| Sonic Spinball | |
|---|---|
| Completionist Info | |
 | |
| Episode Number | 174 |
| Date Released | May 20th, 2016 |
| Completionist Rating | Plook At It! |
| Link | Sonic Spinball |
Sonic the Hedgehog Spinball, or Sonic Spinball (ソニック・スピンボール Sonikku Supinbōru?), is a pinball video game developed bySega Technical Institute and published by Sega. The game was originally released for the Sega Genesis in 1993, and later ported to the Game Gearand Master System in 1995, and iOS in 2010.
The term "Spinball" is a portmanteau on pinball and "spin dash", a move Sonic performs. Along with Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine, it was the only two Sonic games released to use characters and elements from the Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic the Hedgehog cartoons.
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The Completionist[]
Jirard reviewed Sonic Spinball for the 174th episode of The Completionist.
Jirard notes how similar the story is to other Sonic games of the time. However, he theorizes that Sonic actually dies in the opening, as he's seen spinning and falling underwater after Tails' plane is hit.
To Jirard, the presentation feels like a cheap imitation of Sonic rather than the real deal. Graphically he finds it's decent, but not up to par, and feels similarly about the music. The music in particular he thinks could work with any Genesis game. He does find the levels unique, though hard to navigate thanks to everything looking the same within a level. However, he's critical of the game's lower frame rate.
Jirard finds the controls frustrating, as you have very little over Sonic's movement outside of the platforming. He's also very critical of the game's need to hold the player's hand so they know how to progress. However, he finds it at least a little fun.
Even though the game is short, Jirard brings attention to a couple extras, including the hidden level select, and a multi-ball minigame for collecting all the rings in a level.
Overall, Jirard finds Sonic Spinball not as bad as he remembered as a kid, despite its flaws in control and level design.
Statistics[]
- 7 Deaths
- 4 Stages, Bonus Stages & Bosses Busted
- 16 Chaos Emeralds Collected
- 2 1/2 Hours of Total Playtime
- Countless Animals Rescued
- One Respect Given