(Part 9 of the Half Century Challenge, created by C_F. You can read their ninth review here)

Out of all of the video game companies back in the good ol’ arcade days that have made classics that we all remember and play all the way to this very day, there is no other that I gravitate more towards and love more than Namco and their selection of games. Ever since I was a kid, I have been playing their various arcade hits like Pac-Man, Galaga, Dig Dug, Rally-X, and so on, with me enjoying and loving every single one of those games to this day, as well as the many different variations that have been made of them that have been released over the years. Hell, even nowadays, I have tried going back to their selection once again to try out some of their other well-known, beloved arcade hits like Splatterhouse, Rolling Thunder, Ridge Racer and so on, and while I haven’t necessarily enjoyed all of these titles (Rolling Thunder can still go fuck itself, as far as I’m concerned), it was gratifying to check these titles out after so long, and I wanna continue to do just that for some of their other classic titles as well. So, I figured what better place would there be to start other than by checking out the very first video game Namco ever had to their name, Gee Bee.

Now, of course, this isn’t the very first video game that they had ever developed, as they had made plenty of other games for several other companies before this point, but this would be their very first game that they would independently make and publish. It is one that I had never heard of before researching it, and from the looks of it, it looked interesting enough, not only because of the cartoon bee, but it also has the tagline “Puts the PUNCH in your street locations!”. I’m always a fan of video games that threaten to beat the shit out of me, so this seemed like a win-win! I then went ahead and booted up the game, and found that it was a Breakout clo- GOD…….DAMMIT……...... ok, whatever, I’ll put up with it, because I actually ended up quite liking the game. It isn’t too much different from what you would typically expect from a Breakout game, but it does everything it should to keep the player engaged, while changing around things enough to keep longtime fans engaged with it.

Rather than just being a simple Breakout clone and nothing more, this game does shake things up by incorporating pinball elements into the mix, with the entire game being set in one pinball-style Breakout table. There are multiple places where you must hit bricks, there are multiple paddles that you can use to hit the ball into specific directions, bumpers that will award you bonus points whenever your ball bounces into them, ranging from 10-100, letters that you can light up in order to spell something that will give you even MORE points then that, and two additional holes on the side that your ball can end up falling down and you can’t do anything about it, because fuck you. All of the typical pinball elements are here, mixed with that brick-breaking action you have come to know and love, and if you are one who likes a little spice thrown into his average Breakout match, then this should be right up your alley, as it is still a good game even with all of these additions.

Now, I myself have said on several occasions that I don’t really like pinball all that much. I don’t necessarily think it is bad, but it just doesn’t appeal to me as much due to its luck factor, and that’s why I will rarely ever find myself actually popping a quarter into one of those things IRL to try to see how high of a score I can get. However, there have definitely been cases where there have been games or what have you that would take pinball and change it up in some way, making it a whole lot more enjoyable for someone like me as a result, making it so that I end up really liking the alternative over the original. Thankfully, Gee Bee manages to be one of those games, and it manages to accomplish this with one single change: the fact that it is now Breakout instead.

I’m not sure if one could call this game a pinball game with complete confidence, because while it does feature a lot of the elements one would associate with pinball, it is still just a Breakout game. You are still bouncing around a ball that is bouncing into bricks that break upon impact, with there just being those pinball elements thrown in there, but as a whole, I would like to consider it a pinball game, as those elements do outshine the Breakout ones whenever you are playing the game for yourself. It feels just as chaotic as pinball, with the ball bouncing all over the place, but you have infinitely better control over everything due to the fact that you are controlling it with these paddles, rather then two or three stupid-ass little bumpers that are permanently stapled to the bottom of the screen. Not to mention all of the sound effects that play whenever the ball bounces off of something may be primitive, but something about them just hits the dopamine factor just right, and it feels extremely satisfying to see the ball bouncing into a bunch of shit at once, while watching the high score meter rise up while this is happening.

