Fun Fact(?) The developers of Sonic Spinball designed their Robotnik bosses while listening to the Boss Theme from Sonic CD (US version) non-stop through the entire development process.
Sonic Spinball is definitely a unique game in the series. Its action-platforming-pinball gameplay makes for some unique gameplay and the game is oozing with style and flair. It's definitely got this dark, grimy, eerie vibe which really helps the game stand out (and is a great example of edge being done right in the series, something which SEGA excelled at throughout the '90s and early 2000s).
@@Wayneisboss Mean Bean Machine is a great game! It's my third favorite Genesis game, right after S3&K and Ristar, and just a notch above Lightning Force (This list reeks of nostalgia, seeing as how I had these 25 years ago among a fairly small library, but I stand by their quality). Please give us the review Nick refused to give so that we may all understand that reference in the Sonic 2 movie. And maybe consider doing a Ristar review at some point. It feels like a Sonic Team game and a spiritual successor of sorts to Sonic.
Always been a fan of Spinball. Never actually beat the game until recently, however.(I did have to use save states, but I fully intend to attempt it without them sometime soon.) All in all, a challenging game that simply oozes creativity. And if you can look past the gruelling difficulty, it is a great little game to add to your Sonic/Genesis collection.
Fun fact : this was the first Sonic game that was made by C programming language, all the previous Sonic games were made with Assembly programming language
Sonic Spinball struck me as a kid as having an oddly dark tone from it's music, opening level and music. Lots of fun though; I do my like pinball and even more blended with other game genre elements. Cool review. You did a decent job explaining the mechanics, the humour was nice and importantly never detoured far from the game and it was cool to see UK's Sonic The Comic get referenced.
Sonic's back-up team made a pretty decent game, all things considered. For a cheap cash grab, this game has a lot of character. The mechanics themselves are just okay and don't offer much more than 'Sonic physics' to the generic formula. That said, pinball mechanics clearly weren't the focus here. What this game lacks in substance it makes up for in style. From the creative use of Badniks to Sonic's impressive amount of unique animations, this game has plenty of creativity put into it. My favorite part of Sonic Spinball is, without a doubt, the bonus levels. There is so much going on in these tiny little tables. The only in-game Sat-AM references you're going to see in the Sonic games are here, plus a bit of AoStH. Plus, it shows a reflection of Sonic himself playing in sync with your movements, which is really cool. It gives you that immersion factor you never really get in a Sonic game.
Awesome review! I actually did like playing this game, although it was very hard and the boss battles always freaked me out as a kid, especially the scorpion boss!
I genuinely like this game It's not a good game It's barely a good pinball game but it's 100% a guilty pleasure of mine and was the first game I bought on the SEGA Genesis Classic Collection on Steam. I love Sonic Spinball (not as much as the other games obviously, but I still hold it in semi-high regard for the Genesis titles)
I've got a certain appreciation for Fleetway. A lot of what they did in those comics remains such a unique take on the material, and one I constantly find fascinating to look back on
@@Wayneisboss oh Fleetway is amazing. It's the reason I ever picked up a pencil and getting to meet so much of the creative team at conventions has been incredible. I'm writing some content about it right now. :)
I’ve really only tried playing this game once, I’d never played pinball in any form before, so needless to say, I didn’t really enjoy it… but maybe I’ll give it another shot sometime! Great video by the way Wallace!
2:27 hey, it's the funny green boi that talks about Sonic! Jokes aside, I remember seeing a few kids play this game on some old computers when I was kid myself. These computers, somehow, had ports of tons of Mega Drive games, as well as some DOS games (Jazz Jackrabbit 2 comes to mind) and ports of Arcade games as well! Never got to play it, but I'd like to give it a shot.
A lot of people hate this game and I don't get why. Sure, it's not Alien Crush or Devil's Crush, but it's not a terrible pinball game either. It's also far from being the worst Sonic platformer. I still consider it one of the "classic" Sonic games...same thing goes for Knuckles' Chaotix.
When planning out my first acid experience, I made sure I had sonic spinball available. Once my girlfriend decided she was done and went to bed, I fired that bad boy up and played for a few hours. What a game! So fucking cool dude.
I never noticed the Sonic reflection in the bonus stages because the only footage of them I've seen was from Charriii's "Everything Wrong with Sonic Spinball in 1 minute or less", which not only has the usual quick tempo of EWWs, but it was also in fast-forward to fit into the 1-minute-short format! I barely had time to look at what's in the center. Do you seriously expect me to pause and look around? But anyway, now that I know of these reflections, I _love_ them. Great attention to detail.
