It has the name of the Genesis version, but Sonic Spinball for the Game Gear plays like a $0.99 game.
The bad: Horrible pinball physics combine with poor controls and level designs for a bad pinball experience, looping music gets on your nerves, Slow, boring graphics.
Gameplay: 3/10
Graphics: 5/10
Sound: 4/10
Value: 1/10
Tilt: 3/10
Average Score: 3.2/10 (F-)
I love the Genesis version of Sonic Spinball. Its original gameplay, detailed graphics and imaginative level design, and superb audio and music made it one of the most underrated classics both on the Genesis and ever. I was pretty excited for this Game Gear version, but this turned out to be a big dump! It has the name of the Genesis version, but Sonic Spinball for the Game Gear plays like a $0.99 game.
Sonic must stop Eggman's Pinball fortress from harming animals. Once I got in the pinball terror (literally), I began to realize that not only were the graphics really slow and uninspired, the controls were awful. You go around everywhere and hitting invisible walls without any control of Sonic at all. The poorly designed stages are too long, probably taking 30 minutes to finish, unforgiving for a 2D game in 1994. In contrast to the awesome, fast game-play of the genesis version, this bombshell takes forever to play, has numerous slowdowns, and get this; when you enter a boss fight, if you are taken to the bottom, you leave the stage and have to do it all over again. YES, YOU HEARD ME!! THE GENESIS VERSION NEVER DID THAT!! THERE'S NO EXCUSE FOR THIS PIECE OF CRAP!
The game tries to be easier and better than its Genesis counterpart. You get more lives and you actually get continues; four of them to be exact. You can get more via bonus stages in between stages, but these turn out to be uninteresting and take too long. Lightning bolts also prevent you from falling down into pits and dying. Sometimes, good glitches (you heard me) actually stick you to the wall to get to places, but this is rarely. Your score is displayed after you lose a life, and the boss battles try to be different. However, the poor controls and confusing stage design make it impossible for any of these "improvements" to take effect.
As for graphics, the unimaginative layouts are nothing like the Genesis version. Sonic, although colorful, looks sloppy and the framerate is choppy and slow. The audio is excellent, but the repetitive music is bound to get on your nerves.
Easily one of the worst Sonic games I have ever played in my life, Sonic Spinball for the Game Gear has none of the qualities the Genesis version had and instead has all the bad ones; poor gameplay, bad graphics, annoying sound, and slow framerate. The best thing this piece of crap does is make you appreciate how awesome the Genesis version is. Even if you haven't played that version, please try to get it, because searching for it is a lot better then playing a terrible excuse for a game such as this. The Genesis developers were probably rolling in their graves when this crap came out.