Pokemon Trozei!

"Bland Puzzler With Very Little To Do With Pokemon"

As the title says, the only point of having pokemon associated with this game is too attract punters to buy a game that would otherwise sell very little, and to keeps fans distracted while waiting for the release of the next actual pokemon game. Why the name was changed from “Trozei” to “Link” for EU is beyond me, is that why it took two months to be released here after America? They had a two month long meeting over what to rename the game to, and this is the best they could come up with? Name aside, the unfortunate reality of this game is that it's pretty much a DS version of “memory match” where the cards are all face down, you choose two and if they match then you keep them face up, if not return them back down. The difference is, the difficulty of not knowing which pictures you're choosing is removed and the slight change to the gameplay is pretty bad.

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Storyline (2/10)
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For the most part, puzzlers don't try and include storylines, because they never reflect the gameplay and just get in the way. However, for some reason, these guys think they can do better than anyone else and try and put one in anyway. Needless to say, it's awful, the game would have been a lot better without one, as that way I wouldn't be stuck watching pointless and badly scripted cut scenes. It doesn't correspond to any of the other pokemon games, so at least it isn't just a tie-in, but the fact is, the storyline is terrible, even for a kid's game.

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Gameplay (5/10)
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It's a game where you're presented with a grid of pictures and you match them up to clear them and the ones above fall down to take their place. This gameplay has been done many times before, the only difference here is that the pictures are of pokemon. However, they did at least expand a little on the idea, and in this version if you manage to clear a line of four or more of the same pokemon, which you need to do to start it, you get a “Trozei Chance”, then you're given a timer in which you can remove sets of three and if you do so you can reduce the requirement to just pairs. This can be used to build up big combos and therefore get huge scores. The variety of pokemon used on the level is usually pretty small and therefore makes it even easier to get combos and finish the levels.

The game is extremely simplistic and the really are few times when you're actually lose against the computer since the only goal is clear the level. You do have to fight some bosses, who will have some effect on the level, for example, one will turn all the pictures into silhouettes and thus you have to rely on the shape of the pokemon to clear them. There are other examples, and they can really screw up your combos, and this is the only time you'll ever lose, because they'll do it so frequently to the extent where you physically don't have any pairs left let alone groups of four. Because of this, there really is no gameplay to master as such, you just pick it up, wait for it to get started and play, then turn it off.

There are a couple of other modes, such as Endless, where there's no time limit and just keep playing to get a high score. It's better than the actual main game, but can get extremely boring after just five minutes. There's also a multiplayer mode, but it's not very fun in single mode and doesn't really pick up with a human player to play against. As far as use of technology goes, it does use both screens and has stylus input, and uses it pretty well. This is the only reason that the game achieved a five, since the controls are pretty smooth and easy to use, it does at least make an excruciatingly dull game easy to play.

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Graphics (4/10)
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They use a variety of pokemon, however, they don't use all of them, just the more popular or well known ones. The map for choosing which level you want to play is really badly drawn and very uninspired. They look like they were drawn ten years ago. While they're not terrible, they're just simply not very good and obviously didn't take up a huge amount of the budget. I've seen people knock up better sprites in minutes and doing it for free.

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Sounds (3/10)
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There are very few background musics, and none of them are very good, and in fact hover just above being rated bad. The sound effects are also extremely generic and sound like things you'd get from a free sounds file database off the internet. At least you have the option to turn the sounds off, unfortunately, you're stuck looking at the bland, dated graphics.

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Lifespan (2/10)
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Story mode is dull, plain and simple, there's very little to make you want to play, especially not the storyline. The levels play exactly the same, as while yes they do all have different pokemon pictures, there's almost the same variety per level, and thus you're playing the same game with different pictures. Endless mode saves the game, and means you can just keep playing without having it broken up by bad plot. It does offer something to keep you occupied for a little time, but it isn't worth buying the game for.

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Summary (3/10)
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It feels like this should have just been included as a mini game in one of the numerous pokemon games. The game concept is certainly not original, and they make barely any attempt to actually extend the idea. There are far more enjoyable games available on the DS, unless you can get the game for a few pounds, it simply isn't worth the price. Another cheap cash in on a popular series that the DS titles seems to be rife with. Overall, this game just isn't fun to play, even if you like pokemon, the fact is that it's just a label and the game barely makes any use of the pokemon aside from having their pictures plastered all over the game.

Reviewer's Score: 3/10, Originally Posted: 06/28/07