Sonic Pinball Party Game by SEGA Reviewed by Philip "Pocket Squirrel" Wesley Size: 32 megabits Save: batteries Released: 2003 Players: UP TO FOUR. Seperate Paks. Rated: E (For Everyone) Works with: Game Boy Advance, Game Boy Player, also connects to many Game Cube Sonic titles for uploading Chao raising information. **************************************************************************** Opening Snide Remarks: I am not a pinball player. I play it occassionally in arcades and I own Pokémon Pinball for the Game Boy Color. I also own the Pinball-E game for the E-Card Reader; but I am not -what you would call- a Pinball player. However, I am a game collector. Sonic Pinball Party is only available in the United States at Target stores. Well, this may change eventually, that is how it is right now. This game also circumvents the THQ-Sega deal and was published by Sega directly. Was it worth tracking down? **************************************************************************** Gameplay Descripion: Oh definately. There have only been a handful of games that addict me so much it makes it hard for me to review them. Advance Wars, Tactics Ogre, most of the Castlevania series. This has got to stop. I mean, reviewing anime is easy. There's only so much to it. But these games are a completely different story. Needless to say this is an addicting game. I personally hate the control scheme that it starts out with so I set the flippers to the L and R buttons to aid in playing the game. After that, the rest was history. The game is your standard pinball; but with a whole lot of extras. The main game is the "Arcade Game" where you can play one of two initial play areas. Sonic and NIGHTS. Yes, NIGHTS PINBALL. Remember when that was canceled on the Saturn? Nice to know they haven't forgotten it. The hidden board for the arcade mode is SAMBO DE AMIGO. Needless to say, this is straight pinball and it is a lot of fun. The main goal os to get a lot of points. You can turn on a small tutorial bar which will point out some of the ways to achieve various high score opportunities. One thing I need to note is that the ball feels heavier in this game then in many of the other pinball video games I have tried. It doesn't feel like I am hitting around a beach ball -ala- Pokémon Pinball Ruby/Sapphire. In fact the physics are rather good here. there are a few bells and whistles and a ton of neat effects you can activate. This is a rather solid little title as pinball games go. Story mode is next and it is what you should strive to complete to unlock new features! Meet the challenges and unlock stuff! There's the casino where you play three different types of Pinball Variations to collect RINGU which will cause you to die in seven days. Well you await for death, make sure to give those rings to the store inside CHAO GARDEN! The magical CHAO GARDEN allows you to play with and "grow" one of those cute little Chao creatures. Sadly, the option to kill and eat it is not here. I dunno.. it looks tasty to me. You can also play multiplayer games with other people, provided they have a copy of this game. The multi-player stuff is pretty cool. Liked: It's *really* addicting Pinball and it has a built in tutorial. Hated: Don't even think about getting into the high scores. I've never seen such high score roofs. They really want you to work for a high score, don't they? **************************************************************************** Graphics Description: It looks rather detailed and pretty vibrant. No matter if you play it on a GBA, GBA SP, or a GB Player. Lots of little clever and almost Los Vegas-esque graphics. The ball is easy to see and everything works rather well here. Visual references to Chu Chu Rocket, Burning Rangers, Phantasy Star Online, etc. Nothing bad at all! Liked: Works *rather* well. Hated: Ball moves pretty darn fast sometimes and that makes it harder to see. It's not visually up there with House of the Dead Pinball; but it is a whole generation ahead of Pokémon Pinball Ruby & Sapphire. **************************************************************************** Sound/Music Description: This section merits a HUGE smile. Lots of Sonic and Nights theme music is in here -as well as selections from Samba De Amigo, Chu Chu Rocket (CHU CHU Rocket is a Kiss Kiss BANG BANG game!), Phantasy Star Online, Burning Rangers, Nights, Sonic music.. lots of great stuff in here! Sounds and music work well and this is a game you should buy headphones for. Oh, yeah! Liked: Look above. Short paragraph; but true. I LOVED the music and sound here. Hated: Naw. **************************************************************************** Play Control/Game Design: I switched immediately over to the edit function and set my flippers to L and R. I have been extremely happy ever since then. This is a wonderful game. Liked: The game! Hated: Nothing to report right now! **************************************************************************** Improve: More boards. RIYL: Pinball! **************************************************************************** Final Words: I rather enjoyed this pinball game and I think you should all rush out, put away the drugs, clean up, and throw Pinball Party Parties. Just remember to tell them! **************************************************************************** Score Gameplay: **** Graphics: *** Sound/Music: ***** Play Control/Game Design: *** Personal Opinion: ***** Total: 20 X 4 = 80 Final Score: 80% (95%) **************************************************************************** Currently Known Codes: Just play and unlock!