The Pokemon franchise has tackled a great many genres over the last 25 years, with both Game Freak and outside studios expanding the brand beyond its creature-collecting RPG roots. Koei Tecmo’s strategy-RPG Pokemon Conquest recently hit its 10-year anniversary in North America, and Bandai Namco’s on-rails photography series Pokemon Snap saw a revival in 2021. New Pokemon Snap set a template for bringing older ideas into the modern day with nearly 1,000 monsters, and Pokemon Pinball could take notes.
Physical pinball machines trace their origins back to “Bagatelle” tables based on old European lawn games, according to Princeton University’s Joseph Henry Project. The earliest electro-mechanical machines were controversial due to their connections with gambling at entertainment centers, but over the decades they became more popular with computerized tech and licensed themes. While lacking a tactile element, digital renditions like Microsoft’s Space Cadet have proven to be just as popular, and Pokemon Pinball is but one example of what brands can bring to the classic game. After nearly 20 years, a new Pokemon Pinball could thrive with modern conveniences and themes.
The Pokemon Pinball Series So Far
Pokemon Pinball was developed by Jupiter Corporation, a Kyoto-based studio founded by Makoto Nakayama. Jupiter has primarily become known for its series of Picross puzzle games, including crossovers such as Mario’s Super Picross on NES, Pokemon Picross on 3DS, a My Nintendo reward based on The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, and Picross S Mega Drive on Switch. It has also had a hand in series like Fitness Boxing, Spectrobes, and The World Ends With You.
Its pinball spin-off from Pokemon Red, Green, and Blue released for the Game Boy Color (GBC) in 1999, boasting Generation 1 Pokemon like Pikachu, Ditto, and Dugtrio on the cover. No follow-up based on Gen 2 was released for mainline consoles, so fans would have to wait until 2003’s Pokemon Pinball: Ruby and Sapphire on the Game Boy Advance (GBA) to see more of the popular pocket monsters appear on digital pinball boards.
That said, Jupiter Corporation did not take a break from working with Game Freak during the interim between those games. Jupiter became a primary developer for the Pokemon Mini: a pseudo-console released in 2001. Coming in three colors - Wooper blue, Chikorita green, and Smoochum purple - the Pokemon Mini focused, predictable, on smaller Pokemon-themed games. A Pokemon Pinball Mini was developed for the console by Jupiter, alongside titles like Pokemon Race Mini and Togepi’s Great Adventure. Though the Pokemon Mini may be hard to come by in 2022, a number of its titles appear in an emulator within Pokemon Channel on GameCube.
How Pokemon Pinball Evolves a Classic Concept
On first blush, the original Pokemon Pinball is a simple pinball game born from an ingenious conceit: using a Poke Ball as the pinball. The Game Boy title includes two boards, based on Pokemon Red and Blue respectively. Each featured a different layout with unique Pokemon filling typical roles for a pinball machine, such as Voltorb (Red Field) or Shellder (Blue Field) acting as bumpers to bounce between and rack up one’s score. The Ruby and Sapphire version did much the same in terms of design, but utilized more second and third Generation monsters like Shroomish or Chinchou as bumpers. This GBA sequel also made it so the screen follows a Poke Ball across its more dynamic boards, whereas the original Pokemon Pinball had to jump between multiple screens.
Where the video game series differs from real-world pinball is in its objectives; both the GBC and GBA titles center Pokemon’s goal of catching them all. Each game lets players interact with certain Pokemon on the board to change its current “map” into biomes like forests or oceans, all containing different monsters that can be caught. Catching Pokemon is done through a minigame that requires revealing a monster through hitting the board’s bumpers and then the target itself. Any Pokemon captured that round can also be evolved, and the Ruby and Sapphire version even introduces eggs that hatch into tiny monsters which wander the board.
Getting enough points in a single game opens up bonus tables that act like minigames. For example, Pokemon Pinball has a Meowth table where players rack up coins by hitting it, meanwhile Ruby and Sapphire players can help Spheal through a basketball hoop. Eventually, boss battles with Legendary Pokemon like Mewtwo and Kyogre can be challenged. Other Pokemon conventions help players keep going longer and rack up more points, such as upgrading one’s Poke Ball up to a Master Ball variant or charging a Pikachu to catch balls before they fall out of play.
Where the Pokemon Pinball Series Could Go From Here
The Pokemon Pinball games were solid experiences because of Jupiter incorporating such concrete goals into their traditional mechanics, and the charm of seeing which Pokemon help perform tasks stands out. From Cloyster initiating the capture minigame on Blue Field to Cyndaquil hatching eggs with its flame on Ruby Field, everything felt considered. Pokemon Pinball Mini was the only exception, being more a collection of pinball-themed stages where a Diglett knocks Poke Balls toward designated goals.
Yet the idea has not been revisited since 2003, and that's a shame given five Generations of Pokemon games have come out since - soon to be six with Pokemon Scarlet and Violet kickstarting Generation 9. As mentioned, there are nearly 1,000 Pokemon to catch, and plenty of them beyond the Hoenn region would fit the conventions of a pinball table. Monsters like Foongus from Generation 5 or Shiinotic from Generation 7 could serve as bumpers, meanwhile returning mechanics like stopping Pokemon Pinball: Ruby and Sapphire's slot machine could be handled by Grimmsnarl's lance-like hair tendrils.
If anything, it would be great to see a developer (be it Jupiter Corporation or otherwise) tackle new pinball boards for each Pokemon region in one package. From a Johto-themed pass through Ilex Forest in pursuit of an evolution minigame switch in the Burned Tower to hitting Helioptile bumpers that power Kalos' Prism Tower, there are tons of possibilities. Not to mention boss boards like catching Reshiram atop Dragonspiral Tower or joining Zacian and Zamazenta to catch Eternatus.
Focusing on all eight (or nine) regions at once could result in a barebones, rushed package with less Pokemon to catch than each board deserves. However, Nintendo has taken to releasing titles like Nintendo Switch Sports and Mario Strikers: Battle League with an ongoing update structure, and this could work better for a single-player pinball experience than a multiplayer romp. The next Pokemon Pinball could launch with one or two boards and update over time to introduce more regions, compounding the amount of content without sacrificing the play experience on each segment. Whether The Pokemon Company wants to take this route remains to be seen, but on-the-go pinball could be a big hit on the Switch or mobile devices.
Source: Princeton University