Like their publishers, Sonic Team’s confidence as they produce their second dedicated pinball game is eerie. The previous title – Sonic Spinball – was a nervous game of quirks and novelties, fearful and largely derivative of the PC Engine classic Devil Crash. Pushing the criteria of the genre to breaking point, Spinball was more an attempt at self-justification than a worthy pinball game. Sonic Pinball Party, however, is a fervently simple, altogether superior effort. More than the sum of its parts, it serves as an enchanting salute to Sonic Team’s legacy, one which their fans will immediately embrace.

Sonic, Nights and Samba De Amigo tables feature in Pinball Party, the former significantly outnumbering the latter two. Together they provide a joyous overview of the individual nuances and qualities which have earned each series both respect and adoration. Technically, it may all be quite conservative but as Sega’s own Pinball of the Dead has shown, vanity is a poor substitute for this level of charisma.

Within the reliably engrossing story mode is a Sonic versus Robotnik battle waged across a succession of Sonic-themed tables. Here the game reveals solid foundations beneath its charm. Admittedly an elaboration of a single template, each table exhibits subtle variety and distinction which impose an almost imperceptible difficulty curve. The goal each time is to vanquish Robotnik through scoring an identical run of ramps and targets; the challenge, however, gets insidiously tougher each time. Herein lays a compulsion strong enough to prolong a single game to over an hour in length, also ensuring that this potential work of self-congratulation earns vital credibility as a video game.

Pinball Party crowds each of its main tables with all the features you’d expect – a three-lane multiplier, bumper field, additional flipper and numerous targets which fall neatly within a circumference of ramps. Combinations of the above unlock each table’s many secrets and score incentives, the Nights and Samba tables possessing significantly different arrays to the Sonic ones. Thanks entirely to the dogged simplicity the developers have imposed, the facets of each invite persistence in the pursuit of mastery. Aware of the pitfalls of such limitation, however, this whimsical knock around still has a few tricks up its sleeve.

Sonic Team have cut no corners in providing a fully featured game packed with diversions. Thankfully, the eccentric series of sub-games have wisely been kept separate from the principle feature. Casinopolis, for example, is a quirky diversion which would effortlessly unbalance a pinball game, and its kind so often finds itself wedged awkwardly into the mix. Here it’s confined to a separate collection – casino games played out as miniature pinball tables – which is wholly entertaining in small doses. The obligatory incorporation of a Chao Garden will come as no surprise, though its justification – incentive to frequent Casinopolis and win money – is sound. Had it been better incorporated into the arcade and story modes, however, it would have warranted greater appreciation. The co-op and versus link-up games are an entirely worthy way to round off the assortment, offering quaint, yet addictive mini-games for those equipped to play them.

Evidently, Pinball Party is the kind of modular, disassociated game which has long intimidated developers, carrying with it the threat of a diluted overall appeal. Yet Sonic Team are self-assured. They know that if they pour enough of their exquisite creativity into this ensemble it’ll all glue together, and it does. Nowhere is this more apparent than when it leaps out and kisses you through your GBA’s speakers. Boasting superb renditions of tunes from all of its featured licenses, this game has the greatest soundtrack a non-RPG handheld title has ever had. If the Nights table doesn’t bring a tear to your eye, at least the various Sonic themes will bring a smile to your face.

So far, so faultless; and honestly speaking, there are no specific faults to mention. However, without detracting from Sonic Team’s achievements, much of this has to be put down to the moderate goals the game has set for itself. Albeit a wonderfully evocative, amorously realised one, this is a bare-bones pinball game by nature. It’s a work of genius in that it derives huge success from a very modest set of tools, but the stark truth is that many will simply not be interested. Indulgence is the defining word; offering a consistent wealth of delights to its developers’ fans, Sonic Pinball Party has little time for those unaccustomed to the taste.