Pokémon Pinball

Overview

Pokemon Pinball is a pinball game developed by Jupiter and published by Nintendo released for the Game Boy Color in 1999, featuring pinball tables based on Pokemon Red and Blue. The game comes in a special cart that has a battery compartment to power the built-in rumble pack, one of the few Game Boy games to support rumble in any way. The game also supports printing high scores with the Game Boy Printer.

Gameplay

The controls use left on the d-pad and the B button to control the flippers. There is some amount of depth such as tilting the table or altering the balls path. Most of the features on the board are typical pinball staples. There is a multiplier counter, screen in the center, score counter, a ball save light, and a kick-back on the side to throw the ball back when it goes down.

The Pokemon Effect

Naturally, having Pokemon in the game means one thing, collection. The game features the full roster of all 150 Pokemon from Pokemon Red/Blue, a 'location switch' button that transports the board to different locations (and, as a result, different Pokemon to catch, with special zones that house rarer and more special Pokemon), and a re-skin, turning bumpers into Shellders and throwbacks into Pikachu, and the ball into an upgradeable Pokeball (for example). The game uses the idea of catching every Pokemon and beating a high score to break itself up into 4 different modes.

Field Multiplier

As the field multiplier goes up the type of Pokeball will change. The current ball (past Pokeball) can only be kept for up to one minute at which time the ball will drop to the next lower ball.

	Poke Ball The Pokeball is the default ball and is the lowest tier.
	Great Ball The Great Ball is the second tier ball. With the Great Ball the score will be increased by 2x.
	Ultra Ball The Ultra Ball is the third tier ball. With the Ultra Ball the score will be increased by 3x.
	Master Ball The Master Ball is the highest tier ball. With the Master Ball the score will be increased by 5x.

Game Modes

Free-Play

This is the mode that allows the player to add up multipliers, upgrade their ball (all the way up to a Master Ball, for a field multiplier), open the bonus hole by spelling the word "cave" at the bottom of the table (to get bonuses from free balls, extra scores and infinite throwback), and change location (by hitting the "1 2 3" bumper on the side, such as the Diglett and the Psyduck). Doing a loop left of right over the top of the table builds up both the throwback-meter (good for one free shock back from Pikachu when the ball falls over the side) and the 'catch' or 'evolve' meter. Filling those, and then getting the ball into the correct slot, will start a new mode.

Catch 'em Mode

When the right arrows are filled by doing two or three loops through the right side of the table, Catch 'em Mode is started. It starts out with a silhouette at the bottom of the screen, and the player must hit the bumpers at the top of the level to reveal the Pokemon. Once they are revealed, they manifest onto the board and must be hit with the ball four times to catch it. This adds them to the cache, which leaves them for evolution or just to help get to the bonus round.

Evolution Mode

Evolution mode is unlocked by looping 3 times to the left and then getting it into the correct slot. This is a mode slightly similar to the above mode, only that instead of revealing and beating a Pokemon, it scatters 3 evolution items over the level. All three must be collected within the time limit to evolve the Pokemon, with one marker appearing only after the item before it has been collected. Once all are collected, the player must fall into the slot and the Pokemon will evolve. The evolution item changes by Pokemon.

Evolution Items:

• Thunder Stone
• Moon Stone
• Fire Stone
• Leaf Stone
• Water Stone
• Game Link Cable
• Experience

Bonus Rooms

Each table has its own room that is opened up every time 3 Pokemon are collected (catching counts as a single collection, evolving counts as 2).

Both basically revolve around the same idea- beating the tar out of a plus-sized Pokemon until the player wins and is sent back to the main table. The Red table takes the player to a room where a Meowth scatters money and runs around the room. Money could be collected for bonuses, and the Meowth had to be attacked in order for the level to be won. The blue table takes the player to a room where there is a large Gengar that can such the ball in and spit it out, causing the ball to fall out of the bottom and lose bonuses. Both have been naughty and must be beaten to learn them a lesson. When successfully completed, the next time the player has 3 Pokemon collected a new bonus round, featuring a new Pokemon (eg. Seel, Mewtwo) and a different look and feel, will be available which give the player the opportunity to score more points.