So yeah, all in all, for Namco’s first true video game that they themselves made and put out, it’s a good one, taking a simple concept and expanding upon it just enough to where it is that little bit more fun to play and experience over the original versions of both Breakout and pinball. It is definitely not one that you need to go out of your way to play at all costs, as the original versions of both of these games are still just as good as they always have been, but it is one that is fun to check out either way, and hey, it even managed to get a few sequels that would probably be worth checking out as well if you are at all curious. And with that, I am fucking DONE with ball bouncing games! I swear to god, hand on heart, for real this time, this is the LAST time I will be covering any kind of Pong or Breakout whatever game for this series. I legitimately didn’t know that this would be another one of those games, I just saw it was Namco’s first game and thought that was neat enough to cover. So we are now officially done with those, alright? Cool.

Game #628

And we can try, to understand,
The Atari games' effect on Nam[co]

Whether you're a plumber or a cute dungeon crawler, you're indebted to Nam, you're indebted to Nam. But it's not alright—it's not even okay. And I can't look the other way. Toru Iwatani's first game shows all the growing pains & missteps you'd expect from an arcade developer dabbling in microchip games after years of electromechanical (eremeka) products. It's more than a curio, though. The beginnings of Pac-Man's cheeky fun show up even this early, if you can believe it. Just know it's not the real deal—the Hee Bee Gee Bees, if you will.

Speaking later in his career, an Iwatani then swamped with management duties asserted that "making video games is an act of kindness to others, a tangible gift of happiness." This axiom of purpose comes after his own complaints about the stagnation of '80s game centers, then flush with shoot-em-ups and less-than-innovative software. Around 1987, even Namco's own arcade output had trailed off in mechanical ambition, trading out the derring-do of Dragon Buster for the excellent but conventional Dragon Spirit. One could argue he had rose-tinted glasses this early, ignoring all the clones and production frenzy of Golden Age arcade games like his own. But he's arguing most for elegance and player-first design, something attempted with Gee Bee.

Conceived as a compromise between the pinball tables he wanted to make and Pres. Nakamura & co.'s interest in imports like Breakout, their 1978 debut had ambitions. It's an early go at combining multiple mechanics and score strategies found in Steve Wozniak's creation and post-war pinball designs. Anyone walking by the cab would see the vague, amusing outline of a human face made from barriers & breakables. Together with the requisite comical marquee & paddle, this would have seemed familiar enough to players at the time while enticing them with novelty. What's the bee chipping away at? Are we stinging our selves with delight as the blocks dissipate, our attacks moving faster and faster? That kind of imagination springs forth from even a premise as simple as this.

I'm sad to say that the mind-meld of pinball and electronic squash just wasn't feasible this early on. Gee Bee offers neither the flash and nuances of the best flipper games Chicago could offer, nor the pure and addictive game loop Wozniak wrought from Clean Sweep. Iwatani and his co-developers hamstrung themselves by refusing to commit one way or the other. There's a few too many ways to screw yourself over in Gee Bee, from less intuitive physics to the screen resetting every time you lose a ball. Inability to reach high scores is one thing, but that denial of progress is a buzzkill. All your careful threading of the needle to hit all the NAMCO letters for the multiplier can go to waste in an instant. All the patience needed to clear one upper half, thus blocking the ball from a previously open tunnel, feels like a cruel joke.

If what I'm saying gives you the heebie-jeebies, then don't overthink it. The game's recognizable to modern players, and fun for a little bit at least. But there's just no longevity here except for ardent score seekers. I can see why, for all of Namco's work to promote it, Gee Bee didn't take off at home or abroad. Space Invaders had innovated upon the destructive form of Pong that Breakout started, while this feels like an evolutionary dead-end. Bomb Bee & Cutie Q would try to salvage this with some success, of course. I'm just unsurprised that Iwatani learned from the mistakes made here, keeping that focus on levity & eclectic design in Pac-Man & Libble Rabble. On a technical level, this board still has some positives of note, mainly its fluidity & amount of color vs. the rest of the market. It's worth a try for historic value, and a sneak peek of the game development ethos Iwatani spread to other Namco notables in the coming years.

Cute, but like other games before it, it disguises as a pinball simulations and winds up being a bloated Breakout clone. Not very interesting in my opinion, and if anything it makes you realize how delicate a balance the original Breakout struck with the amount blocks that were present on the screen.

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Es mono, pero al igual que otros juegos, se disfraza de máquina de pinball y termina siendo un clon de Breakout sobrecargado. En mi opinión no es muy interesante y, en todo caso, te hace darte cuenta del delicado equilibrio que logró el Breakout original con la cantidad de bloques que dispuso en la pantalla.