Pok?mon Battle Revolution: Nintendo Wii

...

have fixed stats and movesets. They are harder to use than Pokemon you may be used to, but using the rental Pokemon does make for a challenging single player experience. It just isn't what the developers of the game intended - this is not a stand-alone game.
I spent a few hours testing what the game has to offer. Its strongest point so far is the integration of random battle matchups using Nintendo WiFi. While you are still able to battle a specific friend using a friend code, the option of a random battle with a random person is appreciated. The creation of a character is also very fun, I spent about half an hour on my first battle pass. The character customization goes so far to even let you customize catchphrases for when Pokemon enter the battle, return to their PokeBall, etc. Not to mention that transferring Pokemon from my Diamond cartridge using the DS was seamless and easy, taking only a matter of seconds to see my beloved Pokemon appear in all their three dimensional glory. In addition, when you earn currency in the single player campaign, you are able to buy items and send them to your Pokemon Diamond/Pearl game using the Mystery Gift function.
Many critics of this game may say that it suffers due to lack of a deep, RPG-like mode present in the handheld games and it's Gamecube predecessors, Pokemon Colesseum and Pokemon XD: Gale of Darkness. While I'm the first to admit that I would have enjoyed a single player RPG campaign like in the handheld games, that is not (and never was) what this game was designed to do. It is a Wii and DS specific representation of Pokemon Stadium for the Nintendo 64: It focuses on battling on a very broad scale, and very little else. The graphics are better, they've improved many aspects of the formula, but at its core, it's just a game for people who want to have the major satisfaction of seeing their carefully raised Pokemon battle in three dimensions. This is a wonderful game to use if you or your child enjoy the battling system, or if you simply want a new way to battle competitively online beyond using your DS. Just be aware that the single player campaign is not what you may be used to from the handhelds, and that most of the advantages come from owning a DS and Pokemon Diamond/Pearl.

Pok?mon Battle Revolution: Nintendo Wii

...

have fixed stats and movesets. They are harder to use than Pokemon you may be used to, but using the rental Pokemon does make for a challenging single player experience. It just isn't what the developers of the game intended - this is not a stand-alone game.

I spent a few hours testing what the game has to offer. Its strongest point so far is the integration of random battle matchups using Nintendo WiFi. While you are still able to battle a specific friend using a friend code, the option of a random battle with a random person is appreciated. The creation of a character is also very fun, I spent about half an hour on my first battle pass. The character customization goes so far to even let you customize catchphrases for when Pokemon enter the battle, return to their PokeBall, etc. Not to mention that transferring Pokemon from my Diamond cartridge using the DS was seamless and easy, taking only a matter of seconds to see my beloved Pokemon appear in all their three dimensional glory. In addition, when you earn currency in the single player campaign, you are able to buy items and send them to your Pokemon Diamond/Pearl game using the Mystery Gift function.

Many critics of this game may say that it suffers due to lack of a deep, RPG-like mode present in the handheld games and it's Gamecube predecessors, Pokemon Colesseum and Pokemon XD: Gale of Darkness. While I'm the first to admit that I would have enjoyed a single player RPG campaign like in the handheld games, that is not (and never was) what this game was designed to do. It is a Wii and DS specific representation of Pokemon Stadium for the Nintendo 64: It focuses on battling on a very broad scale, and very little else. The graphics are better, they've improved many aspects of the formula, but at its core, it's just a game for people who want to have the major satisfaction of seeing their carefully raised Pokemon battle in three dimensions. This is a wonderful game to use if you or your child enjoy the battling system, or if you simply want a new way to battle competitively online beyond using your DS. Just be aware that the single player campaign is not what you may be used to from the handhelds, and that most of the advantages come from owning a DS and Pokemon Diamond/Pearl.

Pok?mon Battle Revolution: Nintendo Wii

...

have fixed stats and movesets. They are harder to use than Pokemon you may be used to, but using the rental Pokemon does make for a challenging single player experience. It just isn't what the developers of the game intended - this is not a stand-alone game.


