I'm aware I tend to mix up "Mega Drive" and "Genesis" and what accounts for the west when referring to the production. 😅 It's a childhood-long flub I'm still learning to get the hang of. I thank you guys for correcting me so it gets drilled into my brain more, and I hope you enjoyed the video regardless of my glaring regional errors. 💖
I grew up as a Sega Genesis kid as I got mine for Christmas 93 from my Grandma, was the best thing ever to me and even till this day the Genesis and Game Gear are both my favorite systems and basically are what my Nintendo Switch is based off of by my game choices on that! Love the entire original Sonic Series of games, got Sonic 2 with my Genesis and the following year for my 8th birthday in 94 got Sonic Spinball due to it being a cheaper option than Sonic 3 at the time! I used to rent Sonic Spinball and Sonic 3 from Drug Mart prior and liked both games but Spinball was hard not going to lie there lol but as of late I figured out how to master it and I've gotten to like it alot more now. Wish they'd make a sequel to it on Nintendo Switch or even a homebrew sequel by another fanboy out there could be fun. Would be cool to use sprites of Tails, Knuckles, Rotor, Sally Bunny and even include Grounder , Swat Bots or Antoine in the mix as well
Just want to mention that, I don't think anyone has made A video covering all the offshoot or unique pinball games before. Mario Pinball, Pokemon Pinball, Kirby' Pinball Land, The House of the Dead Pinball, and my personal favorite unique one, Devil's Crush on the Turbografix16
@cerebraxis607 that is a great point! Pokémon Pinball on Game Boy Color was a other oddity of a huge franchise that was sort of a Sonic Spinball type game! Most ppl don't talk about it, but I also had that one and I liked it
My grandma got me this game for my birthday when I was 9 years old. I sheepishly told her I only had an NES...then my parents laughed...and gave me THEIR gift. I STILL have that Genesis.
My mother would wake me up in the middle of the night playing this game at the foot of my bed late at night. I would wake up from the lights and the dope genesis soundtrack. She passed last summer i miss her so much. Thank you for this video.
I don't know what UA-cam is doing but the small channel recommendations lately have been absolutely stellar. amazing video dude, welcome to the subscription feed
It's funny, thinking back, as a kid I didn't really think of this as a spinoff game. This was the first spinoff game of this nature that I was ever exposed to, so I had no concept of spinoff games yet. So for me this was just one of the core Sonic games, the one that played like pinball for some reason, which I never questioned.
Hey man it took him long enough to get around to DK Barrel Blast and risk his virginity. This one would have him being swiped Right on Tinder accounts he didn't even open.
Sonic Spinball was probably the sonic game I played the most as a kid, next to Sonic & Knuckles and Sonic 3D. I never really considered it nightmare inducing, the idea it might've been for others never crossed my mind until this video. But thinking on it... yeah, I totally see it.
I was so mad when I got all emeralds in Sonic 3D and couldn’t go Super Sonic. I never played that game again. It was cool the replay ability is virtually zero.
I got this early in my Sega Genesis career as a Pawn Shop pick up. As a kid I remember having a t-shirt with the cover art and it quickly became one of my favorites growing up. When I finally beat the game, man did it feel like a real accomplishment!
What a nice surprise 😀 It was cool to look back on this sonic game. At 8 I would continually re-rent it and continually game over at the first or second stage 😆 So freaking hard I never even wanted to own it lol
My all-time favorite Sonic game! I remember cold winter weekends playing against my parents and siblings for hours on end. Great video, came across it while showing my kids (5,3) Sonic video games from my childhood.
Sonic Spinball was one of the first console games to be written in C. The use of a high level language allowed development to proceed quickly and meet that nine-month deadline -- but the unoptimized code produced meant the game ran at 30fps (NTSC), compared to 60fps for Sonic 2, written in assembly.
i gotta admit, i spent so much time playing this game that all of its sights and sounds are so iconic to me. i cant help but love it no matter how earbleeding it is
Great dive into a game that haunts my past. I used to rent Ecco incessantly during my childhood as it was one of those delightfully creepy things that fueled my imagination, but my frustration for that game does not even come close to the final stage in Spinball. I got so. damn. close. to finally beating it after many years... one last stupidly simple thing to take down the ol' Eggman himself, but nope. Fell from the heavens and into a fiery doom. Haven't touched it since. Soundtrack is part of my daily grind playlist, though. The options menu goes so damn hard. The fact that they put this out in a short amount of time gives me a greater appreciation, despite it being a weird sidetrack from the main series. Learn something new every day :)
Just wanted to say a huge thanks for paying so much attention to the design in these games - it's something I always really enjoyed paying attention to and the review of each stage's aesthetic/enemies/bosses are very appreciated.
One of my absolute favorites next to 3D Blast, love playing this game anyday but i still cant beat it. Lol just keep playing and dying on level three, then play again. Years of fun even with my son.
Man this game was a challenge as a kid, me and my dad took turns to eventually get through this and x men 2. I’ll never forget it though, it was a Christmas present cleverly disguised in a cheap clothes box. And of course my dad made sure it was the last one to be opened. When this game popped out of what I expected to be pajama pants, 20 gigawatts of excitement took over. I never once thought of this game as inferior to the other classic sonic games. Just different and quirky. The most depressing thing about this game is the fact it gets no love or ports like the others do. Still, great video! You’re a diamond in the rough sir. 🎩👌🏼
I LOVE Sonic Spinball. It was a cool idea for a Sonic game, and it was kinda overdue for pinball as well. The gameplay is a nice combination of both, and the SOUNDTRACK is so epic!
I remember absolutely loving the soundtrack and grunge SFX of this game as a kid. I don't think I ever fully beat it without cheats because it does get really really hard at the end, but it was still fun! And yea Robotnik and his machines were indeed terrifying in this. I love your retrospective about it! Thanks for the Nostalgia. 😊
Great summary of the game, and time taken to document references elsewhere. Wonderful work. I also am someone who also has been surprised by the lack of any significant hacks or patches for the game. This is something I've been going to great lengths to change in the past month or so (I'm uploading occasional videos and posting to Sonic Retro, showing off fun things I've been able to resolve or uncover). P.S. I'll always know that AoSth "Pinball Fortress" as the "Awesome Inpenetrable New Pinball Fortress" 😅
Many thanks! I do my best to detail everything I can on a topic, so I'm glad my rambles are appreciated. 😂 I agree, there needs to be more patches/ROMhacks of this game, there's so much untapped potential!
