Pokemon Stadium

"Better than any other strategy/fighting game, but tends to have problems. But that's OK!"

Greetings Pokemon fans! If you thought that Super NES fighting games like Street Fighter for example were considered as really bad games, Pokemon Stadium 1 fits the bill almost nicely with 151 Pokemon characters to choose from that no other game can put up. Oh well! On with the review:

Graphics-9/10-The graphics may prove to be better than any other fighting game in the whole world (or universe), but it probably needs more fine tuning. The Red, Blue and Yellow Pokemon characters look so much dumber than the Pokemon characters in Pokemon Stadium 2 do, since you can use a cartridge of any kind except the Crystal version. However, the only good Pokemon characters I found were these: Vaporeon(Water), Jolteon(Electric), Flareon(Fire), Team Rocket's Meowth(Normal), Ash Ketchum's Pikachu(Electric), Giovanni's Mewtwo(Psychic powerhouse), the mysterious Mew(Psychic), and the very rare evolution Pokemon, Eevee(Normal). However, it's just plain simple, with no complexity. That's why the graphics lost only 1 star.

Sound-9/10-The announcer may not be able to help you when you get in a jam, but the only good part is that the announcer just makes everybody laugh out loud, so loud that they are waking other people up. Oh no!

Music-9/10-There isn't too much in the music department, but the only good music tracks I found were these: ''The Vs. Rival Battle'', ''The Vs. Mewtwo Battle'', and ''The Ending Credits'' after conquering Rounds 1 and 2. Both of them sound completely different for each round. However, that only makes a total of 4 good music tracks, but that's all I have to say about the music.

Control-10/10-The controls are menu-driven. All you do is push the correct button for the menu you wish to use (red, blue or green), then you push and hold the R button to pick which move you wish to use or which Pokemon you wish to send into battle. After that, push the correct C button. Sounds easy, does it? However, since you can't bring any items into the battles and since you can have plenty of extra space, the controls are much less picky than in the sequel.

Gameplay-8/10-The game has plenty of problems reading the CPU. For example, when you are using the Swords Dance attack, use a physical attack, and cause a critical hit, the CPU can't read. What a ****!

Challenge-R1 is Easy(trainee) and R2 is Normal(rookie)

Fun-9/10-The good enough graphics, sound, music, gameplay, control and more, along with up to 15 hours of gameplay, add to the average time fun of Pokemon Stadium 1.

Replay Value-Very High! With cool Pokemon characters, challenges to face, and more, this game is much like an arcade game than an RPG, and it may or may not get boring, depending on how well you play the game. The strategies may or may not change every time you play. However, if you can set your own challenges of fun, the game shouldn't get that boring.

Rent or Buy-It's your choice-it may or may not be the most outstanding strategy/fighting game ever made, because some people may get tired of this type of game, since the battles take longer to complete than the sequel. If you're new to this, rent it. If not, buy it.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 07/19/01, Updated 07/19/01