Developed by Sega Technical Institute and released for the Megadrive/Genesis in 1993, Sonic Spinball is a pinball game featuring Sega‘s famous mascot.

The game took some criticism upon release, although I think it’s a very good game that is still fun to play now. If I had any criticisms it would be that the game is quite hard – at least getting to the later stages – but overall has a satisfying feel to it.

Sonic Spinball can be played by up to four players, at “Normal” or “Fast” speed, and has four different tables (Toxic Caves, Lava Powerhouse, The Machine, and Showdown). Each table has tables within tables, secret areas, all manner of tubes and bumpers, not to mention strategically-placed flippers. There are also rings to collect and if you collect them all the game will enter multi-ball mode.

Like regular pinball: the high scores in Sonic Spinball run into the millions and the fast, bouncing action is almost mesmerising.

Unlike regular pinball you have some control over Sonic as he flies around. If he’s hovering over a junction, holding down left or right on the d-pad will push him slowly in that direction, influencing his movement. It’s kind of like a ’tilt’ movement on a real pinball machine. Some levels even have platforms in them and if Sonic lands on them he can run around and choose where to jump back into the action.

Sonic Spinball is a cool spin-off from the Sonic series and is worth a play if you can find a copy. If you’re struggling to get off the first table, scroll down below the grabs to see the level select cheat. 🙂

More: Sonic Spinball on Wikipedia
Steam: Sonic Spinball on Steam

Sonic Spinball Level Select (Sega Megadrive/Genesis)

1. Access the options menu from the title screen.
2. In the options menu, press these buttons on controller one:
3. A, DOWN, B, DOWN, C, DOWN, A, B, UP, A, C, UP, B, C, UP.
4. If you did it correctly you will hear a special jingle.
5. Go back to the title screen and hold button A and press START for level 2. Button B and START for level 3, or button C and START for level 4.