What did/do you like in a pinball game? For me it was getting a high enough score that I got another ball, or getting up the ramp and activating all the targets.

I'm wondering which of those mechanics would go well in a platformer for mobiles.

I prototyped a few mechanics:

• Bumpers (look like clouds)
• Targets (toggle active when hit, if a whole group are active it's a "combo")
• Bullseye target (hard to reach but good to get)
• Platforms you can shimmy to move and push things
• Arrows (shoot player direction arrow is facing)
• Player jumping (15 jumps)
• Teleporter (hitting a block teleports you to another position)

And Hazards:

• Sawblade(does damage and bounces you off)
• Spikes (damage+bounces you away)
• Explosion (burns player if they're in range)
• Fireball shooter (damages if hits player)
• Arrow shooter (arrow with gravity does damage)

As a platformer it's kinda like turn based pinball, you shoot and hope you hit things right to ricochet and land on platforms, but instead of having flippers to avoid a hole you land and make your next move from there.

I'm still brainstorming the levels, what kinda puzzles I want to include if any, like activate certain blocks to unlock stuff. You start with no ingredients but there will be 4 or more in each level as bullseye targets. If you hit one an icon will become active as an ingredient. You can have 4 icons active and put them together by touching to make different jumps.

Here's a start of the first level, basically I'm just trying to place things out and test them to see what works.

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Anyone have any ideas on level themes, design, layout, a feature to add, or any games that were platformers with pinball mechanics I could check out for inspiration? Thanks

Spring Yard zone in Sonic 1

Casino Night zone in Sonic 2

Carnival Night zone in Sonic 3

Pretty much all you need to know =P (not going to mention Sonic Spinball since that one barely had any platforming, it was more like a pin-ball with platformer mechanics rather than the other way)

Sonic CD. <3 It's the definitive Sonic the Hedgehog, and there are a few zones where Sonic gets pinballed all over the place. The only limitation (which is significant) is human reaction time. If the pinballing takes place faster than an average person can react, the game will need to play itself. Something to bear in mind.

I'll have to go back and check out sonic, I used to have the first sega genesis as a kid and played the hell out of it. I had saved and went to buy a nintendo but they sold my dad and I on a sega genesis as it had just come out. hehe

I was thinking of bonus levels like that rotating one full of coins you try not to fall out of.

I was watching this old mario quickplay repeatedly with my notebook, I need to add enemies and was planning on using insects or worms and caterpillars in place of their gumbas. What I've been thinking with the pig is similar to gameplay as yoshi without mario with elements of a sonic world, so you can eat the insects, jump on others, etc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Xz0PaPpmGa8

Oh yeah, completely forgot about Sonic CD. Collision Chaos is more of a pinball than a platformer level.

Also that video isn't a quickplay, it's an Automatic Mario thing XD (the player isn't controlling Mario at all, it's all the game physics on their own - also it's a hack, the sound effects go along with the music)