"A rather bad Pokemon racing game"

I'm a pretty big fan of Pokemon and while I usually buy every one of the games I do know when a bad one comes out. Pokemon Dash fits this mold perfectly. The game would have been a really good racing game if its many flaws had been fixed.

The graphics in the game are a bit pixilated and the fact that when you're on a balloon you can barely figure out what is what below you. The Pokemon models look pretty good but again things look a bit pixilated and blurry.

Sound in the game is alright I guess. I don't remember any sounds besides Pikachu on the main menu squealing with joy as I poked his cheek. The music in the game is alright and is perhaps the best part of the game but really, that isn't saying much.

Pokemon Dash uses only the stylus for control. Rub it in the direction that you want your Pokemon to go. It's simple but I am finding it hard to hold a normal stylus and after just finishing a cup my wrist was cramping so bad that I couldn't even type on my computer. Granted I'd been doing a lot of gaming that day but I doubt that was the cause as the DS causes me much pain with its shape and stylus.

The main idea behind Pokemon Dash is to enter a cup, there are five but each is unlocked once you beat one. In the races you need to dash the stylus in the direction you want your Pokemon to go in. It's very simple and at first the game was fun.

See, the game requires you to reach all of the Pokemon pads in a certain order. It's easy at first because all you need to do is reach them. In the later levels you'll need to acquire balloons to fly across the air to one and you won't know exactly where it is or when and if you'll need the balloons. You could also use a Lapras to reach tree infested islands since you can balloon onto those. You will also need to hit special pads that allow you to run on mud 9you normally sink after a few seconds) or to run faster on sand, ice and what not.

These extra features while interesting, just aren't handled correctly so it feels more tedious than anything else. If it was handled correctly and there was a way to know what to do instead of guessing and having to redo the levels then this game would have been better,

Besides the cups there isn't much else to do. I believe you can play some multiplayer things with just one card but as usual I don't know a single person with a DS. The cups take about an hour to beat all of them and then you're left with a shell of a game. Yes, there are some other unlockables but do you really want to play the game more?

I couldn't even recommend Pokemon Dash to even the most die hard fan. I only bought the game because it was $6 and I regret it even today, well over a year later. Some one out there will enjoy it I am sure but to me this was a waste of a cart.

Story - N/A
Graphics - 6/10
Sound - 6/10
Control - 9/10
Game Play - 3/10
Replay Value - 3/10

Final Score - 4/10

Reviewer's Score: 4/10, Originally Posted: 04/02/07