Game Boy Advance

Sonic Pinball Party

Kaum besiegt, steht Dr. Robotnik schon wieder auf der Matte! Der elende Mistkäfer hat doch tatsächlich alle Tiere gefangen genommen. Um die armen Geschöpfe zu befreien, muss Sonic auf drei Tischen seinen Igel stehen und bei Minispielchen starke Nerven beweisen. Zwischendurch darf er sich Verschnaufpausen gönnen und wieder putzige Chaos aufziehen, die man bei Verlinkung mit einem GC in Sonic Adventure DX in voller Pracht bewundern darf. Zudem steht auch mit nur einem Modul einer Vierer-Partie nichts im Wege.

Sega's first pinball game, Pinball of the Dead is a very solid title for the Game Boy Advance. But Sonic Pinball Party offers a lot more bang for the buck; lots more extras to unlock and play beyond the standard set of tables. It's a great looking, and fun pinball game on the GBA system. I just can't give it an Editor's Choice, though, since the lightweight physics make it difficult to pull of skilled, bulls-eye shots, and the Casino mini-games weren't balanced very well; it's too easy to get "in the zone" and continuously hitting the ball into the target over and over and over.

There are so few pinball games available for the Game Boy Advance that it's truly refreshing when a good one comes along--especially when it's a game that a wide audience can appreciate. Sonic Pinball Party takes the familiar characters and graphics from three of Sega's most cherished franchises and uses them to create three especially satisfying pinball tables.

With so many modes, engrossing gameplay, vibrant visuals and great music, Sonic Pinball Party is an ideal package for Game Boy Advance. Perfect for gaming on the go - along with Advance Wars, Tetris, Chu Chu Rocket and Mario Kart, Sonic Pinball Party epitomises what handheld gaming is all about.

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...

It is certainly a good effort. It's approachable and entertaining, as long as you don't try to play the story mode, and the NiGHTS and Sonic tables are well-designed if somewhat over-thought. It's also nice to see someone embrace a form of gaming that's almost dead. Despite the game's title, it seems to more lovingly re-create NiGHTS through its table, including a great reproduction of the original game's music and clever ties to its gameplay.

Moins complet dans le fond que son homologue poinçonné big N, Sonic Pinball, s'avère au final relativement fun et original, apportant encore un peu plus d'idées à un genre ayant tendance à se scléroser. Si vous aimez ce genre de jeu, je vous le conseille vivement, lorsqu'il sera à bas prix. En effet, avec Pokémon Pinball et le père Sonic, vous posséderez les meilleurs jeux de flippers existant sur portable. Attention toutefois aux désagréments relatifs au scrolling. Bien que mis sur le banc, en termes de constructeur, Sega s'impose désormais en tant qu'éditeur majeur, et c'est tant mieux.

It’s pinball. Pinball is good. Sonic Pinball Party features characters and themes from Sonic, Samba de Amigo, and Nights. This too is good. But a pinball party game with Arcade, Vs., Party, Story, Casinopolis, and Chao Garden modes means that the boards are small and repetitive. Solid physics, colorful graphics, and bearable sound do make this a decent pinball title, but Casinopolis is totally worthless and Chao Garden is exactly the same as other recent versions.

The scoring is uneven as well. You can execute all sorts of crazy combos to earn a few thousand points, and then effortlessly rack up millions during some easy ring-collecting mode. You'll need at least 50 million to break into the high score table, but in my experience netting even 20 million is nearly impossible. Sonic Pinball's playful soundtrack has that Sonic charm, but like the game, it wears thin in a hurry.