Pokemon Ranger
© Nintendo
Platform: NDS
ESRB: E
Genre: Action RPG
Players: 1
Online: No
Developer: HAL Laboratory
Publisher: Nintendo
Suggested Retail: $34.99
Graphics: C+
Sound: C+
Gameplay: B
Replay: C+
Fun Factor: B
Buy it now!
"Pokemon Ranger"
By: CAPTAIN GORDON EDWARDDate: Friday, December 15, 2006
The Pokemon series has been around for many years, and was a driving force in the success of the Gameboy systems. The original games, Blue and Red, spawned many sequels allowing people to collect more than the original 151 creatures. It has inspired a card game from Wizards to allow them to expand their strategic world, but more importantly it has inspired not only two television shows, but also many movies. Since the systems have evolved from the old days, we continue to see an evolution, not only in graphics but also gameplay. For the Nintendo 64 and even the Gamecube you were allowed to battle against each other in 3D, and the trend continues soon on the Wii.
Things have been a little different on the DS though, where it has been a bit of a struggle. Getting away from the strategic battle system, which was a driving force that brought force many of the fans towards the game, they have wandered down different paths. The first game for the DS was Pokemon Dash, featuring the star of the television show Pikachu, who would run around on screen. After that they have tried Pokemon Trozei, which is a puzzle game a little similar to Wario’s Woods. Eventually of course we received a game up to the classic battle style with Diamond, but there were also the Mystery Dungeon games. It almost feels like the series is evolving towards the ways of the game of Pokemon Snap.
As a growing trend in the Pokemon games, you now start off by choosing your gender. You can either play a boy or a girl depending on whatever your tastes are. From there you choose your name, though eventually you get told how uninspired it is. You start off becoming a ranger, which is a Pokemon user that does not collect Pokemon to battle and level them, rather much like a freelancer, they go out into the field and find their own tools, which are the Pokemon. They are partnered up with a single Pokemon, which you have connected with on an emotional level. The game automatically chooses one for you at the beginning of the game, and you can probably guess it is fairly Pikachulike. It is an electric Pokemon named Minum, who winds its way around you early on in the story.
The story involves the main character trying to become the best ranger possible, and servicing the public by completing missions does this. By accepting and completing the missions that they assign to you, your rank increases. That leads to you dealing with different problems, as your rank ascends. Rank is also important because it alters the number of Pokemon that are allowed to follow you, but also what attacks the Pokemon you control can use. It will also affect modes of transportation so that you can bounce around from city to city quicker, though the storyline generally keeps you on a tight leash.
Moving onto the gameplay, the action takes place on the bottom screen, while the stats about Pokemon are on the top. The top screen also tells you how much power the creature has, what element they are, or which Pokemon you have under control. Control wise you can either move your character the screen either by using the d-pad, or using the stylus. Generally it is better to use the d-pad when changing areas, but keep that stylus handy because you will be using it a lot to get through conversations, but more importantly to capture Pokemon.
Controls are handled in two different types, in battle and out of out of battle. To get into a battle you must approach a Pokemon and come into contact. For battle controls, you will draw with your stylus around the Pokemon to capture it. They generally require several loops to tame them, and after you get the required loops you must lift off your stylus. All loops need to be consecutive with the stylus remaining touched to the screen, or you will break the chain. The trick of the game is trying to loop around the creatures with the length that you have, without them either walking into it, or attacking it. If they attack it you will receive damage, and if your life bar is depleted it is game over.
If you loop the Pokemon enough times, you will gain extra experience, but again you leave your lifeline in jeopardy, and if hit you will start all over again. This will be the best way to gain levels, so it can be well worth the risk. When you gain a level you receive more life points, while it also refills any that you may have lost. More importantly you receive a longer stylus cord to draw around Pokemon, so capturing them becomes a little bit easier. If you run out of line your starting point will move forward, so it is almost like you are chasing your own tail.
Each time you capture a Pokemon you may use them to either battle for you, or apply an affect to the out of battlefield. If they battle with you, they may stun the enemies, or apply affects to your drawing line to make it more resilient. The affects are based mainly on what element and level the Pokemon are. There are up to three levels to each of the elements, which also affect how long they will aid you in battle. This is mainly important when you are battling against multiple Pokemon to capture them, since you will be dodging many more attacks.
Pokemon also have uses outside of battle, where you will need to destroy obstacles in your way of getting to the goal. Each object requires a certain element, and it is your job to find out where the specific creature is in the area so that you need to use to move forward. I found that it ramped up too quickly from the first to the third level of creatures, but it remained fairly entertaining throughout the entire experience. I would have enjoyed a bit more depth, which mainly came from the spontaneous need for a random Pokemon to use to get past a gap. There was also an energy gauge for the creature you are tied with, which you can use over and over again so long as you fill it back up. Something fairly odd though was that you could only use the other Pokemon once before they disappear, so you will venture back and forth in areas to re-obtain them.
Graphically the game is fairly nice, with a bunch of sprites on the screen. It is nothing fantastic, but overall it gets the job done. Likewise when walking through houses you will see much of the same sites even in different towns. I had a little problem when it came to items that you can click on with your stylus, where it would give you a brief description of the item. These were used over and over again, and they were far from being entertaining. When clicking on the Pokemon, it would show the stats in the top screen, but on the bottom screen it would have them saying something in text. If you followed the cartoon they would generally only say their own name over and over again, but it is not the case in the game. The music in the game is also okay, and it does its job with keeping the action going.
In the end, this is one of the better Pokemon games not based on a direct battle. It is not the flagship game by any means, but it is solid nonetheless. The game talks down to you in the storyline, keeping it very childlike, and I would have liked an option to get through the text a little quicker. The battle system starts off fairly difficult, though after you gain a few levels it becomes nice an easy. Overall it works well for children, though adults will have bit more trouble getting into the game, which the genre has had a history of doing. All and all, Captain Gordon gives Pokemon Ranger a B-.
Questions? Comments? Suggestions? CaptainGordonEdward@Gmail.com
