Pros: Excellent, addictive gameplay; good graphics and sound.
Cons: Very short, shallow one-player game.
The bottom line: Pokémon TCG is not an earth-shattering game like its Pokémon Gold or Silver counterparts, but in its modesty it succeeds in delivering great gameplay and superb entertainment.
Warning! Long review ahead!

For a videogame player my age, saying that you play Pokémon games "just for the gameplay" is like saying you read Playboy magazine "just for the articles"; nobody believes you, no matter if what you are saying is totally true. However, even if there is a slight twinge of embarrassment in the back of my mind every time I play any of the games in the aforementioned popular series, I feel I have been lucky enough to enjoy some of the most original and rewarding gameplay on the Game Boy to date. To that extent, I have contained myself to the original vision presented by the creator of Pokémon, Satoshi Tajiri. Although I have been entertained by some of the more unconnected spin-offs, most noticeably Pokémon Pinball, I have, so far, succeeded in largely ignoring every other piece of Pokémon merchandise –especially the Trading Card Game.

So when a Game Boy game based on the popular card was announced over a year ago, I was very skeptical about its prognosis in the market. It seemed like a truly cynical attempt by Nintendo to milk the proverbial cash cow out of everything it had. Now, Nintendo has been rather responsible with the Pokémon franchise: every one of the games bearing those cute furry monsters has been developed so that it can provide an enjoyable gaming experience –even if sometimes it turns up if flawed, as was the case with Hey You, Pikachu!, or unoriginal, like Pokémon Puzzle League. To a veteran gamer like myself, it would seem that the days when Nintendo would just stamp their license on any piece of crap featuring any of their mascots are over.

Nevertheless, I was still not convinced that Pokémon Trading Card Game was for me, and so I was careful to avoid it for about a year. That is, until I read a glowing review of the title in my favorite magazine. Indeed, so charismatic was this review that it prompted me to buy it almost immediately. I took my chances, though: I did not want a repeat of my experience with Perfect Dark –an experience I would rather like to forget. Therefore, I used all of the special offers and loyal customer discounts that I had collected throughout the past year on this single purchase and ended up with a comfy, guilt-reducing six-dollar game.

Thankfully, this time I was not disappointed with what I got –but I was surprised by a few things. What struck me when I played the game for the first time is just how different and how familiar it feels at the same time. Similarly to the Pokémon games, you take the role of an eager young boy in search of the four "Legendary Cards" to become "the best Trading Card Game player." To do so, however, you must first defeat the eight Gym Leaders around the island – each of whom specialize in one kind of Pokémon element (fire, water, etc.) – and the four Grand Masters so you can prove you are worthy of inheriting the Legendary Cards. If that task were not intimidating enough, throughout your adventure you will have to compete against another spirited young rival in search of the very same goal, the unfortunately-named Ronald.

However, the matter is handled in a slightly different way, and after a quick check of the credits it becomes readily apparent why: Nintendo did not develop this game. Instead, the task fell upon Hudson Soft, best known for their magnificent SNES Bomberman games and, more recently, another Nintendo collaboration with the Mario Party series. Under Hudson’s guidance, the Trading Card Game becomes a very upbeat, earnest, quiet RPG vaguely reminiscent to Enix’s Robotrek on the SNES. It encourages you to have fun, and, thankfully, it never really takes itself too seriously. After you finish the game, for example, a rather odd youngster utters this rather cynical-sounding speech, which I found quite amusing:


You beat the Grand Masters? Cool! Got all the Legendary Pokémon Cards? Yeah! Gotta Catch ‘Em All! (tm)


The game adopts the usual overhead view common in almost all RPGs to display the "exploration" part, where your character interacts with other computer-controlled card players in the area. Taking advantage of the Game Boy Color’s hardware, it presents its world in bright, cheery colors and every item, piece of scenery, and character has been done in a pleasing manner. Most of what you will be seeing, though, is the cards themselves so it was a relief to find out that, except for a few odd-looking ones, all of them have been translated very well for the Game Boy screen. Moreover, a rather pleasing change from the usual Pokémon formula is the choice of the font for the dialog: although smaller than the familiar one, it is much easier to read, faster, and quite agreeable.

