How to play Jinks online
- Move your paddle ship: arrow keys
- Flip (invert) the paddle: Z (left button)
- Shake the screen to free a stuck ball: X (right button)
- Start or restart: F3 (Reset)
- Pause: F4
Both the USA (NTSC) and Europe (PAL) releases are on this page; use the switch to pick one.
Gameplay
The story sends you to the fields and forests of the planet Jinks, armed with a paddle ship and a magic ball. Your job is to keep the ball in play and bounce it from one end to the other. The paddle has three sides, and flipping it changes which face the ball hits, so you can angle your shots.
Bricks are worth 5 points each, and bonus objects give 10 to 100 points. Some moving objects shrink your paddle when they touch it, while triangle shapes repair the damage. Watch out for chomping teeth that swallow the ball, and for hyperspace areas that throw it somewhere else. You start with one ball and can earn bonus balls along the way. When the last ball is gone, the game ends, and a good score earns a place on the high-score table.
There are four levels, each harder than the one before. Between levels an interlude screen shows boxes numbered 1 to 4 for choosing the difficulty, and you can replay earlier levels at a harder setting.
Tips
- Use the shake button. If the ball settles into the same bounce over and over, press X to knock it loose instead of waiting.
- Flip before the ball arrives. Decide which side you want to hit with while the ball is still on its way.
- Stay away from the shrinking objects. A smaller paddle makes everything harder, so pick up a triangle as soon as you see one.
The story behind Jinks
Jinks was developed by Softgold in 1987 and came out on home computers under the German label Rainbow Arts. The game was designed by Bernd Lintermann, and the Atari ST version has music by Jochen Hippel and Chris Hülsbeck. It did not impress everyone: Commodore User gave the Commodore 64 version 40% in December 1987 and found it frustrating. Atari released it for the 7800 two years later.
