Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team

"Quite a change in the role of the player."

Graphics: 8/10
Being on the GameBoy Advance, you can't get the graphics you may admire on the other, more powerful gaming systems. Even though you are stuck with the flat 2D sprites, throughout this game there are multiple times where the makers of the game decided to spice things up and add some diversity by showing emotion when a character is speaking. It may not seem like much, but the little things make the game that much more enjoyable. In comparison to the previous Pokemon games, I would say that there is small increase of detail on each Pokemon, but nothing drastic.

Controls: 10/10
Very simple. It will take you no time to get the controls down into your memory. Aside from that, throughout the game there are dialogue boxes that will demonstrate different button combinations for every command in the game; so even if you don't have your manual, you will do just fine.

Sound: 5/10
Standard Pokemon music. There is some times when the music will change while in a dungeon to give some variety. If you play the game you will know what I'm talking about, as I don't want to give any spoilers. Nothing really special to discuss here.

Gameplay: 10/10
There are basically two modes. The story mode, and the aftermath. Story mode is a big chunk in itself, it took me about 33 hours to complete it. It starts off by asking you a few questions about yourself as a small personality test, then the game matches you up with a certain Pokemon depending on how the test turned out. You then get to chose a partner that will follow you around for the whole story mode, so chose wisely. As soon as you begin the game, you are greeted by your partner and have a discussion about how you think you use to be a human. Afterwards you will immediately go on your first rescue mission to get a taste of what this game is all about. After you complete the story mode, you are able to go back into the game from where you left off and try to recruit the rest of the Pokemon, which is a variation on the "Gotta Catch 'em All" theme that the other Pokemon games had.

Replay Value: 10/10
Whether you finish story mode and want to continue on trying to recruit the rest of the Pokemon, or if you want to start a new story mode with a different main character and a different partner, this game has incredible replay value. If you take the time to try and recruit all of the Pokemon, I guarantee that you will get your moneys worth for this game.

Overall: 8/10
A very BIG difference between the old games, to the point where you can't even compare them to each other. But putting that aside, this is a great game. Even if you grew out of the Pokemon phase six years ago, there is no reason to not at least try this game. You will get your money's worth.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 10/11/06