In June 1999, the fastest selling pinball game ever hit the American stores. One year later (October 2000), Pokémon Pinball became available in the European regions aswell. Now, after 3 years, the pinball game returns... With Pokémon Pinball: Ruby & Sapphire.

Pokémon Pinball: Ruby & Sapphire is (on first sight) basically the average pinball game. Shoot the ball, see the ball bounce of the bumbers and use the flippers to keep the ball in-play. Nothing unusual here. But Pokémon Pinball wouldn't be Pokémon Pinball is there weren't Pokémon scattered throughout the game.

Pokémon Pinball: Ruby & Sapphire is more than the average pinball game. It's not your main task to get a highscore, it's all about collecting the Pokémon. With 200 different Pokémon which origined from Pokémon Ruby & Sapphire available in this game, you can count on some serious amounts of pinballing to catch 'm all.

But now about the game itself. A lot of people feared that Nintendo would create two separate version (Pokémon Pinball: Ruby and Pokémon Pinball: Sapphire), just like the normal Pokémon games. Nothing is less true. Pokémon Pinball: Ruby & Sapphire includes two tables: a ruby and a sapphire table. 2 tables with different layouts, different tasks and different Pokémon.
Now the first thing I noticed playing the game, is that it isn't all that 'fast flipper action'. You'll get plenty of time to prepare yourself for the incoming (poke)ball to hit it where it belongs. It makes the game easier to master, but also a lot less interesting.

So what's the general idea? Basically, you want to catch some critters. To do so, you need to find one of them. Luckily for you, you won't have to search very hard: just hit the right ramp a few times, then enter a special hole in the table to encounter a (random picked) Pokémon. When you've found one of them, a small censored image of the Pokémon in question appears on the table. Next task is to hit the bumpers about 6 times reveal the full picture. If you're succesfull, a semi-3D version of the Pokémon will appear, which you'll have to hit 3 times with the (poke)ball in order to catch it. If you even succeed in this within the time limit, you'll get to see a nice animation of the Pokémon being caught in the ball and you're on your way to the next.
Unfortunately, the different Pokémon didn't only hide themselves on different tables, but also in different area's. You'll have to switch different area's on the table (by hitting certain other ramps and buttons) to explore the entire Pok?world and find them all.

Other options in the game are the bonus-tables, the Pok?dex and a rumble-controller when you play the game through the GB Player (GameCube).
So the gameplay isn't that special, what about the graphics and the sound? Compared with the original Pokémon Piball on the Game Boy Color, both of these criteria go skyrocket. The tables' designs are very nice, the Pokémon look better than before and the whole lot with a nice framerate. A cartoony look during the intro and the game itself makes the whole pinball idea more appropriate for the Pokémon gamerange.

On the topic of sound, only one thing can be said actually: catchy tunes.
My verdict after playing the Japanese version, is that Pokémon collectors who want something different this time will certainly be happy with this title. Diehard-Pinball players shouldn't try this because of the low speed.

Reviewed by: Dennis