It's (for) Pokemon (fans). It's (for) Pinball (fans). It's... (Pokemon Pinball (GB))

Member Name: Bezman

Product:	Pokemon Pinball (GB)
Date:	16/09/00 (37 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: not boring! Great fun. The best pinball game on the GB.

Disadvantages: If you hate pinball and Pokemon, you won't like this.

I don't really enjoy pinball games. In real life, they're okay, but stick them on a a computer, and you lose the loud noises, the constant stream of passers by and the the heavy feel of the machine. You could try playing in a city centre using loudspeakers but then you might as well play a real pinball game.

I don't even like real pinball that much either - it's too limited and there's too little control. The only time I'd play would be as a group. It's infinitely more fun that way.

Obviously then, to make a good pinball game on any console, you need to make quite a few changes to make it more enjoyable to play on your own. Have some other incentive to carry on playing than just collecting points. Put a bit more variety into the game. Give the player more control over the ball. This is exactly what the developers have done in this game.

The main reason why Pokemon Pinball is a decent pinball game is the central theme; catching and evolving Pokemon. Shoot the ball up the right ramp 3 times, enter the catch 'em mode, hit the bumpers at the top 6 times, hit the pokemon 4 times and... hey presto, you've caght a pokemon!

If you're rubbish at pinball (like me) then you might not even catch 1 the first time you play. As you improve, you should catch at least 3 every time (which takes you to one of 5 bonus rounds), you'll start evolving pokemon and - oh, so slowly - your Pokedex (a list of Pokemon you've either seen or caught) fills up. There are 150 Pocket Monsters (I don't think you can catch Mew but... oh, apparently you can). After about 30 hours of play I had only caught 60.

Don't let the Pokemon put you off if you like pinball but not Pokemon. This game appeals to fans of either (as long as you don't hate the other). The Pokemon extension, by giving you a set objective to work towards, gives you an incentive to play on where other computerised pinball games w
ould not. The actual board features are also quite decent.

You get your tilt features to give you more involvement, then there's the bonus multiplier, the field multiplier, the various 'normal' obstacles, the slots, the map mode which changes which Pokemon you can catch, the field multiplier, and the Pikachu kickback to master. Then you can try to top the (amazingly good) high scores. Then you can try to get all the Pokemon. Then you can try to beat your friends' high scores (and you can even share high scores). Make no mistake, this game will last you a long time.

The only problems are that the screen flips between 2 views instead of scrolling, you can only trade scores using a Gameboy Colo(u)r (and it doesn't really work on a normal Gameboy), and there are only two tables. Also it can still get a little boring. However, there is a lot going on and the tables are packed. Also, if you insert bateries, you get a nice little vibration from time to time (averagely implemented).

I no longer play Pokemon. (I used to play it avidly when it first came out in America.) I find most Pokemon games repetitive and boring, specially the basic gameboy games. I still like Pokemon Pinball, (one of) the best Pokemon franchise(s) and the best pinball game on the Gameboy.

Get it if you like either.

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