Sega’s South Park, released in 1999 and designed by Joe Balcer and Joe Kaminkow, brings the irreverent cartoon to a playfield as cheerfully crude as the show itself. Built during Sega’s pinball era (the operation that would soon become Stern), it’s a compact, fast machine that leans entirely into the foul-mouthed humor of Cartman, Kenny, Stan, and Kyle.
The scoring centers on the show’s four boys. Finishing each character lights their shot for an extra jackpot during multiball, so the smart play is to work through the kids before launching multiball — and at the very least to “kill Kenny” first, a cheeky nod to the show’s running gag. Multiball itself is lit by hitting the targets in front of the toilet and started at the right ramp. A clever skill-shot wrinkle rewards a thoughtful plunge: since you can still switch characters after launching, a soft plunge gives you more reaction time to line up the one you want.
Quick, rude, and bursting with late-90s attitude, South Park is a fun and unapologetically silly machine for fans of the show. It’s not the deepest table of its era, but that’s rather the point — it’s a pick-up-and-play good time built around a license that was a cultural phenomenon. For collectors who love a pop-culture theme with a wicked sense of humor, it’s an entertaining slice of Sega-era pinball. Oh my God, they made a pinball machine!