Handheld Review : Pokemon Trading Card Game (Game Boy Color)

Handheld Review
Pokemon Trading Card Game
Game Boy Color

Recently a PC version of this concept saw the light of day... then promptly fell off the radar of gamers and nobody I know of ever talked of it again. I dont know if it is still active or not, but if by some circumstance it has shut down I wont be surprised. The game seemed unoriginal to me, even for an online PC so called free to play game that, like many games of this type, lives and dies on micro transactions of real cash. In this case micro transactions of real money bought you starter decks and booster packs... yeah, I cant imagine this game still being alive.

Continuing the lack of originality theme we have Pokemon Trading Card Game for the Game Boy Color, also playable on the GBA SP.

You might think a game like Pokemon Trading Card Game might be original, especially if you played the trading card version of Monster Rancher, also for the Game Boy Color, but then you would be wrong. Right to the most basic story premise the game is a shallow clone of Pokemon Red and Blue. You are this fan of the Pokemon TCG, and thanks to your friend the Professor you are set on the road to earn the Legendary Pokemon cards by beating this game's version of the Elite Four (after earning eight gym badges).

But, you might think, isnt that a good thing? Considering how much gameplay you can squeeze out of even first gen Red and Blue this should be a long and involved game... right? Actually no. The explorable domain is very very small. Dr Mason's lab, the eight Pokemon gyms, a Challenge dome, the home of a high level Pokemon TCG trader and the Pokemon Dome (home of the four grandmasters). And if your wondering? All the gyms and the challenge dome are the same basic design. An entrance room, a waiting room (where you can link with other GBAs for linked battles or where you can find NPC to trade with) and the main gym room. You wont always find all the gym members in this room. In the case of the Fighting Club the members are hanging out in other gyms.

Otherwise that is about it. It is maybe 20 or so hours of gameplay. Not the longest Pokemon you played, and not the shortest but... it is a fair decent slice of gaming. Something for your traveling kit if you have a Pokemon obsession, and you can find probably find it if you look about places like GameTZ or Amazon. A decent middle of the road 3 out of 5. Try it, if you can overlook the game's shortcomings, and enjoy.

Pocket Gamer Episode 5 now available

I really need to get back on track with game content!

This episode we look at the first walkthrough of Dragon Quest IX Sentinels of the Starry Skies. Future episodes we'll do walkthroughs of games like Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (both the Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance versions) and review all the walkthroughs and do additional reviews like Castlevania : Circle of the Moon GBA and more.

Next up? Another Pocket Gamer and a new Antisocial Gamer. Stay tuned.

It's Demo Time with Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate (Nintendo 3DS)

Demo Time!
Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate Intro
Nintendo 3DS
Publisher - Capcom

I never thought we would get to this point. Honestly. This was a long time in coming.

After being promised in a past Tokyo Game Show that we would get Monster Hunter 3DS then Monster Hunter 4, only to see the first get a Japan only release we FINALLY get a 3DS Monster Hunter release!

Its only a year or so late but better late than never.

So we have this brand spanking new demo on the 3DS, Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate, Something about that name clicked and rattled in my brain for a bit, so I went and refreshed my memory as to the history of Monster Hunters. Sure enough I found out that this is the long promised Tri G release we should have had last year! What the heck! Why did it take THIS LONG to get released! Boggles the mind, I tell you.

OK. So lets just jump right in and try this demo out shall we...

The first thing we are going to cover is not so much what the demo has as to what it doesnt have. Mainly this means no village. The village represents the largest single portion of the game, where you manage and upgrade all your character's gear, weapons and armor. You also do your side stuff like farming, fishing, mining and more... maybe the best reason to not show you the village though is to hide the fact that only the Wii U version of this game sports online multiplayer. Yes, online on this game literally is dead before arrival.

So with that said what does the demo hold? Two random levels. The basic level is another snowy mountain level though I have to credit the game for not recycling the mountain level from Freedom Unite (which probably recycled it from Monster Hunter Freedom 2 in turn). It is in the same spirit, but just different enough to feel fresh and new. The second harder level has you fighting a waterborne dragon in a sea level... and yes this is your first exposure to the swimming mechanic first shown in Tri from the Wii. Each level is a 20 minute taste of the game, gtiving you a general idea of how they play out and for the most part the game plays out like past versions. Buttons are even pretty much the same as, say, Freedom Unite and the spirit of the game is basically the same. Forage and kill for resources, some you sell and some you hold onto for improving your gear. Cooking is easy once you get the hang of pulling the meat 2 seconds after the music stops and the meat quickly shifts color. All in all getting a hang on the game shouldn't be so hard, especially since quite a few things can be done just with the A button alone so... what is the downside?

The downside of the demo is that it gives you a taste, but a rather useless taste as you can't start building your character right off the bat with it. So while it will tempt you it wont sell you. Furthermore alot of the issues that drive most RPG gamers away from Minster Hunter are still present and in your face (but I will cover that in a future review from the franchise). The game will appeal to long term addicts of the franchise, but it won't be winning any new converts even in this iteration. Not having online multiplayer will hurt sales even more in my opinion as hardcore gamers will migrate to the Wii U version for it's online capacity, completely ignoring the less than fully developed 3DS version behind.

Hopefully by the time this sees release they actually do get around to creating a n online service for multiplayer, which can be added on via a game patch at launch. Otherwise this will just be picked up by 3DS only owners, and maybe even not that much either in comparison to other games with multiplayer that you could be playing on your 3DS.

So I am kinda looking forward to this... I am just not all that excited over it, even after trying the shallow limited demo. Stay tuned for a full review down the line.