Genius. Only that word can be used to describe the Pokemon franchise, currently on its 11th year of games, shows and toys. Only Nintendo could've thought up this giant of a franchise, bringing in billions of dollars a year. Last year, Pokemon Diamond and Pearl were released in Japan to record sales. Similar sales have been held all over the world.
Now Nintendo has finally brought its Diamond and Pearl extension to the rest of the world. And even better, they included online play over the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, the first Wii game to do so.
In Pokemon Battle Revolution you take control of a young Pokemon trainer invited to a Pokemon Carnival called Poketopia. Here you enter 11 different coliseums in hopes of being the best trainer on the island.
Your trainer is fully customizable both in name and appearance. However, new to the console versions is the ability to purchase clothes for your character and adorn them in any way you choose. There are multiple clothes for you to choose which are purchased with Poke coupons, the currency of the island. The level of customization in this game is a welcome addition and greatly appreciated.
When you first fire up the game you are asked to create a save file then are thrust into the Main Menu where you can choose the mode you wish to play. Undoubtedly beside the Wi-Fi, the most played option will be the coliseum mode where you can battle your way through the carnival grounds, with a leader waiting at the end of each coliseum. This mode, while fun, is not very deep as battles can be won quite easily as long as you have the type advantage. The trainers, beside the leader, are not very powerful and even some of your weaker Pokemon will completely destroy them. Overall the A.I. is flawed and this is one area where the game does require some improvement.
Pokemon Battle Revolution is the first Wii game to interact with the DS. You can copy your Pokemon, all of the them including the ones in storage, onto the game. You then create a Custom Battle Pass and choose six of those Pokemon to use in Coliseum and WFC mode. Uploading is simple, merely requiring you to power up the DS and choose 'Connect to Wii' on your Diamond or Pearl's Main Menu. It takes about three minutes the first time and about 1-2 any additional times. Unfortunately the DS cannot be used as a controller in anything other than DS battle mode, which is between you and others using Diamond and Pearl in the same room.
This brings up the game's greatest flaw, connectivity. If you do not have a DS and a copy of Diamond or Pearl, you must create a Rental Pass. With a rental pass you have to use Rental Pokemon. You also cannot earn money. With rental Pokemon you will also get smashed online, showing how underpowered Nintendo made the rental pokemon. In fact, if you don't own Diamond or Pearl, I do not recommend PBR as a purchase choice. This seriously hurts the score of this game, as rental Pokemon should at least by useful in the game's Main coliseum mode.
Gameplay wise, this game is very similar to Pokemon Diamond and Pearl. You use the Wii Remote as a pointer and select all the option by pressing the corresponding button on-screen. Other than that, that's it. The game makes no use whatsoever of the Wiimote's built in motion sensing, the whole point of the Wii. This is depressing as this is not a Third Party game and there is no excuse for Nintendo not using motion sensing in their own game. Another hurting factor is the lack of anything else. Nothing else besides battling is included in this game, which sucks.
Graphically, this game is leagues above Diamond and Pearl and above the Gamecube and N64 games. Character models are crisp and sharp and the Pokemon are beautifully rendered in bright colors with realistic movement animations. Attack motions also are lovely and the attacks actually connect with the Pokemon instead of a cut away like the last few Pokemon console games. The camera catches the action from many different angles, making you seem as though you're watching an actual Pokemon match being broadcast on TV. Your trainer is always show on screen behind the Pokemon and issues orders when the Pokemon are about to attack. Poketopia itself is rendered quite nicely and all the stadiums you fight in are lit perfectly and have their own neat designs. It also runs at 480p and 16:9 Widescreen, always a plus with Wii games. In fact, there are only a few bad things I can say about the graphics, like the the lack of texture. There is no texture on anything, not on the Pokemon's fur, not on the ground or even on your trainer. Everything is all smoothed out and makes it look a little less realistic. Also, when you launch an attack and your Pokemon misses, you Pokemon doesn't move. It just sits there and the announcer tells you that you missed. Its unrealistic and it would've been nice to see your Pokemon attack, only to miss the enemy. Regardless, this is one of the prettier Wii games available right now.