Slots

The slots mode is a mode in which various bonuses can be earned. To activate slots mode there are 4 lights that must be lit up by the ball passing over them. Two of the lights are located in the out lanes and the other two are located in the return lanes.

Slot Bonuses:

	Small Get a random amount of bonus points between 100 and 900.		Big Get a random point bonus between 1,000,000 and 9,000,000.
	Catch 'em Mode Start Starts the catch 'em mode right away.		Evolution Mode Start Starts the evolution mode right away.
	Ball Saver Starts the ball saver which will let the player play again with no penalty in the ball falls down the middle.		Super Pikachu Kickback Grants both the left and right lane Pikachu kickbacks.
	Ball Upgrade Whichever ball the player currently has will be upgraded by one, unless it is already at the Master Ball.		Extra Ball Grants the player one extra ball
	Bonus Multiplier Will grant an instant score multiplier by the amount shown.		Go To Bonus Will take the player to one of the tables bonus stages.

Tables

The tables aren't just a simple palette swap of each other. Each holds new obstacles, challenges and designs, as well as different levels in difficulty. The final difference is, of course, what Pokemon are found and what areas the player can go to. While both may have a Mount Moon, for example, some Pokemon may only be on one table, while some Pokemon may only be on the other. The game has the full roster of the original 150 Pokemon, so to catch them all, the player must switch tables and gain proficiency in both, as well as get good at evolving. It's also possible to trade data with another player using the link cable, helping get more that way.

The Blue Table The blue table is generally agreed to be the easier table. The only thing that throws it the table any kind of difficulty is the arrow in the middle. Getting to the Shellder at the top is always possible, by shaking the table or just hitting it hard over the arrow, but the Cloyster and Slowpoke (needed to start the modes) need to have the arrow pointing at them, which pushes the ball that way. Otherwise, it's a very simple table (looks a bit like a missile) and it's much easier to get up to speed and get a higher score in this area.

Map	Pokemon on Map	Map	Pokemon on Map
	Squirtle Nidoran (Male) Bulbasaur		Mankey Meowth Eevee Porygon
	Caterpie Rattata Pikachu		Magikarp Goldeen Kangaskhan Exeggcute
	Zubat Paras Clefairy		Doduo Nidoran (Female) Chansey
	Bellsprout Meowth Jynx Abra		Ekans Sandshrew Hitmonchan Hitmonlee
	Shellder Krabby Farfetch'd Sandshrew		Ponyta Koffing Aerodactyl Magmar
	Diglett Voltorb Mr. Mime		Geodude Ditto Moltres Mewtwo

Blue Table Point Bonuses

The Red Table The red table, though, is a bit more painful. The top, where the field multiplier is, can be covered by hitting a certain button. This causes a load of problems, both in getting the ball to the Voltorb bumpers at the top, and causing the player to, of course, miss a highly useful field multiplier. It also has an extra spot to loop through, which may mess up the evolution that had been worked so hard for. Otherwise, both tables have very few differences and have none of the ramps and rails that other (real) pinball games have.

Map	Pokemon on Map	Map	Pokemon on Map
	Charmander Rattata Nidoran (Male) Poliwag		Gastly Magnemite Cubone Electabuzz
	Weedle Pidgey Pikachu		Spearow Doduo Lickitung Snorlax
	Spearow Jigglypuff Ekans Magikarp		Paras Rhyhorn Chansey
	Oddish Mankey Jynx Abra		Horsea Staryu Seel Articuno
	Shellder Krabby Ekans Farfetch'd		Ponyta Growlithe Omanyte Kabuto
	Voltorb Diglett Mr. Mime		Machop Onix Ditto

Red Table Point Bonuses