Pok?mon Battle Revolution: Nintendo Wii

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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

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of this game.

2) Voices - Annoying. The announcer says the exact same thing after each attack. Come on, now.

3) In-game extras - OK, I'm happy that I can get a Magmortar and an Electavire (but only after entering a special code - you don't even unlock them through the game), and they even have the correct natures. And yeah, a Pikachu that knows surf is kind of nice (hearkening back to the days of "Pokemon Stadium"), but let's get real. "Pokemon Stadium 2" let me play fun little minigames with my friends, and let me play the DS on the TV. Would that REALLY have been that hard to introduce here? The fact is, this games' extras blow chunks. Seriously. You can beat all of the trainers, and guess what? You get to fight them again! Hooray.

4) Rental pokemon - Are you kidding? In "Stadium," I could rent pretty much ANYONE (including Mew), and similarly for 'Stadium 2". Here? I get one of the WORST starter sets imaginable, and I actually have to win with these losers to get other cards unlocked. The fact is, this game is nigh unplayable without your own copy of "Diamond" or "Pearl". Even then, it stinks, but don't even think of believing that this game can even REMOTELY stand alone.

It should be clear. This game is terrible.

Pok?mon Battle Revolution: Nintendo Wii

...

of this game.



2) Voices - Annoying. The announcer says the exact same thing after each attack. Come on, now.



3) In-game extras - OK, I'm happy that I can get a Magmortar and an Electavire (but only after entering a special code - you don't even unlock them through the game), and they even have the correct natures. And yeah, a Pikachu that knows surf is kind of nice (hearkening back to the days of "Pokemon Stadium"), but let's get real. "Pokemon Stadium 2" let me play fun little minigames with my friends, and let me play the DS on the TV. Would that REALLY have been that hard to introduce here? The fact is, this games' extras blow chunks. Seriously. You can beat all of the trainers, and guess what? You get to fight them again! Hooray.



4) Rental pokemon - Are you kidding? In "Stadium," I could rent pretty much ANYONE (including Mew), and similarly for 'Stadium 2". Here? I get one of the WORST starter sets imaginable, and I actually have to win with these losers to get other cards unlocked. The fact is, this game is nigh unplayable without your own copy of "Diamond" or "Pearl". Even then, it stinks, but don't even think of believing that this game can even REMOTELY stand alone.



It should be clear. This game is terrible.