Stern Pinball Inc. has teamed up with The Pokémon Company to create the first Pokémon-themed pinball machine ever. While Pokémon has appeared in pinball form on the Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance in the past, this is the first attempt at an arcade-ready machine. But this isn’t a throwback; Pokémon Pinball by Stern has tons of crazy high-tech bells and whistles, like the ability to collect Pokémon while playing the machine and save your progress on a Pokédex on your phone, several interactive toys like an animatronic Pikachu, and an HD screen with tons of anime footage. While Stern has only just announced Pokémon, it’s out really soon (in the coming months). We travelled to Stern’s factory to check it out. And after playing a bunch of games we can confirm: It’s awesome.
In Good Company
The Pokémon Company worked with Stern extremely closely on making sure Pokémon was represented perfectly; we heard a lot about that partnership during our visit to Stern’s factory, and it’s obvious from playing the Pokémon machine that Stern really gets Pokémon. Lead Programmer Tanio Klyce explained, “A lot of work went into marrying the necessary pinball design with Pokémon,” and it is clear that they used the license to make a game about battling, catching, and living in the world of Pokémon.
The art package is focused on Kanto Region Pokémon – the first 151 Gen 1 Pokémon introduced in Pokémon Red and Blue – and you start the game with Gen 1 starters available for battles, which we will get to in a bit. The toys and art are clearly a result of careful collaboration. Klyce says, “We didn’t draw anything, we essentially composited [The Pokémon Company’s] stuff … They are very particular. Line weights, colors, relative scales of characters went under tremendous scrutiny.” While that may sound intense, it actually ended up lending the project a sense of legitimacy, according to longtime Stern pinball designer and one of Pokémon’s co-leads, George Gomez.
Beyond the art on the cabinet, there’s plenty more Pokémon crammed into this machine. The monitor in the back glass works in anime clips from Seasons 10-25. For example, if you hit the right ramp a few times you can start a Pikachu vs. Raichu mode in which battle scenes from the anime are shown on screen while you play a multiball mode. The speakers blast the Pokémon theme song, and Meowth’s taunts from the anime are piped in – the voice actor for Giovani even recorded custom shoutouts for certain modes (deeper in the game there are Regional Rivals and even Gym Battles and an ultimate Master Battle against Giovanni. We didn’t get to those… yet!).
Catch ‘Em (Pinb)All
While Gen 1 and Kanto region is the focus of the side art, backglass, and playfield art, Klyce adds, “We have Pokémon in the game from all the Generations … At launch we have 182 that you can discover and catch.” He also says “more are coming” which is a nod at the online nature of Stern Machines these days: Updates can be pushed in the background to add content or limited time events, which, of course, is a perfect match for Pokémon. Here’s how this could work: As you approach a Stern pinball machine, you can log in with a QR code on the Stern Insider Connected app on your phone. Once you do this, you can track your scores, unlock Achievements, and, in Pokémon, add to your Pokédex.
As you discover new Pokémon, a special Pokedex section of the Insider Connected app will get filled out. Stern may then push an update adding to the Pokémon available in the machine and thus expand the Pokédex. It’s not going to be easy! Catching Pokémon is kinda hard in pinball: First, you can basically hit any target or shot to fill a meter – the pop bumpers are “tall grass” that fills the catch meter fast. After this, a random Pokémon will appear. These are based on the biome you are in, which you play in order: Forest, Lake, Mountain, Desert (in the Forest, we ran into a Kakuna, a Bewear, and a Venomoth). At this point you have to shoot a lit purple flashing shot to reveal the Pokémon in the Pokédex. Then you have to shoot the Pokéball toy to capture the Pokémon. This not only adds the Pokémon to your ‘dex, but also unlocks a Battle…
Battle Ready
Despite Ash’s favorite catch phrase, you don’t choose your starters. When start a game, you have a team of four: Squirtle, Pikachu, Charmander, and Bulbasaur. Once you start a Battle by shooting the scoop on the right, you must aim for shots that are lit up to guide you through the battle, with each lamp sending you up a ramp or around a loop or at a target. The first Pokémon automatically deployed in battle is Bulbasaur, and purple shots for poison attacks and green shots for grass attacks are lit up. If you dawdle, the adversary will attack you. In one battle vs. Scyther, we weren’t making good progress with Bulbasaur’s plant attacks, but after a few shots, we lit a shot in a scoop on playfield that let us switch to Charmander and then properly torched Scyther. It was actually kind of sad! The score went way up. Limiting your squad may seem odd, but it’s also super effective: Successfully nailing shots in pinball is a lot harder than selecting your next move in turn-based combat. It’s kind of like playing on a Game Boy while also juggling it! But it does feel like Pokémon, and catching, collecting, and battling Pokémon just feels totally cool and new when done with pinball flippers.
Version Differences
While they don’t come in Red, Blue, and Yellow versions, there are diffent versions of Pokémon available: The Premium and Limited Edition (LE) versions ship with an animatronic Pikachu toy that wobbles about, an interactive Pokéball toy that snatches the pinball and hides it from view, and a magnet that flings the pinball around under the Meowth Balloon toy. These versions also have metal ramps and a more complicated left whirlpool ramp. The LE version (a limited run of 750 machines) has additional lighting, colored “armor” (the metal lining and legs on the cabinet), and its own custom art scheme. The Pro version is stripped down a bit with a non-interactive Pikachu and Pokéball toy and no magnet, but it closely resembles the other models outwardly and also features the pretty cool Meowth Balloon that swoops across the playfield for an easy target (and easy multiball). Other Stern machines have much more striking differences across their models; the most we noticed about the Pro was that the lack of the metal parts and lighting made it look a bit cheaper – which it is.
We can’t wait to play more Pokémon from Stern – the idea of filling out a Pokédex in a whole new way across multiple machines, arcades, bars, and game rooms is super cool and like nothing that’s been done before. And while the innovation is clear in features like the Pokédex, battles, and DLC potential, the basic layout of Pokémon feels approachable and classic like Attack from Mars (central bash shot) or Monster Bash (obvious shots tied to characters). That makes sense because Pokemon Pinball is the product of both one of Stern’s newest designers, Jack Danger, and George Gomez, who worked on classics like The Lord of the Rings and the aforementioned Monster Bash. The shots were easy to hit and flow felt good, but we drained a lot – there’s nothing kiddie about the gameplay on this machine, despite its appearance. And that’s what both Pokémon and pinball have in common: Anyone can play, but few can become a master. We should hear more about Pokémon Pinball from Stern in the coming weeks; the MSRP of the Pro model is set at $6,999, with the Premium at $9,699 and the LE at $12,999 and all models are available for pre-order now.
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