I've written some pretty negative and frustrated reviews for a lot of Pokemon spinoff games this year, so I decided to go back to a tried and true childhood classic as a palette cleanser... and it still holds up! Pokemon Pinball: Ruby & Sapphire is exactly as the title states: classic pinball with your favorite Hoenn mons across two different boards. The colors are vibrant, all the elements are well animated, the tunes are simple but relaxing, and it's a ton of fun launching the Pokeball at various Pokemon to catch em all; the Pokemon are all stratified with various environments (traversed with the "travel" mechanic) and various catching strategies (either via Catch em' mode, Egg Hatch mode, or Evolution mode) across the two boards so you'll have an easier time pinning down what you need to fill out your Pokedex.

Breaking this down further though, there is one notable con with the game: the Ruby board feels way, way easier to get longer and high score runs than the Sapphire board. There are a few reasons why; firstly, the Ruby board gives you access to Makuhita (punches things) which will allow you to launch the ball either onto a separate track that will get you Pokeball upgrades (and eventually an extra life) or if you slightly delay the punch, a loop for racking up coins. Makuhita also makes it easier to obtain the collectibles necessary to clear Evolution mode if they're on the coin loop path or the upgrade path with Nuzleaf/the Pokemon Center. The only real boon you get with the Sapphire board is Zigzagoon's ability to more quickly stop the slots, which can definitely be helpful for getting powerups like the Pika Saver (unlimited electricity with no charge and Pichu joins in to cover both sides) and early bonus events, but in general isn't quite as useful as Makuhita's ability to farm you coins to buy powerups/an extra life and have easier access to Pokeball score upgrades & Evolution collectibles. Additionally, it's slightly more difficult to catch hatched Pokemon because the center of the Sapphire board is slightly larger and less condensed than the Ruby board, and the main board specific bonus boss (Kyogre) is a lot more annoying because of its ability to stall you by diving off screen and trapping you in inescapable whirlpools for 8 seconds at a time. You do have to play both boards regardless though, if you want to catch them all, so it's a bit of a shame that one board feels less consistent and exploitable than the other.

Also before I forget, it wouldn't be Pokemon without some element of RNG and grinding; most of the Pokemon can be caught consistently enough with the right strategies, board, and environment, but there's definitely an element of luck involved in catching certain species like Chikorita, Aerodactyl, Totodile, Cyndaquil, and Latias/Latios, which have a chance to randomly show up less than 1% of the time. It's not a big deal if you're not a completionist, but it is a bit of a shame that you will most likely need to grind if you want to finish the Dex. And there will be times where your ball sort of flies through the cracks or keeps falling to the sides when you don't have electricity for your Pikachu, but hey, that's just Pinball and at least you can alleviate this with the right powerup. At the end of the day, I wouldn't say that this is the best Pokemon spinoff or a game worth 100% completion, because extended play sessions can definitely wear you down (you may have to end up catching up to 32 Pokemon to get a chance to catch Rayquaza, including successfully catching Groudon/Kyogre twice without quitting or a game over), but it'll definitely give you a solid few hours of chill playtime and is one of the better video pinball games I've played.