Videocart-17: Pinball Challenge

About

Videocart-17: Pinball Challenge is a 1978 arcade game that wears a pinball disguise but plays like a Breakout clone. You control a flipper to bounce a ball against a stack of colored bricks called skill lanes. Smash green bricks for 1 point, blue for 4, and red for 7 before the ball falls off the screen. Each miss costs a life and the game ends after seven losses. The simple mechanics hide a layer of strategy as you adjust to shifting brick layouts and pacing. The game’s standout is its sheer variety, 132 variations split across modes like Crossover and Double Blok. These tweak paddle size, ball speed, and even add invisible bricks or shrinking flippers. While most are single-player, a handful support two competing or cooperating players. Released on the Fairchild Channel F, it’s a relic of early cartridge-based gaming that packs surprising depth for its era.