‘Pin-Poké-Ball’ didn’t have the same pizzazz
ThePokémonfranchise is no stranger to excellent spinoffs. Between the laudedMystery Dungeoncrossovers, the well-regarded (if seldom played)Pokkén Tournament, and, of course, the cultural juggernaut that isPokémon GO, there’s been aPokémongame for just about every genre imaginable. Once upon a time, there were even two excellentPokémonpinball games.
The originalPokémon Pinballis something of an oddity, even when viewed amid the eclectic Game Boy Color library. Released three years after the firstPokémongeneration in Japan, and just a few months beforePokémon Yellowarrived in North America, the game was little more than two digital pinball tables withPokémontheming. The two tables were “Red” and “Blue,” and they were excellent.
Gotta catch ’em all!
The most unique element ofPokémon Pinballis its catching mechanic. The eponymous pinball is, of course, a Pokéball, so it figures that you’d be able to catch Pokémon with it. To do this, you carry out a couple of archaic bumper-bouncing rituals to make a Pokémon spawn in the center of the table, then you bonk that Pokémon in the head a couple of times to catch it.
It’s not all that revolutionary — target-hitting goals in pinball machines are about as common as little silver balls — but it does wring some interesting digital charm out of a genre known for its tactility. When you catch a Pokémon, for instance, it’s added to your Pokédex, which helps the player maintain a bit of a personal bond with their personal cartridges. As they say, you’ve gotta catch ’em all.
Pokémon Pinballfinds a few other novel ideas in itsPokémontheming; certain Pokémon, for instance, can only be captured in specific areas, and your area is randomly selected at the start of a game. You can also trigger a totally different target-hitting minigame to evolve your Pokémon and further flesh out that Pokédex. It’s full of charming concepts like this that make it feel less like a pinball machine in your pocket and more like a completePokémongame… that happens to also be a pinball machine in your pocket.
A sequel, kinda
A few years afterPokémon Pinballhad come and gone, it received a sequel for the Game Boy Advance. Well, okay, it was a sequel in the same wayPokémon Ruby and Sapphirewere sequels toPokémon Red and Blue. Fittingly, the game was calledPokémon Pinball: Ruby and Sapphire.
The tables inRuby and Sapphireare nearly identical to those found in the original game. Pokémon from later generations have been sprinkled about, and spaces that were previously occupied by static obstacles now feature more involved mechanical additions like a hatchery and a PokéMart offering small upgrades. The table is now a single scrolling screen rather than two distinct screens, and the physics engine and graphical quality have received a loving touch-up. In most respects, it is simplyPokémon Pinballbut better.
One area whereRuby and Sapphiresets itself apart from the original game is in its bonus stages. The originalPokémon Pinballhas bonus stages, where the ball is sent to a mini-table to achieve some simple goals, but they’re all fairly boring (Serebiihas a great list outlining them if you’re truly curious).Ruby and Sapphire‘s bonus stagesare leagues better, allowing you to play pinball-basketball with Spheals or hunt down an invisible Kecleon. These bonus stages hint at a rich iterative history to come forPokémon Pinball, a franchise rich with potential to reimagine Pokémon in new and interesting contexts.
And then, nothing.
Unfortunately, sincePokémon Pinball: Ruby and Sapphire‘s 2003 release, the franchise has been entirely dormant. I’m inclined to chalk this up to thedeath of the handheld game, a concept I’ve lamented in the past.Pokémon Pinballis not the kind of game you sit down with for hours at a time. It doesn’t look like much on a big screen, and its simplification of the “gotta catch ’em all” philosophy doesn’t translate to home gaming quite as well as the genuine article. But if you have a Game Boy Color or a Game Boy Advance with aPokémon Pinballgame loaded onto it, you’re guaranteed a couple of damn good hours.
Even without a dedicated handheld to call home, I’d love to seePokémon Pinballreturn one of these days. This year marksPokémon Pinball: Ruby and Sapphire‘s 20th anniversary, and digital pinball technology has come a long way in the last two decades. I genuinely want to see the series make a comeback of some kind, even if that just means giving the same tables one more chance as DLC for one of the various pinball games on the Nintendo Switch. Hell, I’d be overjoyed to see either game on Nintendo Switch Online — at the time of writing, neither has been confirmed for the Game Boy or Game Boy Advance lines.
What I really want, though, is a brand newPokémon Pinballgame. For the last few years,Pokémon Pinballdeveloper Jupiter Corporation has been near-exclusively developing games for thePicrossseries, and I don’t think anyone would be too terribly upset if they took some time off from that noble endeavor. So hey, why not bring backPokémon Pinball? Right after you bring backPokémon Sleep.
