I suppose the fact that Pokemon Pinball - Ruby/Sapphire is a pinball game will alienate a great deal of gamers out there. I suppose that the fact that it is a Pokemon theme game will alienate even more people out there. For those of us that still love pinball and are secure in their personal life, I offer you a video pinball freak's impression of the latest incarnation of Pokemon Pinball.

I am no stranger to video game version of pinball. My parents made sure I cut my gaming teeth on Video Pinball for the Atari 2600. They used to flip the score in that game without batting an eye which instilled a zest for the endless action of pinball in my at a very young age. Today, a person who wants a good video pinball fix really doesn't have many places to turn to. Luckily, the Gameboy Advance has more than its fair share of pinball action such as Sega's Pinball of the Dead and Sonic Pinball Party. I am also not a stranger to the last Pokemon Pinball game which was a featured game for the Gameboy Color hardware. Basically, I have played way too much pinball.

Pokemon Pinball - Ruby/Sapphire takes an evolutionary step from its Game Boy Color counterpart. If you have played the last one, you will know the drill. You play pinball, you catch and evolve Pokemon and you try and beat your high scores while trying to 'catch them all.' If you have not played the last one, the basic premise is to play pinball, catch and evolve Pokemon while trying to beat your high scores. Simple enough, no?

Behind any good video pinball game has to have a good pinball engine. Pokemon Pinball does have a solid game engine, however, like the original game, it does feel less organic than a true sim of a real pinball table. The Sega titles tend to be slanted towards the real world physics while this one feels more like a video game. This is not necessarily a good or bad thing, but it can be depending on how you like your pinball. This is probably not that game you want if you are looking for a real world pinball table sim. The physics do not feel as random as a true sim would, so, with some practice you can pretty much calculate every shot you take in the game. As I said, this is neither good nor bad in my opinion, however some people do factor this into their buying decision. Pokemon Pinball does provide a very addictive pinball experience wrapped up in a nicely polished package overall.

Pokemon Pinball - Ruby/Sapphire features a similar setup as the last incarnation of the title. The cart features two tables representing the current GBA Pokemon titles, Ruby and Sapphire. Each board features unique design elements which makes it so both boards are actually worth playing. The boards do share similar gameplay mechanics such as the Pokemon Mart store for bonuses and powerups, areas for hatching Pokemon eggs and similar ramp bonuses. Pokemon catch and evolution modes are gained by completing various skill shots through ramps and targets. With the addition of the egg hatching, the game gives you many more opportunities to collect the little critters than the first game ever did.

The original Pokemon Pinball cart for the GBC featured the seldom used 'rumble cart' which was a larger cart that contained its own motor for rumbling. This actually did add to the charm of the game and it is a feature I would have enjoyed in the new one, however, no such luck. The game does feature the rumble support if used in a Game Boy Player and it is also the first game I have seen that actually referenced the Player in its opening splash screens and options menu.

The original GBC game was well known for being difficult which was really odd considering the typical demographic that you would assume a Pokemon game would tailor itself to. This time around, Nintendo really toned down the difficulty allowing for some insane high scores to rack up, especially if you are well versed in the ways of pinball. Every aspect has been made easier from the catching and evolving of Pokemon to the forgiving bonus stages and even losing your ball on the main table can be rendered nigh impossible with a few bonuses on the board. If you score the bonus which clogs up the left and right drains, it is actually harder to lose the ball than it is to keep it in play. It ends up being a cakewalk for vets however still can remain fun and addictive due to the high scores and collection aspects of the game.

The game gives you plenty of things to do since you have to try and catch/evolve over 200 Pokemon along with completing bonus stages and other various tasks on your way to multi-billion plus point scores. They included plenty of point opportunities which generally makes for very little slow time while playing. I like the bonus rounds which mix up the gameplay a little bit along with the bonus point mini-game which has you shooting the ball or hitting a Pokemon into a basketball hoop. It helps to break up the action nicely and you never really feel like you are playing one aspect of the game for too long.

One thing that really annoyed me about the game was the default control layout. For any pinball game on the GBA, the left and right triggers should be the flippers with the d-pad used for tilting. At least the option is in there to change the layout, but it just bothers me that the layout that makes sense isn't the default choice. Other then that, I really cannot complain too much about the game.

Graphically, Pokemon Pinball for the GBA is solid. The graphics are everything they should be for a game like this. The boards are colorful with the different elements being very easy to see and keep track of. The ball is very easy to keep track of and I cannot recall any instances of losing during normal gameplay. There is a lot of activity on the boards with a herd of critters offering up addition support or obstacle depending on the situation. All in all, it is what you would expect from a Nintendo Pokemon game with no real surprises. It is a solid effort that doesn't really tax the hardware but at the same time makes good use of it.

The sound is not what I would call a selling point. It gets the job done. The music for the most part is forgettable but they do include a lot of familiar clips from the regular games that fans of the series will pick up on. There are also a couple voice samples from the Pika Pokemon, which will either delight you or send you into a blind rage. I am going to assume if you are in the latter category that you are not going to play this game and you are not reading this review right now either.

Pokemon Pinball - Ruby/Sapphire is worthy and fun pinball game for the Gameboy Advance. While it won't provide a vet pinball wizard a serious challenge, it does provide for a fun diversion from the normal types of games out there and makes for a perfect pick up and play type of game that can give you quick few minute fix or four hour marathon session if you are so inclined. If you are into pinball and are either a fan or can look past the Pokemon license, you should have a lot of fun with this cart.