This video could be an episode on tv, great job, subbed 2 mins in, also nice touch saying that dude was flying in at the same time as showing tails flying in, in the game.
Another awesome video. Brought back memories of when I would play this game over and over when I was younger. I never had the attention span to get past the first level...
Spinball’s music is another example of the GEMS driver in action, banging out that harsher sound that I honestly feel suits the rest of the game’s aesthetic. Not to mention it seems to lend itself to the kind of funk you hear in Toxic Caves and basically the entire soundtrack to both Genesis Toejam & Earl games. The GEMS driver was just really good at delivering harsher, grittier music if handled well - see the Sub-Terrania soundtrack for some killer examples. One hell of an OST in that one. That said, there’s a very valid reason many people didn’t like the GEMS driver… it definitely had that “banging on sheet metal with a giant hammer” sound if not properly used. Some of Spinball’s sound effects really suffer from that. There were definitely other games that used it well like Sub-Terrania, but most don’t seem to remember those games and have a low opinion of the GEMS driver. (correction: Sub-Terrania did not use the GEMS driver!)
@ no problem, though I’m only scratching the surface and am far from an expert. For the real skinny on older school audio and chipsets, id suggest 8-bit Guy and Displaced Gamers. Alex Yard is also great for music theory and history on the Sonic games. Oh, and look up Tim Follin. He and his brother squeezed some INSANE work out of old school audio chipsets by manually programming them. They didn’t work on the Genesis (to my knowledge) but it is staggering what they managed to pull off with the NES and SNES. Bonus fact: the SNES apparently has an *8-bit* sound chip. An 8-bit chip did *Chrono Trigger*. Just consider that. Blew my mind when I found that out.
From what I can ascertain, GEMs exists to make the Yamaha FM sound chip easier to program, but in doing so it almost boxes you into some consistent presets. FM synthesis is notoriously hard to program, which lends to the idea that the composer relied of GEMs because of the time crunch. Essentially “I’ll make the melodies first, and fine tune the sounds later” Conversely, the main line sonic games ignored GEMs (I believe, I don’t have a source on hand for this), which is why their soundtracks are so polished. Even further, Michael Jackson working on sonic 3 fits in perfectly. Much of his hits were built on the Synclavier and the Yamaha DX7 (the iconic bigger brother of the Genesis chip with more operators)
Yeah, I felt bad about literally hiding him in hard-to-see areas so Bivalve's right there with the cast this time. 😁 Thank you for your support, Scruffy bud! ✨
When my family moved out here in the '90s, there were a number of things we couldn't take with us, and the great big heavy CRT tv was absolutely one of them. We had yard/just-come-in-the-house-and-buy-something-if-you-like-it sales, and my parents had me playing games on that tv when people came over, I guess to show off how good the picture/colors were. And for whatever reason, this is the game I defaulted to. I sucked at it then. I still do. But I enjoy it all the same.
This was a game I’d play on my childhood friend’s Genesis when I was bored of mainline Sonic games. I thought it wasn’t bad, good for a few min of fun. Frustrating at times but I made it to level 2 at the very least. Playing at my current age I can appreciate all the detail work that went into the stages, along with the overall atmosphere with the music and sfx. They def did great work on this and it deserves more attention.
Had this game when I was 8. Beat it when I was 12. Once I understood the concept, it was fun. Physics aside, the game was not bad. I wish they built on this, though. Good times.
The other reason that the options music isn't as good as it could be is because they used the GEMS editor presets rather than a bespoke sound engine. Someone managed to swap out the instruments and it sounds a lot better. WORM BAGGED
originally there wasn’t JUST 7 chaos emeralds, the chaos emeralds in the first game were different from the chaos emeralds in the second game, it wasn’t until later in the series that the chaos emeralds were established as only having seven in existence
I always felt like Robotnik always knew there was a seventh Chaos Emerald, or at least he held on to the unknown Chaos Emerald, even during the end of Sonic 1.
actually, there is an episode of Sonic SatAM that also alludes to this game. visually speaking, it looks a lot like Comic Zone. this game was my childhood dream! XD nice video! ❤
Sonic Spinball has become an injoke in my family because once we went to a local game store and they had sonic spinball in a genesis to play. My little cousin would not stop playing it, so everytime we talk about me doing anything with like emulation he’s just like “you got sonic spinball on that?”
Sonic Spinball exists in my memories as "one of those games that's not very good, but I have a nostalgic attachment to it so I give it way more slack than most reasonable people" As far as pinball simulators on the Genesis/Megadrive go, Dragon's Fury/Devil Crush do way better. As Sega Technical Institute-developed games with a grungy atmosphere, there's Comix Zone. And as for Sonic games, there's the main series. However, Spinball is something unique from when the franchise was still in a very experimental era, and I can't help but love it, jank and all
I got this game the Christmas it came out and LOVED it. Didn't find out until years later that it wasn't as beloved as it was in my house. Got the soundtrack on vinyl when that came out a couple of years ago (and use it on the set of my videos!). Wonderful deep dive here!
Thank you for so enthusiastically checking my channel, I appreciate it muchly! 😊 Rest assured, I'll be covering just about all of the Sonic games, hehe
So far I've found 3 rom hacks of the Genesis/MD Spinball -- the "Slightly Better Edition" you covered, a Red Sonic pallette swap hack, and Sonic Spinball: Emerald Safari, a continuation of the Emerald Safari hack series where each emerald grants you unique powers. From my understanding, you can stack both Slightly Better Edition & Emerald Safari, but I haven't tried this myself. Amazing retrospective!!
