Sonic Spinball takes the idea of Sonic as a walking pinball to its logical extreme and builds levels like giant pinball tables. This is honestly a pretty cool idea; it really leans into the physics based platforming Sonic was founded on. It also gives the player objectives to complete within the level to open up the exit, which adds extra layers to puzzling out the fastest route to the goal, which is an appreciated attempt at adding depth to the gameplay loop.

With that said, it severely fumbles the bag in execution. Sonic levels in other games of the era were built around wide open spaces to give the player room to experiment with Sonic's fluid mechanics. Precision was rarely ever expected of the player except at the skill ceiling of going for time-attack runs, when the full scope of the game's nuances could be drawn out. Especially in the context of pinball table-esque levels, asking the player to launch Sonic through tight, cramped corridors and into highly precise spots to progress could easily prove frustrating as a result of how little control over the minutia of how Sonic moves in that context, and Sonic Spinball proves this correct. More than anything, a vast majority of your playtime with Sonic Spinball will be spent trying and trying to launch Sonic at just the right angle on extremely-wonkily programmed pinball flippers (unlike those in Sonic 2's Casino Night, which are perfectly fine) into the smallest gaps imaginable to no avail. This is possibly the most difficult Sonic game of all time for all the wrong reasons, as most of the challenge is a result of factors largely out of the player's hands. Tossing Sonic around these levels can make for depthful navigation, except when what's demanded of you is more precise than anything the mechanics and programming are built to facilitate.

In this way, Sonic Spinball fundamentally misunderstands the mechanical merit of Sonic as a series.