Tinkle Pit

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).

Story

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]

Gameplay

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).

Use of other Namco characters

Many characters from earlier Namco games appear in Tinkle Pit, some of which only appeared in the titles they were initially created for: most of them appeared as bonus characters, but a few of them were enemies and some of the female ones were "high-score" characters.

• Galaxian (1979): The Galaxip, a Red Alien and a Galboss all appear as bonus characters upon Stages 25, 6 and 17 respectively.
• Cutie Q (1979): A cyan Rainbow Block appears as a bonus character upon Stage 28, although it is not really a character as such.
• Pac-Man (1980): When either player collects the "Pac-Power" powerup, Pitt will transform into Pac-Man and Patti into Ms. Pac-Man, while all the enemies transform into "scared" ghosts; an infinite amount of Blinky clones also appear during the first two phases of the final battle with Mao and a Strawberry, a Bell and a Key all appear as bonus characters upon Stages 11, 20 and 24 respectively.
• King & Balloon (1980): The King, who is holding his blue-and-yellow-striped umbrella, appears as a bonus character on Stage 46.
• Tank Battalion (1980): The eagle-like Headquarters, which is again not a "character", appears as a bonus character on Stage 32.
• Rally-X (1980): The Blue Car appears as a bonus character on Stage 38 and a Special Flag appears as a powerup after both of the players' combined score (like in some other Namco games) surpasses 500000 points; the player who collects it will receive an extra life.
• New Rally-X (1981): The Lucky Flag appears as a bonus character on Stage 47 (but it is, once again, not a "character" as such).
• Warp & Warp (1981): An Orange Berobero appears as a bonus character on Stage 5, and like the TB Headquarters, is "transparent".
• Galaga (1981): A satellite-like Momiji that only appeared on Galaga bonus stages appears as a bonus character on Stage 9.
• Bosconian (1981): A regular (this means orange, as opposed to green) E-Type Missile appears as a bonus character, on Stage 8.
• Dig Dug (1982): Dig Dug himself appears as a bonus character on Stage 44, while several Pookas and Fygars appear as enemies and a Watermelon appears as another bonus character on Stage 26 (the Fygars can also breathe fire over walls to burn Pitt & Patti in game).
• Xevious (1982): The Solvalou and a Kapi (one of the enemies) both appear as bonus characters on Stages 40 and 12 respectively.
• Mappy (1983): Mappy, Nyamco, a Mewky, the Gosenzo, a Painting and a Safe all appear as bonus characters on Stages 43, 18, 4, 13 and 16 respectively; the Paintings were also caricatures of the most valuable in the world, Leonardo Da Vinci's Mona Lisa.
• Pac & Pal (1983): Miru, who was the "Pal" of Pac-Man, appears as a bonus character upon Stage 36, with a "winking" expression.
• Phozon (1983): A Pink Molek appears as a bonus character upon Stage 22, but it is worth an unusual 4000 points on collection.
• Libble Rabble (1983): Libble and Rabble, a Mushlin, a Hoblin and a Mirror all appear as bonus characters on Stages 42, 10, 15 and 21 respectively; the first two are, as they always were in the old game, joined together by the line that was strung between them.
• Gaplus (1984): A Type 3 Zako, that initially appeared on Stages 21–30 of Gaplus, appears as a bonus character on Stage 7.
• The Tower of Druaga (1984): Princess Ki appears as a bonus character upon Stage 45 (and also as a "high-score" one at the end).
• Grobda (1984): A Green Furossa appears as a bonus character on Stage 14 (Grobda itself was not chosen to reappear in the game).
• Baraduke (1985): A Paccet appears as a bonus character upon Stage 27 but he is worth an unusual 10000 points upon collection.
• Motos (1985): A Taitorian (which has no connections to the Taito Corporation) appears as a bonus character upon Stage 19.
• Sky Kid (1985): The Red Baron (who is named after Baron Manfred Von Richthofen) and a Grave both appear as bonus characters on Stages 37 and 33 respectively; the Grave is also, yet again, not a "character" as such, but they would all react when they were shot.
• Toy Pop (1986): Dolls resembling Pino and Acha appear as bonus items in World 2 while Acha herself appears as a bonus character on Stage 39 (and one of the "high-score" characters at the end of the game); several Heitai (clockwork soldiers) also appear as enemies.
• Genpei Tōma Den (1986): The Magatama Jewel (which is one of the three "sacred items") appears as a bonus character on Stage 35.
• Rolling Thunder (1986): Leila Blitz appears as a "high-score" character for the end of this game.
• Wonder Momo (1987): Momo Chan appears as a "high-score" character at the end of the game, and in a new 16-bit form as well.
• Beraboh Man (1988): Waya Hime appears as a "high-score" character at the end of the game; oddly, Beraboh Man himself was not chosen to reappear in this game even though he is a caricature of company founder Masaya Nakamura.
• Valkyrie no Densetsu (1989): Sandra appears as a bonus character upon Stage 29 (and Valkyrie as a "high-score" one at the end).
• Marvel Land (1989): A Maigo (who would slow Prince Paco down after latching onto him) appears as a bonus character on Stage 34.
• Cosmo Gang the Video (1991): A Jammer (one of the small pink alligator-like aliens) appears as a bonus character on Stage 30.
• Emeraldia (1993): A Gamu (which is a pink dolphin) appears as a bonus character, on Stage 31; several other characters from the game's "Adventure Mode" can also be sighted swimming past in the backgrounds of World 3's stages (along with groups of rotating blocks).
• Numan Athletics (1993): Sharon Areru appears as a "high-score" character at the end of the game; Masaemon was not chosen to reappear in this game, even though he comes from Namco's home country of Japan (where Tinkle Pit was never released outside of).^[2]

References

External links

• Tinkle Pit at the Killer List of Videogames
• Tinkle Pit at the Arcade History database