Game - Pokemon Battle Revolution
System - Wii
Developer - Genius Sonority
Publisher - Nintendo
Genre - RPG/Fighting
Players - 4 (2 Online)
WiFi - Yes
Pokemon Battle Revolution, supposedly the true successor to Pokemon Stadium on the N64, was one of the first online games to be released on Wii, and the first to enable connection between DS and Wii. But was it all that it should live up to be? Read the review and find out…….
Looks Epic Doesn't It?
Gameplay
OK, I want to make this clear, if you don’t own a DS and Pokemon D/P, then your experience of this game is going to be VERY shallow, anyways Gameplay wise PBR has very little options, you can either transfer your well trained monsters onto the Wii from the DS and use them to battle in the Colosseum mode (Which may I add, only takes around 6 hours to complete) where you can earn points to spend on your very own PBR trainer and give him/her new accessories and buy rare items to send over to your DS (The items don’t come very cheap though).
Other than Colosseum mode you can head straight online and be matched up against random trainers from around the world, that is IF you can get matched up, online has so many disconnects or trouble finding a match its unbelievable! And when you do get matched up the experience is normally slow and boring, lack of online leader boards is something that annoys me and probably a lot of other people, we want to be competitive and the best of the best don’t we? Where are the leader boards then?
Another online mode is where you can go up against a friend by entering their Friend Code, its basically the same as the DS friend battle except in 3D and without voice chat.
And last but not least is the local/free for all battle, here you can duke it out with your friends in double and single battles using your DS, Wii Remote and pointer or Wii Remote on its side as controllers.
Oh Noes!
Graphics
The graphics aren’t that bad in my opinion, the effects, trainer character detail, and backgrounds are all great, however I feel the actual Pokemon look far too blocky, and the Pokemon animations are poor, a Pokemon will be knocked out by an attack only to (before it faints) walk back to its position, stand for a second and then faint. Physical attacks are quite poorly done aswell, some of them do show the Pokemon hitting its opponent, some of them don’t.
A Wild Pikachu App.... Wait A Minute!
Sounds
Its not good, let me say that much. Still no actual Pokemon voices from the anime!? We all know we all want to see that, stop giving us the lousy console cries. And the narrator, he really gets to you after a while with his very short amount of phrases, its good that they allow us to turn him off though. However I must say I liked the music, every now and again you here themes from the handheld games which was great nostalgia (Or at least I did)
Am Gunna Lick Yer Face!
Replay Value
Random battles with the CPU in Colloseum mode and a poor online where you can barely get a match, yeah it gets old pretty fast. And if you are lacking a DS and D/P your experience will be shortened even more.
How Cool Does Giratina Look?
Conclusion
In conclusion PBR is a mediocre game that tries to be like Pokemon Stadium and ends up failing miserably by taking away all that we loved about the N64 gem, whatever you do DON’T buy PBR if you are lacking a DS and D/P otherwise you will be forced to use two sets of rental Pokemon that are pathetically underpowered.
Scores
Gameplay - 4/10 - It has its thrills but it can’t satisfy
Graphics - 8/10 - Its lacking in some areas, but they are good
Sounds - 5/10 - Good Music, Bad Sounds
Replay Value - 2/10 - PBR gets old after a while
Final Score
6/10
Mediocre
Its ok
Pokemon Battle Revolution Review
Pokemon Battle Revolution Review
