Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Blue Rescue Team

"This game kicks ass."

PROS: You get to be a Pokemon… cool; controls are smooth; variety of characters; randomly-generated dungeons make it less repetitive; you can get all 386 Pokemon; it's a new, awesome story; fresh idea that works

CONS: Well, it is a bit repetitive…

Where am I? What am I? Am I dreaming this…? Who is that?

I'm lying on the ground in some small woods. I'm a Mudkip and a Charmander is talking to me? WTF????

In Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Blue Rescue Team, you turn into a Pokemon and talk to other Pokemon. Yes, that's right, you can finally play as a Pokemon!!!! After NINE years of being different trainers just trying to catch Pokemon, battle them, or watch them watch TV, whether they have ugly hair or not, you finally get to be a Pokemon. Now, Mudkip is what I happened to be, but you can be any one of the nine starters from all three generations, as well as Pikachu, Meowth, Psyduck, Skitty, Machop, Cubone, and the loveable Eevee. What Pokemon are you? Well, the game starts with a quiz. Depending on what you answer, you can turn into any one of the 16 starters. You can answer honestly one time and get Charmander and answer honestly the next time and get Pikachu. The questions are random. You can always answer to get the one you want to be most, but it's interesting to see what you are if you answer honestly. Of course, that changes every time, but getting an average is good. The last question- which asks your gender- has absolutely nothing to do with the story. It just gets specific characters.

After the quiz, you turn into the Pokemon you receive the largest compatibility with on the quiz. You also get to pick a companion to go with you. You can choose Pikachu or any of the nine starters, except that you can't pick a Pokemon of the same type that you are, to make a better balance. This is the key to fighting in the dungeons.

Here, they've ditched the old-battle system to create a dungeon-crawling turn-based all-out-brawl system. You see, when you take a step, everybody else on the floor- your friends and enemies- will take a step. When you make an attack, everyone also makes an action. You can use the traditional Pokemon moves, such as Water Gun, Razor Leaf, Thundershock, and Ember, which are learned by leveling up. There are also TMs and, eventually, HMs here. You can teach extra moves such as Ice Beam to make your Pokemon more powerful. Now, you only have control of what you do in any given dungeon, and your partners have minds of their own. However, you can give them instructions. There are several different tactics that your partners can take. The default “Let's go together” means that they'll stalk you. “Go after foes” lets them attack any enemy presence that they sense. “Get away” means that they'll avoid battle at all costs. Switching from these- and the others- is key when you're opponent is low on health or the foe is on top of something, preventing attacks from reaching it. You can give them gummies to increase their IQ. Think of it as a kind of PokeBlock that only increases Smartness. Just like with PokeBlock, there are multiple kinds which work better on certain types of Pokemon. The strategy behind using gummies is essential for you and your partner to learn new tactics and abilities.

Now, for a dungeon-crawler, you'd expect there to be a mediocre story just slapped together due to the focus on the dungeon crawling. This is not the case here. The main characters are well-developed enough to bring you to tears at certain parts- happy or sad. The rescue team basis is excellent and the story is well-developed. There are plenty of interesting twists and turns, and it's not all go-in-and-rescue crap like you'd expect. You'll bond with your character as if it were your Pokemon. It feels magnificent.

The only real part of the overworld is the town square. The Kecleon brothers sell merchandise for you to use in dungeons (sometimes you'll run into one of them in a dungeon). Stock up on key items like Reviver seeds (when in your toolbox they'll revive you or any of your partners if you faint) and apples to fill your belly (you'll get hungry as you continue in a dungeon, if you get too hungry you'll start losing HP). The traditional berries- Oran, Cheri, Pecha, and Rawst- make appearances as well. One Kecleon sells food, the other sells TMs and orbs (which can be used to escape from dungeons, throw things, cause damage, etc.). There are plenty of items, but your toolbox has very limited space. Make use of the Kangaskhan Storage Facility, the second building in town. Kangaskhan can store an infinite number of items, and she does it for free. Also, if you die in a dungeon, you lose some of the items you have with you. Make sure to save what you want to keep for later with Kangaskhan. Also, if you die, you lose all of the money on hand. Deposit everything you have left over after visiting the Kecleon shop and Wigglytuff's Friend Area shop (I'll get to that later) to a bank run by a Persian jealous of how wealthy her customers are. Also, a Gulpin will link moves together (allowing you to use multiple moves in one turn) and relearn forgotten moves for a small fee paid at the start. He's happy to do it. To the south, there's a training dojo run by a Makuhita. To the north, there's a pond with a wise old Whiscash. To the east, there's a post office with Pelipper postmen (a likely homage to Animal Crossing). Here, you can enter passwords to rescue people posting SOS on the Message Board. You can also look at the bulletin board and take in-game jobs for rewards. And, to the west, is your rescue team's base. Later in the game, your house will be rebuilt to look like your starter, which is awesome.

Now, what exactly is a rescue team? It's a group of Pokemon trying to help other Pokemon. You enter dungeons with your partner and fight your way through to complete objectives. Certain Pokemon only live in certain dungeons. Now, if you beat one of them, it has a slight chance of wanting to join the team. The rate differs depending on the Pokemon. Now, they'll only be able to join if you have purchased the correct “Friend Area” from Wigglytuff in the square. She'll give you a few for free- you have to buy the rest. Several of these are expensive, and you'll only get a few for free by recruiting certain Pokemon- usually legendaries- or beating certain missions. Eventually, you'll be able to have all 386 Pokemon. However, you cannot evolve anyone until after you've beaten the main storyline. So don't despair if your level 16 Squirtle isn't a Wartortle yet. And this time, you don't need to trade because there's a “Link cable” item to do trade evolutions. All of a specific Pokemon's evolutions have the same friend area. Also, once you've beaten the main storyline, you can change characters in your party, even your leader. This makes the post-main storyline game have a lot more depth and replay value.

Also, the controls are smooth. The menus are set up very well (you can press the B button or activate them on the touch screen), but sometimes will go back when you don't want it to. This initially causes frustration, but eventually you'll get used to it. Movement is with the D-Pad and the R button (to change direction to diagonal). It works brilliantly. You can press A for a standard tackle or L+A for your set move, which you can change from any of the 4 moves that you have learned. There are few differences from Ruby and Sapphire with the moveset, if any. You'll learn what you expect to learn. And moves are easily useable, and the set move helps.

The graphics here are great by DS standards. The animations are smooth and easily distinguishable. All of the dungeons are distinct, even though they are randomly-generated each time (the number of floors remains constant). Also, the sound is smooth, albeit the looped tracks aren't the greatest- they repeat continuously, however they're delightful. Overall, the music isn't much of a letdown, it's just that the tracks could've been longer.

Overall, this game kicks ass. Sure, it is a bit repetitive, but not enough for it to be dreadful to get for. After you beat the main story, you can evolve and change the entire makeup of your team. This presents a wonderboard of replay value. What the hell is a wonderboard? I don't even know. I made it up. Anyway, where was I? Oh, yes, scoring this game. It's one of the better ones for the DS, and a must-own for ANYONE who's ever enjoyed one of the previous Pokemon handheld games. It's good to see that Nintendo has stepped things up after the pile of detritus called Pokemon Channel. This game is far from being discarded like that box of oatmeal, and the critics, for once, are wrong. This game is better than New Super Mario Bros. because it's harder and longer. This game is better than Metroid Prime Hunters because the controls aren't convoluted and the level design is smoother. This game is wonderful… and a very good game to buy for anyone who has a DS. A 9 out of 10.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 09/26/06, Updated 09/26/06