Great video yet again. I didn't even realise that this was out till now. Made sure to change my notification setting. Really looking forward to 3 & knuckles. Also, can't wait for the sonic r video when you get to it
I can confirm that Rexxon and the music that plays when he attacks did terrify me as a kid, between him and the drowning countdown music old Sonic games had some of the most panic inducing music
So a few pieces of info that was either gleaned over or not know, especially Sonic 2. Sonic 2 was originally developed ALONGSIDE of Sonic CD. It also had a time travel mechanic. However, as you pointed out, it was FREQUENT for Sega to force fast release dates. Sonic 2 was forced to scrap many zones and these mechanics. So this may have contributed to them being assigned the task of Sonic Spinball. This is also the reason Sonic CD didn't have Tails, it started development as separate sequels at the time time. I'm honestly GLAD for this though, as it seems they LEARNED from the errors of this: When they were forced to release Sonic 3 and they didn't want to lose their work, they decided to use the lock-on technology used in Game Genie as well as many unlicensed NES games (used to passthrough the CIC Lockout Chip). Fun side trivia: Nintendo was developing an add-on to allow an NES to play SNES on NES as an upgrade. My mom used to call NoA to ask for updates. The discarded project, I'm guessing for financial reasons, I heard became the technology to become the Super Gameboy instead: It allowed for cheaper development. But yeah, Nintendo CONSIDERED it before the Sega 32x.
23:01 I'm guessing it is because the Genesis/Mega Drive versions were already ported. Also, speaking of ports, there is one for GBA (which only has Toxic Caves music, from what I recall) and a Java version, which was the very first version of Spinball that I played but can't get past Toxic Caves, so I can't say if everything from the original versions got it or have to cut a lot of stuff like the Java port of Sonic Advance. Funnily enough, the Java version might be a bit better as they have versions for vertical screens, which, with the nature of pinball games, is extremely helpful. Plus, the camera tends to be zoomed out, so there is more visibility.
As someone's who trash at this game, I quite enjoyed this, both chilled and funny, and quite informative, I had ZERO idea Clucker's Defense was even a thing, you've earned a sub from me and I'll definitely go back and check the rest of your retrospective so far 😁👍 Oh, and also, *SMELL MY SOCKS!!*
A truly enigmatic anomaly of a game. It really is quite disturbing. What a wonderful review. Could never beat it, but I got to some type of airship level in the sky that had those orange windsocks. That’s where my fear of windsocks began. No fear No more. I associated it with this strange gross game.
0:08 THAT WAS BEAST, I just pounded my coffee table hearing that mama Luigi, it’s smashed so I owe my flatmate a bit of coinage compensation, this is your fault.
2:12 You… You’ve really done it now. This is just great. Now to boot I’ve thrown my new computer when you’ve done this creepy little “sooos” out of oblige mental, I can’t anymore
When I was a dumb little kid, I thought that Sonic Spinball was a secret character in this game that was basically just Sonic rolled up, but with arms and legs sticking out. 🤪
I was never afraid of the infamous drowning music in classic Sonic games as a kid, but that freaking robot dragon from first stage is the main reason why I only played "Spinball" for about 2 minutes and never revisited it again. Seriously, that thing can go to hell for all I care.
Fantastic video! Crazy that youtube sent something this good in my recommendations. Had a lot of fun hearing a positive take on one of my favorite sonic games! If i had one suggestion, it would be that when you cover the music, it'd be nice to hear ~10 seconds of the track you're talking about isolated rather than just being under your dialogue. Otherwise, i love your editing style! You've done a great job here, and im looking forward to seeing more from you!
Thank you very much, I'm happy you checked this vid out! ✨ And cheers for the suggestion! I usually do that with these vids but I suppose this time around I might have breezed by the music too quick. Will definitely let the music play again instead of talking over it next time! 😊
@@RobotnikHolmes I want you to know that i actually have been marathon'ing your videos, and yeah i have nothing but great things to say! I'm really excited for the Sonic 3 video!
I think Spinball got more hate than it deserved. It wasn't perfect, and had a bit of jank, but I really enjoyed it. I was able to beat it back in the day. Good stuff!
~5:56 i had a theory about why that might make sense; some of the game is more based around satam/the early archie comics, which iirc once mentioned that there were more than 7 but having any more than 7 was unnecessary for most people
I would think so too, there were a lot of inconsistancies with the number of Chaos Emeralds back in the day, or it could have just been a gameplay thing. 🤔 Or maybe Sonic just keeps dropping emeralds between levels, who knows? 😂
First off: THANK YOU for having actual emotion in your voice instead of sounding like someone with a monotone falling asleep! Second: Until this video popped in my recommend, I forgot this game existed. Think I had it on the Gamecube?
@RobotnikHolmes That's probably it, thank you! And I know the first thing is a weird compliment, but it's really annoying to try and watch a video only to hear someone speak in a boring monotone.
I would love to see you do a video on Sonic Mega Collection Plus. I played that one on repeat as a kid. Honestly my favorite part of it was the soundtrack, the main theme is just so… homey. Great video! Love the editing style too! You got my subscription!!! I can’t wait to see what else you can cook up!
Man, that collection takes me back. 😁 For the Sonic 3 vid I will certainly be focusing on Sonic Mega Collection, because that and the music are a part of my childhood too. Thank you very much for the encouragement! ✨
I had a Mega Drive II for Christmas and received Sonic Spinball, Sonic 2, Aladdin and another game which I cannot remember. I know this game is not the most popular but it will always be special to me.
I want to play it again. I loved how grime the whole base looks. Really what I loved about the Sat AM cartoon. The way bosses/ dr robotnik scream always traumatised me lol
I bought this game brand new and have loved it ever since. I thought the difficulty was warranted with the pinball aspect. Actual pinball is even more frustrating and I enjoyed and was pretty good at those. This is actually one of not many games that I have beaten.
I don't know men I had tons of fun playing this on the Nintendo switch subscription emulators. Yeah I had no idea what was happening storywise, but compared to every other sonic game (except the 3D open world one) this one had a flow there was almost nothing that would stop you just because. The graphics, that can be considered creepy by some, personally remind me more of the weirdness real life pin ball machines have and I really liked how there was a constant message on top of the screen (for example you leave your controller and sonic says something like hurry up).
