Sonic Pinball Party

"Second Pinball Game, Second Best"

Sonic Pinball Party can be thought of as a sequel to the Genesis/Game Gear classic, ''Sonic the Hedgehog Spinball''. However, it's only second best. Have I reviewed Sonic Spinball, it would've gotten a 10/10. However, this is Sonic Pinball Party, and it is only worth an 8/10.

Not only can it be thought of as a sequel to Spinball, it can be thought of as a sequel to ''Sonic Shuffle.'' Sonic Pinball Party is Sega's version of ''Mario Party'', but with a pinball theme. Hopefully we will not see a ''Sonic Pinball 2, 3, 4, or 5'', since that would be very repetitive, like the Mario Party series. Anyway's, this isn't about other games, so let's get to the grading system, shall we?

Graphics: The graphics are way better than Sonic's first pinball adventure. They are clear and smooth around the edges, and colored very nicely. 10/10

Sound: Here's a con. They reused tunes from old Sonic games. They weren't exactly the same, but fine-tuned a bit. Also, there are a few new tunes. This is why it didn't get a 0/10. 6.2/10

Difficulty: Sonic Spinball was very difficult..probably one of the most difficult games to date--until this game was released. It is by far the most frustratingly difficult Sonic game. Because of this annoyance level, it is hard *not* to shut it off after a while. 6.5/10

Gameplay: The gameplay is fast and quick, but can be slow with the difficult objectives you must complete. Once you beat a level, it quickly moves on to the next without any delay. 7.1/10

Replay: Once you beat it, you'd really only want to play again if you're bored. The fact that they put in the Tiny Chao Garden to make it more fun was a bad move. We already have many games with the Garden--we don't need another. The only reason I'd go there would be to play a mini-game. Casinopolis, however, is pretty entertaining. 8.1/10

Overall: Pretty good game, but not as great as other Sonic Pinball games. Once again--pretty annoying after a while. Final Grade: 8/10

Recommend: What could've been a really great game was turned into a mediocre one. Only either really big fans of Sonic, or really big fans of Pinball games. If you aren't a big fan of each, rent it or don't play it at all. It can be really fun, but really annoying. However, it all depends on the person playing...

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 03/24/04