New life for PokeBattles. Great new mechanic/requires more substance. Reminds of Smash Bros 64. A must try for PokeFans!
Are you one of those fans who is growing tired of static images jumping 2 pixels to the right as to imply a tackle? Or even the 3D Stadium environments where the Pokemon still just stand and take what's thrown at them. It's time for an experiment...
The experiment is the change-up of battle style for a Pokemon game. Rumble gives Pokemon a fun, fast paced beat 'em up feel. Attack, Status, and Healing moves are bound directly to the "A" and "B" buttons, each with their own activation and recovery delays, although there are many similar attacks with the different elemental tags.
Pokemon do not level up, they exist only at the power level you "caught" them at. So you won't always be able to stay with your favorites unless you go out of your way to find a more powerful version. Elemental weaknesses/resistances are present, but immunities are ignored. Stronger attacks gain not only power, but range and area of effect as well; and for the first time ever attacks can be actively dodged. This is much harder to do against a player who stands on fair ground than the AI's obviously weakened and delayed attacks.
Pokemon Rumble falls short as far as a proper title is concerned. The 4 tier "story" element involving the original 150 Pokemon is very quickly cleared, which opens up to the Advanced and Expert modes which are, of course, harder and allow you to "catch 'em all" from generation 1 and 4. Playing it alone can feel tedious if you have the drive to collect. However, the offline-only co-op-only multiplayer provides a great party game. It is limited, but it is all the more fun to smack down hordes of Pokemon with a wingman. This makes multiplayer basically the main reason for purchase.
The graphical style is shared with that of "My Pokemon Ranch" (from the same developer, Ambrella) which is lacking in detail but adds to the mini/party game feel and in no way detracts from the gameplay. The music can feel somewhat grinding, constantly jumping from battle music to melodic environmental music in the "mission" stages, but is well suited to the Rumble matches. A good attempt was made to have the "voices" and other original sound effects (MIDI growls) accurate to what they have been.
An 8.5 may seem generous for such a simple game, perhaps the game itself only deserves a 7 - It is still a VERY fun game in its simplicity. The style, however, deserves a 9 for its tremendous leap into a new style that makes Pokemon Battles much more interesting. Could Rumble be the first step in a more interactive Pokemon experience? A glimpse of concept for a Pokemon MMO? For any fans of the series it is a must try.