Pokémon: Thundershock Challenge Game (Pinball!) Review
With a release of an actual, official, real life Pokémon pinball game announced in February to celebrate 30 years of this franchise, I thought of this game made by Tiger in the 90s. I don't know how I first discovered it, maybe through a YouTube video, but I went and purchased one through Mercari because I wanted my own Pokémon Pinball at home and that it looks cooler. The first time I tried purchasing it, an eBay seller never shipped it out to me, so I had to get a refund. It was my first negative experience with eBay.
And yes, I am aware of the Pokémon Pinball GBC and GBA games and those are pretty cool than this, but if you want a physical real life Pokémon pinball game, this is the closest thing you can get. Or if you're having trouble finding that new Pokémon pinball machine in real life (if your game store or whatever place doesn't have it), then try this.
Previously, I reviewed a DBZ Pinball game, now this time, I will be reviewing a Pokémon themed-pinball game that's really cool.
The game is called Pokémon: Thundershock Challenge Game, released by Tiger Electronics in 1999. It uses Ash's voice from the anime! What's special about this game is that instead of using an actual ball, it uses lights. It will take a lot of getting used to once you get the hang of this game. It takes 3 C batteries. What's with products I review taking so many batteries? This is the third product I've reviewed that takes C batteries.
You goal is to capture a Pokémon by knocking down its shield 10 times (on the left side, near Charmander; on the 6th hit, the light will flash) then once the shield is down, you must attack the Pokémon 5 times (again, on the left side where Charmander is at; the first four times you will hear the Pokémon's name, the fifth time you will hear Ash), and once the light near the Pokéball (on the bottom right) flashes, you must aim your ball at it. Then once you do, you launch the ball and must capture the Pokémon (aiming where Charmander is at). However, if you miss a ball, the shield resets.
Like pinball, you have 3 balls and that's it. The game also has a kickstand in the back! But does it really need one when the game is all electronic?
Unlike the DBZ pinball game I reviewed, this one actually scores - like real points! You can get so many points in this game by hitting bumpers, catching Pokémon, and more. That's what makes the game fun. What's even fun is that it's a 3 player game and you get to compete to see who gets the high score. But why not four players?
Speaking of high score, this game saves your high score! My high score while writing this post is 16,703,500. If you beat your high score, you use the flippers to enter your initials. You use the right flipper to cycle letters and press the left flipper to enter. But if the batteries die, your score is erased. The instructions mentions that there is a 10,000,000 bonus if you go to the sidetrack 5 times, but I haven't been able to get it or that bonus does not exist.
My negatives with this game is that the music is repetitive, but there is a sound button to mute the game. Another is that the right flipper button (that controls the two flippers) on mine sometimes will get stuck, ruining your game and your chance to get a high score. I get it, this thing is vintage and old, so do expect something like that. Also, my concern is the sound dying on mine... I've seen some eBay sellers who sell this item say that there's no sound on theirs. Speaking of sound, when turning the game's sound off, I wish there is an icon letting you know the game is muted.
I noticed that there is a video of some guy with this game and the big bumper lights are all lit up, while mines isn't. I'm guessing his is new?
Another guy I found with this game has the same problem as me.
Maybe due to the age of the LEDs? I also heard that the speaker will freak out at times during the game (I hear like this scratching sound sometimes when Pikachu (your ball) hits the bumpers), due to age. Again, as I had said earlier, I have a bit of a concern on the sound dying on mine.
You gotta get lucky trying to knock down the Pokémon's shield 10 times because most of the time, the ball will fall on the far right side, causing you to lose a ball and that the shield resets. You never know where the ball will go; it feels random. Now that's the real challenge.
In order of Pokémon to capture:
1) Pikachu (the instructions strangely mention Pidgeotto being the first Pokémon and although that Pokémon is on the artwork of this game, it's nowhere to be heard unless I'm wrong)
2) Bulbasaur
3) Charmander
4) Squirtle
5) Ekans (this is how far I've gotten!)
6) Meowth
If Meowth is really the last Pokémon, then let me know. It's so hard to get far in the game because as I said earlier, the ball moves at complete random. I wonder if the game loops as well after that Pokémon.
Here's gameplay of me playing the game, captured using my computer.
And here's another, this time using my terrible webcam. This recording was my 3rd attempt of me trying to capture a Pokémon (Pikachu) on camera, so you can see what happens when you capture a Pokémon. You can hear me just... mad.
Another negative about this game is, the balls, while on "multi-ball", wouldn't register sometimes while I'm mashing the buttons for the flippers and that the balls move very slow (maybe a contributing reason on why the balls won't move sometimes when mashing the flipper buttons). You can hear me around 4 minutes saying "Are you serious? I pressed the flipper! You stupid game!".
My heart was racing and I felt "sweaty" while capturing footage.
After that recording, I got lucky all the way up to Squirtle. I was on my 3rd ball and I saw my score. I think I was close to beating my high score. So, I press the "GAME" button to pause the game and went to my other room.
I was going to capture footage of me entering my new high score using my phone. I brought the phone in my room... sat down, and unfortunately, I accidentally hit the on/off button instead of the "GAME" button, losing everything.
FU-
After a couple of attempts of beating my high score off camera... I finally did it, this time, making sure to not press the on/off button. 21,883,100 is my new high and current score as of this writing (beaten score & written post on 4/3 but scheduled to 4/15). And I almost caught Ekans too...
Try to beat my score!
I am never going to beat this score, lol.
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Here's an archive of the instructions, in case you need it. Hasbro's website also has the instructions, I think, but I can no longer find them on Google Search, so I had to use an alternative website that luckily has the instructions saved. These instructions aren't good as it's missing images. But who needs instructions? It's pinball!
Just want to point out that the instructions doesn't mention entering your name for your high score. For that reason, I had to type out how to enter your initials if you get a high score in this game and that it's showcased in the video above.
Note, the early look of the game on the top right of the instructions (Pokémon are in different spots such as Meowth taking Charmander's spot) and that a Pokéball is called a Monster Ball (the Japanese name for a Pokéball).
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