Revenge of the 'Gator

Revenge of the 'Gator, released as Pinball: Revenge of the 'Gator in Europe, is a pinball game developed and published by HAL Laboratory for the Game Boy in 1990. It was originally published in Japan in 1989 as Pinball: 66 Hiki No Wani Daikoushin (ピンボール 66匹のワニ大行進), a reference to the 66 total reptiles that populate the game.

As the first pinball simulation to appear on the Game Boy, it shares a lot in common with the first pinball game that appeared on the NES, Pinball. They were both primarily developed by staff at HAL Labs, and as such, many features from NES Pinball were recycled in Revenge of the Gator, including many playfield elements, as well as the programming for the ball physics. Many of these elements further reused in Kirby's Pinball Land and Pokémon Pinball.

Revenge of the Gator was re-released (with Match Play disabled) for the Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console on January 9, 2013, in Japan, September 5, 2013, in Europe and on October 17, 2013, in North America.

Controls

 * In game: Push the D-pad in any direction to activate the left flipper.
 * Press either the A or B buttons to activate the right flipper. Press and hold the A button to pull down the plunger and release the button to hit the ball.
 * Pause the game. While the game is paused the high score table is shown.
 * Not used.

How to play
The playable table is broken up into four distinct screens, labeled A at the very top, B below A, C below B, and D at the very bottom. Each ball begins in the plunger on screen D, and is deposited for play in the screen C. Allowing the ball to slip past the flippers, or down one of the side alleys causes the ball to drop to the screen below, until the player lets the ball slip below screen D, where the ball drops into the mouth of a hungry gator waiting below the table. Each screen except for A has at least one method to guide the ball to the screen above.

A note about stoppers: Stoppers can help you keep the ball in play by preventing it from dropping down to a lower screen. Side stoppers remain in place with no time limit until they are struck by the ball, which they will send flying back up before disappearing. The center stopper will remain in place just below the flippers no matter how many times it is hit by the ball, but it will disappear after a short while. It will blink to indicate that it is going away.

Screen A
The top screen is the most difficult to reach, and where the greatest rewards can be obtained.
 * A: A lone gator is held in the center chamber above the table. To interact with it, you must drive the ball through the two top lanes on either side, dislodging a fish that will swim into the gator's mouth. When both fish are fed to the gator, the gator will grow a little bigger. At that time, two angel gators will appear on the screen and fly around, deflecting the ball if they get hit. Additionally, any stoppers that were present are instantly removed.  You must grow the Gator three times by feeding it two fish each time before the Gator grows big enough to escape the chamber and crawls down towards the flippers.  If you manage to hit it with the ball before it leaves, you will earn an extra life.  This extra life can only be earned once per ball, and hitting the gator on subsequent escapes with the same ball will increase your bonus multiplier.
 * B: Strike all three drop targets below the left fish to summon the side and center stoppers.
 * C: Send the ball through this narrow chute and into the hole to access Bonus Screen 3.
 * D: Hit this side target for an extra 1000 points.
 * E: Hit this center bumper for points. If all three drop targets at B were struck, hitting this bumper will restore them.

Screen B
The third screen up has two interesting features, but they are hidden behind a massive amount of blocks which you must remove in order to gain access to them.
 * F: If you manage to clear away enough blocks from the hole in the upper left corner, you can hit the ball in there to gain access to Bonus Screen 2.
 * G: In order to gain access to Screen A above, you need to clear every block on the right side of the screen, including the 5 spikes which line the edge of the table. Only then will the gate in the upper right corner open, allowing a well-aimed ball to travel up the lane to the screen above.
 * H: If the ball drops in here, it will be shot back out up and to the left at high speed.
 * I: Three targets occupy the space right above the flippers. The targets can appear as nothing, a small gator, or a large gator, but they always present even if nothing can be seen. If the ball passes over an empty space, a small gator appears. If the small gator is hit, it turns into a large gator. And if the large gator is hit, it disappears. If you manage to make three large gators appear, the side and center stoppers will appear.  However, if all three gators are made to disappear at once, the stoppers are instantly removed.

