Pokemon

In his review of Pokémon: Sapphire/Ruby, Chi talks about the lethargy Pokémon trainers eventually experience. The game's problem, he writes, "is that at the end of the rainbow it expects players to stay in Oz rather than go home." He's right.

Even with a predictable commercial stigma that 10-year olds can see coming a mile away, the game delights and triumphs as an irresistible pass-time. Nintendo hasn't forgotten how to engage a gamer and at its core, Sapphire/Ruby, no matter how familiar it looks, sounds and still feels like a good game.

Game Description: Pokémon Sapphire and Ruby take place in an all-new region known as Hoenn. When the game starts, you get to decide to control either a boy or girl Pokémon Trainer. Whichever you choose, the storyline will be the same—your goal is to set out in the world and become the world's greatest Pokémon Trainer.

Game Description: What can you expect from the sequel to one of the favorite Nintendo 64 games of 2000? A lot. Pokémon Stadium 2 comes with four new tournaments, 12 new minigames, and lots of fun extras, like special Pokéquizzes to test your level of mastery. And you're sure to find your favorite monsters, because—gulp!—249 Pokémon are present in the game. As in Pokémon Stadium, you can train and battle your monsters, as well as transfer them (via the separately sold Transfer Pak) from your favorite Game Boy titles—including the newer Gold and Silver editions of the game.

The premise of the Pokémon Stadium games hasn't changed with the new sequel. Anyone who's ever played the original knows exactly what to expect with Pokémon Stadium 2. The main idea is still to take Pokémon trained on the Game Boy versions (which now include the most recent Gold and Silver ones) and transfer them over to the Nintendo 64 via the Transfer Pak so that they can battle in a much grander and more vivid three-dimensional arena.

According to ESRB, this game contains: Mild Animated Violence 

The main reason why Pokémon flourished—single-handedly elevating portable gaming to a new plateau in the process—was that it was simply a great game. It's still hard to believe that with all the catchy "gotta catch 'em all" jingles, feature films, Saturday morning cartoons, collectible toys and trading cards flooding the market, at the end of the day, innovative design and addictive gameplay prevailed above all else.

According to ESRB, this game contains: Mild Language, Violence