Pokémon Pinball: Ruby & Sapphire

Cover Art

This game popped up on my local Facebook Marketplace recently, so I snatched it up and gave it a try. Pokémon Pinball: Ruby & Sapphire is a pinball game (of course) that pays homage to Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire in the form of two different pinball tables. Both tables are quite fun and filled with nostalgic music, sounds and Pokémon. As a self proclaimed bad pinball player, I was surprised with how forgiving the game played - most ball losses were an obvious error on my end. Ultimately, it's a standard pinball experience, with the added caveat of Pokémon, and capturing/hatching different types. In addition, if you catch enough Pokémon in one game, you will get a chance to fight Kyogre, Groudon, and even Rayquaza. Catching a Pokémon is done by shooting the ball down particular lanes, or in particular holes. Once a Pokémon is hatched or spawned, you must hit it with your pinball several times in order to catch it. This loop was a lot of fun, and had me continuosly starting new games to see which Pokémon I might find next. In addition to the standard leaderboard, you also have a Pokédex, which keeps track of the Pokémon that you have seen and caught between games. Filling out the Pokédex offers a lot of replayability, and helped prevent me from getting bored or frustrated, as there was always some kind of progress happening. This is the best pinball experience I've had so far, and I might actually come back for more!

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Reviewed on 2025-8-4

★★★★☆

4 out of 5