One genre HAL Laboratory dabbled in during their early years was the burgeoning pinball scene, producing solid adaptations of the classic arcade game with the likes of Pinball for NES, Rollerball on the MSX and its superior NES do-over in the late 80s. This carried on into the Game Boy, with their charmingly reptilian-themed Revenge of the ‘Gator hitting the handheld a few months into its existence.
Like HAL’s other pinball titles, Gator gives you one very tall table split into four separate screens that you bounce back and forth between, using the flippers to launch your ball across the table as you try to rack up as many points as possible. You’ve got the usual objects to interact with, such as bumpers that’ll bounce you around, and special switches which activate stoppers to stop you from falling down to the next screen.
But each section of the table is dense with unique set-pieces, like switches to access the upper two screens, a slot machine that can grant you or take away bonus points (tallied up once your ball falls off the table), and special holes which deliver you to bonus screens. Bonus screens provide self-contained spins on the standard pinball gameplay, asking you to bonk a series of alligator heads, hatch and attack baby alligators, and break open a series of Breakout-esque eggs to hit a big alligator in order to get even more points.
There’s plenty of activity to be enjoyed no matter what part of the table you’re on, which compliments the kinetic feeling of bouncing your ball around. This is helped by the solid and responsive controls, giving you plenty of precision for your shots but with enough unpredictability to keep things interesting. The stark difference in objects and set-pieces also provides a sense of emotional progression as you move between each screen, whether you’re close to reaching the higher screens or just barely avoiding the big alligator lurking beneath the table.
That said, the action can be so fast that it’s quite disorienting at first, which isn’t helped by how the game transitions between screens with a split-second flash. The lack of smooth scrolling makes sense given the hardware limitations, and provides a distinctive structure to the table, but it can be overwhelming when you’re already trying to keep track of the ball as it flies up and down the table while also activating the flippers in time before it falls off. You also can’t tilt the table, which was true for HAL’s other pinball games, and that means you have less control over where the ball will go after a point.
Although there aren’t specific goals to work towards, this allows the game to focus on the in-the-moment feeling of getting whatever points you can, with all parts of the table and mechanics working together rather than one dragging the others down. Being so concise and straightforward compliments Gator‘s handheld status, working very well as a title to play in quick bursts. There’s sadly no way to save your high scores between sessions, but then that means there’s always something to work towards next time.
Players who want to more directly compete can also try out the pair of multiplayer modes available. You can take turns on the game’s standard table, or use the Game Boy’s link cable to face off against each other in a unique split-screen table via Match Play. There’s a decent bit of variety offered by this mode where you try to reduce the other’s score to zero, including floating orbs marked with letters that change the ball’s weight, briefly removes flippers, adds savers and more.
The game’s fast tempo is complimented by an upbeat jaunty soundtrack and fitting sound effects, as well as clean and charming graphics that run smoothly. Although the visuals aren’t as detailed as the NES take on Rollerball, the blank background ensures the ball is always visible and the table is peppered with adorable alligator-themed obstacles and layouts. The title screen even has a trio of cute gators doing a little dance to the theme tune, which should honestly be reason enough to give Revenge of the ‘Gator a shot.
HAL would make further pinball titles for the Game Boy, albeit based on Nintendo franchises such as Kirby’s Pinball Land and Pokémon Pinball (the latter made in collaboration with Jupiter). These retain the same quality gameplay seen here, but utilizing their respective series’ mechanics to create more distinctive entries such as Kirby’s emphasis on boss fights and Pokémon tasking you with capturing its many titular creatures.
(Note: Match Play screenshot was obtained from the StrategyWiki article covering the game, since the mode requires link cable support to be accessed and I wasn’t able to access it. https://strategywiki.org/wiki/Revenge_of_the_%27Gator)