I spent a few hours testing what the game has to offer. Its strongest point so far is the integration of random battle matchups using Nintendo WiFi. While you are still able to battle a specific friend using a friend code, the option of a random battle with a random person is appreciated. The creation of a character is also very fun, I spent about half an hour on my first battle pass. The character customization goes so far to even let you customize catchphrases for when Pokemon enter the battle, return to their PokeBall, etc. Not to mention that transferring Pokemon from my Diamond cartridge using the DS was seamless and easy, taking only a matter of seconds to see my beloved Pokemon appear in all their three dimensional glory. In addition, when you earn currency in the single player campaign, you are able to buy items and send them to your Pokemon Diamond/Pearl game using the Mystery Gift function.


Many critics of this game may say that it suffers due to lack of a deep, RPG-like mode present in the handheld games and it's Gamecube predecessors, Pokemon Colesseum and Pokemon XD: Gale of Darkness. While I'm the first to admit that I would have enjoyed a single player RPG campaign like in the handheld games, that is not (and never was) what this game was designed to do. It is a Wii and DS specific representation of Pokemon Stadium for the Nintendo 64: It focuses on battling on a very broad scale, and very little else. The graphics are better, they've improved many aspects of the formula, but at its core, it's just a game for people who want to have the major satisfaction of seeing their carefully raised Pokemon battle in three dimensions. This is a wonderful game to use if you or your child enjoy the battling system, or if you simply want a new way to battle competitively online beyond using your DS. Just be aware that the single player campaign is not what you may be used to from the handhelds, and that most of the advantages come from owning a DS and Pokemon Diamond/Pearl.

Pok?mon Battle Revolution: Nintendo Wii

...

have fixed stats and movesets. They are harder to use than Pokemon you may be used to, but using the rental Pokemon does make for a challenging single player experience. It just isn't what the developers of the game intended - this is not a stand-alone game.



I spent a few hours testing what the game has to offer. Its strongest point so far is the integration of random battle matchups using Nintendo WiFi. While you are still able to battle a specific friend using a friend code, the option of a random battle with a random person is appreciated. The creation of a character is also very fun, I spent about half an hour on my first battle pass. The character customization goes so far to even let you customize catchphrases for when Pokemon enter the battle, return to their PokeBall, etc. Not to mention that transferring Pokemon from my Diamond cartridge using the DS was seamless and easy, taking only a matter of seconds to see my beloved Pokemon appear in all their three dimensional glory. In addition, when you earn currency in the single player campaign, you are able to buy items and send them to your Pokemon Diamond/Pearl game using the Mystery Gift function.



Many critics of this game may say that it suffers due to lack of a deep, RPG-like mode present in the handheld games and it's Gamecube predecessors, Pokemon Colesseum and Pokemon XD: Gale of Darkness. While I'm the first to admit that I would have enjoyed a single player RPG campaign like in the handheld games, that is not (and never was) what this game was designed to do. It is a Wii and DS specific representation of Pokemon Stadium for the Nintendo 64: It focuses on battling on a very broad scale, and very little else. The graphics are better, they've improved many aspects of the formula, but at its core, it's just a game for people who want to have the major satisfaction of seeing their carefully raised Pokemon battle in three dimensions. This is a wonderful game to use if you or your child enjoy the battling system, or if you simply want a new way to battle competitively online beyond using your DS. Just be aware that the single player campaign is not what you may be used to from the handhelds, and that most of the advantages come from owning a DS and Pokemon Diamond/Pearl.

Pok?mon Battle Revolution: Nintendo Wii

...

fancy getting my backside handed to me by people with huge numbers of very customized pokemon from the aforementioned DS games), it's not really why I've played the Pokemon games in the past.

In the end, I really don't care for the focus of this game. And I sorely miss the single player game that I boneheadedly assumed would be there. I'm very disappointed in this purchase. I don't want other people to make the same mistake.

