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Pokémon Pinball (1999)

Jupiter Corporation

Game Boy Color

3.37 from 899 ratings

1713 members have it in their collection · 15 playing now · 106 backlogged · 106 wish listed

How long? Main story 7h (from 1 logged playthrough)

There are two tables in the game, red and blue. Each table has its own details and gameplay elements. Each table has different "locations" that you play, which determine which Pokémon are available for capture. A subset of available locations are displayed slot-machine style in the beginning of a game, and pressing A will select your starting location and launch … Read more
There are two tables in the game, red and blue. Each table has its own details and gameplay elements. Each table has different "locations" that you play, which determine which Pokémon are available for capture. A subset of available locations are displayed slot-machine style in the beginning of a game, and pressing A will select your starting location and launch the first ball into play. After that, each table has its own mechanism for advancing to the next location, including the locations not available at the start of the game. "Catch Mode," when activated, starts a 2 minute window of opportunity where you can attempt to capture a Pokémon. Once you activate "catch mode," you must hit the pop bumpers 6 times. Each hit unlocks 1/6 of an image of the Pokémon currently up for capture. Once the image is complete, the Pokémon appears on the table, where it must be hit 4 times with the ball to capture it. "Evolution Mode," when activated, starts a 2 minute window of opportunity where you select a captured Pokémon (from the current game in progress only) and attempt to evolve it into another form. This is the only way to add the evolved form to your Pokédex. Once you select a Pokémon, you must hit targets on the playfield. There are up to 6 targets, but only 3 of them have items in them you need to evolve a Pokémon. The others create a time-wasting sequence before you can hit targets again. If you hit a target with an item, the item appears on the playfield and must be collected with the ball. Once you've collected 3 items, the hole in the center of the board opens up. Sinking the ball in the hole successfully evolves the Pokémon. Read less
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Details

Developers
Jupiter Corporation
Publishers
Gradiente, Nintendo
Genres
Arcade, Pinball
Themes
Fantasy
Franchises
Pokémon
Series
Pokémon, Pokémon Pinball

Release dates

  • Apr 14, 1999 (Full Release) (Japan) Game Boy Color
  • Jun 28, 1999 (Full Release) (North_America) Game Boy Color
  • Jul 13, 1999 (Full Release) (Australia) Game Boy Color
  • 1999 (Full Release) (Brazil) Game Boy Color
  • Oct 06, 2000 (Full Release) (Europe) Game Boy Color
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Featured in lists

Best Games (1999) by RehRomano · 10 games · 0
nostalgia by Arvyel · 53 games · 0
Neo's Y2K Collection by NEOL1NK · 88 games · 0

Rating distribution

5 stars
118
4 stars
238
3 stars
423
2 stars
99
1 star
21
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Community All Reviews Statuses

Saiyajin

Review Saiyajin 3/5 · Jul 31, 2021

Brief Final Thoughts

Playing this initially was pretty fun, building up your Pokedex was a blast and there's a general excitement In seeing which Pokémon will appear next. The minigames are a nice added extra from the standard boards, though there Is a lack of them. This pretty much boils down to how long you can stick with it without succumbing to it's …

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Playing this initially was pretty fun, building up your Pokedex was a blast and there's a general excitement In seeing which Pokémon will appear next. The minigames are a nice added extra from the standard boards, though there Is a lack of them. This pretty much boils down to how long you can stick with it without succumbing to it's repetitive nature.

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4 Comment
Westane

Review Westane 3/5 · Jun 29, 2015

Review / Playthrough

History:

I do remember playing this game before, but I don't remember where. I'm almost certain I never owned it... but I could be wrong. I know it wasn't on an emulator because I remember the rumble. I'm overthinking this!

Expectations:

Yay, more pinball... This one's fun though, I think... I hope?

Day 1:

wpid-20150530_175608.jpg

Pretty fun! I have less than …

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History:

I do remember playing this game before, but I don't remember where. I'm almost certain I never owned it... but I could be wrong. I know it wasn't on an emulator because I remember the rumble. I'm overthinking this!

Expectations:

Yay, more pinball... This one's fun though, I think... I hope?

Day 1:

wpid-20150530_175608.jpg

Pretty fun! I have less than zero intentions of ever catching all 150 (151?) pokemon in this game, but it is fun. I played on both tables for about an hour total and have had my fill of Pokemon Pinball. Ultimately, and I feel like I just said this, pinball is pinball.

Conclusion:

Not really much to say about this one. It takes your typical pinball game and adds a Pokemon skin and a catching mechanic which, admittedly, is pretty addicting. The rumble feature on this game feels much less gimmicky than on, say, Perfect Dark, and actually makes me want to play this game longer than I otherwise would. There's only two tables here, Red and Blue, and they're both different enough that I enjoy switching back and forth between them.

I can't really think of anything too negative to say about Pokemon Pinball, aside from the fact that it's, well, pinball.

Liked:

- Pokemon flavoring and capturing mechanic are good fun, and give the game some objectives I otherwise wouldn't care about.
- Rumble feature makes playing this game more fun than it probably is.

Disliked:

- Pinball still doesn't click with me, and trying to line up objectives feels more frustrating and luck based than anything.

Personal Score:

Fun : 16 Relevance : 14 Replayability : 17 Survivability : 15 Total : 62
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