The Pinball of the Dead

2002 video game

The Pinball of the Dead is a pinball video game developed by Sega's Wow Entertainment division and published by Sega in Japan and THQ in North America. It was released for the Game Boy Advance in 2002 and 2003. Based on Sega's The House of the Dead series of light gun games, particularly The House of the Dead and The House of the Dead 2, the game contains three tables and includes a "Challenge" mode. Full motion video sequences and audio samples from previous games were also added. The game was first announced during the 2001 Nintendo Space World. Composer Hitoshi Sakimoto was involved with making the game's music. The Pinball of the Dead received generally positive reviews from video game critics, receiving an Editor's Choice award on GameZone. Critics praised the graphics and sound while its gameplay physics was more mixed. It also received several comparisons to other pinball games like Devil's Crush. In 2005, the game was later called one of the best games of all time from gaming magazine Nintendo Power.

The Pinball of the Dead is a pinball video game. The game has three tables based on locations from The House of the Dead and The House of the Dead 2: Wondering, Movement, and Cemetery. The player launches the ball into the table via the "Skill Shot", where a crosshair moves onto a zombie and bonus points can be earned by successfully hitting a zombie. The game also features a "Challenge" mode, increasing the game's difficulty. Sega later announced that the game would be co published by North American video game company THQ as part of a joint agreement to publish and develop games for the Game Boy Advance. Composer Hitoshi Sakimoto was involved with the game's music. It was shown as part of THQ's E3 2002 booth. Pinball of the Dead was released in North America on June 18, 2002, and later on July 4, 2002, in Japan.

Previewing the game at the Tokyo Game Show, GameSpots Jeff Gerstmann spoke positively of the game's animation while criticizing the ball physics and the strength of the flippers. Upon release of the game, The Pinball of the Dead received "generally favorable reviews" according to the review aggregation website Metacritic. A writer for GamePro called the game's graphics "clean, detailed, and animated with flashing unlife", while being unimpressed by the bosses. In 2005, the game was later ranked #137 on Nintendo Powers list of the top 200 best games of all time. It was also listed as one of the best games for the Game Boy Advance by Den of Geek.