While a part of me relishes in that being a stab at the Let's Go games, it's somewhat rooted in fact. From what I've heard, people were excited for this game to come out, this was the first ever way to battle with your Pokemon on your TV after all. Whereas with Let's Go Pikachu and Let's Go Eevee, the reaction's been kinda mediocre, though I'll save that for another time. For now, though, the spotlight's on Pokemon Stadium, the second Pokemon Stadium game ever made, and allowing players to battle their Pokemon on the square screen, something that is even more fitting thanks to the Detective Pikachu trailer coming out yesterday (another time, though you can find my initial reaction on my twitter account). How well does it hold up though now? Welcome to a world of visible triangles.
The main focus on Pokemon Stadium is the Pokemon battles, with a large chunk of the modes in the game dedicated to it. There are tournament cups where opponents are randomized based on the rules and difficulty level set, Gym Leader Castle, where the battles are more predetermined as you battle trainers themed around, and eventually including, the Eight Kanto Gym Leaders, and a mode where you and some friends can battle each other. Battles can be done with either premade rental Pokemon, or if you have the Nintendo 64 Transfer Pack, the pokemon you capture in Pokemon Red, Green (if you have one), Blue or Yellow. It's rather simplistic at its core, though it's the biggest problem comes from its source, Pokemon Generation 1, a generation that had infamous glitches, and when the concept of balance in the battles is laughable. This was before Fairies, before the Dark and Steel types existed. Before the Special stat split, when Special Attack and Special Defence were the one thing. This was a time when moves like Wrap made it impossible to attack when glitches let Venusaur become the strongest of the three starters thanks to Toxic and Leech Seed stacking. This was the generation that cemented Mewtwo as the strongest Legendary, even though there was a point when it was dethroned thanks to a god-like horse and your worst nightmares personified kinda nerfed him just a little bit... and was later cancelled by the invention of Mega Evolutions and now we're back to square one. Point being, if you know how to break the battle mechanics of the Generation 1 games and have a transfer pack to nuke them even further, very little is actually going to stand in your way. There is a charm in that though because it's kinda fun to tower over your friends with that kind of knowledge, and if they have a similar kind of knowledge, then do what I did while testing it at the Tech Games Fest this year, embrace the anarchy and do a battle with nothing but Alakazam's Metronome.
The Transfer pack has one other function in Pokemon Stadium though, the ability to play the Generation 1 games on your TV. I can't, however, judge this aspect of the game as while I own the game, I don't own a Transfer Pack, not to mention the lack of a physical copy of a Generation 1 game. What I can however review are the mini-games, the final mode of the game that gives players a break from battles. Like many have said elsewhere online, these games are a lot of fun, and it's a shame that they haven't left the N64. It would honestly be cool to see them remastered and added to the core games as a side activity. Sadly though I don't think that'll happen, based on how the games are designed nowadays. Though as a tip, if anyone at Game Freak ends up reading this, they would be an easy way to bring the Game Corner back. What would you rather, Voltorb Flip or Magikarp Splash?
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| I wish I could make it look this good on my TV. |
It's hard to judge the presentation of this game, because while it hasn't aged well at all visually, what makes it worse is a common problem for retro gamers. That problem is "what happens when you try to play a game not made for a widescreen TV, and play it on a widescreen TV because how many people still have CRT's? This game looks rough and ugly when played on modern screens, even more so than normal. The only problem is that the N64 is really the only option to play the game now. It's not available on the Wii U or 3DS eShop, never came to the Wii eshop to my knowledge, and many emulators struggle to run the game (trust me, I checked). I have to ask though, why? Why wasn't it brought over because while 3D battles aren't the thing it's needed, for now, there is still a charm to it thanks to the animations used in the game, and the audio presentation which features realistic versions of the Pokemon cries, solid remixes of the gen 1 games' soundtrack, and the best announcer I've ever heard, which makes the slow-paced battles feel far more energetic and lively than they really are.
Is Pokemon Stadium fun? Yes. Is it enough fun to find a working N64, game and hopefully score the Transfer Pack and a Gen 1 cartridge, knowing you'll probably have to replace the battery? No. Hopefully, the game can get new life again at some point, but seeing as they continue to not release Mario Party 3 again, I find that hard to believe. If you can find the stuff needed for a good price, then great, have fun as there is definitely fun to be had. For me at least it's more entertaining then Pokemon Snap but that's beside the point. Anyway, from Pokemon to another fad of my primary school, let's go back to Yu-Gi-Oh next week with looking at two movies. Pyramid of Light, and the Dark Side of Dimensions.
