Episode 19 - Die on this Hill: Bad Cats

Wedgehead hosts defend underrated Bad Cats (1989) against Pinside critics.

Synopsis

Alan (Wedgehead host), Alex, and guest Jess DiNardo defend Bad Cats (Williams, 1989) in a 'Die on this Hill' episode where they argue the game deserves more love despite its #179 Pinside ranking. They discuss the game's exceptional art direction by Python, memorable sound design by Dan Forden (including Mark Ritchie vocals), and fun-focused gameplay, then counter several negative Pinside reviews that criticize the rules balance, sound effects, and overall design.

Highlights

• Bad Cats was designed by Barry Oursler with Python Anghelo art package and theme vision
• Dan Forden and Ed Suchocki drew inspiration from Alice Cooper 'Gutter Cat vs. the Jets' for Bad Cats music
• Mark Ritchie provided vocals for the seafood callouts in Bad Cats
• Bad Cats ranks #179 on the Pinside Top 100 list
• System 11 games were the first board set with all features modern pinball still has
• Python later had heated fights at Capcom over wanting custom-shaped inserts but was denied due to tooling costs
• The 20 million point shot on Bad Cats' last ball is accessible to all players and not a scoring exploit
• Taxi contains casually and not-so-casually racist callouts that haven't aged well
• Caucasian Two-Step has rated over 1,000 games on Pinside

Entities

• Gottlieb· company
• Williams· company
• Spinal Tap· entity
• Texas Pinball Festival· event
• Bad Cats· game
• Bram Stoker's Dracula· game
• The Wizard of Oz· game
• Pinside· organization
• Alan· person
• Alex· person
• Barry Oursler· person
• Caucasian Two-Step· person
• Dan Forden· person
• Ed Suchocki· person
• Jess DiNardo· person
• Mark Ritchie· person
• Python Angelo· person
• Steve Ritchie· person
• System 11· product