I love this game. I've only ever played it through the Sonic Mega Collection. I still remember that one time I played with my brother and he went first, ended up in the first level and then didn't get to play for 2 hours as I went all the way to final level. Still have never beaten it though. That last level is a nightmare.
Loved this game when it came out. still do. Me and my younger brother would play it religiously whenever we rented it. One time my bro couldn't get past the third stage and got so upset that he ripped the game out while the console was still on and threw it against the wall. Mom was not pleased. The game would still boot up and was playable. but to our surprise, it would always bypass the third level and moved us to the fourth one. No clue how my brother threw the game in such a way that it would make that possible. We had to buy the game as it was broken, and to this day, there's no way to play the third stage.
Your brother somehow made it skip the more annoying level, so that's a hidden blessing if I ever heard one. 😂 Its wholesome hearing other peop memories of playing this game.
Flipping both flippers at the same time is a beginner's trap in pinball. You're actually exposing a bigger gap by doing that, causing more drains as a result.
At the time, it seemed to be the case that chaos emeralds were a dime a dozen resource that most locations in Sonic's world had access to their own unique set of them.
I'm aware I tend to mix up "Mega Drive" and "Genesis" and what accounts for the west when referring to the production. 😅 It's a childhood-long flub I'm still learning to get the hang of.
I thank you guys for correcting me so it gets drilled into my brain more, and I hope you enjoyed the video regardless of my glaring regional errors. 💖
As an American who grew up when the Genesis was modern, I don't really care. They're used synonymously online anyway.
I use "Mega Drive" among people not from the US, and "Genesis" among US and Canadian citizens.
I grew up as a Sega Genesis kid as I got mine for Christmas 93 from my Grandma, was the best thing ever to me and even till this day the Genesis and Game Gear are both my favorite systems and basically are what my Nintendo Switch is based off of by my game choices on that! Love the entire original Sonic Series of games, got Sonic 2 with my Genesis and the following year for my 8th birthday in 94 got Sonic Spinball due to it being a cheaper option than Sonic 3 at the time! I used to rent Sonic Spinball and Sonic 3 from Drug Mart prior and liked both games but Spinball was hard not going to lie there lol but as of late I figured out how to master it and I've gotten to like it alot more now. Wish they'd make a sequel to it on Nintendo Switch or even a homebrew sequel by another fanboy out there could be fun. Would be cool to use sprites of Tails, Knuckles, Rotor, Sally Bunny and even include Grounder , Swat Bots or Antoine in the mix as well
Just want to mention that, I don't think anyone has made A video covering all the offshoot or unique pinball games before. Mario Pinball, Pokemon Pinball, Kirby' Pinball Land, The House of the Dead Pinball, and my personal favorite unique one, Devil's Crush on the Turbografix16
@cerebraxis607 that is a great point! Pokémon Pinball on Game Boy Color was a other oddity of a huge franchise that was sort of a Sonic Spinball type game! Most ppl don't talk about it, but I also had that one and I liked it
My grandma got me this game for my birthday when I was 9 years old. I sheepishly told her I only had an NES...then my parents laughed...and gave me THEIR gift. I STILL have that Genesis.
What did you think of the game?
I often think people judge it too harshly because being a ‘Sonic’ game sets the expectations very high
I still own my megadrive master system saturn dream cast and sega game gear too
Best way to receive gifts as a kid!
@@tf1090c
I loved it as a kid, better than Sonic 3
Such a cute story. Makes me miss being a kid. My parents did cool stuff like that too.
My mother would wake me up in the middle of the night playing this game at the foot of my bed late at night. I would wake up from the lights and the dope genesis soundtrack. She passed last summer i miss her so much. Thank you for this video.
Bless, I'm sorry for your loss. 😔 I hope this vid helped reminisce on good nostalgic times. ✨
I don't know what UA-cam is doing but the small channel recommendations lately have been absolutely stellar. amazing video dude, welcome to the subscription feed
Thank you for checking this channel out. 😁 Hope you enjoy your time here!
Yeah, I've noticed that too. I don't even get Linus, or MKBHD anymore. also getting stuff opposite of my political views.
It's funny, thinking back, as a kid I didn't really think of this as a spinoff game. This was the first spinoff game of this nature that I was ever exposed to, so I had no concept of spinoff games yet. So for me this was just one of the core Sonic games, the one that played like pinball for some reason, which I never questioned.
This video gave Sonic Spinball the justice it deserves. Not relentless bashing by people who only played first stage.
Open informative-ness > mindless bashing 🤭
Thank you for checking the vid out! ✨
You did something that Scott the Woz was too scared to do, make a video review of Sonic Spinball.
OMG truly? 🤣
I think Scott is more of a denier of it's existence then scared ha. But I like it & found Holme's review nice n thorough
Hey man it took him long enough to get around to DK Barrel Blast and risk his virginity. This one would have him being swiped Right on Tinder accounts he didn't even open.
It doesn’t exist. It doesn’t exist. It doesn’t exist. It doesn’t exist. It doesn’t exist. It doesn’t exist. It doesn’t exist.
Utter cringe
Sonic 3+Knuckles is legitimately one of the greatest games ever made. Good luck reviewing it.
WHO BEAT THIS GAME SPINBALLERS REPRESENT
I BEAT IT, ALTHOUGH IT TOOK FOREVER, BUT I DID INDEED BEAT IT LOL AS A TEENAGER.
@@tomd.3342 LET'S GOOOOOOOOO I BEAT THE DANG THING WHEN I WAS TEN
Me and my friends beat it as a group one afternoon, a lifetime ago.
@@Kalhenwrath1 That must've been cool to watch
@@ICader7194 one of my fondest summer memories from childhood.
Sonic Spinball was probably the sonic game I played the most as a kid, next to Sonic & Knuckles and Sonic 3D. I never really considered it nightmare inducing, the idea it might've been for others never crossed my mind until this video. But thinking on it... yeah, I totally see it.
