Line #6 YMMV/SonicTheHedgehogSpinball


1	* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: Is Robotnik an idiot for creating the Pinball Defense System, or is it because he wants to watch Sonic squirm? [[TakeAThirdOption Or both?]]
2	* AnnoyingVideoGameHelper:
3	** The game likes to constantly remind you of your objectives if you keep hitting the wrong targets.
4	** Welcome to the first level, Toxic Caves! '''CLUCK ALERT!'''
5	** To make progress in Lava Powerhouse, you need to '''BUST DOOR FIRST''' or '''BUST CORK FIRST...'''
6	** Showdown, the final stage, is particularly bad with this tr--'''BUST BLOCKS FIRST!'''
7	* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic:
8	** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMDqhIUboS4 The Boss Theme]] is pretty awesome.
9	** In [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIxi9lPjWCE Showdown,]] the game's harsh instrumentation actually works really well, as it's an industrial/metal tune that perfectly fits the grimy technological theme of the level.
10	* BreatherLevel: The Machine, ironically. It's big and labyrinthine, but there are only two places to die (the twin drains at the bottom), so you can more or less relax and take your time. The Veg-O-Machine itself also turns out to be a BreatherBoss... followed right thereafter by a DifficultySpike up the Ro-butt-nik called "The Showdown".
11	* BrokenBase: [[RunningGag It]] ''[[RunningGag IS]]'' [[RunningGag a Sonic game after all.]] Interestingly enough, one that shows [[OlderThanTheyThink the broken base happened long before the Adventure games]]. Whether or not you'll enjoy Spinball all depends on how you feel about the pinball zones in the main series. Some see it as a fun pinball-based spin-off that fleshes out the pinball zones of the main series, while others find it a gimmicky, [[LuckBasedMission luck based]] mess of a game. Even among pinball enthusiasts, there's a divide on whether this is a ''good'' pinball game or not, thanks to certain mechanics of the game feeling too luck-based rather than skill-based.
12	* CatharsisFactor: By the time you reach [[FinalBoss Robotnik]], you'll be more than relishing the opportunity to dunk him into that sinking volcano he's trying to escape from. Doing so is incredibly satisfying.
13	* SugarWiki/FunnyMoments: One of the "did you know" facts in this game's "Museum" section in ''Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection'' is unusually snarky: "A Pinball Defense System, Robotnik? That was your big idea to stop Sonic? Really?"
14	* GoddamnedBats: The badniks in this game can't hurt Sonic but that doesn't mean they can't throw him off course.
15	* GoodBadBugs:
16	** The game's infamously loose physics can be used to your advantage to clip into different areas. For example, it is possible to bypass the Bag Worm gates in Toxic Caves by grabbing onto the ledge.
17	** By dying on your last life near the rightmost of the screen, Sonic will warp to the center and die again, but this will cause the lives to underflow from 0 to 255 lives. By doing this, you can practically have infinite lives, just as long you don't gain more balls to overflow it back to 0.
18	* JustHereForGodzilla: Plenty of ''WesternAnimation/SonicTheHedgehogSatAM'' and ''[[ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics Archie Sonic]]'' fans have been interested in this simply because it's the only game in the franchise to feature characters from the show and comic.
19	* SugarWiki/MostWonderfulSound:
20	** Collecting a Chaos Emerald presents the player with a very triumphant tune, especially if its the last one. The tune for collecting the final Emerald is also used when you get an extra ball.
21	** When you defeat a boss, the music stops and is replaced by the boss's PostDefeatExplosionChain for a good ten seconds or so.
22	* NightmareFuel:
23	** Whether intentional or not, this whole game has given many a player nightmares, particularly for the dark level designs, difficulty level, and some rather... [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqR23N_2AQA&t=1m40s frightening sound effects]].
24	** Two of the game's bosses are a screaming robotic scorpion with Robotnik's face, and the Roboiler, a boiler with four Robotnik heads that ''vomit boiling lava.''
25	** Plummeting into an outlane (the outside lanes on a pinball table that guarantee a lost ball) without the safety features activated often triggers the ScareChord, an accompanying JumpScare message in the simulated DMD, followed by the mechanical laughter as Sonic goes into his DeathThrows.
26	* PortingDisaster:
27	** The UsefulNotes/GameGear/[[UsefulNotes/SegaMasterSystem Master System]] version. Although the levels are remarkably similar compared to other ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'' ports (not necessarily by its own merits), whatever physics existed in the Genesis version were thrown completely out the window. Worse is the platforming engine, in which Sonic has an innate tendency to get himself stuck.
28	** While the UsefulNotes/GameBoyAdvance port included in ''Sega Smash Pack'' managed to ''not'' butcher the controls, it suffers from some screen crunch, making it difficult to see much of anything in the direction Sonic is moving. Also most of the music is missing with the Toxic Caves theme playing throughout the game even on bosses which leads to some serious {{soundtrack dissonance}} (it's also highly compressed, resulting in several instruments sounding very shrill and buzzy, and doesn't loop properly).
29	* ScrappyMechanic: The steam valves in Lava Powerhouse used to get into the air so Sonic can bounce off of randomly spawning Clucks, and rise up to higher levels. They're very finicky while presenting no actual challenge or danger.
30	* SoBadItsGood: The options music, if not for the actual melody then certainly the instrumentation, which makes its [[SensoryAbuse harshest sounds]] its main focus.
31	* SoOkayItsAverage: The general consensus of the game is that it isn't bad and can be fun once you understand what to do, but at the same time, it is incredibly confusing and it suffers from poor physics, confusing level design, mechanics that seemingly rely more on luck than skill and a rather grating soundtrack.
32	* TearJerker: For whatever reason, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkDxM3Y4UTA the original Game Over theme]] is depressing.
33	* ThatOneBoss: Robo-Boiler, the boss of the Lava Powerhouse stage. To start, getting to the chamber where you can destroy the Robo-Heads requires you to shoot up onto one of two platforms and then jump into the chamber and avoid getting blasted back out by the steam, which will send you back down to the flippers below where you have to shoot back up again. Then, each time you destroy a Robo-Head, you're ejected from the chamber and have to launch back up there again. Finally, unlike the other three bosses where draining will simply send you back into the main body of the stage, here you instead fall into a special room where Sonic is hanging onto an unstable chain and has 5 seconds to swing the chain and jump off. Fail to do the procedure correctly and it's an instant death. The chain will also break off if used too many times, meaning this is the ''only'' boss in the game where a drain can lead directly to instant death!
34	* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: The franchise has always been a clear product of the MascotWithAttitude era. However, STI doubled down on it here, from a few of the HUD's one-liners to robots SymbolSwearing when hit, to Sonic's scowling expression in the reflection of the bonus rounds. The soundtrack also features some rather gratuitous usage of the Genesis' distinctive [=YM2612=] sound chip, to the point where the stock music cue that plays when Sonic loses a life sounds more like a whirring buzzsaw.

Context YMMV / SonicTheHedgehogSpinball