Sonic Spinball appreciation thread

Well, there's a lot of negativity in Member's Lounge about how things suck/are not as good as they used to be, and instead of waxing lyrical about how that, too fellates ungulates I decided to praise an Underrated Thing ?.

Sonic Spinball

(Yeah Jay, we can read the topic title. Get on with it, fgt)

What can I say? The game gets a lot of hate, and although the game isn't one of my favourites by far, I love finding positive things about the underdog. Let's go.

Graphics
Although Sonic is a little ugly, he's seldom seen as anything but a ball (which will do; aside from the fact that when he's spinning VERY FAST, I can make out a blue 'X' shape in the middle of him which is an area of pixels that never change colour. Anyone else fixated/distracted by that? =P) but the rest of the sprites are excellent; real chunky and appealing, they look every bit the part -- especially the badniks -- and are as dark in tone as the cartoon this is partially based on (Sonic SatAM, for those not in the know there).

The real star of the show is the levels, though. Toxic Caves is pretty damned sublime: totally inkeeping with the tone of the cartoon (again), and varied, the only criticism I could possibly level is that it's probably a little too good at being what it is - Sonic games traditionally start with a twee and bright opening level. Bonus points for the changing palette being put to clever use, giving the bottom level the water floor to coincide with the ocean entrance portrayed in the introduction sequence.

Lava Powerhouse (my favourite) wouldn't look out of place in any Sonic game as far as I'm concerned, the designers certainly hit the nail on the head with this one. Detailed yet vibrant and dynamic, this manages to portray the titular powerhouse without looking too dismal. The Machine, reportedly using leftover Cyber ("Genocide") City graphics, wouldn't look out of place in early Sonic with it's sleek, uncluttered design. Showdown is typical last-level stuff, and as far as I'm concerned, the weak link in the chain. But all-in-all, the level art is very strong.

Bonus rounds look like a completely different game altogether, and are very neat indeed. The perspective works better than a lot of attempts on the Megadrive, and the fact that Sonic's reflection in the windows will follow the ball (and his hands operate the flippers) is such classy attention-to-detail, I couldn't help but love it.

Sounds
Another real strong area. Okay, out with the bad stuff; Sonic's sounds are just shit. Spindash is fucked, rig collection is anally-raped with chili as lube: even the fucking jumping isn't anywhere close to what it should be.

But, I'd argue the rest more than makes up for it generally, impacts have this nice bass-filled chunkiness to them which makes destroying even the most insignificant badnik satisfying; and the various pinball minutiae just sound right - I would argue the bumper sound in Spinball to be far superior to the stock one found in the Sonic trilogy - and there are all the requisite jingles you'd expect from a pinball game.

Music
This area doesn't let down, either. Admittedly, there are some very nasty FM guitars (options screen and boss themes, as well as Showdown).

Toxic Caves' theme is chunky, funky and downright hummable. From the off we've got the amount of charm one would expect from a Sonic game, even if it is a thouroughly different type of charm. The FM bass used is perfect, and really holds this together. Lava Powerhouse is even better (I recently mentioned it in the "Two tracks..." thread as one of my choices), sounding every bit like both a videogame tune, a cartoon tune and incidental music to an industrial complex -- I totally love when the tune goes all "Popcorn" at around 0:39. Perfect.

The other two BGM are less strong, I feel. Though The Machine's soundtrack is atmospheric enough, it just isn't as catchy as what has came before. All things considered, I guess this pretty much covers the end of a long "second act" (I'm a complete fag for three-act-structure storytelling. Even in videogames) and allows something for the third act to escalate from. Speaking of which, Showdown's background music is pretty intense; even though it has one of those abrasive FM distortion guitars that never sounded good, the discord actually enhances the atmosphere -- as the top of Robotnik's fortress isn't even completed yet by the seems, it would be a little rough around the edges. Still not catchy enough, though.

I must also mention the amazing serendipity that is the title screen music. Apparently knocked up in half an hour after being informed that Sega forgot to clear use of the Sonic the Hedgehog title music, it's actually awesome -- and a lot better than the intended Sonic theme I've heard.

Special mention goes to the highscore/options theme which, FM guitar aside, sounds like the Munsters after a cocaine binge. I like this.

Gameplay
It's neither Sonic, nor is it pinball. The physics aren't really too good, let's not beat around the bush. Sonic moves like he's wading through vomit, and as a pinball he ricochets wildly off things in a most unbelievable fashion; it's only the best thing that he can be 'steered', then. It's responsive enough, but a little muddy.

But, for what the control lacks, it's wrapped up in a pretty neat package. Levels are expansive, but with memorable enough layouts (owing to a certain amount of symmetry, one would add. Usually a bad thing, but it works here), and there are enough objectives to keep a play very busy. But, get this; in the spirit of the early Sonic games, there's an amazing amount of non-linearity here - emeralds can (with few exceptions) be collected in whichever order one pleases, removing at least a little of the tedium playing such large levels can sometimes bring.

On the subject of the size of levels, it's about right. Although I personally would have included an extra first level; possibly containing only one emerald, and in the "green and happy" cliche the series is so proud of (Knothole, then? :D); they're about right. The tasks within the levels are great, too -- aside from Showdown's, which are way too repetetive by far, a stupid excess of blocks guarding switches that grant access to higher parts of the level. And don't even get me started on the insane amount of work required to even hit Robotnik himself. I know last levels have got to escalate somehow, but come on! This is silly.

Bonus games are, AGAIN, the shining star. The pinball physics are much better than the main game, and the tasks required of the player simple enough to understand, but not a cakewalk to complete. It's totally worth completing a level just to get the next one; and, as bonus rounds, failure isn't fatal. These are just 100% pleasant. <3

Overall
I like it. Not a lot, but I like it nonetheless. In my eyes, this set a precedent which a lot of Sonic spinoffs have followed, being an interesting diversion on it's own merits, but nothing to challenge the main series (hands up, who's loved an iteration of Mario Kart more than the actual Mario games on a format? I'm calling a non-zero figure there =P). It's good. Just not amazingly so.

And most definitely not bad enough to deserve a lot of the bashing I see it get. So, who else likes (and not hates) this game?

 

Even though I'm aware of this, it doesn't seem to have the same sort of "makes sense when you think about it" quality.

Nonetheless, the re-used graphics do give this game a certain kind of coolness that something such as Mean Bean Machine (much as I love it) can't claim.

 

Elaborate on 'unintuitive'.

As I can see, trying to hit the wrong target/access the wrong area gives a hint in the "LED" display at the top as to how to progress, and aside from Left/Right/Idiot Button (both flippers) in the pinball, Sonic's buttons do what they always did. Do the layouts confuse you?

I'm not trying to say "like this game like we do, motherfucker!", but I generally dislike blanket statements like this which sound like they actually mean nothing.