Sonic Spinball

Sonic returns in his all new adventure game. Sonic Spinball, this game takes you on a pinball adventure, filled with great graphics and brilliant features, it's just like playing Pinball, but you have Sonic as the ball to get him thought his way to get back the Chaos emraids.

One of Sonic The Hedgehog's earlier spin-off titles, Sonic Spinball is an okay game. In this game, Sonic must infiltrate Robotnik's Veg-O Fortress, where he has kidnapped various animals to turn into Badniks. As he built the fortress on an active volcano, he has used the Chaos Emeralds to keep it from erupting, with a pinball defense system to keep them there.

So, in this game, Sonic has to go through four areas to stop the doctor's latest scheme. As the name implies, this is a pinball game, as Sonic is put through the defense system, which resembles a pinball machine. The aim is to collect the various Chaos Emeralds in each board, as only by collecting every one in a level allow you to access the boss. However, they won't be easy, as you need to do certain stuff like have Sonic flip certain switches or something else to get them, and sadly, the game's controls hinder that, as Sonic will be bouncing uncontrollably. And while there are parts where Sonic can do some running, the physics are bad, as if he lands in a half-pipe-like platform, he will take a while to stop. However, the levels have variety, and the bonus games are fun (with two even featuring Sally Acorn, Bunnie Rabbot, and Rotor Walrus from SatAM as cameos).

Sonic Spinball, is probably the most challenging game in the Sonic Sega series. It's supposed to be pinball only it's sonic. You have enemies, and have to find three chaos emeralds per level. To get further on the level, you have to be hit by flippers and have enough skill or luck not to bump into obstacles, that won't hurt you, but can knock you in the gsymbolic gutter, and it is harr to make it through through pipes, and exits. There's water, lava pits, and so forth, that will kill you like the gutter in pinball, and you don't have many lives. I haven't gotten past the third level, and it took plenty of patience. Not to say it's not fun, but after you play it a while it wears a bit thin. But the symapthetic, encouraging dialogue in the game makes up for that.

This is a Sonic the Hedgehog pinball game. It gets pretty addictive. The goals are difficult enough, and they require lots of aiming the flippers in the right way. Once you get the hang of it, it's really fun to play. There is a problem with it, though. It lacks the smoothly animated graphics of the Sonic platformer games, and Sonic's look has been changed. The sounds are also different, and duller-sounding. Maybe this is because it was produced by Sega of America instead of Sega of Japan. Sega of Japan produced the Sonic the Hedgehog platforming games. All in all, though, it's a good game, and will keep you playing for hours on end.