Gamertell Review: Pokemon Rumble for Wii

Title: Pokemon Rumble
Price: $15 (1,500 Nintendo Points)
System(s): Wii
Release Date: November 16, 2009
Publisher (Developer): Nintendo (Ambrella)
ESRB Rating: “Everyone 10+” for Mild Cartoon Violence
Pros: 1-4 people can play. There’s a free demo available on the Wii Shop Channel for it at the moment. Lots of pokemon to collect and a nice assortment of areas to visit. Can move pokemon to your remote for when you visit friends with the game. Can enter passwords to unlock extra pokemon. Easy to play, with multiple controller options.
Cons: Pretty pricey for a Wiiware game and you can’t import pokemon from My Pokemon Ranch or any of the Pokemon Wii or DS games. Could get repetative, after a while.
Overall Score: One thumb up, one thumb sideways, 85/100, B, * * * 1/2 out of 5

Pokemon Rumble, one of Nintendo’s latest WiiWare offerings, both capitalizes on an established series and already existing graphics. It uses the pokemon designs from My Pokemon Ranch and relies on the Pokemon namesake to lure people in to a surprisingly enjoyable, and often addictive action game. It offers a more casual and effortless experience than most Pokemon fans expect from the series, which may help lure in less experienced and casual gamers.

Anthropomorphic toy pokemon battle it out.

Pokemon Rumble starts with a single wind-up toy Rattata. You see it sneak its way through a crack into the rank C battle royale battle, and then attempt to help him win. Sadly, he’s only a level 26 toy pokemon and the other participants are much, much stronger. He gets beaten, and dropped outside into the preparation area. The battle royale doors shut behind him as he’s tossed out.

It’s now up to you, with Rattata as your starter toy pokemon, to become a toy pokemon battle royale master. You have to go through different areas, beating up waves of pokemon, in the hopes you’ll recruit stronger ones and earn money to help improve ones you already own.

Entertaining, but best with friends or in small doses.

Gameplay is pretty straightforward. Toy pokemon enter into a massive battle royale, all trying to be the one survivor. You first must go into six different areas to battle and recruit stronger pokemon, since toy pokemon never level up or evolve. Once you’ve recruited a pokemon above a certain level, for example the rank C limit is 100, you can enter the battle royale and hopefully move up to the next rank, where you’ll once again have to meet a level limit to enter. Most of your time is spent preparing for battle royales by journeying through areas, searching for coins and stronger pokemon, and then preparing those pokemon by hopefully teaching them better moves. When journeying through areas, you get three extra wind-up keys, which represent how many lives you have left. If a toy pokemon faints on you, you lose a key.

The best part is the multiplayer feature. You can play with up to three other friends in a battle royale, attempting to see who has picked the best pokemon and is able to use them to their full potential. You can move your pokemon you’ve collected to your remote, and take them with you when you go to play with friends, meaning you’ll always have the best members of your team at hand.

The only downside is that gameplay can get a bit repetitive. You’re basically journeying through the same six areas when searching for pokemon, and button-mashing can easily get you through most situations. It isn’t too bad when you’ve just entered a new ranking area and things are fresh, but when you’re going back to make sure you’ve completed everything, it can get a tiring. If you take your time, playing for up to an hour at a time, it isn’t so bad. But if you decide to rush through and play for over two hours, the monotony will get to you.

A fresh entry in the Pokemon franchise.

Pokemon Rumble isn’t as robust and time consuming as previous Pokemon entries, but it is still entertaining and satisfying. If you accept it for what it is, a more casual and mindless endeavor, you’ll likely love it. It’s especially true if you have friends you can play against. In a way, it’s interesting, because it gives players an idea of what Pokemon gameplay would be like if it were an action game as opposed to a standard RPG.

If anything, there’s a free Pokemon Rumble demo on the Wii Shop Channel. Try it out, it gives a pretty good impression of what gameplay is like, minus the multiplayer and battle royale aspects.

Site [Pokemon Rumble]