By Matt
I was playing with the old Nintendo 64 one day, and I found a very nostalgic game: Pokemon Stadium. It was one of the greatest games of my time, and always brings back memories. Although we didn’t have any Pokemon games for the GameBoy, we would have fun using Pokemon that were provided. When you start the game, you will see a controller configuration and if you have any Game Paks plugged into your controllers.
The first option is Stadium Battle, which will set you up for a battle in one of four cups. Each Cup features different levels and rules, and if you don’t have Pokemon, you can just use one provided, but keep in mind that their moves will be predetermined; usually they end up with strange moves that you never knew they could learn. (Remember, Dark- and Steel-type Pokemon have not yet been invented, so moves like Bite are set to Normal-type as default.) There are 8 Trainers of different kinds to face, and each one you defeat will bring you closer to winning the cup. Each “perfect win” (this is when none of your Pokemon faint) you get will earn an extra continue to be used if your Pokemon are defeated.
Some other zones, like Professor Oak’s Lab, must be used in conjunction with the Pokemon games. The Free Battle section lets you have a battle, which can be divided into any combination of human or computer players. If you have two to a side, there will be a 6-on-6 battle, but each team member has three Pokemon to choose from (even though everyone has a set of six). The Cup Battle rules can be used there, although Prime Cup is recommended, since Rental Pokemon (if you don’t have any games) will be set to level 100, ensuring an epic battle. If you want to go into deep battling, the Pokemon Gyms and Elite Four are open to battle, although you must defeat them in order. However, each Gym Leader will give you a badge, and the “perfect win” rule still applies. The Pokemon Fun Zone is just for kids who want to have fun without the worry or stress of battles.
There are 9 different games available to play, and any combination of players and be picked (the rest will be filled in as computers). After you have selected a game, you can set the computer’s difficulty to Easy, Normal, or Hard. Another mode is to set up a competition, where the player with the most wins becomes the top player. You can set it to as low as two or as high as nine wins for the mini tournament. The rule for picking games is that the player who hasn’t won, or the one with the least wins gets to pick the next game. One of the last places to visit is the Hall of Fame, which, like in any Pokemon game, immortalizes the Pokemon you have used to conquer the Elite Four. There’s a statue for each Pokemon, including evolutions, so filling it up will be a daunting task. Pokemon Stadium is sure to bring back memories of the good old days.