All I want in Sonic Spinball is a remake that bumps it up to 60FPS. The framerate on this is so painful, which makes the gameplay much harder than it needs to be (and yes, I know there are overclocked emulators that will bump the speed up, but they also change the physics also making it much harder than it needs to be.)
Sonic 3 is the bonus I was geniuely excited for this one, honestly if you never do sonic 3 I can live with this even though I wouldn't want you to ruin your journey with going through the sonic series proper so definitely don't listen to me
You know, I never finished this? I couldn't get all the emeralds in the final stage. There's one somewhere I never found. Thanks for the revisit, Wayne! Happy April!
Hey kids! It's a Sonic game with all the best parts of a Sonic game removed! Seriously though, I attempted to play this as a kid and the only impression it left that I remember is how much it made me feel like I would much rather be playing a regular Sonic game. I quickly lost interest & never had the desire to play the game ever again.
Fun Fact(?)
The developers of Sonic Spinball designed their Robotnik bosses while listening to the Boss Theme from Sonic CD (US version) non-stop through the entire development process.
Good lord, that actually makes way too much sense
Idk why but i always picture this Robotnik when listening to the us boss theme of sonic cd
His design just...fits
Sonic Spinball is definitely a unique game in the series. Its action-platforming-pinball gameplay makes for some unique gameplay and the game is oozing with style and flair. It's definitely got this dark, grimy, eerie vibe which really helps the game stand out (and is a great example of edge being done right in the series, something which SEGA excelled at throughout the '90s and early 2000s).
Cant wait for the 4 hour mean bean machine retrospective.
I do really have to look at that one someday
@@Wayneisboss Mean Bean Machine is a great game! It's my third favorite Genesis game, right after S3&K and Ristar, and just a notch above Lightning Force (This list reeks of nostalgia, seeing as how I had these 25 years ago among a fairly small library, but I stand by their quality). Please give us the review Nick refused to give so that we may all understand that reference in the Sonic 2 movie.
And maybe consider doing a Ristar review at some point. It feels like a Sonic Team game and a spiritual successor of sorts to Sonic.
@@Wayneisboss Spolier free btw: Just saw sonic 2 and after the credits some guy in my theatre shouted "No Big the Cat?!" And it was hysterical.
Always been a fan of Spinball. Never actually beat the game until recently, however.(I did have to use save states, but I fully intend to attempt it without them sometime soon.)
All in all, a challenging game that simply oozes creativity. And if you can look past the gruelling difficulty, it is a great little game to add to your Sonic/Genesis collection.
Fun fact : this was the first Sonic game that was made by C programming language, all the previous Sonic games were made with Assembly programming language
Cool! Reference?
@@RyanMcQuen Sonic Retro
Sonic Spinball struck me as a kid as having an oddly dark tone from it's music, opening level and music. Lots of fun though; I do my like pinball and even more blended with other game genre elements.
Cool review. You did a decent job explaining the mechanics, the humour was nice and importantly never detoured far from the game and it was cool to see UK's Sonic The Comic get referenced.
Sonic's back-up team made a pretty decent game, all things considered. For a cheap cash grab, this game has a lot of character.
The mechanics themselves are just okay and don't offer much more than 'Sonic physics' to the generic formula. That said, pinball mechanics clearly weren't the focus here.
What this game lacks in substance it makes up for in style. From the creative use of Badniks to Sonic's impressive amount of unique animations, this game has plenty of creativity put into it.
My favorite part of Sonic Spinball is, without a doubt, the bonus levels. There is so much going on in these tiny little tables. The only in-game Sat-AM references you're going to see in the Sonic games are here, plus a bit of AoStH. Plus, it shows a reflection of Sonic himself playing in sync with your movements, which is really cool. It gives you that immersion factor you never really get in a Sonic game.
As a Sega kid, we needed Sonic Spinball. It was what tided us over whilst we waited for Sonic 3.
Awesome review! I actually did like playing this game, although it was very hard and the boss battles always freaked me out as a kid, especially the scorpion boss!
I always liked the sprite art in this game the best, it's so rough... like graffity or something, that sure came back for the 3D games...
