Rating of
4.5/5
Terrible Game, AMAZING Utility
Nelson Schneider - wrote on 02/19/11
"Pokemon Stadium 2" is one of the better N64 games, but not for the 'game' aspect built into it. As a game, "Pokemon Stadium 2" suffers from the same flaws as the original "Pokemon Stadium;" the fact that the only gameplay consists of versus battles with stupidly stringent entry requirements and ridiculously powered-up opponents. Only hardcore tournament monkeys would have Pokemon teams capable of winning in the high level categories. Of course, nobody would have teams that qualify for some of the other categories, thus 'rental' Pokemon are made available for players to use in those matches. These rentals are all very anemic and feeble, unable to hold their own.
So why do I like "Pokemon Stadium 2" if the gameplay is so horrible? I like it for its utility features. By plugging in the included N64 transfer pack and a copy of "Pokemon Red/Blue/Yellow/Gold/Silver" it's possible to quickly and efficiently move all of one's collected Pokemon and items to convenient and non-volatile storage on the "Pokemon Stadium 2" cartridge. This feature is brilliant, as it allows players to start new game files in those Game Boy titles without losing all of their collected monsters. I also like the emulator feature of "Pokemon Stadium 2" that makes multiple playthroughs of the Game Boy titles fast and painless by allowing the player to play them at double speed. Need more Legendary Pokemon? Just drop your collection on the N64 cartridge, ram through a new game at lightning speed, collect your new monsters, then drop your old team back onto the Game Boy cartridge. These are brilliant utilities that are infinitely useful to Pokemaniacs but have never been duplicated in subsequent games (like "Pokemon Colosseum" and "Pokemon Battle Revolution"). Nintendo needs to create a true sequel to this game with compatibility with its modern consoles/handhelds.
