View source for Tinkle Pit

{{Short description|1993 video game}}
{{Infobox video game
| title = Tinkle Pit
| image = Tinkle Pit arcade flyer.jpg
| developer = [[Namco]]
| publisher = Namco
| designer = Kohji Kenjoh
| composer = Yoshie Arakawa
| release = {{vgrelease|JP|December 1993}} 
| genre = [[Maze video games|Maze]]
| modes = [[Single-player]], [[multiplayer]]
| platforms = [[Arcade video game|Arcade]]
}}

{{nihongo foot|'''''Tinkle Pit'''''|ティンクルピット|Tinkuru Pitto|lead=yes|group=lower-alpha}} is a [[Maze video game|maze]] [[arcade video game]] released by [[Namco]] in 1993 only in Japan. It includes many characters from the company's earlier games (including: the ''[[Galaxian]]'' flagship, [[Pac-Man]], the ''[[Rally-X]]'' Special Flag, the Solvalou from ''[[Xevious]]'', Mappy from [[Mappy|his self-titled game]] and several others.

==Gameplay==
[[File:Tinkle_Pit_screenshot.png|thumb|left|Pitt laying down wire in the game's second world.]]
Pitt (and Patti) must walk around the [[maze]]s, collecting items and avoiding enemies (which include the Heitai from ''Toy Pop'' along with the Pookas and Fygars from ''[[Dig Dug]]''); however, they have the power to drop their Tinker Balls, which are both invulnerable to the enemies, and move around by pressing the Line button, thereby creating a line between them and their [[ball]]s. Releasing the button makes their balls come back to them; the enemies are killed by having the balls slam into them. There are also pieces of [[popcorn]] which can be picked up around the mazes - and pressing the Popcorn button, Pitt and Patti can throw them at the enemies, which bounce off the walls until they hit an enemy (or evaporate if they have not done so by the end of the stage). Killing all enemies in a maze advances the player to the next stage; however, in the event of one enemy remaining, he will make for the nearest corner of the maze, say "Bye-bye!", and disappear (which detracts from the "Pursuit Bonus" that the players receive after they defeat Mao at the end of the game).

In ''Tinkle Pit'', there are eight different worlds in all, with the first only containing four levels, and the other seven containing six levels.

==Reception==
In Japan, ''Game Machine'' listed ''Tinkle Pit'' on their April 15, 1994 issue as being the twenty-first most-popular arcade game at the time.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Game Machine's Best Hit Games 25 - テーブル型TVゲーム機 (Table Videos)|magazine=Game Machine|issue=470|publisher=Amusement Press|date=15 April 1994|page=25|lang=ja}}</ref>

Scott Alan Marriot of ''Classic Gamer'' in 2004 believed ''Tinkle Pit'' carried the same kind of simplicity present in games like ''[[Pac-Man]]'' (1980) and ''[[Dig Dug]]'' (1982).<ref>{{cite news |author1=Scott Alan Marriot |title=MAMEusements - Tinkle Pit |url=https://archive.org/details/Classic_Gamer_Magazine_Volume_2_Issue_1_2004-04_Classic_Gamer_US/page/n17/mode/2up |access-date=March 16, 2021 |agency=Classic Gamer |issue=1 |date=April 2004 |volume=2 |pages=18–19}}</ref> In 2015, ''[[Retro Gamer]]'' found the game to be strange yet charming, liking its level variety and simplistic mechanics. They blamed the genre's severe decline in popularity and its confinement to Japan as the reasons for its obscurity, and said that it would appeal to Namco fans for its amount of references and cameos to their other properties. ''Retro Gamer'' also viewed it as a good example of the transitioning video and arcade game scene of the decade, writing: "If you ever need reminding that the arcade market of the early Nineties was a weird, transitional scene, ''Tinkle Pit'' should serve well."<ref name="RGamer">{{cite web |author1=Retro Gamer Team |title=Tinkle Pit |url=https://www.retrogamer.net/retro_games90/tinkle-pit/ |website=[[Retro Gamer]] |accessdate=11 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150906022955/https://www.retrogamer.net/retro_games90/tinkle-pit/ |archive-date=6 September 2015 |location=United Kingdom |date=22 April 2015}}</ref>

== Ports and re-releases ==
A port of the game for [[PlayStation 4]] and [[Nintendo Switch]] was released by Hamster Corporation on July 11, 2024, as part of [[Hamster Corporation]]'s ''[[Arcade Archives]]'' lineup of games, marking the first re-release of the game since the original arcade release.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Extension |first=Time |date=2024-07-10 |title=Namco's 'Tinkle Pit' Is This Week's Arcade Archives Release |url=https://www.timeextension.com/news/2024/07/namcos-tinkle-pit-is-this-weeks-arcade-archives-release |access-date=2024-09-29 |website=Time Extension |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=rawmeatcowboy |date=2024-07-10 |title=Arcade Archives: Tinkle Pit heads to Switch July 11th, 2024 |url=https://gonintendo.com/contents/37712-arcade-archives-tinkle-pit-heads-to-switch-july-11th-2024 |access-date=2024-09-29 |website=GoNintendo |language=en}}</ref> While the game remains mostly unchanged from the original arcade version, the ''Arcade Archives'' version notably removes any graphics featuring [[Ms. Pac-Man]], replacing the characters graphics with that of Pac-Man. While [[Bandai Namco Entertainment|Bandai Namco]] had not given any reason as to why the changes were made, several outlets have assumed it to be related to the character's [[Ms. Pac-Man#AtGames dispute|ongoing AtGames dispute]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-07-12 |title=Daily Pac-Man on X |url=https://x.com/DailyPacMan/status/1811777545454387240}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |author1=Rich Stanton |date=2022-04-08 |title=Ms. Pac-Man is being written-out of Pac-Man history |url=https://www.pcgamer.com/ms-pac-man-is-being-written-out-of-pac-man-history/ |access-date=2024-09-29 |work=PC Gamer |language=en}}</ref>

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*{{KLOV game|id=10127}}

{{Bandai Namco crossover games}}
{{navboxes|list1=
{{Dig Dug/Mr. Driller series}}
{{Galaxian}}
{{Mappy series}}
{{Pac-Man}}
{{Xevious}}
}}

[[Category:1993 video games]]
[[Category:Arcade video games]]
[[Category:Arcade-only video games]]
[[Category:Crossover video games]]
[[Category:Japan-exclusive video games]]
[[Category:Maze games]]
[[Category:Multiplayer and single-player video games]]
[[Category:Namco arcade games]]
[[Category:Video games developed in Japan]]