The sound is rather simple, but I was surprised at how effective the variety of tunes was at setting the mood for the game, especially in battles, where the tempo and tone of the music change according to the importance of the match. Since the battles in the game can last for long periods of time it is a credit to the composer that the music never gets tiresome or annoying. One more nice touch is the fact that when you enter any menu in the game, be it the options menu when you press the Start button or use any of the computers, the music changes to a slightly more upbeat, bouncy tune.

However, the music and the graphics do nothing to hide that it is the gameplay that is the most important part of the game. Fortunately for us, Hudson have managed to make it quite fun and very addictive, although it is slightly difficult to get into it if you are a novice. (I actually lost at the tutorial stage.) Even after reading the manual carefully, playing the game seemed an activity requiring the same amount of cerebral activity as solving problems in quantum mechanics. However, after numerous hours of experience, here is how I can describe it.

The object of the game, similarly to the "normal" Pokémon games, is to defeat your opponent using the skills your Pokémon possess in the usual RPG turn battle system. The card game treats this is a slightly more complex way, though: instead of only playing with Pokémon, you play with cards representing Pokémon, each with different attacks and strengths. Not only that, but you have three kinds of cards with which to contend: Pokémon, Energy, and Item cards. To attack, you take one of your Pokémon cards and "attach" an Energy card to it, one per turn. Once you have attached enough Energy cards to your Pokémon card, you can attack your opponent’s Pokémon cards. The Item cards are very much "trump" cards, allowing you to recuperate in battle, take more than one card per turn, etc.

It looks very complicated on paper, but once you have become accustomed to the game mechanics, thanks to the extensive help offered, you begin to realize just how well the game has been crafted. It is truly impressive to see how complex matches can become and how much thought you need to put into each match to be able to win. Having a good strategy and planning ahead, like in chess, or –dare I say it– go, are essential skills needed to win.

However, after playing the game for a few hours –and having lots of fun in the process– you start to notice what is the game’s most apparent flaw: it is very short. Criminally short. Even for a beginner like me, it took me only about twenty hours not only to finish the whole game, but to find all the little hidden extras and bonuses as well. The problem lies on how the game is structured. Although Pokémon TCG has a very similar structure to the original Pokémon, it is presented in a more superficial manner.

While Pokémon had plenty of side quests and adventure in between gyms, in this game you only have to choose the gym where you want to go from the main map, safe in the knowledge that nothing will keep you from proceeding. With so little resistance, you would expect the gyms to be packed with trading card game fanatics to play against and plenty of challenges; but, disappointingly, they are not. Each gym contains only the gym leader and two or three of his/her flunkies. Some of them are a bit difficult to beat, but this hardly makes up for a lack of depth in your adventure. There is no doubt in my mind that a veteran trading card player could zoom through the main quest in about two hours.

There may be a reason for this. As IGN’s Craig Harris suggests, "This game arguably focuses more on link-cable support than the original Pokémon does." As strange as it sounds, finishing the main quest is only the first step in playing the game. By this reasoning, it is presupposed that only after you have accomplished this task that you can build a decent card deck to battle human opponents. And you know something? They may be right. Building a deck with which you can be prepared against any opponent is a true challenge. Testing it against a myriad of other card players is the game’s best selling point.

Of course, the real aim of the game is to get you interested in the real-life Wizards of the Coast version of the game. After all, there is a limit to how many cards you can collect in the Game Boy version. In the long run the portable electronic game will not seem as fresh or complete when compared to the paper one.

I will be honest, though, in saying that Nintendo and Hudson have succeeded, at least for me, in a small way: they made me interested in playing the game itself. Playing the real-life version looks like a real hassle: it always seems you have to buy a huge amount of cards, carry a bunch of them around all the time you wish to play –not to mention that hey might fall prey to the effects of Nature. They might get bent, ripped, faded, burned, eaten by the dog, etc. –something unlikely with the Game Boy version. While the physical game is not very appealing, if a sequel to this Game Boy version appears with the same level of superb gameplay, I’ll be one of the first in line to get it –even if I have to hide under a large-brimmed fedora and a trenchcoat in order to do so.