Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team

"It's basically a new pokemon game...........with a twist!"

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon... it sounds catchy, doesn't it? It seems to break away from the other style of the other pokemon games' titles. But also, you don't catch pokemon like you did in the last game. And the items are different, they throw in a new storyline away from the overused, "Beat all the Gym leaders, beat the Elite Four, then whatever" storyline, along with a new battle system, hell, there are way too many changes here to list, and while most are good, there are also those that are bad. But as usual, thing's still have a tendency to stand up for its name if it's a success, and Mystery Dungeon is no exception.

Storyline - 8/10
One of the things I was wondering most about in this game. In the start, you somehow wake up and have turned into a pokemon. What pokemon you are, however, is also based on an odd personality quiz you must take in the beginning. So after you know who you are and who your partner is, you embark on your quest as a rescue team. So far so good, right? Well, apparently, rescue teams are supposed to save pokemon caught in different natural disasters. Let me stop right here. Natural Disasters? It's the first time I've heard of problems not being caused by evil villains or diabolical plots and warfare. They could have at least being NUCLEAR reactions and had some extraterrestrial existence to spice it up. Ah well. Anyway, as the plot progresses, several things happen to you. You have to fight several legendaries, and a huge plot twist occurs where you're being chased off by other rescue teams! But I don't want to say too much about that, as it's an incredible event that's not to be spoiled. But eventually, you find the source of the problems, eliminate it, and presto, you're done with the storyline portion of the game. And throughout the rest, your goal is to find more legendaries, and recruit all the pokemon there are!

Gameplay - 5/10

A fault here in this game. Very repetitive, very quickly. All actions are the same, all character usages are the same. If you ask someone, the reasons of repetitiveness that they say will all be the same. Dungeons are all the same: Walk around, pick up items, beat up and maybe befriend pokemon, reach the end, maybe beat some bosses or something, and you're done. Now, don't get me wrong, after you see the credits, it is cool that you can take command of any other pokemon, but that doesn't make it that much better. When you would want to play as other pokemon, you'd have to spend a while to get them to a high level. So I noticed that before the game was out, people were thinking of extremely diverse teams. Now, however, most people are basically sticking with their starters, partners, and some pokemon they may have recruited except for the really determined ones. So yes, repetitiveness is a very, very big problem in this game.

Sound – 7/10

Sound in this game has its varied ups and downs. On one hand, it definitely does do it's job of helping you know the area based on the noise. When you're in the lively pokemon square, you hear the upbeat yet calm music. When you're near your base, you hear relaxed music that helps show you're in a safe area, because it doesn't really do anything except save and go other places. And dungeons all have diverse music and they don't play the same music for every single one. But on the other hand, in dungeons, the sound can get a little old slightly. Though not very old, with basic tracks very the same types of dungeons, it makes it seem a little less diverse and more repetitive. And there are occasions where the music doesn't fit in at all. In the dungeon, Sky Tower, way up in the clouds, I really didn't focus in the music there at all. Instead, I heard the music from the Palace of Winds from The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap playing inside my head. But I suppose those faults don't really bring it down too much.

Replay Value – 8/10

Replay Value is somewhat hard to say. It manages to keep the gamer playing for quite a while longer. After you beat the main storyline, you begin to get the option to recruit all the legendaries you already fought, plus the new ones you will fight later. And this game actually has all of the 386 pokemon created. That gives the old feeling of getting all the pokemon like in the previous games back. And there are all the items, the TM's, raising your pokemon to high levels, filling the mission log, and I guess a few other things. But sadly, the repetitiveness does sink in slightly here, diminishing some of the replay value. Hopefully, not too many people will decide not to get this game simply because of repetitiveness.

Final Word

The first time I had ever heard of this game was in my Nintendo Power magazine, and when I first saw “Pokemon Mystery Dungeon”, I had no idea that this game would be capable of pulling me back into the Pokemon franchise. It seems to appear to be very dull, but the storyline manages to shake away that dull feeling. This game is sometimes seen as a way to keep people able to anticipate the arrival of Diamond and Pearl, and as soon as they come out, this game will be simply tossed aside by all those fans. But perhaps one of those fans will like this game enough to keep playing and wait to buy Diamond and Pearl a few days after it comes out.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 10/16/06