Another oddball entry in the series, Sonic Spinball for consoles is a pretty unique game that I do like, but is absolutely not something I go back to a whole lot.

Dr Robotnick has built a trap tower built with the power of Chaos Emeralds, and it’s up to Sonic to collect them and stop him. Not much there but I do think the aesthetic and vibe of this one is very different to what you would expect. The sound effects for one, are super crunchy and piercing, the enemies are pretty vicious looking and the overall energy is a lot more dank compared to the classics.

The game is pinball with a twist, you play pinball as you would anywhere else, but your aim is to not just get a high score, it’s to collect the chaos emeralds in every stage. You have influence over Sonic’s movement and when not on the pinball table you can control Sonic on the ground Spindash and all. But despite this you are gonna go flying all over the place trying to find your way around. Doesn’t help that the game is pretty glitchy and sometimes death can just happen.

There’s only 4 stages but it gets pretty brutal towards the end of the game. Boss fights can go either way, you can get lucky or often get ejected from the boss arena. The amount of precision required in some parts is rediculous, so like I said, it’s a fun game when it works, but it’s a hard sell to come back to.

I like the music and the vibe the game gives off, but definitely approach this one with caution.