I was so mad when I got all emeralds in Sonic 3D and couldn’t go Super Sonic.
I never played that game again.
It was cool the replay ability is virtually zero.
I got this early in my Sega Genesis career as a Pawn Shop pick up. As a kid I remember having a t-shirt with the cover art and it quickly became one of my favorites growing up. When I finally beat the game, man did it feel like a real accomplishment!
What a nice surprise 😀 It was cool to look back on this sonic game. At 8 I would continually re-rent it and continually game over at the first or second stage 😆 So freaking hard I never even wanted to own it lol
Happy you enjoyed 😁 Its a game that many have fond memories of, I see!
Well, what do you know-- PhantomStrider!
My all-time favorite Sonic game! I remember cold winter weekends playing against my parents and siblings for hours on end.
Great video, came across it while showing my kids (5,3) Sonic video games from my childhood.
Bless, thats so wholesome, thank you for sharing that and memories! 😊 I hope you and the young'ns had a good time. ✨
The options theme is basically Surge's theme by this point and it FITS.
Sonic Spinball was one of the first console games to be written in C. The use of a high level language allowed development to proceed quickly and meet that nine-month deadline -- but the unoptimized code produced meant the game ran at 30fps (NTSC), compared to 60fps for Sonic 2, written in assembly.
Thank you for arming us with such knowledge! I appreciate it because I tend to miss out on the technical stuff. 😅
i gotta admit, i spent so much time playing this game that all of its sights and sounds are so iconic to me. i cant help but love it no matter how earbleeding it is
Great dive into a game that haunts my past. I used to rent Ecco incessantly during my childhood as it was one of those delightfully creepy things that fueled my imagination, but my frustration for that game does not even come close to the final stage in Spinball. I got so. damn. close. to finally beating it after many years... one last stupidly simple thing to take down the ol' Eggman himself, but nope. Fell from the heavens and into a fiery doom. Haven't touched it since. Soundtrack is part of my daily grind playlist, though. The options menu goes so damn hard.
The fact that they put this out in a short amount of time gives me a greater appreciation, despite it being a weird sidetrack from the main series. Learn something new every day :)
The boss tune is the theme to all my nightmares. I love it so much. It is the darkest boss tune ever....and Masked Devil from Ninja Gaiden on the NES.
Holy crap I just listened to Masked Devil from Ninja Gaiden and that's so BUMPING 🤩
So glad the algorithm made your channel show up on my Home Screen, instant sub and you’ve got a channel fan!
Just wanted to say a huge thanks for paying so much attention to the design in these games - it's something I always really enjoyed paying attention to and the review of each stage's aesthetic/enemies/bosses are very appreciated.
Why thanks! I enjoy going into details others might have overlooked, other than just saying "Isn't this game weird huh?" 😊
One of my absolute favorites next to 3D Blast, love playing this game anyday but i still cant beat it. Lol just keep playing and dying on level three, then play again. Years of fun even with my son.
That's so blessed! I hope you and your son continue to enjoy yourselves with videogames, Sonic or otherwise. ✨
Man this game was a challenge as a kid, me and my dad took turns to eventually get through this and x men 2. I’ll never forget it though, it was a Christmas present cleverly disguised in a cheap clothes box. And of course my dad made sure it was the last one to be opened.
When this game popped out of what I expected to be pajama pants, 20 gigawatts of excitement took over. I never once thought of this game as inferior to the other classic sonic games. Just different and quirky. The most depressing thing about this game is the fact it gets no love or ports like the others do.
Still, great video! You’re a diamond in the rough sir. 🎩👌🏼
That's such a wholesome memory, I'm happy you got that experience and got to enjoy the game to its end along with X-Men 2! ✨
Banger alert
I LOVE Sonic Spinball. It was a cool idea for a Sonic game, and it was kinda overdue for pinball as well. The gameplay is a nice combination of both, and the SOUNDTRACK is so epic!
Agreed! I love the OST most of all. 😁
Great video!
I’ve always loved this game. I bought the Mega Collection on Game Cube specifically because it had Spinball.
Thank you very much! The Mega Collection was significant for me too growing up. 😁
I remember absolutely loving the soundtrack and grunge SFX of this game as a kid. I don't think I ever fully beat it without cheats because it does get really really hard at the end, but it was still fun! And yea Robotnik and his machines were indeed terrifying in this.
I love your retrospective about it! Thanks for the Nostalgia. 😊
And thank you for checking it out. 😁 Yeah, I admire the grunge SFW and music too! It was a real bugger to record all the way to the end. 😂
I like how the badnik section is the digimon analyzer.
I played this game throughout my entire childhood. It was one of my favorites
Great summary of the game, and time taken to document references elsewhere. Wonderful work.
I also am someone who also has been surprised by the lack of any significant hacks or patches for the game. This is something I've been going to great lengths to change in the past month or so (I'm uploading occasional videos and posting to Sonic Retro, showing off fun things I've been able to resolve or uncover).
P.S. I'll always know that AoSth "Pinball Fortress" as the "Awesome Inpenetrable New Pinball Fortress" 😅
Many thanks! I do my best to detail everything I can on a topic, so I'm glad my rambles are appreciated. 😂
I agree, there needs to be more patches/ROMhacks of this game, there's so much untapped potential!
This video could be an episode on tv, great job, subbed 2 mins in, also nice touch saying that dude was flying in at the same time as showing tails flying in, in the game.
My thanks for checking this vid out! I work hard om em. 😌✨️
Another awesome video. Brought back memories of when I would play this game over and over when I was younger. I never had the attention span to get past the first level...
Thanks a lot! 😎 It was simultaneously nostalgic and aggravating returning to this game too. 😂 But at least it made others happy to see it!
God, i loved that game! Livid frustration! The audio and sound effects were so satisfying. The screaming scorpion! Man, i miss that game.
