Ball

Ball, alternatively named Juggle and Toss-Up, is the first Game & Watch game. It was released as part of the Silver series on April 28, 1980.

In Game A, a character tosses two balls in the air. As the balls fall, he must catch and toss them up again. The left and right buttons move the character in the respective direction. One point is earned for each successful catch. If a ball drops, it is displayed as a broken ball, and the player receives an instant Game Over. The goal is for the character to continuously juggle the balls. In Game B, the player must juggle three balls, and each successful catch yields ten points instead. In both modes, the maximum score is 999 points, and exceeding that number resets the score to zero.

In Game & Watch Gallery 2, the player starts out with only the Classic version of Ball (unlike most Game & Watch games in the Game & Watch Gallery series). In order to unlock the Modern version, they first have to either obtain five stars on both modes in the Classic version or possess a star count of 25 or more. Easy Mode is based on Game A, and Hard Mode is based on Game B.

Alternate versions and re-releases

 * 1991 - A Mario-themed variation titled Mario the Juggler was released.
 * 1995 - Ball is one of the five games included in Game Boy Gallery.
 * 1997 - Ball is one of the six games included in Game & Watch Gallery 2, later ported to the Game Boy Color in 1998. The game features both the classic Game & Watch version and a Modern Mode remake featuring Mario characters.
 * 1998 - Ball is included as a minigame in the Game Boy Camera. A photograph can be posted over the face of the juggler.
 * 2005 - In Rakubiki Jiten DS, Ball is one of the Game & Watch titles to appear as a secret minigame. It can be played by typing "ball" into the dictionary, although gameplay is controlled from the Touch Screen instead of buttons.
 * 2009 - Ball was re-released as a DSiWare title.
 * 2010 - To celebrate the Game & Watch's 30th anniversary, the Ball Game & Watch units were reissued for the Club Nintendo rewards program. The Club Nintendo logo appears on the back of these units, which also include an option of muting the game by pressing the Time button during gameplay. These were first announced in Japan in November 2009, and were shipped to Platinum members in April 2010. In North America, the Ball units were made available since February 2011 for 1,200 coins. In Europe, they were released in November 2011 at a price at 7,500 stars.
 * 2011 - The DSiWare release of Ball was re-released on the Nintendo eShop for the Nintendo 3DS.
 * 2020 - Another Mario-themed version of Ball was released, as part of Game & Watch: Super Mario Bros., which replaces the main character with either Mario or Luigi.

References in later games

 * Game & Watch Gallery: Ball is featured in the Gallery Corner.
 * Super Smash Bros. series: Mr. Game & Watch's throws are a reference to Ball because he juggles his opponents and tosses them in different directions.
 * Game & Watch Gallery 4: Similar to the first Game & Watch Gallery title, Ball is mentioned in the G&W History.
 * Pikmin 2: One of the treasures, the Dream Architect, is a Game & Watch unit of Ball.
 * WarioWare: Touched!: Ball appears as a microgame called Game & Watch Toss Up.
 * Game & Wario: Ball is featured in a microgame of the same name.
 * Super Smash Bros. Ultimate: The juggler from Ball is featured as one of the spirits that can be obtained from the Spirit Board.