Product Description
-------------------
Pokémon Stadium lets you stage Pokémon battles in a whole new
arena--on your Nintendo 64! See all 150 Pokémon execute their
attacks in full 3-D, and create your own custom stickers!
Pokémon Stadium gives trainers an arena to engage in heated
Pokémon battles, and offers them a ringside seat for the action.
Tons of features, including support for playing your Game Boy
Pokémon game through your N64, make Stadium a must-have for all
Pokémon fans!
In Pokémon Stadium, you're able to battle using your most loyal
Pokémon from the Red ( /exec/obidos/ASIN/B00003OTI3/${0} ), Blue
( /exec/obidos/ASIN/B00000IYER/${0} ), and Yellow (
/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000047GEI%20/${0} ) versions of Pokémon (sold
separately). Thanks to a Transfer Pak that comes with Pokémon
Stadium and plugs into the bottom of your controller, data can be
transferred straight from a Game Boy cartridge to your N64.
The technical machines, attacks, and levels of your trained
Pokémon are available on Pokémon Stadium, so you won't have to
leave any of your favorites behind. You'll want your specially
trained Pokémon to battle Stadium's toughest rivals.
There are 150 Pokémon that can be used, or "rented," in Pokémon
Stadium, even if you decide not to transfer data from your Game
Boy Pokémon games. (Mewtwo is never available as a rental
Pokémon, but you can upload Mewtwo from your Pokémon Game Pak.)
Pokémon Stadium will allow up to four players to compete in a
grueling Pokémon tournament, designed to reveal which of your
friends is the best Pokémon trainer.
.com
----
As with just about anything brandishing the Pokémon name,
Pokémon Stadium is a must-have for any Pokémaniac. But this title
is especially geared towards owners of Pokémon Red, Pokémon Blue,
or Pokémon Yellow for the Game Boy. Using the same battle system
as the Game Boy games--think highly advanced
rock-paper-scissors--Pokémon Stadium allows players to enter
their Pokémon in a variety of tournaments and other battle modes,
all featuring vibrant 3-D graphics and animation, as well as
enhanced sounds and announcer commentary. Using the included
Transfer Pak, players can use their own Pokémon from Game Boy
Game Paks, or they can choose from a pool of rental Pokémon.
Pokémon Stadium isn't all battles, though. The Kids Club mode
features nine cutesy minigames that make for great multiplayer
fun for all ages. Gallery mode lets players take snaps of
Pokémon (similar to Pokémon Snap), which can then be printed out
as stickers at your local Pokémon Snap station.
While Pokémon Stadium doesn't require that you already have any
Game Boy version of Pokémon, players won't be able to access two
of the best features of the game without one. Pokémon Lab allows
players to view, store, and better organize the data on their
Game Paks, as well as trade Pokémon with another player (which
requires an additional Transfer Pak, sold separately). GB Tower
allows gamers to play their Game Boy Pokémon cartridge on the
Nintendo 64. --Joe Hon
Pros:
* Tried-and-true Pokémon battle system with enhanced graphics and
sounds
* Allows you to play your Game Boy Pokémon game on the Nintendo
64
* Ability to manipulate data on your Game Boy Pokémon game
* Minigames make for great multiplayer fun for all ages Cons:
* Not likely to win over any Pokémon holdouts
* The Game Boy Pokémon games are a better starting point for
newbies to the genre
Review
------
Nintendo has just about all the possible Pokemon angles covered.
You can play the card game, train the creatures to fight on your
Game Boy, watch the movie or TV show, and snap pictures of them
until the Butterfrees come home. Pokemon Stadium doesn't really
bring any new Pokemon activities to the table - it offers
gameplay that feels scaled down and oversimplified, even when
compared with the original Game Boy games. The main hook to
Pokemon Stadium is the GB Transfer Pak, which ships with the
game. The transfer pak fits into your N64 controller and has a
slot for Game Boy carts. This interface lets you take the Pokemon
you captured and raised in Pokemon Red, Blue, or Yellow and place
them - and their stats - onto the N64. Once you've done this,
it's off to the arena, where you can enter one of four
tournaments, each broken up into level brackets. Each tournament
puts you up against eight trainers, each of whom possesses one of
the eight Pokemon League badges. If your Pokemon come out on top,
you move ahead. Lose, and you'll have to use a continue. You can
also set up multiplayer tournaments. The turn-based fighting is
handled in the classic RPG style, just as the Game Boy Pokemon
games were. Before a round, each combatant picks the attack he's
going to go with or decides if he's going to recall his current
Pokemon in favor of another. Each Pokemon and its attacks are
given types which are used to determine a certain Pokemon's
strengths and weaknesses, bringing a bit of
rock-paper-scissors-esque strategy to the proceedings. Besides
the tournament fighting, there is a small collection of
minigames. The minigames in Pokemon Stadium make Mario Party's
minigames look like rocket science. Most of the minigames involve
hitting A over and over again until someone is declared the
winner. Also of note is a mode that actually lets you put your
Game Boy Pokemon carts (limited to Red, Blue, and Yellow) into
the transfer pak and play them on your television. This is great
for saving batteries and limiting your eyestrain. Also, the
sticker-printing mode from Pokemon Snap has been carried over to
Stadium. You can put any Pokemon in any of the arena backgrounds
and snap away, then take the cart to a participating Blockbuster
Video and print out little Pokemon stickers. The Pokemon look
great - even better than they looked in Pokemon Snap. The
fighting animation is a little drab, as it sticks to standard RPG
conventions, meaning that when attacking, the Pokemon will merely
step forward and execute its attack, then the sing Pokemon
will go into an attacked animation. It would have been nice to
see the little critters actually get down and dirty with a little
physical contact. The effects for projectile and other
magic-style attacks are done well. The sound leaves a lot to be
desired. Tossing in Pokemon voices from the TV show seems like a
real no-brainer here, but alas, there is none to be found. An
announcer gives the play-by-play, but his speech is very limited,
and you'll be hearing the same few phrases repeatedly. In
addition, the voice and soundtrack are a little low on the
frequency scale, making everything sound a little tinny and
muffled. If you've grown attached to the Pokemon team you're
raising on the Game Boy, or you're playing the heck out of the
Game Boy version and you're tired of playing on the little
screen, Pokemon Stadium is worth owning. But if you're after a
little more storyline and a little less generic RPG battling,
Stadium comes off as a bit of a disappointment. --Jeff Gerstmann
--Copyright ©1998 GameSpot Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction
in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written
permission of GameSpot is prohibited. -- GameSpot Review
