Copyright © Nintendo, Inc.

It's back, and it's bigger, louder, and more frightening than ever before. No, I'm not talking about pro wrestling. Or, maybe I am... but not with humans. The U.S. POKÉMON STADIUM, which is actually POKÉMON STADIUM 2, the second installment in the series, allows players to battle it out with pokémon in a 3D full-color arena rather than a tiny, flat little gameboy screen.
The first game, eagerly anticipated, was rushed to meet the expected street date in Japan. As a result, only 30 or so of the 150 plus pokémon were available as player characters. As a result, Nintendo of America chose not to bring the first STADIUM game out, since the second one was already in the works. And the second STADIUM game neatly rectifies this, making all 150 characters available as "rental" characters for players to choose from.
Equally importantly, the U.S. STADIUM also makes use of the Transfer Pak, which allows players to use the pokémon they have trained and saved in their GameBoy cartridges. And now, Nintendo of America has released both the STADIUM game and the Transfer Pak so that American audiences can experience the thrill of having their Psyduck beat up the all-powerful Oddish.
In addition to the Stadium battling feature, POKÉMON STADIUM also features several mini-games, most of which are hilarious. The most popular with my friends was the game where everyone had a Lickitung and they had to use their long tongues to gobble up as much sushi as they could in the alloted time. And stay away from the hot tea and the wasabi, or else! Another particuarly interesting game involved MagicKarp flailing around on the ground; whomever got them to jump up and touch a bar the most times in the time limit won. There are several other minigames, and while they are not the most exciting aspect of the game, it adds a multiple-person party feature and adds to the game's replayability.
But back to the fighting. Once you've selected your Pokémon team and tournament type, you're off to the ring. And, just like in the GameBoy game and the television show, you can call your troops in and out and tell them what attacks to do. It's fun, but the time between actually doing things sometimes seems to be a little long and after a while it does get a little tiresome.
The graphics are nice; it's neat to see your favorite Pokémon execute their special attacks, and most of them are rendered pretty well, although some of them (like Gengar's nightshade) looks like a 60's flashback. Most, however, are nicely executed, and even some of Psyduck's attacks look impressive.
Overall, this is a fun game, with a lot of neat little extras and bells and whistles thrown in, as if to make up for the lackluster first game. American fans will be glad that they're finally able to battle using the full power of the N64, since taking pictures of Pokémon isn't for everyone. However, those who aren't fans of Pikachu and his ilk may not find enough here to be entertained for more than a short while. Still, POKÉMON STADIUM 2 is a sure bet for POKÉMON fans.

Rating: 8.5 / 10

Nintendo 64
Simulation/Fighting
1-4 Players
Rating: Everyone
$49.98
Available now in the U.S.A.
Where to buy