// Workers AI · dad joke modeWhat did Pokémon Pinball say? It had a ball.

Pokémon Pinball
Developers	Jupiter HAL Laboratory
Publisher	Nintendo
Producer	Tsunekazu Ishihara
Designers	Masaru Kuribayashi Hiroyuki Goto Norichika Meguro
Composer	Go Ichinose
Series	Pokémon
Platforms	Game Boy, Game Boy Color
Release	JP: April 14, 1999 NA: June 28, 1999 AU: July 13, 1999 EU: October 6, 2000
Genre	Pinball
Mode	Single-player

Pokémon Pinball is a 1999 pinball video game developed by Jupiter and HAL Laboratory and published by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on April 14, 1999, in North America on June 28, in Australia on July 13, and in Europe on October 6, 2000. Although marketed principally for the Game Boy Color, its dual-compatible cartridge can also be used with the original Game Boy.

The game adapts the locations, characters, and collecting mechanics of Pokémon Red and Blue into two pinball tables, with the pinball represented by a Poké Ball. In addition to accumulating points, the player captures and evolves Pokémon to complete a persistent Pokédex containing the 151 species introduced in the first generation of the series. Its oversized cartridge contains an AAA-powered vibration motor. Nintendo described it as the company's first Game Pak with a built-in rumble feature.

Pokémon Pinball received generally positive reviews and became a commercial success. It sold more than one million copies and was followed by Pokémon Pinball: Ruby & Sapphire for the Game Boy Advance in 2003.

Gameplay

The player begins each game with three Poké Balls and uses the left and right flippers to prevent the active ball from falling through the bottom of the table. The table can be nudged upward or sideways to alter the ball's movement, although repeated nudging may cause the flippers to become temporarily unresponsive. Targets, ramps, bumpers, bonus multipliers, and special modes increase the player's score. The cartridge's motor vibrates in response to events such as the ball striking objects or being launched onto the field; the feature can be disabled through the options menu.

There are two tables, the Red Field and Blue Field. They use different layouts, Pokémon-themed bumpers and targets, methods of activating modes, and distributions of catchable Pokémon. Each table is divided vertically between upper and lower screens. The view changes when the ball crosses between the two portions rather than scrolling continuously.

Each table has a set of locations based on areas in Pokémon Red and Blue. The current location determines which Pokémon can appear during Catch 'Em Mode. A small selection of starting locations is presented at the beginning of a game, and the player can later change locations by activating the table's map mode. The two tables contain different location sets and encounter rates, requiring play on both to complete the Pokédex.

The player's Poké Ball can be upgraded into a Great Ball, Ultra Ball, and Master Ball by completing specified targets. Each upgrade raises the score multiplier, while losing a ball lowers the upgrade level. Pikachu and, on the Blue Field, Psyduck can return balls that fall into the outer lanes when their respective meters have been charged.

Catch 'Em Mode

Activating Catch 'Em Mode begins a two-minute period in which the player attempts to capture a Pokémon available in the current location. The player first strikes the table's upper bumpers six times, with each hit revealing one-sixth of the hidden Pokémon's picture. Once the image is complete, the Pokémon appears on the table and must be hit four times before the timer expires.

A successfully captured Pokémon is added to both the current game's collection and the Pokédex. The Pokédex is stored in the cartridge's battery-backed memory and therefore remains complete across separate games. Rare species become available only in particular locations or after other conditions have been met. Mew can be encountered at Indigo Plateau after the player has repeatedly completed the Mewtwo bonus stage; encountering it records its entry in the Pokédex.

Evolution Mode

Evolution Mode also lasts two minutes. The player selects an eligible Pokémon captured during the current game and strikes targets to uncover three evolution items. The required object depends on the species and may represent experience, an Evolution Stone, a cable link, or another condition used in the role-playing games.

After the three items have been collected, an evolution hole opens in the center of the field. Sending the ball into the hole evolves the selected Pokémon and adds the evolved form to the Pokédex. Pokémon that evolve twice must be evolved during separate activations of the mode.

Bonus stages

Capturing three Pokémon or completing other table-specific objectives opens a bonus stage. The Red Field contains stages based on Diglett and Gengar, while the Blue Field contains stages featuring Meowth and Seel. Completing both stages associated with a table grants access to a Mewtwo stage.

The bonus stages replace the ordinary table with a smaller playfield and a timed objective. These include striking Diglett before confronting Dugtrio, collecting coins scattered by Meowth, clearing groups of Gastly and Haunter before battling Gengar, knocking Seel from the water, and repeatedly striking Mewtwo while it is protected by an energy barrier. Bonus stages award large point totals without costing the player a ball when failed.

