Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Blue Rescue Team

"A different, yet totally enkoyable, Pokémon experience"

"Introducing the NEWEST POKEMON! YOU!

What if you woke up one day, and you were a Pokemon? What if all of a sudden you find yourself in a NEW world where you can speak and interact with other Pokemon? The adventure begins when you and your partner Pokemon set out on rescue missions in a world ravaged by natural disasters. But what is your true purpose and destiny in this Pokemon world?

That's the REAL mystery!"

At the risk of totally destroying any progress I have made in the incessant mission we all undergo to become more mature in our and others' eyes, I will say flat out that I am a fan of the Pokemon franchise. It was, in essence, the embodiment of why I enjoy Nintendo's titles so much -- they are all fairly simple, light-hearted fun. Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Blue/Red Rescue Team continues that legacy, but in a refreshingly different way.

Gameplay 9/10

I must admit that after Pokemon FireRed/LeafGreen, I had become a little frustrated with Nintendo's seemingly unimaginative approach to Pokemon. After four sets of "real" Pokemon titles (Blue/Red/Yellow, Gold/Silver/Crystal, Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald, LeafGreen/FireRed), and seemingly countless spinoffs and depravities of the franchise, nothing had truly been effectively done with the franchise.

Nintendo had finally gone out on a limb with the franchise, folks. Instead of just making another by-the-books Pokemon game, or slapping the franchises name on top of some different, but equally overused, play formula, they came up with a totally new and effective playstyle.

This is essentially a turn-based RPG. But there are a lot of differences between this game and most console, turnbased RPGs. For instance, there are no random battles. That's right, folks -- remember Mt. Moon? Trekking through that thing, running out of items, all of your Pokemon close to death, only to be harassed every step of the way by Zubat? No more! Not only can you avoid confrontations simply by literally running (not selecting "Run"), you also find yourself with a selection of orbs that can effect your or your enemy's position on the dungeon map in various ways, from trading spaces, to going to ejecting yourself from the dungeon entirely.

Another difference is, besides the difference between the world maps and dungeon maps, there isn't a true "battle screen" to speak of. Besides having to wait for your partners' turns (if they're engaged and you are not), nothing really impedes your progress.

Furthermore, you'll note that I didn't say "turn-based battles." While the battles are turn-based, it's not the only thing. once you enter a dungeon, everything you do, besides changing direction, takes up a turn, so the game essentially feels much more like Dungeons and Dragons than Pokemon. Take that as you will, but it certainly plays out interestingly enough.

Take note, though, this can get very repetetive after an hour or two of play. For instance, some of the dungeons are 30+ floors of walking, and walking, and walking, ad infinitum. This would be okay if there was a quick save feature, which is surprisingly absent -- considering you could perma-save ANYWHERE in many previous iterations of the franchise. Eventually, you find yourself throwing the game in sleep mode, plugging your DS in and doing other things.

Another problem I've run into is the seemingly random way the dungeons are laid out. This, in theory, is good -- you never get the same experience twice -- but if you have already been past the first 20 floors 3 times, and died on the 21st, you want to go ahead and continue your adventure. Instead, the stairs that lead to the next floor are always in a totally random room, leaving you wandering frustratingly across some of the enormous floors, and praying that the direction that you took is the right one.

One more problem -- evolution. This doesn't really effect the gameplay THAT much -- more of the enjoyment factor. For reasons which I will not say here, you cannot evolve before beating the game. Charizard has always been my favorite Pokemon, and when my personality test brought up Charmander, I was ecstatic. So I played happily with my Little Lizard Pokemon for 15 character levels. But then came 16, and no Charmeleon. I was a little mad, because I really see evolution as the thing that marks my progress with the character. I understand that the longer you keep a character unevolved, the more powerful he is when he does, but something about being so cute, yet at the same time whiping out every possible enemy with one hit (yes, I power level) seems kind of dumb to me. Plus, this is never really explained in the game, so if you look forward to evolution, you'll be sorely disappointed.

However, this does not ultimately effect the quality of the game, as you CAN eventually evolve.

Story 6/10

You wake up a Pokemon and start rescuing other Pokemon to somehow find out why you're a Pokemon. There are a lot of plot-holes and unimaginative points in this game, but not near as many as other popular titles that brag about their storylines. This game doesn't really claim to be a powerhouse of writing, so one can't really hold the plot problems against it.

Graphics 7/10

For the Gameboy Advance, I probably would have given a higher score. The sprites are really well animated, and seeing the different expressions on these little Pocket Monsters is adorable. Did this stretch the DS's limitations, though? No, not at all. For you graphics geeks out there, I would stick with Metroid Prime: Hunters or StarFox Command.

Sound 8/10

This doesn't really push limitations, but I thought it deserved a higher score simply for the viral nature of some of the songs, which reminds me very much of the Zelda franchise.

Play Time 9/10

Though the actual storyline is short, like all Pokemon games, there are countless things you can do post-plot. There is still a "Catch 'Em All" nature, although it is more of a "Befriend 'Em All," which is actually much harder, and at this point seemingly random (I'm sure there's some formula somebody will figure out eventually). Plus, there are bonus "challenge dungeons" in the form of Makuhita's Dojo, and other dungeons available post-game. There's definitely plenty to do after the game if you enjoy playing the game.

Replayability 1/10

Much like every Pokemon game, the game is just a little too tedious to warrant replaying. plus, the infamous "one save per cart" formula has returned, which destroys any urges to replay being that you'd have to destroy everything you'd done to do so.

Final Recommendation 8/10

This game has a lot of downsides, so I would recommend somehow playing the game before you buy it (if you work at EB or Gamestop, you can rent, if you have a friend who has it, borrow it or something. If you're lucky you have a rental place that rents DS games) simply to ee if you like how the game plays. If you do, then it is a definite buy.

Just like the regular Pokemon games, this is a kind of love-it-or-leave-it game. A lot of people will probably really enjoy the experience, while others will want to throw it out the window. I will say, though, if you typically don't like RPGs, you should probably steer clear.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 09/29/06