History of Mascot Themed Pinball Video Games

I recently downloaded Sonic Spinball on my iPhone and I got to thinking - the mascot themed pinball video game is a very tiny and often overlooked sub-genre in gaming.

As gamers we owe a lot of what enjoy about our hobby to its roots in Pinball. The pinball machine evolved over hundreds of years to the bright and noisy machines we all grew up with in the arcades. It didn't take long for the game of pinball to be adapted into video games, and they could be found here and there in the 80s. But by the early 90s we started to see games that incorporated well-known mascots into pinball game, and ditched the realistic pinball in favor of a more adventure focused approach.

These games aren't about high scores. They usually have some sort of shoe horned story explaining how the normally land-based character ended up in a pinball machine, and incorporate things like boss battles and level progression. The blending of the simple, everyone-knows-it game of pinball, with elements of adventure games and well known characters should have been a home run every time. Right?

Let's take a little time exploring this subject. For a game to make this list, the character/mascot has to be integral to the gameplay - in most cases, this means that the character is the ball, and there must be some sort of additional objective other than a high score. Games that simply have a video game theme, like Sonic Pinball Party, don't make the cut.

So sit back, forget the basic laws of physics, and enjoy The History of Mascot Themed Pinball Video Games!

Kirby's Pinball Land - 1993, Game Boy
Avg Review Score: 75%

Arguably the first game of it's kind, Kirby's Pinball Land became the mold for all future mascot based pinball games. This was one of the few Gameboy games I owned that stayed in the Gameboy for over a year. It has nearly infinite replay value and is still a ton of fun to pop in and play to this day.

Sonic Spinball - 1993, Sega Genesis
Avg Review Score: 70%

This is the cream of the crop. Far and away, the best mascot themed pinball game ever made - and it's only the second one to ever come out.

Likely inspired by the Casino Nights Zone in Sonic 2, Sonic Spinball is a perfect blend of old-school pinball mechanics and the platforming and puzzle solving of the regular Sonic games.

It's hard as nails though. But through challenge comes reward. The game's four levels are deviously difficult and mastering them could take up to a couple months. But beating it is oh, so sweet.

Sonic Spinball - 1994, GameGear
Avg Review Score -N/A


Notice the cover is exactly the same as the Genesis version, except this one has the Robotnik from the stupid Saturday Morning Cartoon.


This one seems to be based around the same concept, but turned out extremely flawed and apparently broken in areas. Degraded sound effects, graphics and a dumbed down difficulty level make this one the one to avoid.

Pokemon Pinball- 1999, Game Boy Color
Avg Review Score: 81%

Perhaps the most traditional game of the bunch, Pokemon Pinball plays very much like a solid game of pinball. Two tables, each with only two screens, keeps things simple. However, the goal of catching Pokemon trumps the desire for a high score - and each table has a specific set of Pokes that can be captured there. It's simple, it's fun, and it's damn addicting.

Pokemon Pinball 2 - 2003, GBA
Avg Review Score: 80%

Ruby & Sapphire plays almost identical to the first Pokemon Pinball only with updated graphics and performance. The physics are much better, the sound is improved and the overall look is excellent - but the main goal remains: Catch Em All.

Enjoy this nerdy gentleman explaining the game to you.

Mario Pinball Land - 2004, GBA
Avg Review Score: 63%

This one...didn't do so well. I'm not sure why - despite the fact that Mario is the only character on this list who isn't shaped like a ball, it seems like a perfectly competent take on the mascot based pinball game. Mixing pinball with elements of Mario 64 - collecting stars, defeating bosses, traveling to multiple worlds seems like a perfect match for this type of game. However, reviewers complained of "bad table layouts" and a high difficulty level.

 

Pac-Man Pinball Advance - 2005, GBA
Avg Review Score: 51%This is the low point of the genre. While it integrated fun elements of Pac Man like eating pellets and chasing ghosts, reviewers lamented the fact that there were only two tables, and that it was just simply a boring game. 

I'll be honest - I haven't played it, but I'm bored to tears watching this video. 

Metroid Prime Pinball - 2005 DS
Avg Review Score: 80%

If Sonic Spinball is the best game in the genre, Metroid Prime Pinball is an extremely close second. In the same way that people were nervous about the Metroid series moving to first person, they had similar qualms about Samus entering a pinball game. But the developers were able to pull off an extremely successful fusion of the creepy world of Metroid with the light-up fun of pinball.

I adore this game and it's one of my absolute favorites in my DS library.

So there you have it.The complete list of Mascot Themed Pinball Video Games. At a total of only eight games, I think there is significant space in this genre. It's often a risk as the market will see the portrayal of their favorite character as a pinball as a cheap cash-in, but more often than not, it's payed off in an excellent game of pinball.

Jackpot.