the cutting room mirror

en

Pokémon Pinball is pinball with Pokémon. Go figure.

Unused Graphics#

Unused Table?#

A 16×16 block appearing as-is among the game's tiles, part of what may have either been a table or a simple image that wasn't used in the final. If this was going to be a table, then the center area would have likely added an object to send the ball back out or a hole for it to fall into.

Unused Japanese Font#

Unused Hud Font#

Probably an early or debug font.

Version Differences#

The European version offers rumble settings and a very eye-popping Super Game Boy border. Also, language options to account for those wonderfully translated Pokémon names.

Language Select#

The European version displays a language select option omitted from all other versions. The language screen is saved to SRAM so it cannot be accessed again.

Japan

US

Europe

The US and European versions have a couple more companies incorporated than the Japanese version. The Japanese version's copyrights also have a little more space. The European copyright screen was altered to account for its later release date.

Title Screen#

Japan

US

Europe

Over in Japan, catching 'em all is just implied.

The European version changed "Poké Dex" into the slightly more correct "POKéDEX". Additionally, Pikachu was given a smile in the international versions.

Options#

Japan

US

Europe

Besides the ability to change language, the European version also allows you to choose between "Off", "Mild", and "Strong" rumble settings, unlike the US and Japanese versions, which only had "On" and "Off". Also, the "M" in "RUMBLE" is slightly wider in the European version.

Key Config#

Japan

US

Europe

Why don't I have more choices?

The US and Japanese versions allow you to freely configure the control scheme. This was probably considered too confusing and was simplified into three predefined control schemes for the European version.

Super Game Boy Border#

Japan

US

Europe

The European Super Game Boy border is a little more vibrant compared to its vanilla international counterpart. Additionally, the Japanese border has no trademark (™) symbol.