Sonic the Hedgehog Spinball, or Sonic Spinball (ソニック・スピンボール, Sonikku Supinbōru), is a pinball video game in the Sonic the Hedgehog series. It was originally released for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis in 1993 and later ported to the Sega Game Gear and Sega Master System in 1995.

The term "Spinball" is a portmanteau on pinball and "spin dash", a move Sonic performs. It, along with Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine were the only two Sonic games released to use characters and elements from the Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic the Hedgehog cartoons.

Main game

Sonic Spinball is essentially a pinball simulation featuring Sonic as the "ball". The main difference from traditional pinball game is the ability to influence Sonic's movement somewhat while moving, although flippers are still the primary source of movement. In a few rare instances, the player can control Sonic on foot, but for the majority of the time he is rolled into a ball and controlled by the flippers.

The game features four large pinball tables: a sewer level, a geothermal power station, a robot factory, and a launchpad system. The player must guide Sonic through each of the four levels and collect all of the Chaos Emeralds, then fight Dr. Robotnik. Once all of the Chaos Emeralds in a level are collected, Sonic gains access to the boss room and has to defeat a boss to advance onwards. Sonic will lose a life if he falls into certain traps such as lava, slime, or monsters, and the game ends when the player loses all their lives.

Special stages

At the end of each of the first three stages, Sonic gets to play a bonus round. These bonus rounds are set up like real pinball machines, with Sonic at the controls. The player is given a task to complete and three balls to play with. However, the flippers are the only way to control the ball, it cannot be influenced otherwise, unlike the normal game with Sonic as the ball. Pressing all the flipper buttons at once will make Sonic shake the machine, though repeated shakes will cause a tilt and lock the flippers.

Completing the bonus stages are optional and serves only to increase the player's score.

Additionally, there is a hidden multi-ball bonus game, called "The Clucker's Defense". It can be played on any stage if the player manages to collect every ring in the level, and move Sonic a "star circle" hidden on the board. The object is to destroy a crab enemy who is protected by a pair of "Clucker" (chicken) enemies.