I remember fondly playing this game on an old sega plug n play along with mean bean. Think the best memory I had with it was getting to stage 2 lol
Spinball’s music is another example of the GEMS driver in action, banging out that harsher sound that I honestly feel suits the rest of the game’s aesthetic. Not to mention it seems to lend itself to the kind of funk you hear in Toxic Caves and basically the entire soundtrack to both Genesis Toejam & Earl games. The GEMS driver was just really good at delivering harsher, grittier music if handled well - see the Sub-Terrania soundtrack for some killer examples. One hell of an OST in that one.
That said, there’s a very valid reason many people didn’t like the GEMS driver… it definitely had that “banging on sheet metal with a giant hammer” sound if not properly used. Some of Spinball’s sound effects really suffer from that. There were definitely other games that used it well like Sub-Terrania, but most don’t seem to remember those games and have a low opinion of the GEMS driver.
(correction: Sub-Terrania did not use the GEMS driver!)
I'm learning so much about the sound effects and driver used! Thank you for shedding more light on the specifics. 😁
@ no problem, though I’m only scratching the surface and am far from an expert. For the real skinny on older school audio and chipsets, id suggest 8-bit Guy and Displaced Gamers. Alex Yard is also great for music theory and history on the Sonic games.
Oh, and look up Tim Follin. He and his brother squeezed some INSANE work out of old school audio chipsets by manually programming them. They didn’t work on the Genesis (to my knowledge) but it is staggering what they managed to pull off with the NES and SNES.
Bonus fact: the SNES apparently has an *8-bit* sound chip. An 8-bit chip did *Chrono Trigger*. Just consider that. Blew my mind when I found that out.
From what I can ascertain, GEMs exists to make the Yamaha FM sound chip easier to program, but in doing so it almost boxes you into some consistent presets.
FM synthesis is notoriously hard to program, which lends to the idea that the composer relied of GEMs because of the time crunch. Essentially “I’ll make the melodies first, and fine tune the sounds later”
Conversely, the main line sonic games ignored GEMs (I believe, I don’t have a source on hand for this), which is why their soundtracks are so polished.
Even further, Michael Jackson working on sonic 3 fits in perfectly. Much of his hits were built on the Synclavier and the Yamaha DX7 (the iconic bigger brother of the Genesis chip with more operators)
Jesper Kyd used his own sound driver for Sub-Terrania.
@jessicasretrolunacy Ooh, I stand corrected then! Thanks for letting me know.
I spotted that Bivalve cameo, you madman. xD Also, describing the Roboboiler heads as sitting five feet apart because they're not gay SLAYED me!
Yeah, I felt bad about literally hiding him in hard-to-see areas so Bivalve's right there with the cast this time. 😁 Thank you for your support, Scruffy bud! ✨
Love this, it seems like you've been putting a lot more effort into your videos this year
I'm happy it shows! There's a lot of factors in that, and I'm happy to continue making game retrospectives if peeps like that. ✨
When my family moved out here in the '90s, there were a number of things we couldn't take with us, and the great big heavy CRT tv was absolutely one of them. We had yard/just-come-in-the-house-and-buy-something-if-you-like-it sales, and my parents had me playing games on that tv when people came over, I guess to show off how good the picture/colors were. And for whatever reason, this is the game I defaulted to.
I sucked at it then. I still do. But I enjoy it all the same.
This was a game I’d play on my childhood friend’s Genesis when I was bored of mainline Sonic games. I thought it wasn’t bad, good for a few min of fun. Frustrating at times but I made it to level 2 at the very least. Playing at my current age I can appreciate all the detail work that went into the stages, along with the overall atmosphere with the music and sfx. They def did great work on this and it deserves more attention.
Had this game when I was 8. Beat it when I was 12. Once I understood the concept, it was fun. Physics aside, the game was not bad. I wish they built on this, though. Good times.
The other reason that the options music isn't as good as it could be is because they used the GEMS editor presets rather than a bespoke sound engine. Someone managed to swap out the instruments and it sounds a lot better.
WORM BAGGED
Oh dang, there's so much hidden depths of the OST we are still learning about. 😂 Interesting find!
CLUCKS ARE COMING
originally there wasn’t JUST 7 chaos emeralds, the chaos emeralds in the first game were different from the chaos emeralds in the second game, it wasn’t until later in the series that the chaos emeralds were established as only having seven in existence
Early Sonic canon fluctuated quite a lot indeed. 😂
I always felt like Robotnik always knew there was a seventh Chaos Emerald, or at least he held on to the unknown Chaos Emerald, even during the end of Sonic 1.
actually, there is an episode of Sonic SatAM that also alludes to this game. visually speaking, it looks a lot like Comic Zone.
this game was my childhood dream! XD
nice video! ❤
Oh bugger, I had completely forgot about Game Guy. 😂 Thank you for checking this vid out!
@@RobotnikHolmes thank you! 🙏🏽
One of my favorite games of all time. Masterpiece.
Sonic fanboys hated it cause they thought they weren't getting Sonic 3.
I'm fairly hydrated, thank you.
I hope you're keeping sodden as well!
Surprised you only have 3k subs... well you've got one more with me lol. This video was great! Keep it up and I'm sure you'll get a higher following!
Bless your heart, thank you very much! I just enjoy gushing and going into detail critiquing these things. I'm happy you enjoy! 😁
Sonic Spinball has become an injoke in my family because once we went to a local game store and they had sonic spinball in a genesis to play. My little cousin would not stop playing it, so everytime we talk about me doing anything with like emulation he’s just like “you got sonic spinball on that?”
This is pretty quality Sonic coverage!
And thank you for checking this vid out! 😁
Sonic Spinball it's my first gift from my best friend still have it till now 💙
Sonic Spinball exists in my memories as "one of those games that's not very good, but I have a nostalgic attachment to it so I give it way more slack than most reasonable people"
As far as pinball simulators on the Genesis/Megadrive go, Dragon's Fury/Devil Crush do way better. As Sega Technical Institute-developed games with a grungy atmosphere, there's Comix Zone. And as for Sonic games, there's the main series.
