Pokémon Pinball keeps three kinds of data from one session to the next: the Pokédex, the high scores and the button configuration. It also lets you pause a game and resume it later. This page describes each of these mechanisms, along with how to exchange your scores and erase all the data.
What gets saved
| Data | When it is saved |
|---|---|
| Pokédex (Pokémon seen and caught) | Automatically, as you play |
| High scores (five per table) | At the end of the game, when your score makes the ranking |
| Button configuration | Each time you change it in the Options menu |
| Game in progress | On request, with the SAVE menu of the Start button |
Each save block is protected by a signature, a checksum and a backup copy: if the cartridge memory is damaged, the game can recover the backup copy instead of losing the data. No score is recorded if the game is interrupted before all the balls are lost, for example by switching off the console.
Saving a game in progress
During a game, pressing the menu button (Start by default) opens a small menu with two choices, SAVE and CANCEL, in the US version. Choosing SAVE records the state of the game, that is the Pokémon caught, the counters and the score, then returns you to the title screen. Only one game can be suspended at a time. When one exists, the main menu offers to resume it or start a new game.
Reading the Pokédex
The Pokédex can be accessed from the main menu. Entries are sorted in National Pokédex order, from Bulbasaur to Mewtwo. The Pokédex in Pokémon Pinball distinguishes three states:
- Unknown. Pokémon you have never encountered are not identified in the list.
- Seen. The Pokémon has been glimpsed in Catch ‘Em Mode, or selected to be evolved in Evolution Mode. Its name and category are displayed, with a black silhouette in place of the image. You can hear its cry.
- Caught. The full entry is unlocked: number, name, category, height, weight, a two-page description, the Pokémon’s image and its cry.
A few useful controls: pressing A on a seen or caught Pokémon plays its cry, and opens the entry for a caught Pokémon; A turns the description page, B goes back to the list. On Game Boy Color, holding Start animates the Pokémon’s sprite. Holding Select displays the number of Pokémon seen and caught in the top right corner, in place of the word “Pokédex”. The descriptions are taken from the English versions of Red and Blue (those of Yellow in the Japanese version), with an extra full stop.
Mew‘s entry appears at the end of the Pokédex as soon as Mew has been encountered. The Pokédex keeps its number 151 hidden as long as Mew has been neither seen nor caught.
High scores
Each table keeps its five best scores, paired with three characters chosen from the letters A to Z, the digits 0 to 9 and a few symbols: “!”, “?”, “/”, “-”, “.”, “’”, “&”, a middle dot, a heart and the space. The factory scores carry the names NIN, CRE, GAM, HAL and JUP, for Nintendo, Creatures, Game Freak, HAL Laboratory and Jupiter. The high score screen is displayed by pressing B from the main menu; it also appears at the end of a game. The left and right arrows switch from one table to the other.
- Print. From the high score screen, the Start button opens a menu whose “Print” option sends the ranking in black and white to the Game Boy Printer.
- Exchange. The “Send” option of the same menu transmits your records to another console through the Game Boy Color’s infrared port. The exchange works between cartridges of different languages.
- Reset. Up and Select pressed together, on the high score screen, restore the original scores.
Erasing all the data
To erase everything (Pokédex, high scores, configuration and suspended game), hold Up, Right, Start and Select as soon as you switch the console on, before the copyright screen. A dedicated screen then appears: A confirms the erasure, B cancels it. This operation is permanent, including for the Pokédex you spent hours filling in. Only do it knowingly.
