Cutie Q

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Cutie Q
Image:Cutieq.gif
Developer(s) Namco
Publisher(s) Namco
Platform(s) Arcade
Release date 1979
Genre(s) Breakout
Mode(s) Up to 2 players, alternating turns
Input methods Paddle; 1 button
Cabinet Upright, cabaret, and cocktail
Display Vertical orientation, Raster

Cutie Q is an arcade game that was released by Namco in 1979. It is the third in a series that includes Gee Bee and Bomb Bee. Like it's predecessors, Cutie Q plays like a mix of pinball and Breakout style games. The playfield has features derived from pinball games, such as a spinner in the middle, various rollovers, an entry lane for the ball (though without a plunger), and drains in the bottom corners. However, as in Breakout, the ball is unaffected by gravity, and continually bounces. You control a pair of paddles that slide horizontally across the screen, and there are rows of blocks to break.

A similar (most likely unauthorized) game called Pinball Spectacular was released by Commodore for the VIC-20 and Commodore 64 home computers. The VIC-20 version features a board layout almost identical to Cutie Q (even including the ghost rollover), while the C64 version is slightly altered, including some aspects of the board for Bomb Bee (most notably, the bumpers in the top corners), and replaces the ghost rollover with a Commodore logo.