Haven't you ever wanted to bash Pikachu?

Actual pinball machines are becoming things of the past. Every year, the ones that break down are having fewer replacements. However, with this breakdown of real pinball tables has come a surge of pinball-simulation games. Pokemon Pinball is one of the better ones.

OBJECTIVES
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There isn't a story in the game. However, you do have some pretty steep obstacles to overcome. The player must try to collect 151 different types of Pokemon on 2 different pinball tables. Although many of these Pokemon are quite simple to catch, others can get extraordinarily hard.

CONTROLS
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The creators of the game were very smart by allowing you to create your own controls. Standard set-up is as follows: The A button launches the ball and controls the right flipper. Left on the D-Pad controls the left flipper. Down gives the table a left tilt, B gives it a right tilt, and Select gives it an upward tilt. The start button is used as a pause button.

This configuration works great on the GameBoy Color, but people who are playing on the GameBoy Advance will want to do some configuration. The problem is that the select button is so close to the start button that you often pause the game instead of tilting it upwards--which is one of the most useful tilts. Set the upward tilt to up on the D-Pad and it will work just fine.

PINBALL TABLES
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There are only two pinball tables to choose from: Red and Blue. Each Pinball table is split up into two screens, a top and bottom, and when the ball moves from one screen to the other, the whole screen changes. This is opposed to a screen that would follow the pinball and scroll up and down the entire pinball table. However, the way it is done works well, especially because you can almost always see all of your progress on either of the two screens.

Although both pinball tables have the same things laid out in a different order, the blue table is much easier. Beginners will want to practice on this table before heading out to the red.

CATCHING A POKEMON
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Catching a Pokemon is a fairly simple process. Roll the ball up the right lane two or three times, and the right ball pocket lights up. On the blue table the right ball pocket is a slowpoke, on the red table it is a Bellsprout. Put the ball into the right pocket, and 'catch 'em' mode starts. In the center of the table a silhouetted image appears. You must hit the ball to the top of the screen, and hit the 3 bumpers six times. Each time you hit a bumper, 1/6th of the Pokemon is revealed. Once you have all 6 parts, the image will flash briefly, and the Pokemon will come up on the board. Hit the Pokemon 3 times to weaken it, and a fourth time to capture it. If it sounds a little confusing- don't worry. When playing the game it makes perfect sense and is quite easy to remember.

All the Pokemon you catch will be in their basic forms. For people who haven't had any experience with the Pokemon franchise, there are 'basic forms' of Pokemon, and 'evolved forms.' Basic forms are usually smaller and less powerful, while the evolved forms are bigger and stronger. Pikachu is a basic form Pokemon. If you evolve it, it turns into the stronger and bigger Raichu.

EVOLVING A POKEMON
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To get the Pokemon to their stronger forms, you have to evolve them. To do this, run the ball up the left ramp three times. Then the left pocket lights up. On the blue table the left pocket is a Cloyster, on the red table a Ditto hangs around the left pocket. Shoot the ball into the pocket to bring up a list of Pokemon you have caught during the game. Select one and 'evolve 'em' mode begins.

Your Pokemon appears at the center of the table, and you have to find three items to evolve it. Depending on what Pokemon depends on what items you have to collect--but every item is collected in a similar manner. Arrows appear at different point on the table. Hit one of the spots with your ball to see if the item is inside of it. If it is, the item will appear on the table for you to collect by hitting it. If it isn't, you're given a time penalty where you have to wait for a little while for the arrows to re-appear. During the time penalty, if you run the ball up either of the side ramps the penalty will be taken away and the arrows will re-appear.

Once you've collected three items, a center pocket hole appears. Hit the ball into it, and you'll get the evolved form of your Pokemon and a ton of points.

The more rare your Pokemon is, the more places you'll have to search for the items. You can also try and evolve Pokemon that are already in their highest form. Although you won't get a new Pokemon, you will get a heap of bonus points.

MOVING TO A NEW AREA
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This is the one part of the game that I don't like--it's simply too hard to do. At the beginning of the game, a picture roulette shows various scenes from the Pokemon universe. When you stop the roulette, the final picture determines what destination you'll be starting it. This area will determine what kind of Pokemon you can catch.

So if you've caught all of the Pokemon available in a particular area, you can move on to the next area. You do this by hitting one of the Pokemon sitting on the side of the table. On the blue board these Pokemon are Poliwag and Psyduck, on the red table there are two Diglett.

Once you've hit the Pokemon three times in a row, the pocket and lane that are on their side of the table light up. Hit it up the lane or into the pocket, and the center pocket lights up. Shoot it in and you'll move to a new location. Also, you have to do this to get to some areas of the game as they don't appear on the roulette at the start.

