By Matt
You may have seen this game on a commercial occasionally. Pokemon Rumble was released as a WiiWare game, and its demo was available for download for a short amount of time. I downloaded the demo, and had fun playing with it for quite some time. This game is unique: it features Pokemon only from the Kanto and Sinnoh regions. You start the game (after a brief introduction) as a Rattata, and you are in a place called Rank C. As Rattata, a Pokemon Toy, you can see there are six stages on the map: Silent Forest, Windy Prairie, Rocky Cave, Fiery Furnace, Bright Beach, and Eternal Tower.
The first one you will have to go through is Silent Forest, then, after completion, you can access more stages. As you progress through these stages, you will find enemy Pokemon, much like in Mystery Dungeon. This game is not turn-based; you can attack as much as you want, and as frequently as you want. Sometimes, when a Pokemon turns over and becomes a figure, you can touch it and add it to your team. You will then be able to switch out to that Pokemon as you go around. When you get to the top of the level, you will meet the boss Pokemon, which you will have to defeat in order to clear the level. When you do, you will keep all the money and the Pokemon you have come across. After this, you’ll be back on the map again.
There are other places on the map, like a station to release Pokemon, and another one that teaches a random move for money. You can also play multiplayer, up to four, and make the game much easier and fun. When you are strong enough or befriend Pokemon strong enough, you can challenge the Battle Royale, which then you can fight against Pokemon that are equally strong. You must beat the Battle Royale at your rank to advance to the next one. From Rank C goes B, A, and then S. When you beat Battle Royale at Rank S, you unlock another mode, which will have the same ranks, but now you are introduced to Sinnoh Pokemon. The strength of Pokemon will also be much higher now, represented by a number next to the HP bar. If you are strong enough to beat the Battle Royale at Rank S here, you will unlock yet another mode: EX mode. This is the Battle Royale for the strongest Pokemon and is only one rank. Instead of the other Battle Royales, where the rooms were themed, this is a mix of all the Pokemon you have encountered throughout your journey. In the previous BRs, you could heal between rounds. This time, you must fight without healing your Pokemon, this will be a challenge. If you survive, I think you beat the game; but like all Pokemon games, it cannot be beat. You just keep going and battling as you please; that’s the beauty of these games. If I had Wii Points, I would buy this game for sure.