I genuinely like this game
It's not a good game
It's barely a good pinball game
but it's 100% a guilty pleasure of mine and was the first game I bought on the SEGA Genesis Classic Collection on Steam.
I love Sonic Spinball (not as much as the other games obviously, but I still hold it in semi-high regard for the Genesis titles)
I mean, you showed Fleetway Super Sonic so I'm happy by default.
I've got a certain appreciation for Fleetway. A lot of what they did in those comics remains such a unique take on the material, and one I constantly find fascinating to look back on
@@Wayneisboss oh Fleetway is amazing. It's the reason I ever picked up a pencil and getting to meet so much of the creative team at conventions has been incredible. I'm writing some content about it right now. :)
I’ve really only tried playing this game once, I’d never played pinball in any form before, so needless to say, I didn’t really enjoy it… but maybe I’ll give it another shot sometime! Great video by the way Wallace!
If you want your first pinball game to *not* be a pinball game per se, you might like "Devil's Crush"
There was a sequel on the GBA but thank you Wayne for giving the savior of video games the respect it deserves!! 👑
it is just a port, not a sequel, right?
@@Andreopimentel there’s a gba port and also a sequel on the Gba
@@AkiDave Just found out about it, but it is a more traditional pinball game, no sonic ball on that one
@@Andreopimentel interesting
Not really a sequel
Just another pinball game
2:27 hey, it's the funny green boi that talks about Sonic!
Jokes aside, I remember seeing a few kids play this game on some old computers when I was kid myself. These computers, somehow, had ports of tons of Mega Drive games, as well as some DOS games (Jazz Jackrabbit 2 comes to mind) and ports of Arcade games as well! Never got to play it, but I'd like to give it a shot.
A lot of people hate this game and I don't get why. Sure, it's not Alien Crush or Devil's Crush, but it's not a terrible pinball game either. It's also far from being the worst Sonic platformer. I still consider it one of the "classic" Sonic games...same thing goes for Knuckles' Chaotix.
Cant believe he made a full review of a game that DOESN'T EXIST
When planning out my first acid experience, I made sure I had sonic spinball available. Once my girlfriend decided she was done and went to bed, I fired that bad boy up and played for a few hours. What a game! So fucking cool dude.
If only this game existed
2:44 this scene would be acceptable if He Sonic knew how to "Roll Down In The Deep"
ever played The Jungle Book on Genesis & SNES
I never noticed the Sonic reflection in the bonus stages because the only footage of them I've seen was from Charriii's "Everything Wrong with Sonic Spinball in 1 minute or less", which not only has the usual quick tempo of EWWs, but it was also in fast-forward to fit into the 1-minute-short format! I barely had time to look at what's in the center. Do you seriously expect me to pause and look around?
But anyway, now that I know of these reflections, I _love_ them. Great attention to detail.
I wish this grotesque nuclear waste aesthetic would come back
I still can't believe the game gear version wasn't put on the 3ds
All I want in Sonic Spinball is a remake that bumps it up to 60FPS. The framerate on this is so painful, which makes the gameplay much harder than it needs to be (and yes, I know there are overclocked emulators that will bump the speed up, but they also change the physics also making it much harder than it needs to be.)
I kinda like Sonic Spinball 😬
Sonic 3 is the bonus I was geniuely excited for this one, honestly if you never do sonic 3 I can live with this even though I wouldn't want you to ruin your journey with going through the sonic series proper so definitely don't listen to me
You know, I never finished this? I couldn't get all the emeralds in the final stage. There's one somewhere I never found. Thanks for the revisit, Wayne! Happy April!
I got this when it first came out but only finished it when Ultimate Megadrive Collection came out on 360 with the ability to abuse the save feature 🤣
Needs an upgrade!!
if only 3:00
What is the track that got mixed improperly you are referring to? I cant seem to find it anywhere
The game apologist reference was cool lol, love the sonic reviews!!
(are you planning on doing to game gear games at some point??)
Hey kids! It's a Sonic game with all the best parts of a Sonic game removed! Seriously though, I attempted to play this as a kid and the only impression it left that I remember is how much it made me feel like I would much rather be playing a regular Sonic game. I quickly lost interest & never had the desire to play the game ever again.
0:07 song? I must know
It was a good game to me
Sonic 3 is next. Right?
Who jokes about it? It's a genuinely good game
what game?
for some reason it really annoys me that you play the game in squashed 4:3 for ALL the footage
Wow. Talk about unfunny jokes.