PINBALL ACTION: Clearing All Features on Four Switched Arcade Tables

Four Tables, One Run: Switching Playfields

Pinball Action, released in 1985 and published by Tehkan, is a pinball game built around four separate tables rather than a single playfield. The objective is to clear every feature on all four of them, and the player moves between the tables over the course of a single game. That arrangement makes the playfield itself something to manage: progress on one table is only part of the job, since the full set must be completed before the run is done.

Switching between the four tables is a documented part of play, not a menu choice made before the game begins. The game also gives the player tricks for shaking the tables and for controlling the ball, which sit alongside the table-switching as the listed means of chasing a win. Both supported rules interact directly: the features that must be cleared are spread across four playfields, and the tables can be switched during the run, so the player divides attention among them while using shakes and ball control to keep each table's features moving toward completion.

Clearing Every Feature to Win

Clearing every feature to win in Pinball Action means finishing the feature set on each of the four tables, not just running up a score on one favored playfield. The player switches between the four tables over the course of a single game, so the win condition is distributed across all of them. No single table's feature list completes the objective on its own; the run continues until every table's features have been cleared, which keeps the switching mechanic tied directly to the goal rather than serving as an optional detour.

The documented approach to seizing a win pairs the multi-table objective with tricks for shaking the tables and for controlling the ball. Shaking and ball control are the listed means of keeping play alive and working each table's features toward completion, while switching lets the player move among the four playfields as the run demands. These rules interact: because features must be cleared on all four tables, the player rotates between them and applies the shake and ball-control tricks on whichever table currently needs progress, using any chance at a win.

Shaking the Table and Controlling the Ball

Shaking the table is one of the documented tricks for influencing play in Pinball Action. The publisher describes the player as using tricks to shake the tables, listed alongside ball control rather than as a separate mode. Because the run for a win spans four playfields, the shake trick is available on whichever table currently holds the player's attention, and the goal remains clearing all features across the set. The shake action is tied to the same attempt at a win that governs the four-table clearing objective, so it sits inside the standard pursuit of the feature set.

Ball control is the second documented trick, named together with table shaking as a means of seizing any chance at a win. The publisher pairs these two actions directly: the player uses tricks to shake the tables and to control the ball while working toward clearing every feature on all four tables. Switching between tables over the course of the game places ball control within that rotation, since the playfield being played is the one where control is applied. Both tricks serve the single described objective, clearing the complete feature set rather than concentrating on one table.

Modern Reissue Options: Saves, Rewind, Remap

In Original Mode, the modern reissue bundles several conveniences that sit outside the original four-table run. Players can create multiple save files at any time, and a rewind function undoes the last move. There is also button remapping, alongside difficulty and display settings and rapid-fire options. These tools belong to the reissue's mode structure, which includes Original Mode, Hi Score Mode, and Caravan Mode, plus a new Time Attack Mode. Time Attack Mode instead measures how quickly the game can be completed, regardless of score.

Settings across the reissue can be customized, including difficulty level, and some titles let players recreate the look of older CRT televisions. Online rankings let players compare high scores with others around the world. The Time Attack Mode, which rewards finishing quickly rather than accumulating points, sits alongside the score-oriented Hi Score Mode and the retained Original and Caravan Modes. Save files, rewinding the last move, and button remapping are grouped with the display and rapid-fire options as conveniences for revisiting the classic title.

The 1985 Arcade Original Behind the Reissue

Pinball Action is a pinball game released in 1985 for arcades, published by Tehkan. The documented record lists it as an arcade pinball title, and that classification frames everything else about the original arcade version. There is no separate home conversion described in the supplied material, so the original is presented as an arcade game from that year rather than as a title spanning multiple platforms. The publisher attribution and the release year are the two concrete facts recorded for this arcade original, and they establish what the game is and when it appeared in arcades.

The arcade original is credited to Tehkan in the publisher listing, and that same publisher is the source for the game's documented description. The record pairs the title with the arcade platform and the 1985 release year as a single documented entry, so the original is described strictly in those terms. Details beyond title, year, platform, and publisher are not part of the supplied record for this arcade release, which makes those four facts the full documented foundation for any account of the 1985 original behind the reissue.

First published Oct 18, 2026.