Pokemon Pinball by Stern is good

Nudge Magazine (website feed)·article·analyzed·Feb 13, 2026

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.026

TL;DR

Pokémon Pinball delivers on both design and code, proving doubters wrong with accessible depth.

Summary

A Nudge Magazine review praises Pokémon Pinball by Stern as a successful game launch, highlighting its accessible yet deep layout design by George Gomez and Jack Danger, innovative code architecture by Tanio Kleiss, Josh Henderson, and Andrew Wilkening that translates Pokémon RPG mechanics into pinball, and nostalgic artwork that resonates emotionally with players. The author contextualizes the game's significance against skepticism about the theme and production challenges, characterizing it as a rare moment of genuine joy in contemporary pinball.

Key Claims

Pokémon is bigger than Star Wars and Harry Potter combined (according to Seth Davis)
low confidence · Author relaying conversation with Seth Davis at sushi restaurant; anecdotal and unverified
Jack Danger almost broke as a designer during Pokémon Pinball development (revealed via recent Facebook post)
medium confidence · Author reference to a Facebook post by Jack Danger; indicates significant development stress
Pokémon Pinball features three custom moving sculpts, a bash toy, and a playfield magnet on Premium and LE models
high confidence · Author direct observation at game reveal event; factual description of physical features
The left orbit returns to right flipper via wireform; back battle arena opens to give orbit return to right flipper
high confidence · Author hands-on playfield analysis at reveal event
Andrew Wilkeling literally learned to read by playing Pokémon Yellow
medium confidence · Author relaying statement from Andrew Wilkeling during code walkthrough; anecdotal claim
Star Wars Fall of the Empire features overlapping rulesets (missions, Jabba modes, Millennium Falcon, Vader modes simultaneous) that players can approach multiple ways
high confidence · Author citing game design principle and personal experience; used as reference for Pokémon code design
Pokémon Pinball includes four distinct biomes (desert, ocean, forest, electric) with different Pokémon populations and trainer battles
medium confidence · Author relaying early code walkthrough; code described as extremely early state
The Pokémon Company was extremely particular about how Pokémon is presented in the pinball adaptation
medium confidence · Author inference from artwork quality; not directly stated by manufacturer

Notable Quotes

“the vibes for pokemon are GOOD”
Author (Nudge Magazine) @ opening — Sets positive tone for entire review; reflects broader community sentiment at reveal event
“It wasn't always looking like a slam dunk... This is the game that almost broke Jack as a game designer”
Author (Nudge Magazine) @ early section — Acknowledges significant development challenges and designer stress during production
“A throwback design that works for beginners who don't know anything while retaining enough interesting geometry and ball returns to make it fun for the freaks who play every game”
Author (Nudge Magazine) @ layout section — Describes design philosophy balancing accessibility with competitive depth
“It feels meaty and thicc when you hit it (think gong from kong, Mandalorian ball sack, or the oft-compared Junkyard dangle) plus it has the bonus of being a giant Meowth head, the most annoying character in pokemon, so it was fun to try and smack the hell out of it”
Author (Nudge Magazine) @ bash toy discussion — Playful description of bash toy feedback and mechanical feel; uses comparative reference games
“You start the game with all four types... You're a nondescript trainer (brutally too true to real life for this guy, but hey)”
Author (Nudge Magazine) @ code section — Self-deprecating humor while describing game starting state and rule mechanics
“Seeing this art brought me back to that time in my life. Like I said, I was surprised by how emotional it got me.”
Author (Nudge Magazine) @ art section — Personal emotional connection to artwork; reflects nostalgic resonance of Pokémon IP and art direction

Entities

Pokémon PinballgameGeorge Gomezperson Jack DangerpersonTanio KleisspersonJosh HendersonpersonAndrew WilkelingpersonRaymond Davidsonperson John Borgperson