However, Spinball is something unique from when the franchise was still in a very experimental era, and I can't help but love it, jank and all
"Experimental" is a very good word for the game. 😌 I can relate to your memories of it, and thank you for checking this vid out! ✨
AYYY I recognize that opening rendition of Toxic Caves anywhere! :3
Love that remix sm! 😭
Found another Sonic-Tuber subbed👍🏾
Bless, thank you for checking out my channel! 😊
I got this game the Christmas it came out and LOVED it. Didn't find out until years later that it wasn't as beloved as it was in my house. Got the soundtrack on vinyl when that came out a couple of years ago (and use it on the set of my videos!). Wonderful deep dive here!
Thank you very much. 😁 Happy to hear the music inspired another!
I honestly think this is one of the best games that features Sonic.
As a kid, I never even knew that there was more than one level I rented it, played it for a little while, and quit it out of frustration.
Lol😂 I owned the game and never for past the first level
Glad UA-cam recommended this video to me. This was very well put together! You earned a new subscriber here dude 👍. Do more Sonic Retrospectives.
Thank you for so enthusiastically checking my channel, I appreciate it muchly! 😊 Rest assured, I'll be covering just about all of the Sonic games, hehe
@@RobotnikHolmes Suena Bien! Glad to hear it bro.
So far I've found 3 rom hacks of the Genesis/MD Spinball -- the "Slightly Better Edition" you covered, a Red Sonic pallette swap hack, and Sonic Spinball: Emerald Safari, a continuation of the Emerald Safari hack series where each emerald grants you unique powers. From my understanding, you can stack both Slightly Better Edition & Emerald Safari, but I haven't tried this myself. Amazing retrospective!!
Oh dang, nice find! This is my first time hearing of the Emerald Safari series of ROMhacks. 😂
Yet another fun video, thankya much.
The D rating feels very very fair. Another fun glimpse into the franchise before I got into it. Keep it up, Holmes! 🩷
😊 Happy to help, and thank you muchly for watching them! ✨
Great video yet again. I didn't even realise that this was out till now. Made sure to change my notification setting. Really looking forward to 3 & knuckles. Also, can't wait for the sonic r video when you get to it
Thank you for your support. 😊 I'm looking forward to the Sonic R one too!
I can confirm that Rexxon and the music that plays when he attacks did terrify me as a kid, between him and the drowning countdown music old Sonic games had some of the most panic inducing music
Loved this game but it was definitely challenging! Sonic and pinball were 2 of my obsessions as a kid!
Those are good obsessions to have, really. 😂 Hope the vid satisfied your curiosities!
I loved the dark vibe of this game as a kid. I still listen to the OST often.
I've always enjoyed pinball games, so I've always been able to resonate with Sonic Spinball. It was the game I played the most in Mega Collection.
Sonic Mega Collection was so cool. 🤩 Just all these Mega Drive games updated and often with save files...so handy!
So a few pieces of info that was either gleaned over or not know, especially Sonic 2.
Sonic 2 was originally developed ALONGSIDE of Sonic CD. It also had a time travel mechanic. However, as you pointed out, it was FREQUENT for Sega to force fast release dates. Sonic 2 was forced to scrap many zones and these mechanics. So this may have contributed to them being assigned the task of Sonic Spinball.
This is also the reason Sonic CD didn't have Tails, it started development as separate sequels at the time time. I'm honestly GLAD for this though, as it seems they LEARNED from the errors of this: When they were forced to release Sonic 3 and they didn't want to lose their work, they decided to use the lock-on technology used in Game Genie as well as many unlicensed NES games (used to passthrough the CIC Lockout Chip).
Fun side trivia: Nintendo was developing an add-on to allow an NES to play SNES on NES as an upgrade. My mom used to call NoA to ask for updates. The discarded project, I'm guessing for financial reasons, I heard became the technology to become the Super Gameboy instead: It allowed for cheaper development. But yeah, Nintendo CONSIDERED it before the Sega 32x.
23:01 I'm guessing it is because the Genesis/Mega Drive versions were already ported.
Also, speaking of ports, there is one for GBA (which only has Toxic Caves music, from what I recall) and a Java version, which was the very first version of Spinball that I played but can't get past Toxic Caves, so I can't say if everything from the original versions got it or have to cut a lot of stuff like the Java port of Sonic Advance. Funnily enough, the Java version might be a bit better as they have versions for vertical screens, which, with the nature of pinball games, is extremely helpful. Plus, the camera tends to be zoomed out, so there is more visibility.
That Surge the Tenrec animatic is actually what got me to read the IDW comics.
The showdown song in the 8 bit version is a banger
Honestly the stage music is all pretty good, not perfect but I still really love it.
Appreciated the retrosoective, liked the vid, but D is just a criminal rating. This is such an underrated game.
Thank you a lot! I agree that Sonic Spinball is underrated as heck, I just rate these on my personal experiences. 😌
I love this game, I think it deserves a sequel or successor
Welldone to you my man, you have described this game perfectly and it is funny I was playing this for my Retro month too, man it killed me XD
Thanks a lot! 😊 Yeah it's a pacekiller for sure xD
I actually like the Tesla Coil dominant Options theme.
Its neat! 😁
As someone's who trash at this game, I quite enjoyed this, both chilled and funny, and quite informative, I had ZERO idea Clucker's Defense was even a thing, you've earned a sub from me and I'll definitely go back and check the rest of your retrospective so far 😁👍
Oh, and also, *SMELL MY SOCKS!!*
Why thank you! I think a lot of peeps saw that bonus stage for the first time here, so you're not alone. ✨
This was one of my first sega games. I’m 34 and still have this game and my sega
Woooaaww what!!?? Bonus Gate!!!!???? I’ve completed this game so many times and never knew theses were a thing! 😮
I know! I read about it and was like "okay, let's see if this works" and BAM! 😂
A truly enigmatic anomaly of a game. It really is quite disturbing. What a wonderful review. Could never beat it, but I got to some type of airship level in the sky that had those orange windsocks.
That’s where my fear of windsocks began. No fear No more. I associated it with this strange gross game.
Thank you! ✨ The windsocks were so annoying to deal with. 😅
0:08 THAT WAS BEAST, I just pounded my coffee table hearing that mama Luigi, it’s smashed so I owe my flatmate a bit of coinage compensation, this is your fault.