Saving and printing

The cartridge saves Pokédex progress, high scores, and an interrupted game. A suspended game can be resumed later, although creating another suspended game replaces the previous save. When used with the Game Boy Printer, the player can print Pokédex records and high-score certificates as stickers.

Development and release

Pokémon Pinball was developed jointly by Jupiter and HAL Laboratory, with Tsunekazu Ishihara as producer and Go Ichinose as composer. It was announced in the March 1999 issue of the Japanese magazine The 64Dream. Nintendo released it in Japan on April 14, 1999, for ¥3,800 before tax.

The game uses an enlarged dual-compatible Game Boy cartridge containing a small motor powered by a separate AAA battery. The motor produces vibration independently of the Game Boy's own batteries. Nintendo's Japanese promotional material described it as the first vibrating cartridge for the Game Boy, while Nintendo of Europe called it Nintendo's first Game Pak with a built-in rumble feature. Contemporary coverage treated the feature as a notable attempt to reproduce the physical feedback of a pinball machine on a handheld system.

The North American version was released on June 28, 1999, followed by Australia on July 13 and Europe on October 6, 2000. The European release retained the built-in vibration feature and added settings allowing the player to adjust or disable its intensity.

Reception

Reception

Aggregate score

Aggregator	Score
GameRankings	81.73%

Review scores

Publication	Score
Famitsu	32/40
GameSpot	8.7/10
IGN	8/10
Jeuxvideo.com	15/20

Pokémon Pinball received generally positive reviews, with the archived review aggregator GameRankings reporting an average score of 81.73%. Critics generally praised the combination of pinball and Pokémon collecting, the two tables, number of special modes, colorful presentation, and replay value. Recurring criticisms concerned the simplified ball physics, absence of some traditional pinball features, and the battery consumption or distraction caused by the rumble motor.

Cameron Davis of GameSpot gave the game 8.7 out of 10. He praised its color graphics, Pokémon-themed targets, bonus stages, scoring objectives, battery-backed Pokédex, and overall value. Davis considered it one of the strongest pinball games available for the system, but criticized its physics and the absence of multiball and an end-of-game match feature. He also found the vibration distracting and wasteful of its AAA battery.

Craig Harris of IGN awarded it 8 out of 10. Although he preferred HAL Laboratory's earlier Kirby's Pinball Land, he described Pokémon Pinball as a well-designed portable pinball game suited to repeated short sessions, and considered completing the Pokédex a strong incentive to continue playing. Romendil of Jeuxvideo.com gave the game 15 out of 20. She praised the integration of collecting, evolution, location changes, ball upgrades, bonus stages, persistent records, and the vibration feature, while criticizing the ball's occasionally slow or unpredictable movement and the lack of scrolling between the table's two screens.

Aaron Curtiss of the Los Angeles Times wrote that the underlying pinball design was enjoyable even for players uninterested in collecting Pokémon. He described it as solid portable pinball and praised the table-nudging and vibration features. A review in the San Jose Mercury News similarly praised the cartridge's vibration after initial skepticism. Joe Hutsko of The New York Times highlighted the rumble cartridge as a hardware innovation that could encourage other developers to use tactile feedback in portable games. Wired also praised the combination of vibration, Pokémon evolution, and accessible pinball mechanics, while noting that the player could not physically jostle the handheld in the manner of an arcade table.

In Japan, Famitsu gave the game 32 out of 40. In a later retrospective, GamesRadar included it among the Game Boy and Game Boy Color titles the publication wanted to see released through the Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console.

Sales

Pokémon Pinball sold 262,000 copies in North America during its first 20 days, which Nintendo described as a record launch for a Game Boy title at the time. According to NPD, it was the fourth-best-selling video game of 1999 in the United States, behind Pokémon Blue, Pokémon Red, and Pokémon Yellow.

The Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association gave the game a Gold sales award, indicating sales of at least 200,000 copies in the United Kingdom. By 2003, Nintendo described Pokémon Pinball as a million-selling title.

Sequel

Main article: Pokémon Pinball: Ruby & Sapphire

Nintendo announced Pokémon Pinball: Ruby & Sapphire for the Game Boy Advance at E3 2003. Developed by Jupiter and based on Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire, it retained the original game's combination of pinball scoring, Pokémon capture, evolution, and Pokédex completion while introducing new tables, bonus areas, and more than 200 Pokémon.

The sequel was released in Japan on August 1, 2003, in North America on August 25, and in Europe on November 14. Nintendo timed the North American release to coincide with the fifth anniversary of the North American launch of Pokémon Red and Blue.

External links

• Official Japanese website (in Japanese)
• Pokémon Pinball at Nintendo UK