Who doesn’trememberSonic Spinball? Who can’t wait untilthey forgetMetroid Prime Pinball? Love them or hate them, pinball machines have been raking in quarters since the beginning of arcades. It comes as no surprise that clever developers sat down to see how they could improve the pinball genre in a virtual gamespace.
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Many game studios have releasedthemed pinball tablesbut players don’t need to go to a physical arcade to enjoy their favorite style of game. Pinball doesn’t have to be just hitting bumpers to get points either. Plenty of virtual pinball games exist and some are so excellent they’ll have players popping paddles for hours.
Updated on August 09, 2025, by Jack Pursey:There aren’t many people who can honestly say they haven’t tried pinball at least once in their life. Theclassic arcade gameembodies the phrase “easy to learn, difficult to master” and draws players in with its flashing colors and ridiculously high scores.
Players don’t have to head to the arcades for a game of pinball anymore, as there are countless excellent pinball video games that players can enjoy from the comfort of their homes. To give players some more ideas as to what pinball game to play next, we’ve updated this list to include a few more of thebest pinball video games.
13Sonic Spinball
Sonic Spinballwas originally released on the Sega Genesis in 1993 - just two years after the firstSonic The Hedgehoggame - before arriving on numerous other systems, including PC and Game Boy Advance.
Sonic Pinballdifferentiates itself from most pinball games by having a campaign; the campaign consists of four levels, each with a boss fight at the end. Four levels is a disappointingly small amount, though the game isdeceivingly difficult, so many players will be able to get a good few hours out of the classic game.
12Pinball (1984)
For those wanting a retro pinball experience,Pinball(1984) on the Nintendo Entertainment System provides the perfect solution. The most notable feature ofPinball(1984) today is that it features Mario, who is also on the game’scover art. Mario is playable inPinball’s alternative mode that is reminiscent of 1976’sBreakoutand tasks players with saving Pauline, the character that Mario was also trying to save in the classic arcade gameDonkey Kong.
11Pinball FX 3
Whereas the aforementionedPinball(1984) is perfect for retro gamers,Pinball FX3is an ideal option for those wanting to play a modern release.Pinball FX 3was released in 2017 on PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One and featured a vast range of licensed tables, includingJurassic Park,Star Wars,andMarvel.
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Pinball FX 3differentiates itself from the older games on this list by featuring online leaderboards, giving players an incentive to try and get their highest score possible.
10Odama
Odamaisa hidden gemthat players weren’t ready for when it was originally released on theGameCube. How many people were asking for a military strategy pinball game? Still, it’s an absolute shame it’s currently trapped on the old console. This pinball-style game isn’t for everyone but for people that want a game that’s a bit weird with a huge need for strategyOdamais worth hunting down.
9Pinball Quest
Part pinball and part RPG,Pinball Questwas one of the first games on home consoles to try and make pinball more than just bopping a ball around. Leveling up to upgrade flippers to have special abilities or buying different balls to do more damage is an incredibly novel concept. The saddest part of the game is it only has six levels because once pinball fans try playing it they’ll wish there were more.
Sometimes game designersdecide to go weirdwhen they make games. Few can go as weird as Screaming Mad George. Famous for his work in movies likeThe Guyver,Society,and theNightmare on Elm Street series, there’s no denying he knows how to make things unsettling. Just look at all ofSlipknot’s masks!
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ParanoiaScapeis the only video game Screaming Mad George ever worked on and was released exclusively in Japan. This deeply unsettling horror game featuring pinball mechanics is more than just a game — it’s an experience.
7Kirby’s Pinball Land
Kirby games areknown for being experimentalat times but sometimes experiments fail. That is not the case withKirby’s Pinball Land. It was a strong pinball game that also allowed players to adventure and explore in a way no pinball game before had done. It did have some issues with being blurry on the original hardware, but the gameplay made up for it in spades.
6Pinball Dreams
The Amiga might be an old computer but it still had some of the best PC games of the retro era.Many of these games still hold up todayandPinball Dreamsis among them. Wirtualna Polska ranked the game as the fourth-best Amiga game of all time and selling 650,000 copies of a PC game in 1992 is no easy task. It’s one of those old games worth tracking down on emulator or original hardware to see just how sleek a pinball game can be.
5Revenge Of The ‘Gator
Revenge of the ‘Gatoris likely one of the most competently produced mobile pinball games of all time. It doesn’t have any fancy frills, the developers focused on making the mechanics perfect and it shows. The game is so well remembered by pinball fans that it got a virtual console release in 2013. Plus, playing in Match Play mode is an absolute joy — who knew battle pinball was so much fun?
4Pokemon Pinball Series
It’s probably cheating to put all of thePokemon Pinballgames together but if we didn’t theycould have dominated the list! Trying to catch ‘em all becomes a whole new fun challenge when paddles are involved. Not to mention, having a Pokeball as the pinball is just too perfect.
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Both the original andPokemon Pinball Ruby & Saphirewere commercial and critical successes for good reason. For fans that really want to dig into the franchise,Pokemon Pinball Miniis an often forgotten game that also has tons of levels to play.