The problem is that hitting the Pokemon on the side of the board is a frustrating business. After you hit them, they will stay lit for about five seconds. If you don't hit them again with in that small time frame, they'll turn off and you'll have to start them up again. It takes a lot of luck to be able to move frequently, and as you complete your collection of Pokemon, you're going to have to move between areas much more.

OTHER STUFF
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Those are the basics to the game, but there are many other things as well. Pikachu ball savers, extra plays, bonus multipliers, field multipliers, and so many other bonuses inhabit the game as well. It takes time to learn all of these, but once you do you can make the best out of any situation.

One of the very nice things about Pokemon Pinball is that they added a 'saver' feature to it. This means that if you launch the ball and it immediately drops down the drain, you can re-launch it without penalty. The saver also activates for the first minute of catching and evolving Pokemon, so if you're fast enough you won't ever lose the ball during those times. It was a really nice feature they put in, and it has saved me countless times.

BONUS STAGES
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Besides the 2 regular tables, there are five other 1-screen tables that have a specific challenge to them. To open them up you must get three 'credits.' You can earn one credit from catching a Pokemon, and two for evolving. Once you get all three, the center pocket lights up. Hit it in to go to a bonus stage, which always appears in the same order.

Meowith Stage-(1st stage on blue table)-hit the Meowith walking around to knock coins out of it. Grab up the coins to fill the meter, and you've beaten it.

Seel Stage-(2nd stage on blue table)-hit the Seel as they pop their heads up. If you hit them in a row, you'll get twice as many points. Fill up the meter to beat it.

Diglett Stage-(1st stage on red table)-a bunch of Diglett pop up. Hit each one and clear the area to make the Dugtrio appear at the top. Hit it three times to beat the table. You can't let the ball fall off the table at all or you get sent back to the red table.

Ghost Stage-(2nd stage on red table)-hit the ghosts as they pop up. Eventually you get to a giant Gengar that shakes the whole table when he walks. Just keep hitting ghosts and you'll beat it.

Mewtwo Stage-(3rd stage on both tables)-Mewtwo appears at the top of the screen with 6 balls making a barrier around it. Hit it three times to remove a ball. In total, you'll have to hit it 21 times to beat the stage. Once you get here, you can really rack up points. In fact, by simply going to this stage over and over again, I was able to get almost 16 billion points- which is quite a lot.

GRAPHICS AND SOUND
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Being a GameBoy Color game, this game is limited in its graphical power--but what is there is quite good. The characters are bright and there are a number of colors on each table. Also, this game is compatible with any GameBoy system even though it displays a high color count.

The sound is pretty nice. It has some pretty nice tunes, but unfortunately you'll only be hearing one most of the time. It would have been nice to set some tunes to the tables as you play, but if you really get bored with the music just turn it down and play by a radio.

There is also two "Pikachu!" voice samples for the game, but they sound kind of scratchy. This is to be expected, anyway, from a GameBoy Color game.

EXTRAS & OPTIONS
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The game a few extras to enjoy--or at least look at. This is the first GameBoy game to support the rumble feature. I usually turn it off, since I find it more distracting than anything. It also requires a battery- but thankfully they included one in the game packaging. The other problem is that this gives the cartridge an odd shape which means it won't fit in any plastic GameBoy holders, and it will stick out of your GBA even further.

The second really nice thing is the save function. If you pause the game you can stop and save it to pick it up later. You can save at any point in the game, so you don't have to wait and find a save point. There are many, many pinball games out there without the save feature, and if you get on a roll you actually have to let yourself die if its time to go.

You can send your scores to a friend's pinball game via the infrared cable link, or print them out if you have a GameBoy Printer. I don't have the printer, but the score sending process works fine.

Also, all the Pokemon you catch are recorded onto the Game's Pokedex. It will give you their picture and information, and if you happen to catch a rare one it acts as proof of your greatness.

Finally, you can catch Mew on this game--and for the ultimate pinball wizard, it will be quite a challenge. I haven't done it myself, since it requires a lot of area moving, but it can be done.

PROBLEMS
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The game has a few problems. With only two tables, there won't be much variety. Also, unless you’re a pinball wizard you probably won't complete this game. I know I haven't, although what I have done is quite good. If they had added a 3rd pinball table, and several possible ways to catch the really elusive Pokemon, then the game would have gotten a 5-star review.

OVERALL
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Overall, this is a great arcade game to own. It gives you a lot of challenges, but it also is fun to play. While you're not going to play it for hours and hours at a time, its perfect for that game you want to play while mindlessly watching TV, or taking that long car trip.