Hey You, Pikachu!

"A decent and amusing cute little underrated childrens game from Nintendo."

Ah yes ''Hey You, Pikachu!'' a rare Pokemon game that actually wasn't a huge financial success. Was it a good game? Actually yes, how does it fare when it comes to Pokemon gaming on the N64 you may ask? Well its a bit more on par with the overrated but still recommendable ''Pokemon Stadium'' but not as good as ''Pokemon Puzzle League'' and ''Pokemon Snap'' IMO. But if you see the game as what it is chances are it'll be a good gaming experience for you.

Whats the premise of the game you ask? Simple, thanks to the mic-com that comes with the release of the game you can be able to actually talk to Pikachu. Does Pika respond well to you commands? Well for the most part yes but not always however do remember that not just any response will work but its not hard to get the game going. There is also a very decent amount of challenge that won't be too hard for younger gamers but not too easy as well. You can wonder around forests, help guide Pikachu in the various things he is doing and much more. Its a simple game that entertains its target audience which is young children and anyone who find pokemon like Pikachu cute will not be disappointed here. (And anyone who wants to hate the game because of how cute the Pokemon try to be well should know better than to play a game starring Pikachu in the first place.)

Any considerable problems to be addressed? Yes, while there is a good amount of interactivity in the game's world there is some occurences of ''invisible walls''. It may not have a truly bad case of the ol' IW but it still has a good amount of them in it. And even though despite the fact that it was meant for younger children its still quite unfortunate that the game can at times be rather limited so lets just say that this isn't THE most deep Pokemon game around to put it mildly.

Overall its not exactly ''top priorty'' when it comes to Pokemon games for the N64 but if you want to explore the world of Pokemon games a little bit more than this is a good way to start.

+ An innovative game of talking to your Pikachu
+ One of the most underrated Pokemon games
+ It actually gives a decent amount of challenge
+ Pikachu and his fellow Pokemon do entertain
+ Its gameplay and control is genuinely responsive
- Invisible walls
- The game may seem a bit limited
- The responsiveness isn't exactly perfect
- Needless to say one shouldn't expect this to give games like ''Pokemon Snap'' any competition.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 08/11/03, Updated 02/16/04