Genre: Pinball/Action
Platform: Game Boy Color
ESRB Rating: E for Everyone

This is a Pokémon game, as you probably guessed. As you also probably guessed, it's a pinball game, centered around Pokémon. For example, the "bumpers" are things like Voltorbs/Shellders, those things
that will push your ball back if it falls into one of the side lanes are Pikachus, and the balls are Pokéballs. There's also a rumble feature, which you can choose to turn on or off. Basically, if you do certain things then this one orb-like thing will fill up and you'll be able to start this "Pokémon-Catching thing", where you need to hit the "bumpers" enough times to make a Pokémon's picture appear, then the Pokémon will come and you need to hit it enough times to capture it. Then eventually you can evolve it.

Throughout this Review I will be comparing it to Kirby's Pinball Land. If I give the category a +, it means Pokémon Pinball is superior, a = means they're equal in that category, and a - means that Pokémon Pinball is worse in that category. These signs will be after the commentary in each category.

In case this is the first of my Reviews you've read, this will be out of 5 stars, 2 1/2 stars meaning average.

Graphics: ***

The graphics of this game are easily better than Kirby's Pinball Land. Why? Well, comparing something that's in color to something that is in black and white is quite simple. (+)

Sound & Music: ** 1/2

The music essentially stays the same, and the noises are pretty simple. Neither game wows me in this category. (=)

Difficulty: ****

This game is very difficult. It's easy to lose balls... too easy. Also, if you do lose a ball, there's no way to get it back. In Kirby's Pinball Land, if you lost a ball (Kirby) he would fall onto a platform, and if you pressed A at the right time he'd shoot right back up. Of course, the more you fell back down, the harder it would be to time it right, and eventually you WOULD lose a life. But where is this feature in Pokémon Pinball? Nowhere, except that there's a "ball saver" for a limited time. Pokémon Pinball is harder, but that's not necessarily better. (+)

Controls: ****

Both games are quite simple in the controls department. As practically the entire game revolves around just the two buttons that move the two flippers, it's hard to give this a bad score. Well, OK, you can pause it, of course, with "Start". (=)

Levels: * 1/2

The levels are too simple. They span a mere two screens, while Kirby's Pinball Land spanned three. Also, there were more hidden features in Kirby's Pinball Land. Oh, and there are two different pinball "boards" in this game, while there were three in Kirby's Pinball Land. (-)

Concept: *** 1/2

I have to admit that this is somewhat inventive. It's a fairly interesting idea, but with the wrong execution. But the execution isn't what I'm grading for this category, it's the concept. Kirby's Pinball Land's concept is also inventive, as Kirby himself is the ball. (=)

Story: no stars

Who saw that coming? There is absolutely no story whatsoever to this. Kirby's Pinball Land didn't have much of a story, but at least it had some. (-)

Gameplay: **

There aren't enough different things in each level to keep you very interested, quite the contrast from Kirby's Pinball Land, which had three levels, each with three parts to them (four if you count the boss). (-)

Replayability: ** 1/2

Oh, sure, you can just go back to get different Pokémon. Is that it? Well, you can try to top your high score and possibly other things. (=)

Secrets: **

Sorry, but there just aren't many secrets in this. Pinball Land had a few; not too many, but definitely more than this. (-)

Fun Factor!: * 1/2

Nope, this game just isn't fun. This category has the largest "gap" between it and Kirby's Pinball Land. Kirby's Pinball Land is fun, this isn't. Why? Well, there's less satisfaction out of this, there's less of a point, and it reminds us of the fact that Pokémon Red/Blue are practically the same games! At least the two pinball games are a bit different in that case. (-)

OVERALL: * 1/2

Sad to say, this game is even WORSE than Pokémon Gold/Silver. It's a complete waste of money, worth $5 or less (and probably the less part). To quote a Review from a magazine (though that was of a different game, but would apply to this one): "You might be entertained. Briefly." I thought it would be nice to review a bad game right after reviewing a really good game. (-)

Just in case I didn't make it clear, this game isn't a good buy.

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