It's time to go exploring while beating the living snot out of everything! Let's go to the Mystery Dungeon!
Mystery Dungeon makes little attempt to acclimate the player to its touchy control scheme. Due to the limited number of buttons on the Game Boy Advance most buttons have several actions depending on the length of the press or other buttons pressed simultaneously. The most useful function isn't mentioned outside of a specific help file which is that tapping 'R' once will allow the player to rotate and face any desired direction. This should have been the first mechanic mentioned due to its use in facing the correct direction to attack enemies or to speak to wandering Pokémon in need of rescue who never stand still. The control scheme is insane to a newcomer but gradually makes more sense with prolonged play. The in-game help files are invaluable for learning its peculiarities.
Initially you only start with two party members which are selected at the start of the game. The player's character is determined by the results of a personality test. Unfortunately the only way to choose a specific Pokémon is to use a guide to determine which trait you want to focus on. Some are also gender-specific, such as the female-only Eevee. One is free to choose their favorite partner Pokémon, however. Allies may be recruited randomly by defeating hostile critters provided their corresponding friend area is unlocked. Friend areas are type-specific places for your allies to congregate when they're not doing anything. Finding a specific ally is fairly painless despite this clumsy organizational method.
Combat is exceedingly simple. Every Pokémon has a basic low damage attack which costs nothing to use and limited advanced moves. These cost PP and can inflict status abnormalities, have specific elemental properties or just kill things more effectively. They are found in the menu or can be registered to be used while holding 'L' and pressing 'A'. Either in town or with a special item some attacks may be linked together to be used at the same time. Linked moves usually consist of one to change the opponent's status and a second to attack them. The PP of both linked moves will decrease and if either runs out of PP the link will be lost. PP is restored easily with elixirs so the prepared traveler should have no worries. The early dungeons are so small that forgetting to bring items isn't a real danger. With new random missions easily available it's quite easy to powerlevel and render bosses mostly harmless. Most bosses are also vulnerable to thrown items such as sleep seeds which render them totally helpless to the gnawing and biting of your creepy little party members.
In addition to the standard health bar there is a rating for hunger. Each time you perform an action this rating will slowly decrease. If the party leader's belly empties entirely their health will ebb away until they faint and are kicked out of the dungeon. Most of the time food can be found in the levels but due to the random nature of the items in the wild it's best to bring along a snack. It is necessary to carry around at least one resurrecting item as the fainting of the leader or the occasional escorted Pokémon means ejection from the dungeon and the loss of whatever items and money were carried at the time. Storing cash and items is easy enough, though it's normally simpler to reload from the last save if something goes wrong.
The dungeons themselves are made of randomly placed open areas and paths. Each area has its own theme and accompanying looping music. Later dungeons can have more complicated layouts adding water or lava which only certain characters can travel upon. These areas add a little more variety and atmosphere to the otherwise plain layouts. Traveling over water isn't necessary as all areas are connected by paths by default but can act as a shortcut for certain characters. Some dungeons can get irritating due to numerous dead ends and roundabout areas but at least randomization means you won't see the same pattern of rooms repeatedly.
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon isn't musically rich but the soundtrack won't induce brain hemorrhaging. Some of the dungeon tracks are very short and can get grating. Thankfully the most repetitive sounds tend to belong to the shorter early levels and the quality improves further into the game. Its sound effects aren't notable but they work just fine.
Interestingly, the game tries to work some storyline into what is essentially a dungeon crawling game. The player is a typically amnesiatic Pokémon who is convinced to form a rescue team to aid other critters in peril. Disasters have suddenly started happening worldwide so there are hundreds of distressed Pokémon in need. It's a simple plot and works well up to one point where the player temporarily cannot access their stored items or buy more. For those who travel light this could spell disaster or at least minor irritation. Interestingly enough, at the story's conclusion the game opens up and presents new options, like designating different leaders and giving allied Pokémon the ability to evolve. Beating the story also provides new areas to explore, items to find and traps to get stuck in.
One notable feature is the game's mail system. By using a lengthy code it is possible to play missions with special items or set up a challenge for a friend. It is also possible for a defeated player to generate a code which a friend can input to 'rescue' them and avoid losing items and such. Still, missions can only be used when the dungeon has already been completed and it's honestly not convenient to have another player save you and send a code back just to avoid reloading the last save. It's novel but not really necessary.
For those willing to deal with its crazy condensed control scheme and don't mind the random areas Pokémon Mystery Dungeon can be a fun little title which is easy to come back to. It's a competent little game but doesn't make much of an effort to welcome players or impress them with flashy graphics. Its random missions do promise a lengthy experience but many players won't be interested for that long. It isn't the prettiest or best rougelike ever but outside of PC-gaming there isn't much choice.