puzzle games

The Gamecube has been out for two years and now we finally have a Pokemon game for it. Unfortunately this might not really be a game. Lets start with some details and what this game does right first. Apparently Prof. Oak has been hard at work on a television network for Pokemon (does the man have a life?). Now you've been chosen to test this network and see if it's any good. Right when the television is delivered guess who suddenly breaks into your house? If you said Pikachu you're unfortunately correct (more on that later). So now you and Pikachu (who is apparently allowed to break the law) are now tasked to watch this network and see how it works. Each channel has different Pokemon themed shows such as PNF (Pokemon News Flash), Shop n Squirtle, Pichu Bros Party Panic Anime, and Slowpokes weather report. There are more but they're neither interesting nor fun to watch. Let's start with the good. The graphics are okay, not heavily detailed, but they get the job done with the exception of some of the Pokemon models looking like they came from the N64 games. You can occasionally go outside and see different Pokemon, which is pretty cool. The shopping channel even sells bus passes which can take you to different areas to see different Pokemon. Now the bad and there are more of these than the good. If you hate Pikachu this WILL increase your hatred ten fold at least. He always wants to watch TV! It usually takes an act of congress to get him to go outside and see the different Pokemon, which is arguably the best part of this game. Now some of the shows are okay but noo he wants to watch all of them including crap like Smoochum exercising for five minutes. It's like babysitting some annoying child. After a few days of this you will try to get him run over by the bus (sadly you cannot). Now my biggest gripe: lack of interactivity to the point you question whether you have a DVD or a game. Everything here has you watching. Sure you get to click on things but after that you only get to see what Pikachu does with them (which if you don't like him anyway you won't want to see him roll around with a ball for example). As an interesting side note (and this is neither good nor bad) this game runs on real time like Animal Crossing. So if you're Gamecube's clock is set correctly and you turn this on at three PM it will be the same in the game. At first this intrigued me but it soon became clear that this feature is very limited here. For example there are no exact time specific events such as "Charmander only comes out from three to four in the afternoon". Instead it seems as though things are divided into three time sections each day: playing before noon, playing from noon to seven PM, and playing from seven PM to seven AM when the first section starts again. While simplistic it does keep the game from ending too quickly unless you mess with the clock. Each day when you save it unlocks things that when turned on in the proper time section the next day you can access. As stated before it isn't complex in the least but it does serve to stretch out what would be an otherwise short game. I know you're thinking I'm being too harsh on a game that's geared towards children right? Well it's because I know that tons of older Pokemon fans will pick this up and be disappointed. I almost did but thankfully I rented it first. Even at thirty dollars it's too much for what an older person would get out of it. However if you're a parent looking for good game for your pokemon-loving child this is actually a good choice. I could see a child enjoying it. Anyone over ten would be wise to wait until this can be picked up for at most half the price, I know I'm going to.

All ya do is watch Pikachu watch TV. Not fun. The people on TechTV's "X-Play" gave it a 1 out of 5. I agree wholeheartedly.

I'd like to admit that this game is really fun. I was greatly excited when I saw the commercial for it. The thought that a new pokemon game for Nintendo Gamecube is out now was exciting! I rented it at Blockbuster a long time ago! Eventually I bought it and had a lot of fun raising and traveling with a graphical pikachu; meeting other pokemon, collecting pokemon cards in the game, and getting to watch new fun pokemon related channels every day! My favorite was "Shopping Squirtle" and Pichu. Bros.-wich is a cartoon about (not video game like,it was real animation) - about the 2 observant pichus you saw in Pokemon 3 the movie! You would like it too.