Sonic Spinball

Original Release: 15th November 1993
Developer: Polygames / Sega Technical Institute
Publisher: Sega
Original Platform: Mega Drive

When I was a kid, I never fully understood what this game was. I thought it was just a pinball game. I played it on and off, but never saw much outside the initial starting area.

Playing it now and it’s more of a pinball platformer game. You have to hit Sonic around levels with paddles, but also have a degree of movement to adjust his course mid-air and can even move him around if you land on flat surfaces.

The main part of the game is having to figure out how you unlock routes to the Chaos Emeralds in each level. Once you’ve found all of them, you can then fight the boss. This is repeated across the four levels. While the game has enjoyable moments, it can often be frustrating, and random bounces can often mean being sent back to an earlier part of the level, having to work your way up.

It’s an interesting concept and has some great music, but I think it could have done with feeling a bit more consistent in terms of controls.