Pokemon Stadium: Remember when people were excited to play Pokemon on a home console?

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?

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.

The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask: "This wasn't what I meant by 'when the moon goes down'"

With the sucsess of Ocarina of Time, its no surprise that Nintendo wanted a second game on the N64, now to use the expansion pack accessory for the system. With the use of Ocarina of Time's engine, what many regard to be one of the creepiest games ever made came to be. Time to look at the game that makes children scared of faces on the moon, The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask. Like with Ocarina of Time, while I will be taking screenshots from both games, I've used the recent 3DS remake as the base of this review. Also, this WILL contain spoilers for Ocarina of Time as well as Majora's Mask.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time: How doth thou stand the test of time?

The 32/64 bit era was a time of dramatic change in the industry. It was the push from 2D to 3D, it was the rise of Sony with the PlayStation. New genres were made, new characters created, and it was a time where games would become legends thanks to what they bring to the table. Often regarded as one of, if not the greatest game of all time. A legend in its own right, introducing mechanics that wouldn't only be used in later installments of the Zelda series, but also games of other genre's to this day. But before I start, I must ask you. For right now, A Dark time is approaching. Willst thou run? Or Fly? Wilst thou sink? Or Swim? Willst thou finish? Or Die trying?" "Willst thou soar? Or willst thou suck?" "Willst thou flee? Or Fight? And in the end Willst thou get the girl? Or play like one?" Sexist quote from a 90's commercial out of the way (I'm not kidding, child friendly Nintendo green lit that for their commercials of this game), time to look at "the game that became a legend": The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the... I mean Ocarina of Time.

I know its not the cover, but I'd rather do one shared between both, not a version exclusive

Nostalga, feeling older then you actually are.

Unless you were born in the new millennium (and even then that's pushing it), I'm pretty sure everyone has had a moment when you suddenly feel older then you actually are, normally if you witness a anniversary of something you saw at the beginning if its life. While I'm sure it feels worse the older you get, for me at least, as someone who's 18 years old, it's a weird feeling knowing that the games you played, the shows and movies you watched are being classified as retro. I have very fond, memories of playing Nintendo 64's at restaurants and even my Primary School's before school care service when I was younger, playing Super Mario 64, Mario Kart 64, Star Wars Pod Racer and Pokémon Stadium 1 and 2. Playing Crash Bandicoot 1, Spyro the Dragon 1, The amazing Spiderman, Atlantis the lost empire and Tomb Raider on my family's (specifically my father's) PlayStation 1, having to swap Memory cards when needed just to find my save files, along with the Need for Speed Underground games, Burnout 3 and the early LEGO games on the PlayStation 2. These are memories ingrained into my head, memories that are so strong that I can pick them up again 20+ years latter and still play it like the last time I played it was yesterday. It is because of those games that I remember the consoles controller's layout off by heart, to me, all the buttons on them are exactly where they need to be. I still remember the original Beyblades (I went to a Beyblade Tournament myself, when it was almost impossible to learn how to play Yu-Gi-Oh because the first season barely resembled the card game (I know this from experience). When Tamagotchi's were physical things and not apps, Scannerz were around and you had kids in shops scanning everything with a barcode (I might have been one of them...) when rumours were spreading about the mythical E-Reader, the theories of how to get Deoxys and or Jirachi, Mirage Island and more. I know this might be pathetic for readers who are older then me and even for people my age, I don't know what it is, but I always do like reminiscing on those days...

Please let me know if there is anything you like to reminisce about your younger days, what makes you feel older then you actually do when you realise how long its been.

On a non related note, my blog for Super Smash Brothers, Fan Disagreement has had over 100 views, so again, thankyou to all who have actually read the blog and this one as well.