Sonic Pinball Party

[BrianC]

I just got this game recently and I was impressed. It plays like real arcade pinball with good physics, some nice tables, and a good amount of extras. Not only does it have a Sonic table, but it has tables based on Nights and Samba de Amigo too. My favorite is the Nights table and my least favorite is the Samba de Amigo, but they are all cool.

The Sonic and Nights tables have challenges, timed goals, and multiball just like real pinball. Samba de Amigo is a more simplistic design that has a good music based mini game and the ability to change the music.

The Casinoplis mini games are pinball based versions of slots, bingo, and roulette that are pretty fun. You can earn rings in these games to use in the chao mini game.

The chao mini game is a game where you raise cute creatures called chao. It's a virtual pet type thing. This game has a couple of cool mini games within the mini games. A matching game and a game where you try to eliminate colored balls.

As for as game modes there is arcade and story mode. Arcade mode is regular pinball and story mode is a mode where you try to beat challenges set by an oppoent.

This game also has multiplayer. I haven't tried out these modes, but they sound like they might be fun.

Unfortunetly, this game is currently only available at Target.

[shooraijin]

This sounds like an amalgamation of the minigames in Sonic Adventure (as I recall from the Dreamcast version).

[BrianC]

This sounds like an amalgamation of the minigames in Sonic Adventure (as I recall from the Dreamcast version).

It has some slight similarities to the Sonic Adventure minigames (and I do mean slight), but the tables are all brand new and the chao raising is a bit different. Also, the main tables pretty much have all of the timed challenges/bonuses/goals you expect in a real modern pinball machine and there is a good variety of modes in the game.

Did I mention that the music is great? Lots of tunes from different Sonic games, Nights, Samba de Amigo, and even some Chu Chu Rocket and PSO music. The sound effects are also good with the usual sonic ring sounds and flipper sound effects and stuff.

Sonic Pinball Party is currently my favorite GBA pinball game. I like Pinball of the Dead (another SEGA pinball game, this one based on the House of the Dead series with a Zombie killing theme), but the physics aren't as good as Sonic Pinball Party's and it has more of a video pinball-ish feel. Hardcore Pinball (nothing dirty about this game, it's Hardcore as in pure arcade pinball) has great physics and tables, but lacks the bells and whistles of Sonic Pinball Party. Sonic Pinball Party is a nice mix of video pinball and regular pinball elements that is more like real arcade pinball than video pinball.

Video pinball: games that have bonus areas or stuff that can't happen in real pinball

Arcade pinball: The regular pinball machines you find at arcades