the fun goes on ...

Right up front, let me say that as a 42-year-old female, I don't fit the profile of your typical Game Boy player. My previous Game Boy exploits were limited to a brief Tetris obsession on my teenage son's old black-and-white model.

Then on a long car trip last year, I got bored with the scenery and took a couple of turns at Pokemon Pinball on my son's newer Game Boy Color. Before the vacation was over, my husband had bought me my very own Game Boy Color (my son got tired of sharing). I've been a Pokemon Pinball geek ever since!

While I've observed that a lot of kids seem to prefer other games (such as the original Pokemon) to this, I love the pinball version because it reminds me of the arcade pinball games my generation used to play (you don't find many of those in arcades these days).

Learning to control the "flippers" on the Game Boy controls is a little different at first, but you can go into the game setup and choose what feels most comfortable. The visuals, responsiveness and built-in rumble pack feature make for a very realistic pinball experience. Another plus: This game can be played on both the old black and white Game Boy or on the current color version. But the color version looks a lot better.

The thing that has kept me hooked for nearly a whole year is the challenge of collecting all 150 Pokemon creatures. This isn't as easy as it sounds. You have to learn how to keep the ball in play and manipulate it through various flipper, tilt, map move and evolution maneuvers to catch each Pokemon. There are two tabletop configurations, three bonus rounds for each, an index that logs all your "creature captures" and some surprises along the way. The game instructions provide some help, but the very best way to learn the complexities of the game is by playing it for awhile.

At first it's not all that hard to catch new Pokemon. The challenge comes when you've collected the common ones and must evolve them into new creatures, or do "map moves" to other ares to find the really rare variations. To give you an idea of how tough this is, after almost a year of regular play I'm still nine creatures shy of having all 150. The kick of finding a new creature here and there has kept the game interesting to me. My son moved on to other games after awhile. He pretty much considers pinball an antique form of recreation, but he's impressed when I tell him I've caught a new Pokemon or made a new high score.

To sum it up: Pokemon Pinball combines the good old feel of pinball flippers under your hands, the challenge of mastering techniques and the kick of making new discoveries in a relatively inexpensive video game. Younger players may lose interest as it becomes harder and harder to catch new Pokemon. But for baby boomer parents (like me), the game may offer an uncommon challenge and a unique way to share something with your video game-savvy kids.