Fabulous Finds: Japanese Pokémon Pinball: Ruby & Sapphire

Now here’s a game I never thought twice about picking up before now: Pokémon Pinball: Ruby & Sapphire. Not that I have anything against the game, but as I’ve mentioned in the past, my time with the GBA has been very limited. After recently becoming enamored with the beauty that is Japanese GBA box art, however, I’ve spent my fare share of time perusing eBay for import titles that catch my fancy… and catch my fancy Pokémon Pinball: Ruby & Sapphire did. One look at the cover and I knew I just had to have it!

Now, I’m not really a fan of pinball games, mainly because I don’t really understand the mechanics around pinball itself, but that doesn’t make this box art (and the in-game graphics themselves) any less appealing! I’ll be sure to actually give the game itself a spin on my GB micro in the near future, but for now I’ll stick to gushing about this adorable acquisition of mine: 
Kecleon is such a neat Pokémon – I love that he got featured on the front of
the box! 

I can’t believe how much detail is put into some Japanese GBA boxes. Not only is the GBA logo very unassuming, unlike what they did with the North American and European GBA cases, but nearly every side of the box has cute little touches, such as the Spheal and Sealeo shown above.

And there’s a Pikachu and Pichu on the other side!

Would you believe the inside flaps even have pictures on them? Take a look at this:

Such loving detail!

Let me remind you that this is a used copy of the game, but as everything that comes from Japan, it arrived in near-immaculate condition. It’s almost as if it was never opened…

Even the original fliers were left intact! I love little relics of the past such as these; it’s so fun to look at what they were advertising back in 2003. 
Side A
Side B
I have to say, I’m really enamored by the art style used to depict the Pokémon in this game! It’s very similar to a lot of the Pokémon Center art. The Pikachu looks a lot like the Pikachu design used on the recent 3DS XL, for example. 
I’m a little worried that pinball might be a bit tough to see on the micro’s tiny screen, but I’m determined to give it a shot! If all else fails, I can always switch over to my DS lite, after all. Expect a report on how it actually plays in the very near future! 
Oh, and what do you think of my new title, “Fabulous Finds”? I’ve been trying to think of a way to unify my “acquisition” posts for a while now. I’ve finally settled on Fabulous Finds, so I hope you all like it! 

About Anne

Also known as apricotsushi. Anne can be written with the kanji for apricot (杏), and sushi was the most quintessentially Japanese thing I could think of when I was 13, resulting in my goofy, albeit memorable, nickname.

12 thoughts on “Fabulous Finds: Japanese Pokémon Pinball: Ruby & Sapphire”

  1. What a cute box 🙂 I especially love it when companies put art on the box flaps, etc. I look forward to hearing what you think of the game itself, BTW. I’ve never played it, but I played the GB/GBC Pokemon Pinball back in the day and really enjoyed it.

    Oh, and I really like this new title, too. Looking forward to more “Fabulous Finds” in the near future 🙂

  2. Oh, I didn’t know you played the original Pokemon Pinball! Glad to hear you enjoyed it. Even though I don’t really “get” pinball, I’m sure I’ll still have a blast with it. It is, after all, drop-dead cute 😉

    I’m glad you like “Fabulous Finds”! I’m happy to have found something that can work for whatever random thing I pick up, be it a game, game guide, or other random neat thing 🙂

  3. Oh, yeah–I even have the box and manual here with me in Seattle. Couldn’t find the actual cart, though, when I was last back ‘home’ (in Wisconsin). Oh, well.

    There’s nothing that you really need to ‘get’ about pinball, by the way. It’s all about keeping the ball going as long as possible and getting the highest score possible. Pretty old school in that way, really. Anyway, I’ve always liked pinball games–real ones and video game ones–even though I suck at them, but I can understand not feeling that way.

    Anyway, I’m glad you’re continuing to share photos of your finds here. I have to do the same on my blog soon. I’ve been so wrapped up in my backlog project and other things that I haven’t thought about my own ‘acquisition’ posts in a while 😐

  4. You missed out on Pokemon Pinball for the Game Boy?!? OH NO!!! xD Well, I didn’t the play the new pinball games (I think they came out in the U.S. Don’t hold me to that!), but it’s definitely cool you managed to get the JP version of this Pokemon Pinball. Hope you have fun with it!

  6. Oh yeah, Ruby & Sapphire definitely came out in English, but I’m much more interested in the Japanese boxes of GBA games, so I opted for that version 🙂 If I like it I’ll have to try the original someday!

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