Tinkle Pit
Arcade

Tinkle Pit (ティンクルピット Tinkuru Pitto) is a maze arcade game that was released by Namco in 1993 in Japan; it runs upon Namco NA-1 hardware and features many of the characters from the company’s earlier games (including: the Galaxian flagship, Pac-Man, the Rally-X Special Flag, the Solvalou from Xevious, Mappy from his self-titled game and several others besides, many of whom only initially appeared in the game they were created for).

In Tinkle Pit, an evil demon named Mao (魔王 Maō) transforms all the inhabitants of “Tinker Land” into statues; the two protagonists, Pitt (ピット Pitto) and his sister Patti (パティ Pati), go off on a world-saving quest to defeat Maō and his minions. They are accompanied by two oversized, anthropomorphic sleigh bells (known as “Tinker Balls”), which serve as their primary weapons – and the game’s storyline is written in Japanese, whilst the game itself employs mostly English text. The game is divided into eight worlds (the first of which has four stages, while the other seven all have six); Hana to Midori no Sakai-iki Full Bloom (花と緑の界域フルブルーム Hana to Midori no Sakai-iki Furuburūmu) (Stages 1–4), Omocha no Sakai-iki Toy Pop (おもちゃの界域トイポップ Omocha no Sakai-iki Toipoppu) (Stages 5–10), Umi no Sakai-iki Emeraldia (海の界域エメラルディア Umi no Sakai-iki Emerarudia) (Stages 11–16), Okashi no Sakai-iki Sweet Shop (お菓子の界域 スイートショップ Okashi no Sakai-iki Suītoshoppu) (Stages 17–22), Uchu no Sakai-iki Gyaraon (宇宙の界域ギャラオン Uchū no Sakai-iki Gyaraon) (Stages 24–29), Iseki no Sakai-iki Rajenda (遺跡の界域ラジェンダー Iseki no Sakai-iki Rajendā) (Stages 30–35), Meikyujo no Sakai-iki Rabirisu (迷宮城の界域ラビリス Meikyūjō no Sakai-iki Rabirisu) (Stages 36–41), and Genso no Sakai-iki Fantomana (幻想の界域ファントマーナ Gensō no Sakai-iki Fantomāna) (Stages 42–47). Stages 23 and 48, named “Vs. Boss” and “Final Battle”, are boss battles, against a large robot named Naka-G1 (ナカ-G1) and Mao himself respectively – and the latter has three different forms, the second of which is an “evil”, black-and-purple version of Pitt with a one-eyed black Tinker Ball.[1]

Pitt (and Patti) must walk around the mazes, collecting items and avoiding enemies (which include the Heitai from Toy Pop along with the Pookas and Fygars from Dig Dug); however, they have the power to drop their Tinker Balls, which are both invulnerable to the enemies, and move around by pressing the Line button, therefore creating a line between them and their balls. Releasing the button makes their balls come back to them; the enemies are killed by having the balls slam into them. There are also pieces of popcorn which can be picked up around the mazes – and pressing the Popcorn button, Pitt and Patti can throw them at the enemies, and they shall bounce off the walls until they hit one (or evaporate if they have not done so by the end of the stage). Killing all enemies in a maze advances the player to the next stage; however, in the event of one enemy remaining, he will make for the nearest corner of the maze, say “Bye-bye!”, and disappear (which shall detract from the “Pursuit Bonus” that the players will receive after they defeat Mao at the end of the game).

Platforms

• Arcade

Tinkle Pit (Arcade) Reviews

Add your Review of Tinkle Pit (Arcade)