Sonic Spinball for Sega Genesis was released in 1993, and was the first non-platformer for consoles that had Sonic in it. Sonic game it was not, it was just a pinball game, and a good pinball game at that. So, about a year later, Sega decided to port another Sonic Genesis title to the Game Gear for some quick cash because of how well Sonic Spinball sold for Genesis. The results were a disaster. There is absolutely no Sonic platforming gameplay in the game, and when you finally did control him outside of playing pinball, the control is so sloppy, you just wanted to get right back to pinball as fast as possible. Not like that was any good either. Imagine playing pinball on the moon, where every now and then, gravity and physics randomly change, making your ball go slower or faster than it was a second ago. That's what playing pinball in Sonic Spinball is like. There is no physics, the levels are the most linear I've EVER seen for a pinball game, much less a Sonic game, and the bosses are just so rediculously easy, it's funny. Funny in a sad, sad, pathetic way, of course. But hey, at least every now and then, there actually IS pinball in the game, but it's FAR from the Genesis version in terms of gameplay and fun factor. The graphics for Sonic Spinball don't save it from it's humiliation either. Probably the WORST looking Sonic game for Game Gear, Sonic looks nother more than a grainy small blue on the screen due to the amount of detail they tried to put into a puny sprite. The backgrounds aren't exactly a beauty to behold either, with muddy looking textures, boring look, and again, linear level design don't help this Game Gear game in any way. The plusses are small, but are there. The animations of Sonic when he is on the ground and you are able to control him are smooth, and almost look just as good as the Genesis version, even if the look of Sonic himself hurts your eyes. Some levels actually do have some nice textures, and look really good for Game Gear, but is still far from what the Game Gear can do overall. With the plusses on Sonic Spinball aside for the moment, let us go to the sound. Sega tried too hard to take the music from the Genesis version and mimic it for the Game Gear version, and it just turned out really bad. All of it sounds so bad most of the time that you'll end up making yourself turn off the sound on your Game Gear. But, the music does fit well with the levels they're in, so it does work out okay in the end. The sound effects are the general classic Sonic sound effects, which I can't really complain about. If you can stomach pass this game through the terrible physics and moon-like gravity, there really isn't any reason to go back unless you just feel like playing some pinball on the road, and are sick of all the other many Sonic games for the Game Gear. There is no secrets, no areas that you can uncover at all, like the original Genesis version. (My Game Gear is broken right now, so I can't check right now, but I believe that the difficulty setting was omited as well in the Game Gear version, leaving even less reason to come back) Sonic Spinball ended the relatively good streak of quality Sonic games with this half-assed port of the Genesis classic. If you are a Sonic freak like me, by all means, get it. It might be a little fun on the road when you're exhausted from playing games such as Sonic Chaos or Sonic Triple Trouble on the road. If you aren't, there is more worthy portable pinball games on the Game Gear and almost any other portable system, so don't bother.
Other Helpful Reviews for Sonic the Hedgehog Spinball (Majesco Re-release)
I loved sonic spinball.....for the genesis, but I had to make a review about how terrible this game is, and a warning for whoever thinks this will be great in a collection...except for worst version of anything. NOW ... Read Full Review
GG Roll Em ... [Sonic Spinball Game Gear] A Charming Edition Of A Fantastic Game - Discuss - http://www.gamespot.com/gamegear/action/sonicspinball/show_msgs.php?topic_id=m-1-55317356&pid=586806&tag=topics%3Btitle ... Read Full Review
