Pros: learn the attacks and you can not go wrong
Cons: the Pokemon do not say anything

I am the resident Pokemon fanatic in my house. This is one game I can beat my fiance at hands down. From Abrakadabra to Zubat, I know them all.


Now this game is a lot different then the GameBoy versions (there is a cool feature that lets you insert your Pokemon Red, Blue, or Yellow into the included adaptor and play your game on the TV) in that the "rental" Pokemon you can use to play with that Nintendo has pre-programmed into the game do not have the usual skills the GameBoy version Pokemon use. This can get confusing if you do not pay attention. But it is an added challenge to overcome when playing the Trainer battles feature.

There are mini games that are so much fun, and the Clefairy "follow me" game is just wrong. (Miss a direction and a big hammer comes out and bops you on the head.) I like the mini games because they are fast and funny. And these can be played by 4 players. There is a Likitung eating contest, a Sandshrew digging contest, Ekans ring toss, Rattata hurdling, Pikachu/Voltorb electric generator game, Drowzee hypnosis, and a Magikarp jumping game. It is almost like being at a carnival.

The Pokemon Cup battles are neat. You battle different trainers with a selection of Pokemon to win tournaments. But the best is the one on one battles. I can beat my fiance 95% of the time in this mode.

The key to this game is the same as Pokemon Red, Blue and Yellow. Learn your Pokemon's attacks well and use them to your best advantage. It is wise to pick a Pokemon with a high speed level as this determines who attacks first.

The worst thing about this game is the announcers comments. They drive me nuts. But on the subject of voices, When you play with your Yellow cartridge ... Pikachu will speak.

For a game that can cross two systems like N64 and GameBoy this is way cool. And just for the record, I am 36 and love the game and the cartoon.