Screen C
This is where your pinball adventure really begins after sending the ball up here with the plunger. There are a lot of features to interact with, and understanding how they work is the key to success.
 * J: There are four lanes at the top. Whenever the ball passes through a lane, it lights up a heart over that lane.  If all four lanes are lit up with hearts, the side and center stoppers will appear.  It will also cause the lights around the center bumper to flash.
 * K: Hitting all three of the drop targets on the side of the wall is the key to opening up the gate that can allow the ball to travel up the lane to Screen B above.
 * L: The center bumper grants points when struck. It will also restore the side drop targets if all three have been hit.  If you hit the bumper while the lights are flashing around it, it will also grant bonus points.
 * M: Send the ball through the lane around the gator's back to initiate the slot machine feature in the middle of the screen. You will get different effects if it stops on three of the same picture.
 * Three fish: If you land on three fish, not only will the side and center stoppers appear on Screen B, they will appear on all four screens. The timer for the center stopper on each screen only counts down while you're on that screen, so they will stick around until you reach them.
 * Three stars: If you get three stars, your bonus multiplier will increase by 1.
 * Three eggplants: Hitting three eggplants is unlucky, as it resets your bonus multiplier back down to 1, and removes all stoppers from the screen.

Screen D
This screen is your last chance to save the ball and send it back higher, before it slips past the flippers and you lose one life. Three mouths open and close at the top. Getting the ball into each of them yields different results.
 * N: Get the ball into the left mouth to be spit out by the gator to the right of the gate in Screen B.
 * O: Get the ball into the middle mouth to be taken off to Bonus Screen 1.
 * P: Get the ball into the right mouth to send the ball back to the plunger.
 * Q: Four gator heads are seen on the left side of the screen. Hitting all four and pushing their snouts in causes the side and center stoppers to appear. Additionally, there will be gator whose eyes shift back and forth.  If this gator's nose is hit, the three mouths at the top will open and remain open until the ball leaves the stage or the four left gators are reset by hitting the bumpers.
 * R: Getting the ball in this hole causes the nearby gator to whack it with its tail. If no action is taken, the ball will bounce off the flipper above and stay in Screen D.  But if you hold  down, the ball will sail below the right flipper and reenter Screen C.
 * S: If you manage to lose ball such that it passes down here, it will drop into the mouth and stomach of a hungry gator waiting below. That will end the turn for that ball.  If you have balls remaining, the next one will queue up in the plunger.  If not, then it's Game Over.

Bonus Screens
Each bonus screen gives you a different opportunities to earn extra points. Keep the ball in play for as long as you can. Once the ball slips between your flippers, it will get spit out of the mouth in the middle of Screen C and regular play will resume.

Bonus Screen 1
The first bonus screen is accessible by entering the middle of the three mouths at the top of Screen D, labelled O. It is presented like a game of Breakout, where you must hit the ball up to the wall of eggs above. A gator paces back and forth along the top of the egg wall. The goal is to create a gap at least two eggs wide that the gator can fall through, and hit the gator with the ball for a huge amount of bonus points. If you hit the gator, or if it slips through the bottom of the screen, the stage resets itself and you try again.

Bonus Screen 2
The second bonus screen can be reached by clearing a way to the hole in the upper left corner of Screen C. In this screen, you'll find five eggs spread out. You must hit the ball so that it runs into the eggs, causing them to crack a little each time. As they do a winged baby gator will begin to emerge. Once the egg is fully cracked, the baby gator flies around the screen, ultimately aiming to leave the screen. Hit them with your ball for bonus points. Once the baby gator is gone, a new egg will appear in its previous place.

Bonus Screen 3
To get to the third bonus screen, you must hit the ball into the hole in the upper right corner. On this screen, eight targets are arranged around a bumper. Hitting the ball over these targets causes a gator to stick its head up and look around before dropping back down. If you manage to hit the gator's head before it returns, that target is cleared. The goal is to clear all eight targets. Once you do this, you earn more bonus points and the targets reset for another attempt. This bonus has the highest potential for bonus points, but it is naturally the hardest to reach.

Two player modes
There are two ways for two players to play against one another. The first is the 2 player gator game, in which two players take turns competing for the high score by trading a single Game Boy back and forth whenever one player's ball is eaten. The other mode is the Match Play, which requires that two players each have their own Game Boy, a copy of the game, and a link cable to connect them together.

Match Play can only be played with two players. Match Play A is for beginners and Match Play B is for experts. Both players can see each other's side of the screen. Both players knock the ball back and forth until one of them gets the past the flippers. Hitting your opponents targets will reduce the opponent's points. The first player to reduce his opponents points to zero and hits the 'Gator and Crossbones' wins the game.

There are three gators for each player, rolling over them will make them appear, grow large, then disappear. If the player can get all three gators to be large at the same time he will get side savers and the saver post. Items are scattered throughout the match which affects play. Which player is affected is determined by the direction of the ball.