Pokemon Stadium

"They should fire the person who thought of having an announcer."

Word count : 1.022 words
(I put this in so you know what you're getting into. Too long? Scroll down!)

When I heard about Pokemon stadium, not a single piece of me (no, not even the gooey cream filling) was excited. It looked like Nintendo just wanted some more money, so they decided to bring over some more pokemon crap.. but Stadium is far from crap! It isn't half bad in fact. Now before you get the wrong idea, I don't hate pokemon. I am not ashamed to say I own the blue version, and hey, I like it. I just don't like the idea of this whole big pokemon fad thing. When companies have a cash cow this fat.. sometimes their priorities get mixed up.

Well anyways, in Stadium you get some pokemon (rentals or your own) and just battle it out in 3D wonder. But that's just the base of the tree, there are several, several branches. There's the Pokemon Stadium tournament style competition, the gym-leader castle, tag-team battles for up to four players and much much more. If battling in 3D is what you think all Stadium offers - you got it all mixed up, pal. For the wee ones there's also the Kids club where you can play some mini-games with up to three other people, but if you're on your own you can play with the computer instead – although that’s not too much fun.

Now there are little extras and secrets here and there.. there's the Snap mode; where you can take pictures of your own pokemon and print them out on stickers as with Pokemon snap. There's also a hall-of-fame to see which pokemon have succeeded in winning tournaments etc., The Doduo GB tower where you can play your pokemon game and finally some hidden little goodies which I won't give away >: ). After a while however, there just isn’t anything left to do and the game seems sort of dull. That’s my opinion anyway.

Gameplay
For those of you who were dreaming of a real-time kinda battle where your Charmander can shoot fireballs and your Electabuzz can perform sonic booms - you won't be getting any. It's the same old turn-based battles except in 3D. I’m sorry, but sometimes this just isn’t enough. The other little things you can do with the game help – but battling is the main thing you do in the game and I’ve done enough of that on the GBC. And for those of you who wanted a new challenge (instead of beating the same old elite four over and over again..) there's tons of new trainers to fight who are much more challenging then previous trainers in the GB games.

Graphics
Hey, not bad for an N64 game. The pokemon look great - the ones that were in snap look somewhat the same except better. The pokemon blink and pose and this and that. For the moves - it varies. Some of them aren't so impressive, but others will blow you away. The stadiums/arenas where you battle aren't so fancy, but they're not ugly – you’ll fight in a variety of different areas, with sand and what not, but it’s hard to tell the difference between them since that’s not what you’ll be paying attention to.

Control
For those of you who were wondering if your opponent would be able to see what moves you were choosing - don't. Moves and pokemon switching is all used with the C-buttons. You look at the menu, and press the c-button for whatever you want. It won’t show on screen what you chose. Also you use the D-pad here, with a few exceptions every now and again. Very good idea with the C buttons, Nintendo.

Audio
The music is extremely monotonous and annoys me quite a bit… but there’s much worse then this horrible music. That announcer... can drive ANYONE insane no matter how tolerant. This guy is one of the most idiotic video-game people thingies in the world! Alright, people thingies doesn’t sound right – but you know what I mean. He gives you some really obvious information such as ''There is a difference between the remaining pokemon in reserve!'' or “These pokemon are completely different!” REALLY? Wow, I NEVER would have known without you! Argh.. But not to worry, there is an option to turn the idiot off.

Replay
For pokemon fanatics, it'll keep you away from your GB(C) for a while. Also if you're collecting you can gain prize or special pokemon for winning certain things or accomplishing certain tasks. For everyone else, the replay is below average. Constant battling is the main idea of the game and if you find that boring, then you won’t enjoy the game. I personally got sick of it after a week or so.

Overall
The second pokemon game on the Nintendo 64. A solid title, however it gets a little too repetitive. There are plenty of things to do at first but once you get a taste of the gym leader castle – you realize the whole thing is going to be like that. Endless pokemon battles with annoying announcers may be the perfect game for some, but not for me. Anyways, a pretty good game nonetheless that can be enjoyed by all at least for a period of time but Pokemon Fanatics will get the most out of it.

***
Sushi’s Quick Sheet

Gameplay : Mostly fighting, and few other little things to do.
Graphics : Pokemon look pretty good. Arenas could’ve been more detailed.
Control : Nothing is wrong with the controls.
Audio : Horrible music, mediocre sound effects, and a horrible announcer.
Replay : Eh.. – depends how much you like pokemon.
Overall : Could be better, we’ll see if the next Stadium improves on this one.

***

Ratings

Gameplay : 7.5
Graphics : 7
Control : 10
Audio : 1
Replay : 5.5
Overall [not an average] : 7.5

Sushi says : “Pokemon fans will get much more out of this one.”
Hot like wasabi : 4 player battles.
Stinky like seaweed : The audio, arenas are dull.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 11/02/00, Updated 11/02/00