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GBA | Family | Sonic Pinball Party

Boxart for Sonic Pinball Party
Sonic Pinball Party 21 screen shots
  • GRAPHICS: 4.0
  • SOUND: 4.5
  • CONTROL: 4.0
  • FUN FACTOR 4.0
  • AVG USER SCORE 3.0
  • AVG CRITIC SCORE 3.7

Review: Sonic Pinball Party

Review by FENNECFOX | 06/30/2003 | 15:04:12 PM PST

The fastest thing in video games is also a mean pinball player. Even with the gloves.

After 12 years of being thrown around like a pinball, Sonic has obviously decided to chill out a bit and play some real pinball instead. Sonic Pinball Party is a small collection of tables themed after Sonic Team games with a story mode and a couple of knobs and doorbells on the side.

Basic table structure won't be new if you've played Pok?mon Pinball and its ilk. All of the tables (two at the start; more unlocked as you play) have multiple loops and pathways, a few holes that open up special game modes, and at least one form of multiball. Sega's worked hard to give each table a wide variety of gimmicks: Sonic's game has you batting balls at Eggman's ship, while the Samba de Amigo stage features a video mode that plays like a very, very tiny version of the Dreamcast game.

By that description you're likely imagining a very standard (and very throwaway) pinball license. You should really have more faith in Sonic Team. The graphics in Pinball Party are an exceptional form of artisanship?a huge amount of info is crammed into the GBA screen, and every dot the game draws has an effect on your game. The only real problem lies in the scoring?the point values are miniscule for everything but completing the big special modes, so beating a record usually entails marathon flipper sessions.

Still, even with that in mind, Sonic's got the best portable pinball game on the market now?his tables are dead simple to get into, and there are enough extras to keep any Sega fan enthralled. It's also the closest thing to a new Nights game you'll ever get, so...


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