Sonic Spinball

Sonic Spinball
European cover art
Developer(s)	Sega Technical Institute
Publisher(s)	Sega
Producer(s)	Yutaka Sugano
Designer(s)	Peter Morawiec Hoyt Ng
Artist(s)	John Duggan
Composer(s)	Howard Drossin Brian Coburn Barry Blum
Series	Sonic the Hedgehog
Platform(s)	Sega Genesis, Game Gear, Master System, iOS
Release	Sega Genesis NA: 23 November 1993 EU: November 1993 JP: 10 December 1993 Game Gear EU: August 1994 NA: September 1994 Master System EU: 25 January 1995 iOS NA: 16 December 2010
Genre(s)	Action, pinball
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer

Sonic the Hedgehog Spinball (known as Sonic Spinball in Japan) is a pinball video game developed by the Sega Technical Institute and published by Sega. It was originally released for the Mega Drive/Genesis in North America and Europe in November 1993 and in Japan the following month. It was later ported to the Game Gear and Master System in 1994 and 1995 respectively. The game has been re-released on a total of eleven different consoles since, with many of them being Genesis-related compilations. The game's plot revolves around series antagonist Doctor Robotnik's desire to enslave the population of planet Mobius via a machine powered by pinball-like mechanisms. Unlike most other Sonic games, it is set in the universe of the Saturday morning Sonic the Hedgehog cartoon.

The game is set in a series of pinball-like environments in which the player controls Sonic the Hedgehog, who acts as a pinball for the majority of the game. Sonic the Hedgehog Spinball was commissioned by Sega when it became clear that a new Sonic the Hedgehog game could not be completed in time for the 1993 holiday season, as the majority of staff were occupied with developing Sonic the Hedgehog 3. The game was hastily designed amid extreme time constraints and was developed in a total of 61 days. It received mixed reviews upon release, with most critics praising the game's novelty and graphics, although its control scheme was considered a negative factor. A second pinball game, Sonic Pinball Party, was released in 2003, and a spinning rollercoaster of the same name opened in Alton Towers theme park in 2010.

Sonic the Hedgehog Spinball is a pinball game in which the player controls Sonic the Hedgehog, who acts as a pinball. The majority of the game takes place within the "Pinball Defense System", which resembles a series of large pinball machines. The game is split up into four levels each containing numerous sets of flippers that can be used to aim Sonic's trajectory and launch him upward through the level. While Sonic can be maneuvered while airborne with input from the directional pad, which can be used for better positioning following an impact with a bumper or target or when Sonic is descending toward the drain, bumpers or flippers.