of those in game.

Family Pinball, on the other hand, is one of many Namcot clamshell releases to feature a a recurring young lady drawn by Fuji Hiroshi. The illustration is pleasant and clean, clearly depicts a pinball table, and shows four scores to hint at the game's hot-seat multiplayer. (It also has an art style I find similar to that of Crayon Shin Chan, but seems to predate the latter. I'm not well-versed enough to see what inspirational throughline might be drawn between them, but it was the first thing that crossed my mind when I saw it.) It is also worth noting that, of the six mascots in the game, much like its American cousin, the character depicted on the box art is none of them.

Kindy-Friendly?

My kindergartener loved being able to select her character, but (as expected), gravitated toward the pink-haired girl in each game, unfortunately giving her the shortest paddle lengths (and therefore the most challenging gameplay experience possible). (I've since realized Valkyrie is probably the character I should encourage next time, her being a gal with long paddles.)

I also thought we'd enjoy the head-to-head modes, but they scroll rapidly, players change sides after every ball, and feature some finnicky controls (such as jumping paddles between positions, etc.). Altogether, it made them too jarring to get accustomed to prior to my kid growing bored with them. Plus, an unnecessary military theming to its battle mode tables (going as far as to feature KILL KILL written across them in English) added to my disappointment.

Even though Nineball's official multiplayer is  quite a drag (you have to wait for the other player[s] to launch all of their balls before getting a turn yourself), we quickly started playing a single-player session of it cooperatively (by passing the controller back and forth after each ball), and that was ridiculously enjoyable—definitely something we'll come back to again.

Final Thoughts

Family Pinball is credited to a company named Artman on the title screen, but either to KID or KID and Artman nearly everywhere online. I've yet to come across an article/source explaining either a) how we know KID developed this, or b) to what extent they worked on it. Regardless, it's a fine enough game overall. 

I wouldn't recommend sitting down with either version for a high score session or anything, and both would have been a tough sell at their original MSRPs. But, I'd still suggest throwing it in every now and again for a few mellow rounds of Nineball or (if you've got someone more patient than a kindergartener to play against) a quick head-to-head breather between other multiplayer games.