Signals

?
product_launch: Author attended Pokémon Pinball game reveal event at Stern Pinball facility; reports positive community vibes and hands-on gameplay experience
high · Direct account of visiting Stern Pinball, playing game, interviewing designers (code walkthrough with Tanio Kleiss, Josh Henderson, Andrew Wilkeling)
?
design_innovation: Pokémon Pinball features novel playfield paths with unexpected ball routing (wireform returns, figure-eight ramp with cheat shots, movable bash toy, playfield magnet, three custom sculpts)
high · Author detailed description of left orbit, battle arena returns, left ramp figure-eight geometry, bash toy design philosophy
?
gameplay_signal: Game designed with overlapping RPG-inspired rulesets (four biomes, Pokémon collection, trainer battles, type mechanics) that balance beginner accessibility with advanced play depth
medium · Author analysis of code walkthrough with programmers; comparison to Star Wars Fall of the Empire as precedent for multi-mode ruleset structure
?
personnel_signal: Jack Danger reportedly experienced significant stress during Pokémon Pinball development (described as 'almost broke Jack as a game designer' per Facebook post)
medium · Author reference to 'recent facebook post' from Jack Danger; indicates challenging development process for designer
?
licensing_signal: The Pokémon Company exercised strict oversight of art direction and IP presentation in pinball adaptation; author infers this resulted in high-quality nostalgic artwork

Topics

Playfield Layout DesignprimaryGame Code Architecture and Rules DesignprimaryMechanical Features and ToysprimaryDevelopment Challenges and Designer ExperiencesecondaryArtwork and IP PresentationsecondaryTheme Accessibility vs Collector AppealsecondaryComparison to Reference Games (Star Wars, Foo Fighters, X-Men)mentionedCommunity Reception and Hypementioned

Sentiment

positive(0.82)— Strong positive review with genuine enthusiasm for game's design, code, and artwork. Author acknowledges previous skepticism but concludes game delivers on quality. Playful, irreverent tone maintains credibility by not appearing overly promotional. Minor caveats about IP restrictions and early code state do not substantially detract from positive assessment.

