Well since I have been reviewing non stop Mega Man games this month, decided to switch to the other blue hero, Sonic the hedgehog. Sonic Spinball seemed to be a good review, while it’s not a bad Sonic game, it just doesn’t fit in the great Sonic classic titles. While Sonic has some fun boards (or at least the first 2 are because that’s has far has I have gotten before I have gotten the big Game over) it falls victim to bad presentation.

Story.
Dr. Robotnick has build a new base somewhere is planning on taking over the world again, Sonic is trying to sneak into the base when his plane is shot down. He now has to sneak into the base through the basement levels, all which are shaped like giant pinball machine.

Graphics.
The graphics aren’t the greatest in the sonic games. Sonic himself seems to only have a few frames of animation when it comes to walking and other things. That’s mainly because Sonic’s in spinball form most of the time. Has far has the looks of the boards there not bad you got good backgrounds and the enemies move had a fairly good frame rate.

Sound.
The music is ok but it’s nothing to write home about, the sound effects are the usual explosions that you expect from the sonic, next the beeps and whistles you expect from the game play.

Gameplay.
Now Sonic Spinball is not a bad pinball game in fact it has some awesome ideas behind it. Put a pinball board and mix it in with Sonic, it’s kind of like a full blown version of the casino zone in Sonic 2. There are plenty of things you have to accomplish to past each board. The first board you have to find some chaos emeralds. To do this you have to drain some ooze from a tank at the bottom of the board, then go to the top of the board and get in a barrel and row sonic across to get the emeralds. The other emeralds also require you to hit switches and accomplish certain objectives. While these do get a bit frustrating there still manage to be fun, at least the first couple of times around.

The controls are pretty good I like the fact that on all the versions I have played the far left is for the left paddle, the right is for the right action, and then if your lazy the far right is for both. So it’s easy to use and understand. The mechanics are also good Sonic seems to go where he’s hit and only goes in tubes and holes whenever he get’s on top of them.

Now this is what I hate in none of the versions (PC and GCN specifically) that I have is there a save file so I can stop whenever I either A get bored, or B when I die. I don’t like having to start on the first level again in a pinball game. I have all ready gone through this bored I don’t want to go through it again.

But then when I think about it is there any needs for levels why can’t I choose what level I play in a Mega Man style screen and then go bounce around and then when I am done choose another, the last can come unlocked when all the boards are beaten. This way I have more variety and I don’t have to worry about doing the same bored over and over again.

While I do have to say there are level select codes but there long and hard to enter, come on Sega use your heads hear a good Pinball games require variety, IE easy to access different boards.

Final Recommendation.
Sonic Spinball could have been a great Pinball, it has some good pinball mechanics, and a lot of good ideas. But unfortunately it falls into the same trap that a lot of the license super hero pinball games fall into. It has to be some sort of linear quest rather then focusing it more on a pinball game. Even though it has great mechanics the fact that I can’t choose a board, or even save at the board I am on makes the game more tedious then it needs to be. Hopefully Sega might try another Sonic Spinball game sometime in the future and if they do I loved to see them iron out the wrinkles in this one cause it could be good. In the meantime I hope that Nintendo doesn’t make the same mistakes in there new Mario Pinball.


Recommended: No