UPDATE:
Would you like the pinball spinoff to return on Nintendo Switch? How would you like it to be handled in terms of its Pokedex? Let us know below!
ORIGINAL STORY
One of the things that The Pokemon Company has excelled at over the years is taking their pocket monsters in fascinating directions to bring the fans even more content. We all know about the mainline series and the anime, but they’ve done much more than that. The Poke-titles have had numerous spinoffs that have left fans wondering what they’ll do next, and the mobile market for the franchise has been a significant producer of money. Last Friday, the company’s Twitter feed decided to drop a post honoring the 20th anniversary of Pokemon Pinball: Ruby & Sapphire, the second game in this particular spinoff line.
The original spinoff was done for the OG Game Boy and focused solely on the original 150 Pokemon. The sequel came to the Game Boy Advance to represent Gen 3. Both games focused on you using the Pokeball-shaped pinball to catch the Pokemon that appeared on the screen, intending to fill out your Pokedex.
The gameplay was simple yet enjoyable, so both titles were hits on their platforms. But 20 years after the sequel dropped, we haven’t gotten a third title, and fans want to change that:
If you go into the comments on the post, you’ll see multiple gamers asking The Pokemon Company to put the OG games on Nintendo Switch Online and to give them a third title. While Nintendo gamers are used to asking for titles from The Big N and not getting them, this one might be a rare situation where things might turn out how they want.
After all, Gen 9 sold over 10 million units in three days, and the Switch has sold over 130 million consoles as of the last sales data. That means plenty of players out there would likely jump onto a new generation of the pinball games. Plus, since it’s been twenty years, numerous gamers haven’t had the chance to enjoy this spinoff and might give it a whirl on their handheld console.
We know The Pokemon Company is always looking for new opportunities to spread their franchise around, so it’s possible we could get a return of Pokemon Pinball. It might come to the next Nintendo system even if it doesn’t come to Switch.
Either way, we know the company is currently working on content as they’re prepping the launch of their two-part Gen 9 DLC, “The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero.” The first part will arrive on September 13th.
