One of the first things you notice about this ride is some great theming. It has some great original theming based on the idea of the cars being balls going round a pinball table. This has consequently been added to, with a Sonic the Hedgehog sponsorship, with characters from the game appearing on the pinball decorations. This includes some fun games to play as you go round the queue line. It's good theming that does a good job of enhancing the ride experience.

The coaster itself is a spinning, and it's hard not to draw comparisons with Chessington's Dragon's Fury, as both are spinning coasters built by the same manufacturer for the same theme park group in the same year. However I'm not convinced it's fare to compare them, as it feels like both coasters set out to achieve different things. While Dragon's Fury feels like it was designed to be a wild thrilling signature coaster for Chessington, the Spinball Whizzer feels like it set out to be a great family roller coaster.