Despite looking good, this game doesn't always sound good. The Pokemon attacks are low quality sound and aren't nearly loud enough. Also the Pokemon only screech when they are sent out and when they feint. At least the announcer sounds good, despite saying the same things over and over again battle after battle. At least Nintendo included the option to turn off the Announcer's voice in case you get tired of hearing him talk about how big your Pokemon are.
Now for one of the biggest features of this game: Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection support. As you are probably aware, this game is the first in the US and Japan to support Online play over the WFC. Online Play is simple and those who've used the DS online play will feel right at home here. First, you select WFC from the Main Menu and your Wii connects to the WFC. This only takes about a minute and then the game saves. After which you either select 'Battle with Someone' or 'Battle a Friend'. I'll discuss 'Battle With Someone' first, as its probably the main mode you will play. After selecting Battle with Someone, you then pick the stage you wish to battle on and then select your Battle Pass. The game then searches for an opponent for you to battle. Once you find an opponent the battle proceeds just like a coliseum battle. There is a bit of lag, though not in the actually battle animation. Its when you select an option. It takes about 3 seconds for the battle menu to change with each option, slowing down the overall pace of the battle. Its disappointing but forgivable as it is the first online Wii game. At the end of the battle you have the option of battling again and/or exchanging Friend Passes. You can't, however, exchange Friend Codes with a person you randomly meet online. You can then use the Friend Passes anytime during coliseum or multiplayer, meaning you can use your opponent's pokemon anytime! A disappointing feature of the Battle with Someone feature is the lack of customization. At most, the only thing you can select is to have either a single or double battle and the stage. You cannot change the rules, meaning your Pokemon are level capped to 50 and certain pokemon aren't allowed.
In Battle with a Friend, you go into a lobby showing all the people you've exchanged Friend Codes with. This is one of the more impressive areas of the game as it not only shows whether your friend is online or not, but whether or not they're seeking a battle, in the middle of a battle or standing by. From the lobby you can send an invitation to someone, regardless of their status. They do have to be online however. Battles then proceed as they would on Battle With Someone only now you may select rules, which is a nice feature that should've been included with Battle With Someone.
Some other bad things about it. There's no stat tracking? Most of you are probably like 'No Stats? WTF?' Its true. It only tells you how many battles you've done, not any wins or losses. There's no leaderboard either, so your reasons for playing online are pretty low.
Closing Comments
Pokemon Battle Revolution is a decent Wii game and a solid online experience avaliable. Sure its missing textures and the online isn't as complex or deep as it should be, but its decent for the first online Wii game. And despite sounding inferior to most Wii games, this game will keep you busy for at least a few weeks. Despite all my good comments, this game is far from perfect and has some missing features that seriously hurt my final score. My main beef is the need of Pokemon Diamond and Pearl and the fact that there is no real extras to speak off. The most you get is a Surfing Pikachu. You can only battle in this game, there are no additional mini-games or anything besides battling in tis game, which may turn a few people off. Despite this, if you need Online Play and have a copy of Pokemon Diamond or Pearl you should definitely pick this game up.
Final Scores
Story: 4/10 There isn't really much of a story here though you can fully customize your trainer which is nice.
Gameplay: 8/10 Lack of true Wii Remote functions and no use of the DS as a controller hurts. Customizing trainer and Wi-Fi helps
Graphics: 9/10 Nicely Done, though the lack of true texture hurts
Sound: 4/10 Not good enough to justify being in a pokemon game. DS battle sounds are better, which is bad.
Wi-Fi Support: 6/10 No Stats and very glitchy online play really hurt this score.
Overall Score: 7/10 (not an average) [Diamond and Pearl Owners]
4.5/10 (not an average) [non-Diamond and Pearl Owners]
