Pokemon Stadium 2

"A REAL sequel!"

Introduction
Pokemon Stadium 2 was one of the last games to hit the N64. Just like the first one, it's the same type of game. It now seems a little better because the fact that there are more pokemon involved makes it a little easier. With many new features, this makes it better than Pokemon Stadium 1. Regardless if you like Pokemon or not, this game promised a lot and delivered.

Graphics-10
This is very impressive for Nintendo 64 graphics. I wouldn't be surprised if this became a Gamecube game. The Pokemon, all 251 of them, look amazing. These graphics really stand out. Everything is so clear including the backgrounds. This game deserves an award for best Nintendo 64 graphics. While the backgrounds are too detailed, WHO CARES? You're mainly focusing on 2 pokemon, yet the background is still very acceptabale. The way the moves look probably had the greatest improvement over the first Pokemon Stadium. Water looks a little bit more like water as does fire, grass, ice, ground, etc. Simply put, these graphics are beautiful. It's impossible to disagree with that!

Control-Simple
The control is so simple. Like other Pokemon games, this uses the menu type combat. The menu basically tells you what to do. There are no combos where it requires 20 million buttons to press really quickly like fighting games and that's not what Pokemon games are about. As for the minigames, some of them are hard, but there's always an explanation to tell you what to press and there's never any misunderstanding. It's not like Mario Party 1 how you basically destroy your joy stick by rotating it way too fast. Simple push of buttons is all that's required. The control is so simple and that's the bottom line.

Sound-8
Music: The music hasn't gotten better or worse. It's kind of hard to critique it, though. Similar to the first game, it has remixed Pokemon tunes, which is not a problem. The minigame music is not as kiddy and is perfect for that style. There's no problem with the music category here.
Sound: The sound is also fine. I actually like it better how the Pokemon make the sounds they do on the Game Boy versions rather than saying their name like in the show, which is utter crap. The attack sounds are hard to describe. I guess it's easy to believe water sounds like water, rocks sound like rocks hitting something, etc.
Voice acting: This probably what brings the sound category down. That announcer is back and ready to annoy. He hasn't changed since the last game, but you can atleast turn him off. If you leave him on, you will suffer! He points out the most obvious things and does not shut his mouth when you leave the game on for a while.

Gameplay-10
The fact that there are so many modes make this a very long game you will play for a while. While each mode has the same style of battling, each has different rules to make it look like something very unique. The challenge mode, a new and innovative feature, is the most different. The computer picks a team of 6 pokemon and you have to use them to win the championship. Sometimes you get really good pokemon and other times you get crap. Also, you can get very good pokemon with useless moves, and bad pokemon with the best moves ever. The most challenging mode is definatly the Poke Cup( I know, a very basic name ). In that, you use 6 pokemon to fight and they have to be from level 50-55. The total of 3 can't exceed 155, so that means you can't use all level 55s and the rentals only provide level 50 pokemon. The Gym Leader Castle is fun because there are no level requirements. The computer does however use pokemon at least levels 50 and up and they can match the level of your strongest pokemon. The prime cup just lets you use level 100 pokemon for the rentals. It's the most intense cup becuase of the high levels. The rentals only provide level 100s do don't enter with anything under than that. Last but not least is the Little Cup. That's for level 5 pokemon only who are unevolved. That's definatly a challenge because you can't make a single mistake. As for the Free Battle, you don't have to do it, but it's always fun to play with a freind on it.
NOTE: You don't need any GameBoy Versions to play this, but if you don't, you need to use rentals. It's better to go out and buy a GameBoy game for a better chance of winning There's a few other things you can do if you want.
The mini games shouldn't be over looked. If you're tired of battling, it's worthwhile to play a few. Nearly all of them are fun and it doesn't take a while to figure them out. You can things such as small tournaments where the person who wins 3, 5, 7, or 9 minigames first wins.
Another thing you can do is take pictures of Pokemon. I think they ran out of room on the game for this part, just like they did in Pokemon Stadium 1. You can't take pictures of the pokemon doing moves. Only striking a pose. You can change the levels they are on though.
The makers also seemed to run out of this category too: the ability to play your gameboy games on the N64. You sacrifice color for speed. As you complete modes, you can speed things up. Not a problem without color, though.
Is there anything you can't do in this game?

Difficulty-Challenging, but sometimes unfair
This game gives a phenomonal challenge, but the computer can sometimes be unfair. What I mean by that is that they ''defy the odds''. They'll get lucky on hitting you with less accurate attacks. I'm not saying they're cheating though. Don't use rentals, becuase that makes the game a lot harder. Make sure you build a very good team to survive this game from your GameBoy versions.

Replay-8
You will spend a lot of time playing this, garaunteed. There is just so much to do. Once you beat every single mode though, the game ''doubles.'' You'll see what I mean when you beat everything becuase I don't want to spoil it. There's also mini games. Playing with a friend will also add replay.

Overall-9
This is a very nice game to end the N64 on a good note. Make sure you buy/have a GameBoy version of Pokemon, because you'll need it to do good. Even if you don't like Pokemon, this is still a very good game.

Rent or Buy
Buy this game. It's impossible to do everything in a rental even if you play it non-stop. This game is worth it!

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 04/01/01, Updated 07/15/03