Sonic Spinball

About Sonic Spinball

Sonic Spinball (1993) is Sega Technical Institute's Genesis pinball spin-off in which Sonic himself is the ball, made in nine months by American staff to fill the gap left by Sonic 3's delay.

Sonic Spinball in Depth

Most of the game takes place inside Robotnik's "Pinball Defense System", four levels built like giant pinball machines in which Sonic is the ball. Flippers aim and launch him through each level, and he can be steered in the air with the directional pad after bouncing off bumpers or when falling towards the drain. The goal of each level is to collect every Chaos Emerald, some blocked until certain switches or bumpers are hit, and then defeat the boss that becomes accessible at the top, each needing its own strategy. A status strip gives hints and shows how many Emeralds remain. Beating a boss starts a bonus round on a regular pinball table with three balls, where the player can shake the table, though tilting too often locks the flippers.

Sonic starts with three lives, losing one each time he falls down a drain, and earns another at 20,000,000 points, scored from bumpers, loops, rings and enemies. Set in the world of the Sonic the Hedgehog TV series, the story has Robotnik build a fortress on a volcano, powered by magma and stabilised by the Chaos Emeralds, to turn the animals of Mobius into robot slaves.

Making Sonic Spinball

With Sonic 2 having boosted Genesis sales in 1992, Sega of America's management commissioned another Sonic game for the 1993 holidays when it realised Sonic 3 would not be ready, and the mostly American Sega Technical Institute made it while the Japanese team worked on Sonic 3. Morawiec and three colleagues pitched it with animations of Sonic as a pinball, and Sega sent veteran Japanese staff, including artist Katsuhiko Sato, to help; much of the game came together between June and August 1993. It was released in November 1993, followed by Game Gear and Master System versions in 1994 and 1995.

Morawiec expected "acceptance challenges" but was surprised it sold well, though he regretted the lack of time to polish it. Reviews were mixed: GamePro called it "fun, fast, and frenetic", and EGM's Ed Semrad praised its novelty and presentation, while Entertainment Weekly said Sonic moved like a "leaden marble" and critics widely faulted the controls. Sonic Pinball Party followed in 2003.