E.

Pok?mon Battle Revolution: Nintendo Wii

...

fancy getting my backside handed to me by people with huge numbers of very customized pokemon from the aforementioned DS games), it's not really why I've played the Pokemon games in the past.



In the end, I really don't care for the focus of this game. And I sorely miss the single player game that I boneheadedly assumed would be there. I'm very disappointed in this purchase. I don't want other people to make the same mistake.



E.

Pok?mon Battle Revolution: Nintendo Wii

...

out of the way. The menu is alright and everything, but your guide through the menu is really really annoying. The guide has to explain everything. And when I say everything, I'm not kidding. If you're a seasoned gamer, you know what most of the stuff the guide is going to tell you is, yet you still have to sit through it anyway. The good news is you only have to sit through it once.

Previous Pokemon Stadium games also gave you a more RPG like experience. There was actually more to battling than just the sake of battling. Here in Battle Revolutions, that's all you're doing. You're battling just to battle... and you're battling endlessly. There's no real reason why. Of course, this isn't a HUGE problem, though, because in the long run battling is quite fun. I just wish there was some kind of objective here, and some kind of reward to show your achievements to your friends. Not found here. Of course, there will be some who really love this. After all, the point of battle revolutions is to do just that: Battle.

Seeing all your favorite Pokemon from Diamond and Pearl is a real treat indeed. The game has a cartoon like look, but that doesn't mean it isn't impressive. In truth, it is. It doesn't take the Wii to its limits, but again, no Pokemon game ever really pushes a system to its limit. But the game looks good for what is. Visually the game is great. It's the other aspects of the graphics that I sometimes find pretty lacking. It suffers from the same thing Pokemon has suffered from for years. There's hardly a whole lot of animation going on. You simply watch your Pokemon step forward and perform the attack, and then you see the other Pokemon take damage. There's no interaction between the Pokemon. It's a limitation that doesn't make combat less exciting, but over the past few years you do kind of wish your Pokemon would actually... you know... look like they're battling each other rather than just standing there idly. Regardless, combat is still pretty solid, and much like the DS games, pretty addictive.

As far as DS and Wii connectivity go, this game shows that it can be done. As you can transfer your Pokemon from your DS to your Wii wirelessly. However, you get the feeling so much more could've been done with it. Unless Nintendo plans on making a "DS Player" for the Wii, I can't imagine why they wouldn't let you play through your DS games on the big screen. Again, it's not a big set back, but it is a step back from other Pokemon Stadium installments. There's also the excitement over using your DS as a controller, but even that feels incomplete sometimes. Simply because you can't use your DS as a controller in the main game. You CAN, however, use the DS as a controller when playing against a friend. It feels limited, though. Otherwise you can use your Wii-Remote like an NES controller or use the motion sensor controls to point and click.

Now there's the online experience. This is the first real true taste of an Online gaming experience on the Wii. Unfortunately, like the rest of the game, it feels a bit... incomplete. The only thing you can do online is battle. And the battles are all random. To be honest, if all I wanted to do online was battle... I'd just boot up my DS copy of Diamond or Pearl, and they let you do more online than this game does. It just feels like the online mode in this game was a test to see if they could actually do it. The test is a success, but the experience is pretty stale overall.

This isn't the kind of game you buy for curiosity's sake. A lot of it really does feel incomplete. There's so much potential here, but the overall product feels as though it were rushed. Previous Pokemon Stadium games had a lot more substance to them. Pokemon Battle Revolutions is, for the most part, fun. It just doesn't include a whole lot of content worth getting excited about... because the things that we were getting excited about aren't really all that exciting. You're pretty much only going to buy this game to battle... but why spend 50 bucks to do so when you could just as easily spend 35 bucks on the DS games? Besides, without those DS games you can't enjoy the full experience of battling in this game anyway. It's a good "test" to see what the Wii can do, but hopefully the next Pokemon Stadium game will actually push the structure to its limit.