Caveman is a hybrid video game put in a full size pinball cabinet.
The Pros:
It's a full sized pinball game with a video game in it. The video game actually has some nuance to it as the maze inhabitants change their color as well as their function towards the player. The lower pf is playable and fast. vari targets at the top of the layout are interesting and add a bit of skill and aim to the play all the way until the dinosaurs start running around the video maze. Make it across the board quickly, or hunt for points? The video game itself is not long and for it's time, not bad. Kind of like Wizard of Wor. The artwork on this game is silly and the bone haired cave maiden cracks me up!
The Cons:
An everything AND the kitchen sink approach to design leads to something like this. The individual parts may a work, but the entire package does not. You can see how much effort was put into this project and it just didn't come together. Finding one that works is a miracle unto itself. Play one if you can and thank the tech!
The Takeaway:
Pinball 2000 before pinball 2000 was even an idea. No reflecting of the display on the playfield, Just put a CRT in the middle of the damn thing. A perfect example of just because you can, doesn't mean you should. I want to be clear about how much was tried with this game. Because the technological challenges of the day were immense. Just the willingness to take chances is admirable. Unfortunately, the experiment really didn't work. The pinball play is brutal and once you get past a certain point on the video game, the dinosaurs are moving so quickly, that getting to the other side of the maze is an impossibility.
Pinside rating
This game has received 17 approved Pinsider ratings. 33 more approved ratings are needed to get a rating and for it to be eligible for the Pinside Pinball Top 100 ranking.
Pinside staff rating
None of the Pinside.com staff have rated this game. Sorry, no rating from us.
Found 12 ratings (with comment) on this game
There are 12 ratings (that include a comment) on this game.
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7.949/10
2 years ago
Colorado Springs, CO
How cool can you get with a Video Game in a Pinball Game? This was the very 1st Pinball machine that I have ever owned and regret selling it.
Loved the fact that you can play a video game and pinball game at the same time. The playfield is a little smaller than I would like but the Caveman theme is cool.
Overall it is a fun game.
Loved the fact that you can play a video game and pinball game at the same time. The playfield is a little smaller than I would like but the Caveman theme is cool.
Overall it is a fun game.
7.200/10
3 years ago
An interesting take on combining a video game into a pinball machine.
The pinball portion is fairly simple -- some drop targets to hit and pop bumpers. Eventually flip the ball to the right spot and you get to play the video game portion; kind of a Pac-Man style game only the Caveman bonks dinosaurs with his club vs. eating ghosts. I was never really good at video games and I usually lose the ball/turn when one of the red dinos catches me in the game.
I can appreciate what was being attempted at the time when it was clear video games were proving to be the next big thing.
The pinball portion is fairly simple -- some drop targets to hit and pop bumpers. Eventually flip the ball to the right spot and you get to play the video game portion; kind of a Pac-Man style game only the Caveman bonks dinosaurs with his club vs. eating ghosts. I was never really good at video games and I usually lose the ball/turn when one of the red dinos catches me in the game.
I can appreciate what was being attempted at the time when it was clear video games were proving to be the next big thing.
Saskatoon, SK
Adelaide Hills
4.025/10
8 years ago
Newark
A unique game. A full video game (low rent, Pac-Man rip off), set within a full sized (low rent, limited) pintable. It is much more of a true video game than the Bally Mr and Mrs Pac-Man. But the Bally is much more of a true pinball.
The video game is really boring and primitive (Caveman an apt title), the pinball is boring and primitive too
A couple of games is enough on this to say you have played it. But I would not want to own one unless I had a very large collection for two key reasons
1. Poor overall gaming experience
2. Potential for fiendishly difficult repairs as it has the boards for a full video game and a full pinball in one package
Pinball manufacturers were not daft. This concept was quite rightly tried and quite rightly rejected.
The video game is really boring and primitive (Caveman an apt title), the pinball is boring and primitive too
A couple of games is enough on this to say you have played it. But I would not want to own one unless I had a very large collection for two key reasons
1. Poor overall gaming experience
2. Potential for fiendishly difficult repairs as it has the boards for a full video game and a full pinball in one package
Pinball manufacturers were not daft. This concept was quite rightly tried and quite rightly rejected.
7.784/10
8 years ago
Great game! The video mode is actually well done considering this is a PINBALL machine. Graphics ain't too bad either.
The playfield has some really unique shoots and I enjoy how you start the video mode by trapping a ball near the screen...easy to know when it starts so you aren't looking up or down a bunch.
Art is great and themed really well. If this were a licensed theme (Tarzan?) I bet it would have been more popular.
The playfield has some really unique shoots and I enjoy how you start the video mode by trapping a ball near the screen...easy to know when it starts so you aren't looking up or down a bunch.
Art is great and themed really well. If this were a licensed theme (Tarzan?) I bet it would have been more popular.
5.098/10
11 years ago
Villejuif
An interesting attempt to hybridize a pin with a video game...and a spectacular failure!!
The pin part is boring, to say the least. The video game is hardly better.
Still, can be considered as a collector's item, because of its unique nature. But beware that the magic vanishes with the first game played on it!
The pin part is boring, to say the least. The video game is hardly better.
Still, can be considered as a collector's item, because of its unique nature. But beware that the magic vanishes with the first game played on it!
8.015/10
13 years ago
I rate this machine higher on "gimicks / toys" and "playfield art".
My reasoning is behind the integration of the Video Game into the pinball. I know, it's about the only thing the game has going for it, but that was really cool for the time period. The video was actually a full video game imbedded in the playfield. There was a full card set CPU under the playfield for the video game. The backbox housed the normal Pinball electronics. Compared to "Baby Pac", well there is no comparison. Bally flopped, Gottlieb got it right.
Neither the Pinball or the Video were all that impressive as far as excitement goes, but I would still play it over and over because I couldn't get over the originallity of the concept for 1982. This was a cool Gottlieb pinball.
My reasoning is behind the integration of the Video Game into the pinball. I know, it's about the only thing the game has going for it, but that was really cool for the time period. The video was actually a full video game imbedded in the playfield. There was a full card set CPU under the playfield for the video game. The backbox housed the normal Pinball electronics. Compared to "Baby Pac", well there is no comparison. Bally flopped, Gottlieb got it right.
Neither the Pinball or the Video were all that impressive as far as excitement goes, but I would still play it over and over because I couldn't get over the originallity of the concept for 1982. This was a cool Gottlieb pinball.
6.073/10
14 years ago
It, ok to play a few times. But I would not buy this one. After the gimic of the hybrid arcade game wares off it gts boreing fast.
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