Sega and Jersey Jack Pinball have revealed an official Sonic the Hedgehog pinball machine, launching on the franchise's 35th anniversary on June 23. It's Sonic's first legitimate pinball machine — Spinball and pinball-inspired levels don't count — and it's already available for pre-order in three editions.
The table is designed by Steve Ritchie, a pinball legend behind classics like Firepower, Black Knight, and High Speed, and more recently the Elton John machine for Jersey Jack in 2023. Ritchie — also known as the voice of Shao Kahn and the man behind "Finish him!" in the '90s Mortal Kombat games — calls Sonic the Hedgehog "the fastest game I've ever made," thanks to magnetized ramps that accelerate the ball at Sonic speeds. The table pulls visuals and music from Sonic Generations, features iconic levels like Green Hill Zone, a looping ramp that mirrors Sonic's loop-de-loops, and a boss battle with Dr. Eggman as a toy suspended above the playfield. Collect enough Chaos Emeralds and you trigger a multiball mode. The full cast shows up too: Tails, Knuckles, Shadow, Amy Rose, and yes, Big the Cat and Froggy.
The three-edition structure is standard for Jersey Jack. The base Arcade Edition runs $9,999 and includes a 27-inch HD LCD display, RGB lighting, Micro-LED gold ring displays, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth audio, and a high-score player camera. The Special Edition at $12,000 adds Green Hill Zone cabinet art, blue armor, a battle topper, and a shaker motor for haptic feedback. The Collector's Edition tops out at $15,000 with unique cabinet art, metal armor in Knuckles Red, a gold ring plunger knob, a commemorative plaque, and a mechanical topper with an LCD screen showing a Sonic vs. Eggman battle.
The machine fits into a broader pinball industry shift toward Millennial and late Gen X nostalgia — following Stern's Pokémon machine released in February — rather than the classic Boomer-targeted rock band themes Ritchie himself worked on with Led Zeppelin and AC/DC for Stern in the 2010s. Whether it hooks a new generation of pinball fans is the real game here.
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