This humble pinball game gives us all the fun, but never becomes maddening.
Pokemon Pinball: Ruby & Sapphire comes with fond memories. As someone who spent hours playing on his Game Boy Advance, the game just felt right to toy around with and have fun. That feeling instantly returned when I played it on the Wii U Virtual Console, despite the game having some clear faults along the way.
The GBA version of Pokemon Pinball comes with two distinct tables to choose from, both themed after both Pokemon Ruby and Pokemon Sapphire. While both have very enjoyable design quirks, they don't go all out like other pinball games do – they are straightforward and you can see everything you need in a glance to make it more appealing. A good example of this are the recent Zen Pinball 2 tables, which do enough to keep you going for quite a while longer. That is slightly disappointing, because most modern tables constantly throw new curves your way. Next to that, there are only just two tables to choose from, which doesn't add much to variety. You have various smaller encounters in special sections, but another option would made it all the more awesome.
With that out of the game, it is very addicting game of pinball. Just like the main series, you can capture and evolve Pokemon in quick, flashy sequences. There is also a shop to buy upgrades, such as multipliers which are packaged like the various pokeballs and a lucky spinner. You'll want to keep playing to improve your highscore and collect the more than 200 Pokemon that the game has to offer – That last aspect in particular is keeping me insanely busy at the moment. Finally there are costumizable controls in-game and through the Virtual Console menu, so that way you can play this pinball classic any way you see fit.
Pokemon Pinball: Ruby & Sapphire remains a fun and smart pinball game from start to finish. While it is not as maddening as others in the genre, it has a design mentality that is worth exploring. The colors still pop on the television and the game offers slightly remixed music brings that Pokemon feeling in droves. If you are searching for a simple pick up and play title, you have found one here.