Before Tiger’s LCD Handhelds There Was This Pinball Marvel
September 13, 2020There’s not a lot I could dig up about this LED classic recreation of pinball. The Tiger Electronic Toys Rocket Pinball was made in Taiwan and released in 1979.
According to the box art, it realistically recreates the experience of playing a pinball game, but in handheld form. The game uses LED lights to simulate the movement of a ball, which you launch into the play field by pressing the fire button located at the bottom of the handheld. The LEDs then light up to show the progress of the ball as it bounces around, occasionally hitting the four bumpers. Hit all four bumpers for a bonus score. The flippers at the bottom of the handheld are illuminated when press each flipper button. Time it right, which isn’t exactly easy to do, and the ball pops back up the handheld, earning additional points. Earn 200 points and you get a free ball.
The game also lets you select the skill level of the game before you start with the flippers. The higher the skill, the faster the ball moves.
Tiger Electronic Toys was formed just a year before they launched this LED marvel. But it wasn’t until the 90s that the company started churning out the sort of low-end licensed LCD handhelds that would make the company, if not popular, than at least a lot of money.
In 1998, the company merged with Hasbro and by 2012 the company was defunct. Interestingly, Hasbro recently announced it was bringing back some of those classic LCD titles with a new line that includes Sonic, X-Men, and Little Mermaid games.
Love retro handhelds? Well then, have I got a bunch of stories, videos, and pictures for you.
