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PokéPark Wii: Pikachu's Adventure
Wii
Fun for Beginners
3/5 stars
“PokePark Wii: Pikachu’s Adventure” (“PokePark”) is the first game in a new spinoff of Nintendo’s and Game Freak’s popular monster battle franchise. Where “PokePark” differs from traditional ‘Pokemon’ titles (the ones named after colors) is that it is not an RPG, but rather an action/adventure game. As a fan of the franchise’s RPGs, I’m usually dubious, but willing to give the benefit of the doubt to spinoffs that don’t have completely unappealing premises (like “Pokemon Snap”) or horrendous gameplay mechanics blatantly displayed the title (like any ‘Pokemon Mystery Dungeon’ game… they are all Roguelikes and should not exist). “PokePark,” however, was a fairly unknown quantity when I purchased my copy; I knew it was an action/adventure featuring Pikachu as the main character, but not much else. After being disappointed by the last ‘Pokemon’ spinoff I purchased blindly (“Pokemon Rumble”), I didn’t really know what to expect.
Presentation
“PokePark” features fully-polygonal environments and characters, as well as a behind-the-back third-person camera. The environments are reasonably big and colorful, and everything in the game is nicely textured. The problem with the game’s graphics is the incredible amount of jaggies that are apparent on everything. Only during the most extreme close-ups during cutscenes to the jaggies disappear, leaving the entire game in desperate need of a dose of anti-aliasing.
The soundtrack in “PokePark” is quite nice and very relaxing. Instead of the catchy melodic tunes of traditional ‘Pokemon’ games, “PokePark’s” tracks tend to be more atmospheric. In an odd decision on the developer’s part, instead of re-using the Pokemon voice sounds from the long-running anime series’ successful English dub, almost all of the Pokemon in the game have been redubbed, with Pikachu as the notable exception. Considering that Pokemon only ever say their names or some permutation of such, re-using pre-existing recordings would have been both more budget conscious and better for continuity with other parts of the franchise.
Story
Pikachu and his friends, Chikorita, Piplup, and Charmander, are playing together one day when they discover a mysterious hole. Upon falling into it, they become separated and find themselves in a massive Pokemon wildlife preserve called the PokePark. Pikachu sets out to find his friends, only to discover that not all is well in the PokePark. The park’s resident Pokemon are all feeling grumpy and territorial.
A vision from the legendary primogenitor Pokemon, Mew, reveals to Pikachu that the PokePark held aloft on a floating island by the power of the Sky Prism, a magical gemstone that has recently broken in half, and the broken half has shattered into fragments that have fallen into the park. Pikachu must use his cuteness, toughness, and dexterity to recover the scattered shards, befriend the park’s residents, and mend the relationships of the park’s leaders.
“PokePark” doesn’t offer a spectacular narrative, but is does offer a compelling reason for Pikachu to travel all around the park. It’s a straight-forward plot with no twists and easily predictable results. It is, however, slightly more interesting than the ‘I wanna be the very best, like no one ever was,’ storylines of the ‘Pokemon’ RPGs!
Gameplay
While I thought “PokePark” was going to be a full action/adventure title going in, soon after starting the game, it becomes apparent that it is a hybrid of action/adventure and mini-games. “PokePark’s” only supported control scheme is a sideways Wiimote, which barely provides enough buttons and makes Pikachu’s movement in a full 3D environment more awkward than necessary due to the lack of an analog joystick.
As Pikachu explores the park, he has the opportunity to engage with dozens of other Pokemon, either in battles, chases, or hide-and-seek matches. This part of the game is quite fun, even for an old, jaded, experience gamer like me. In this mode, Pikachu moves with the d-pad, jumps with 2, dashes with 1, and unleashes a Thunderbolt with A. After learning Iron Tail in the course of the game’s events, Pikachu can perform that attack with a shake of the Wiimote. The game’s camera controls are quite poor due to the lack of a dedicated camera-control stick, leaving the B button to re-center the camera behind Pikachu. Battles are the best part of the game, and play out as one-on-one matches without a battle transition (meaning other Pokemon can get in the way of attacks and find themselves fried or headbutted to hilarious effect). Chases require Pikachu to dash after his opponent and headbutt them. Hide-and-seek is pathetic, as every Pokemon who wants to play that particular game seems to think running 10 feet from Pikachu and sitting down in plain sight while continuing to mutter their own name counts as ‘hiding.’ All three of these games are timed, giving the player about 1 minute to win. Defeating a Pokemon in their game of choice allows Pikachu to befriend them and add them to his friend list (social networking propaganda?!). Any of Pikachu’s friends can substitute for him in the game’s ‘attractions.’
Attractions are terrible motion-controlled mini-games that stand-in for boss battles in “PokePark.” Each big boss Pokemon runs one of these mini-games and rewards Pikachu with a Sky Prism shard for clearing it. Each mini-game also offers a bonus for clearing it with particular skill. The bonuses are all varying amounts of berries, which are the currency of the PokePark (and can be paid to various trainer Pokemon to increase the potency of Pikachu’s Thunderbolt and Iron Tail, the speed of his dash, and his maximum amount of health). The concept of using mini-games for boss battles wouldn’t be entirely horrible if the mini-games were more interesting than they are. The first one is – I kid you not – a 100-yard dash game that requires nothing more of the player than shaking the Wiimote. This same formula is revisited TWO more times for other mini-games, one adding obstacles that must be broken-through (no change in gameplay) and the other adding hurdles that must be jumped (adding the 2 button for that purpose). The other mini-games all focus on motion-controlled steering, either to guide a flying Pokemon through rings to score points or to guide a Pokemon through a race course of ice or water. I am not fond of motion-controlled steering at all, so the lack of diversity among the mini-games was really disappointing. I was pleased to see ONE shooting gallery-type mini-game, but that segment doesn’t occur until the end of a motion-controlled race course!
While “PokePark’s” mini-games may leave something to be desired, the action/adventure portion of the game is enjoyable enough that I didn’t feel like I was wasting my time. And since “PokePark” is so short, it’s not a whole lot of time to waste. I was able to beat the game in about 10 hours, and I imagine clearing all of the mini-games with each of Pikachu’s friends would take no more than 15 hours.
Overall
“PokePark Wii: Pikachu’s Adventure” is a short, simple action/adventure game suitable for inexperienced gamers seeking a more in-depth experience than that offered by Nintendo’s ‘Wii_____’ series of mini-game collections. By merging traditional action/adventure gameplay with motion-controlled mini-games, “PokePark” offers a natural bridge between casual gaming and real gaming. While the game is far too short and devoid of interesting content to be worth the full price of a new first-party Wii game (usually $50), it’s worthy of rescue from the bargain bin at a price of $20 or less, especially for Pokemaniacs or youngsters.
Presentation: 3.5/5
Story: 3/5
Gameplay: 2.5/5
Overall (not an average): 3/5
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