Pokemon Pinball: Ruby & Sapphire - Gotta Catch 'Em All, Again

Back in 1999, Nintendo released the first Pokemon Pinball game. This was mainly due to the success of Pokemon Blue and Red. I never owned Pokemon Pinball, but did happen to play it for roughly ten minutes, and quickly forgot about it. Well, now, after releasing Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire this spring (although I have not bought either of them), Nintendo has released Pokemon Pinball: Ruby and Sapphire. I felt obligated to buy it, and since I wanted a pinball game, this turned out to be the game I got.

Pokemon Pinball: Ruby and Sapphire is a fusion of pinball and Pokemon. It combines classic elements of all pinball games, such as not losing your ball, attempting to get a high score, along with the world of Pokemon, because one of the goals in this game is to collect all of the 200 featured Pokemon. There are two tables available to choose from: the Ruby Table and the Sapphire Table. Each table has different Pokemon. When you start playing you notice many things. The pinball is actually a pokeball, and all of the objects on the table, such as the bumpers, are all Pokemon. Some Pokemon act as bumpers, others are the things that suck in the ball for a short time, while others, such as Pikachu, are ball-savers if you activate them. This is what I meant by saying that it is a blend of pinball and Pokemon because the Pokemon become the pinball objects.

The main objective in this game is to collect all 200 Pokemon, which surely isn't easy. There are two ways to catch Pokemon. The first one involves hitting one target, and after two arrows light up, you will be in the 'catch' mode. This means that you will have 120 seconds to hit a bumper three times, and when a Pokemon appears, to hit it three times as well. If you don't succeed, it will disappear. If you do succeed, you Pokeball will capture it and it will be added to your Pokedex, which keeps track of all of the Pokemon that you have caught, and show some vital statistics and info about them. Some Pokemon can only be obtained by evolving their original forms, and to do this you must make sure that all of your evolution arrows are lit up, and that means that if you hit the target that activates the evolution mode, you will have 120 seconds to hit three items and evolve the Pokemon of your choice. If you have a Game Over, you cannot evolve a Pokemon that you caught in a previous game, and this adds to the challenge. The second way to catch Pokemon is by hatching eggs. Basically, if you hit a number of objects, an egg will appear and a Pokemon will hatch. It won't stand still and you will have a limited amount of time to hit that moving Pokemon twice. Some of the Pokemon are caught in specific areas, and you can travel to different places by activating the Travel Mode.

The second goal is to get as many points as possible. Hitting objects, obtaining multipliers and catching Pokemon are just a few things that you can do to catch the creatures. The game save your eight highest scores for each table, therefore you will keep playing just to beat your previous high score. And, this game is fairly easy, and therefore extremely high scores will be something that you will achieve without a problem, as I have even surpassed half a billion points, and I have yet to play this game for more than ten hours. A great bonus is the fact that you can save whenever you wish, thereby you don't have to play for three hours straight.

While playing the game, you will earn coins, and if you hit the Mart target, your game will come to a brief halt, as you will be given the option to redeem your coins for bonuses and items. These included ball saves, as well as blockers on the side of the board to prevent losing the ball. These items are a bit cheap, and make the game even easier.

As I have said, there are two main tables. These boards are much bigger than the screen, and if you hit the ball high up, the screen will scroll up flawlessly, and you are on the higher level of a table. I have played Kirby's Pinball, and the transitions in that game took a long time, however, in Pokemon Pinball: Ruby and Sapphire they are absolutely flawless. Aside from the main tables, there are some extra tables that only take up one screen. These are the mini-games, and they involve you trying to beat a Pokemon by hitting it a few items. This is timed, and there are obstacles in the way, but if you defeat them, you will gain many, many extra points. You even get to battle some Legendary Pokemon, although I am not sure what their names are.

Pokemon Pinball: Ruby and Sapphire promotes connectivity. I remember that the first Pokemon Pinball had an attached rumble pack in the cartridge, but this is not present here. But if you connect your GBA to a GC via a Game Boy Player, and if you utilize a GC controller, it is said that you will feel the controller rumble. The second connectivity is GBA to GBA. First of all, you can exchange high scores, and it is fun to see someone else's name on the list, because seeing your name eight times on each list is boring. This even promotes competition. Also, if you exchange Pokedex data, Pokemon that you have not yet caught but ones that your friend has will appear more often on your cartridge, which is a pretty good deal.

The replay value is extremely high, as first of all, collected all 200 Pokemon will be a top priority. After that, you will still want to beat your high score, therefore you will play this for a long time. I can see this game becoming fairly annoying soon, but kids under the age of 13 will probably have this cartridge stuck in their GBAs for a long time. It would actually be a decent holiday present.

The graphics are acceptable, but not spectacular. Since neither Pokemon nor pinball games are known for great graphics, I am pleased that the graphics are a great deal better than the graphics for the original Pokemon pinball. The game is extremely colorful, and the objects and backgrounds in some parts are present and cheerful. Each Pokemon has a picture in the Pokedex, and children will probably enjoy looking at their favorites. The animations are smooth and fluid. My favorite animation is actually is pokeball itself, it just looks extremely sharp and crisp.

The background music is just some cheery little music that fits the mood of the game well. It is just harmless Pokemon music, however I will admit that I turned the volume off to save battery power and instead listened a MD on my MiniDisc player. The sound effects such as the balls hitting objects or getting sucked it and transported is decent, but not the best that the GBA has to offer. Each Pokemon in the Pokemon makes a weird little computer made noise, which doesn't sound great but really, I didn't expect anything better from this title.

Overall, Pokemon Pinball: Ruby and Sapphire is just another Pokemon game, mainly made for the under 13 crowd. It's a decent pinball game, and there is a lot to do, but it is not too challenging. The graphics are pleasing but the audio was lacking in my opinion. I recommend this game to diehard fans and to the pinball crowd, and since it is a bit fun to play, I will give it four stars.