2:12 You… You’ve really done it now. This is just great. Now to boot I’ve thrown my new computer when you’ve done this creepy little “sooos” out of oblige mental, I can’t anymore
When I was a dumb little kid, I thought that Sonic Spinball was a secret character in this game that was basically just Sonic rolled up, but with arms and legs sticking out. 🤪
I was never afraid of the infamous drowning music in classic Sonic games as a kid, but that freaking robot dragon from first stage is the main reason why I only played "Spinball" for about 2 minutes and never revisited it again. Seriously, that thing can go to hell for all I care.
YOOOOO YOU GOT A WORLDS UNITE POSTER IN YOUR BACKGROUND LET'S GOOOOOO
😂 It may have been a mixed bag but the art is awesome!
Fantastic video! Crazy that youtube sent something this good in my recommendations.
Had a lot of fun hearing a positive take on one of my favorite sonic games! If i had one suggestion, it would be that when you cover the music, it'd be nice to hear ~10 seconds of the track you're talking about isolated rather than just being under your dialogue. Otherwise, i love your editing style! You've done a great job here, and im looking forward to seeing more from you!
Thank you very much, I'm happy you checked this vid out! ✨
And cheers for the suggestion! I usually do that with these vids but I suppose this time around I might have breezed by the music too quick. Will definitely let the music play again instead of talking over it next time! 😊
@@RobotnikHolmes I want you to know that i actually have been marathon'ing your videos, and yeah i have nothing but great things to say! I'm really excited for the Sonic 3 video!
I try to do a full playthough of Sonic Spinball at least once a year for nostalgia.
God's speed, gamer! 😎
I think Spinball got more hate than it deserved. It wasn't perfect, and had a bit of jank, but I really enjoyed it. I was able to beat it back in the day. Good stuff!
~5:56 i had a theory about why that might make sense; some of the game is more based around satam/the early archie comics, which iirc once mentioned that there were more than 7 but having any more than 7 was unnecessary for most people
I would think so too, there were a lot of inconsistancies with the number of Chaos Emeralds back in the day, or it could have just been a gameplay thing. 🤔
Or maybe Sonic just keeps dropping emeralds between levels, who knows? 😂
Some have also taken notes of the fact that the text never mentions "chaos emeralds", just "Emeralds" (and they are all blue)
There is a port for the GBA, actually, included in the Sega Smash Pack. Pretty great all things considered, but all stages have the Toxic Caves music
That's...wow. I feel so bad for anyone with Genesis ports on the GBA. First Sonic Genesis now this. 😨
@@RobotnikHolmes It's surprisingly way more polished than Sonic Genesis 🤣
First off: THANK YOU for having actual emotion in your voice instead of sounding like someone with a monotone falling asleep!
Second: Until this video popped in my recommend, I forgot this game existed. Think I had it on the Gamecube?
Thank you? 😅 It was a part of Sonic Mega Collection so perhaps you're referring to that port on Gamecube.
@RobotnikHolmes That's probably it, thank you!
And I know the first thing is a weird compliment, but it's really annoying to try and watch a video only to hear someone speak in a boring monotone.
Though we could all agree that the options theme is straight up a banger... To your ears that is.
I never managed to complete this game back in the day but dam did that music slap.
I would love to see you do a video on Sonic Mega Collection Plus. I played that one on repeat as a kid. Honestly my favorite part of it was the soundtrack, the main theme is just so… homey.
Great video! Love the editing style too! You got my subscription!!! I can’t wait to see what else you can cook up!
Man, that collection takes me back. 😁 For the Sonic 3 vid I will certainly be focusing on Sonic Mega Collection, because that and the music are a part of my childhood too.
Thank you very much for the encouragement! ✨
Unironically love this game
I had a Mega Drive II for Christmas and received Sonic Spinball, Sonic 2, Aladdin and another game which I cannot remember.
I know this game is not the most popular but it will always be special to me.
Its quirky but it has its charm! 😊
I want to play it again.
I loved how grime the whole base looks. Really what I loved about the Sat AM cartoon.
The way bosses/ dr robotnik scream always traumatised me lol
I bought this game brand new and have loved it ever since. I thought the difficulty was warranted with the pinball aspect. Actual pinball is even more frustrating and I enjoyed and was pretty good at those. This is actually one of not many games that I have beaten.
Goated Savaged regime choice
Interesting that ive been playing this game for 30 years and never knew there was a bonus stage for collecting all the rings.
I don't know men I had tons of fun playing this on the Nintendo switch subscription emulators. Yeah I had no idea what was happening storywise, but compared to every other sonic game (except the 3D open world one) this one had a flow there was almost nothing that would stop you just because. The graphics, that can be considered creepy by some, personally remind me more of the weirdness real life pin ball machines have and I really liked how there was a constant message on top of the screen (for example you leave your controller and sonic says something like hurry up).
I love this game. I've only ever played it through the Sonic Mega Collection.
I still remember that one time I played with my brother and he went first, ended up in the first level and then didn't get to play for 2 hours as I went all the way to final level.
Still have never beaten it though. That last level is a nightmare.
Loved this game when it came out. still do.
Me and my younger brother would play it religiously whenever we rented it.
One time my bro couldn't get past the third stage and got so upset that he ripped the game out while the console was still on and threw it against the wall.
Mom was not pleased.
The game would still boot up and was playable. but to our surprise, it would always bypass the third level and moved us to the fourth one.
No clue how my brother threw the game in such a way that it would make that possible.
We had to buy the game as it was broken, and to this day, there's no way to play the third stage.
Your brother somehow made it skip the more annoying level, so that's a hidden blessing if I ever heard one. 😂 Its wholesome hearing other peop memories of playing this game.
Flipping both flippers at the same time is a beginner's trap in pinball. You're actually exposing a bigger gap by doing that, causing more drains as a result.
True that! Shows my skill level when it comes to pinball. 😂
At the time, it seemed to be the case that chaos emeralds were a dime a dozen resource that most locations in Sonic's world had access to their own unique set of them.