Transcript

raw_text · $0.000

Pokemon Pinball by Stern is good Unfortunately for the haters, they nailed this one. Let’s not bury the lede, I’ve been to several game releases at this point and let me say : the vibes for pokemon are GOOD. It makes sense, right? It’s the biggest IP in the world (supposedly, according to Seth Davis while I was in line for sushi it’s bigger than Star Wars and Harry Potter combined), everyone loves a Jack Danger game, and, well, it seems like the general world may be ready for some joy. That being said, let’s put things in context. It wasn’t always looking like a slam dunk. Or mega ball or whatever pokemon metaphor we wanna use. This is the game that almost broke Jack as a game designer (as we learned from a recent facebook post) the world needs joy because its in a more precarious place than its ever been (see our last couple articles) and honestly a lot of old angry boomer pinballers are probably gonna be pissed about a theme they don’t understand. Nevermind the point that WE have had to endure 18 million themes that we don’t relate to as young people not from the dust bowl era (Wizard of Oz, Elton John, uh, Wheel of Fortune) So I wasn’t sure what I was gonna walk into. But like the many trainers before me, I sucked it up and I put on a weird little baseball cap, and I grabbed a couple of softballs that I painted half red, and drove my 2008 Prius to the toughest Poke-Gym around, Stern Pinball. Sure, they confiscated the softballs at the gate when i told them I was gonna try and catch John Borg with them — but other than that it was an all around p sick day. So let’s get into it. The Layout I know that the development of this game was fraught. But veteran pinball designer, George Gomez (Deadpool, a million others) and Jack Danger (Foo Fighters, X-men, etc) did create something legit fun and flowy. A throwback design that works for beginners who don’t know anything while retaining enough interesting geometry and ball returns to make it fun for the freaks who play every game (me). We weren’t really privy to the design iterations, but I know after talking to some employees that there were various mechs talked about in the game. The fact that we have three custom sculpts that move, a bash toy, AND a playfield magnet on the premium and LE is pretty obvious to me that they didn’t skimp out. And I like the decision to keep the mechs focused on things that effect gameplay (like a magnet and movable bash toy) rather than stuff like a pokeball that catches the ball and does nothing else. People always say that they want that kinda stuff (Y NOT SHARK EAT BALL?) but the games from the 90s that did that (think Data East Waterworld) all suck ass to shoot. You don’t wanna be chained to one thing that stops the ball. But that’s as much time as we’ll spend on mech talk because we don’t talk pinball economics or BOM or any of that shit. Because we actually PLAY pinball we don’t just look at it here, so how does it play? It’s a really fun design that lends itself to being a flow beast, busted up by staccato fights in the “battle” arena which also doubles as where the team rocket balloon comes down to fight. It’s a surprisingly good bash toy. It feels meaty and thicc when you hit it (think gong from kong, Mandalorian ball sack, or the oft-compared Junkyard dangle) plus it has the bonus of being a giant Meowth head, the most annoying character in pokemon, so it was fun to try and smack the hell out of it. The layout is novel. Paths don’t always go where you think they will. The left orbit leads to a clean return from a wireform to the right flipper, while the back of the battle field (in the center of the game) opens up at times to give you an orbit return to the right flipper. The left ramp has fun, figure eight returns — which were great for gameplay, since you could often cheat made shots by hitting them partially up and then having them drain down the return at the junction of the figure 8. That ramp also is where you’ll catch your pokemon. The Code is (gonna be) good Tanio Klyce, Joshua Henderson, and Andrew Andrew Wilkening gave us a walkthrough of their outline for code for this game. These guys have basically taken the original gameboy experience and ported an extremely interesting version of it into pinball. At it’s heart, pokemon is a super simple RPG. You collect pokemon, sure, but its basically rock paper scissors with different types. That basic idea is fun to play with in pinball where multiple simple overlapping rulesets can work to bring new players in while simultaneously giving more advanced players fun stuff to work with. Star Wars Fall of the Empire does this very well. I routinely score between 1.5 -2.5 billion on that game, but routinely come back because of how many DIFFERENT ways I can do that. For FOTE heads (we’ll work on the nickname), that game is cool because you’re doing missions, jabba modes, millenium falcon stuff, and vader modes all at once. You’re sort of always working through something (sort of like my love life). Andrew Andrew Wilkening, alongside pinball wunderkid Raymond Davidson, were the brains behind that ruleset. So it was super fun to talk to Andrew and hear him talk about how he literally learned to read by playing Pokemon yellow. I don’t know if that’s a sweet story or a sad critique of our education system, but hey! The guy loves frickin pokemon. We’ll have an interview with Andrew, Tanio (of Foo Fighters fame), and Josh in the future, but let’s be real and get into it. You start the game with all four types. You’re a nondescript trainer (brutally too true to real life for this guy, but hey) who wanders through four different biomes (think Godzilla’s cities) finding new pokemon and battling your pokemon against various trainers. Just like they game! Unlike Godzilla, the different worlds (desert, ocean, forest, and uh, electric? I don’t know) will determine which pokemon populate and which battles you’ll face. Evidently, you’ll be able to travel back and forth, collecting pokemon and becoming the very best and singing that song at the top of your lungs. Obviously, the code was in an extremely early state, but even so I can tell you that the different mode types do feel distinct and I can’t wait to explore the beautiful map. The art I have a feeling that Pokemon Company, the IP holder for Pokemon, are extremely particular about how Pokemon is presented. Sometimes that can be a bad thing, but in this case it resulted in art that actually gave me nostalgic butterflies in a way that surprised me. For real. When I was in maybe fifth grade, Pokemon was syndicated on tv before school for me. I was at that weird age inbetween being an adult and kid, so I’d watch a tape of an X-files episode I had while I waited for pokemon to come on. I was up, alone, eating cereal and loved getting lost in stories. That was important to me. Seeing this art brought me back to that time in my life. Like I said, I was surprised by how emotional it got me. I could go on, but they’re already gonna call me a shill, so I might as well quit while I’m behind. Enjoy a couple more pics of charizard spinners and such. The times might be fucked up, but at least we got a pokemon pinball before the apocalypse. Now prosecute everyone associated with Epstein and let’s have a proper country. A boy can dream!