Sonic Spinball

"Sonic the hedgehog: pinball style!"

When I first took a look at this game at a local pawn shop I thought it would be great. After all, it was a pinball game starring the world-famous Sonic the Hedgehog, so it must be good. Unfortunately, I was wrong. Sonic Spinball is at most a halfway decent pinball game and below average platformer. It was a great idea, but it never showed its true potential. This game provided me with a while of entertainment but soon got boring and repetitive.

Story:
In Sonic Spinball, Sonic sets off once again to defeat the evil Doctor Robotnik (also known as Doctor Eggman) to save the day. In this adventure, Sonic travels throughout a robotic world of flippers and bumpers where he is used like a pinball to collect rings and emeralds as well as defeat Robotnik's evil robots. For the most part, this adventure is played as a pinball game rather then a high-speed platformer. Sonic of course is the pinball. The scoreboard and witty comments at the top of the screen are showed as you would find them in an arcade pinball game. Can Sonic get this pinball game into high gear and stop Robotnik?

Graphics:
As with most Sonic games, Sonic Spinball has beautiful environments and colorful characters that catch your attention right away. The graphics compare with the other games in the series, and is done quite well on the Sega Genesis. Levels are distinctly marked with different colors and shadings for each new area which is helpful when you get lost in the large areas of the pinball world. Overall, graphics for this game aren't A-plus material, but still good.

Sound:
Sound-wise, this game is about the same in other Sonic games, but maybe a few steps behind. The music is surprisingly lively and gets you into the pinball spirit right away. When I first heard the music, I was pretty impressed with it. The sound effects however are bland. They are below average with examples being the blunt bouncing against objects and slightly sour music track played when losing a life. In all, sound for this game is about average. Better music, worse sound effects.

Controls:
Controlling the flippers isn't an easy task. Press A to use the left flipper and B for the right one. This seems easy, but the flipper delays in time and is nearly impossible to control at times. Sometimes you will find yourself in situations where you are stuck in a perpetual loop and can't get out without losing a life. With that aside, the other controls are also annoying. The only other controls are moving Sonic around on platforms. When you reach a platform, Sonic can be moved around with the D-pad and jump with the A, B, or C buttons.

Replay Value:
Replay value for this game is at a medium level. I came up with this decision for two reasons. The first being that a pinball game generally has a high replay value. This game is a pinball game, and therefore its replay value should be high. The other being that this isn't a great game overall, so that drags the replay down a bit. To compromise for the two sides, I gave it a medium. With that being said, this game is so outdated it doesn't have much replay value at all.

Conclusion:
Sonic Spinball for Sega Genesis receives a seven out of ten in this review. I wish Sega had tried a little bit harder with this one. It seemed like a cheap game that was designed a while back just to make some extra money (although I can't blame them.) It was a great idea, but it just doesn't live up to the other pinball titles out there. In the slim chance of there being a sequel, I might check it out for old time's sake.

Note: Sonic Spinball can be found for the Sega Genesis, and in special packs such as Sonic Mega Collection for the Nintendo GameCube. This review was done using the Sega Genesis version, but the games are identical.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 08/14/04