Customer Reviews

Pokemon Channel with BONUS Pokemon Mini

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

The Gamecube has been out for two years and now we finally have a Pokemon game for it. Unfourtunately 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 unfourtunately 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 or 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 occasionaly go outside and see diferent Pokemon which is pretty cool. The shopping channel even sells bus passes which can take you to different areas to see diferent 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 arquably 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: lackof 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 or 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 intriqued 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 strech 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 dissapointed. 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. This is the one to buy though since you get the free Pokemon Mini which I hear are pretty fun. 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.

I said it once, and I'll say it again: THIS GAME IS AWESOME!!!!!!!!!! Okay, your mission in the game is to help Professor Oak by watching lots of pokemon-oriented telivision shows with a wild Pikachu that wanders into your room when you first turn on the TV. Later on in the game, you get to nickname Pikachu after it spends the night in your room. You can do lots more than watch TV though... you can run around outside and meet wild pokemon to collect Pokemon Nice Cards, you can shop off the Shop 'n Squirtle network, and you can play games on a pokemon mini system. You can play on Quiz Wobbufett to win money and buy stuff, and then spend it on cool stuff from Shop n' Squirtle. You can buy buss passes and take them to Cobalt Coast, Viridian Forest, or Mt. Snowfall. You can explore the Cobalt Coast beach and go fishing with Pikachu, you can observe the many constelationos of the sky at Camp Starlight in the Viridian Forest, or you can brave through the scary darkness of the Ruins of Truth (and help Pikachu get un-stuck from the Golbat statue's mouth!) at Mt. Snowfall! You can test your pokemon knowledge as you collect nice cards from wild pokemon you meet, or you could just sit back and watch one of the many programs on Pokemon Channel, including an all-new anime never seen on TV... Pichu Bros., featuring a pokemon song never before aired in the US- Meowth's Party! Or, you could paint with the Smeargle 2 and then watch Smeargle himself play critic to your art on Smeargle's Art Study... or, you could just watch Mareep Farm and have a nice long nap...............Well, whatever you choose to do, this game is fun for anyone! I loved it, and I bet you will to! You won't regret buying it, that's for sure!

Way back in the days of Red, Blue, and Yellow, a game was released called Pokemon Stadium. It featured tough strategic battles, cute minigames, and useful utilities like Pokemon storage, item storage, and a Pokedex. It was useful and entertaining and remains one of my favorite N64 games.

Later, Nintendo released a similar game called Stadium 2, which was identical to the first but with small adjustments to the unlockable features and battle moe, and including better graphics, new games, and compatibility with Gold, Silver, and Crystal Pokemon. This also was fun and useful.

However, with the release of Ruby and Sapphire, Nintendo actually split the expected Stadium-style games into three: Colosseum (which included battle mode and a new RPG mode), Box (which was purely a storage utility), and Channel (dealing with the mini-game side of things). Box looks like a useful utility, and Colosseum is wonderful, but Channel is a fun mixture between the classic Stadium and Stadium 2 minigames as well as the old game "Hey You Pikachu." In it, you befriend a wild Pikachu which is interested in your new TV (haha). You watch new shows every day, which include Psyduck's news, Squirtle's shopping channel, and Wobbuffet's quiz show. Each day you get new shows. The best part about this game is definately the availability of a special Pokemon episode featuring Meowth and the Pichu Brothers, who first appeared in the 3rd Mini-Movie "Pikachu and Pichu." This show comes in five parts, and you must search for the fifth along with Pikachu.

Though the addition of the animated episode was a wonderful touch, the interaction with Pikachu was not as good as the old game Hey You Pikachu, mostly because of the lack of microphone and the focus being taken off you befriending Pikachu. Also, the mini-games were not as entertaining as the Stadium and Stadium 2 games were. Mostly because of the cute episode, though, I give this game 4/5.

This game offers a surprisingly large number of fun diversions, none of which require very long to play. All the activities prove to be much more relaxing than intense (don't expect any fast-thinking button-mashing game thrills). And Pikachu is as cute as ever. Seeing all the new things Pikachu does as you progress is one of the best parts of the game. On a lonely day you might actually feel like Pikachu is your friend.

There is no battling whatsoever in this game. For parents who like the Pokemon characters but don't want their kids exposed to violence, this game fits the bill perfectly. Of course it promotes tv-watching (it is a couch potato sim after all), but there is no violence at all.

As for me, as a 26-year-old who enjoys many types of games from Pokemon to Zelda to Grand Theft Auto, this game was a really good way to wind down after a too-long session at work or with any other game. And it was a lot of fun, seriously. Exploring everything this game has to offer was slow-paced but just as fun as exploring a good RPG. I did say 'was;' after playing it for a couple weeks a total of 10-15 hours I would say it has no more replay value for me, except if I want to watch the Pichu Bros. once in a while -- it's a great cartoon, and the Meowth Party video near the end kicks ___.

one complaint: My two favorite Pokemon Mini games, Pinball and Puzzle Collection, are stripped down to tiny little 'lite' versions with no progress-save and about 5% of the levels and fun of the originals for Pokemon Mini itself.

My 11 year old will not even stop playing to eat until I pry him away from the TV. I had read some bad reviews of this game and worried that he wouldn't like it, but he loves it. He especially loves waiting for the "mail"!

Pokemon Channel is a great game. I had been playing it for about a week, an I had about 30 different channels. I had saved it one night, but the next morning when it was supposed to have the continue and special buttons on the TV screen they were not there. I had to restart my game and I was very dissapointed. Just now I was looking at my saved game when I found that it had been deleted. We only had a Mario Kart game and the Pokemon Channel saved. The Mario Kart game was still saved.
I wonder if anyone else had this problem with this great game.

This is a fabulous game that our 5 and 7 year old love to play together. You need to play it a few times to win more "shows and games", but then it's awesome. I have a hard time prying them away from the game. They love to win money with Quiz Wobbufet then going to the Shop N Squirtle to buy things. They can't wait to turn it on the next time when their purchases are delivered! Currently they are waiting for a pokemon to hatch out of an egg. I think it is great for any age interested in pokemon.

I saw that this got some bad reviews and was nervous when my 7 yo son insisted on buying it with his xmas money -- but he loves it. Even my 11 yo daughter, who generally doesnt like games, plays it -- a lot! My impression is its more like interactive tv than a real game, but for tv addicts . . . I guess it works.

I love this game.I am 11 and I expected it to pretty good but when I started playing it I couldn't keep my eyes off the TV.Buy this game and you won't regret it.

I expected this game to be pretty lame. To my surprise, my 5 year old and my 8 year old have spent several hours a day for the past 4 days playing it. They've even let my wife and I sleep late for probably the first time in their lives. I don't play it, but my two oldest both give it 5 stars.