Sonic Spinball

"A bizarre, but fun game. And very hard."

One of my favorite stages in Sonic 2 was Casino Night, with its pinball elements. Seeing the possibilities of an animal that curls into a ball, Sega took everyone's favorite hedgehog and put him into one of my favorite genres - pinball. I don't know how many times I rented it from the local video store before we finally bought a used copy. This game draws in and won't let you out for a while.

Gameplay (9/10)
The three buttons of the pad are used well. One button sets off the left flippers, one sets off the right flipper, and one sets off both. The D-pad moves Sonic around when he's on his feet (this is in a few portions), and pushes him in a direction as a ball. Also, Sega tossed in enemies, bosses, and various goals, and some nice little bonus rounds.

Graphics (8/10)
This strays from the graphics of the previous games, with a slick look. Your score and lives, along with ingame messages, appear on a bar at the top of the screen. Also, the game has some lovely lights, like a real pinball game. The sprites are well-colored, and the backgrounds are very impressive.

Sound (9/10)
The game has some good sound effects, which stray from previous games. By far the explosion sounds are some of the best I've heard. The music is excellent, from the boss music to the options music. Some of the best I've heard. If you're like me, you'd listen to the music in the last stage for hours if the game had a sound test. Shame it doesn't.

Story (8/10)
Very bizarre. On his way to foil Robotnik's latest plan out at a volcanic fortress. However, Sonic winds up on the inside, where the entire fortress is defended by... a gigantic pinball system? Sonic must save his friends from their robotic hulks, get his hands on the Chaos Emeralds within the fortress, and defeat Robotnik and his sinister machines.

Difficulty (10/10)
Oi. You won't beat the game in one hour, I'll say. There are only four stages, but they are VERY difficult. The last stage will give you plenty of migraines. Be happy Sega didn't add anything like tilt. That would be nasty.

Replayability (9/10)
The game keeps track of high-scores, which, if you're good, will hit 120,000,000. Also, pinball fans will love this game, and come back to it. However, the challenge may turn some gamers off.

Overall, this is one game you'll want to get, whether you're a Sonic or pinball fan. It was part of Sega's Smash Pack for PC and GBA, but the GBA version lacks a lot of the soundtrack, which is a shame.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 10/20/03