Pokémon Battle Revolution Discussion

[Ashenlock]

I had a very complicated relationship with PBR. What ultimately prevented me from really enjoying it was the announcer, who I might not have even disliked had I not been spoiled on the beauty of the Stadiums' announcer. (To give you an example of the power the announcer had on my childhood: my brother and I still regularly call one another up out of the blue and start in a serious tone: "I have an important question to ask..." followed by "WHAT IS THE POINT OF SPLASHING?")

However, there were elements of PBR that I think the handheld games would really benefit in emulating. The chief one involves post-game battling, or whatever equivalent the Pokemon games can have to typical RPG superbosses.

To start, I'll explain my thoughts on the Battle Tower: while it is enjoyable for many people, and gives many people an opportunity to think creatively, it is also very aggravating, time-consuming, and, as far as I have seen after hundreds of lost hours, does not give a proportionate yield to the effort invested in it. With the Battle Tower, hundreds of opponents are thrown at the player with somewhat randomly put together teams, and the player will often lose not because of a defect in the team but because, statistically speaking, it is becoming likelier and likelier that he will encounter a team his modest 3-Pokemon-team just could not prepare for without sacrificing something. On top of that, a large amount of effort is lost when, say, the player has spent his whole day getting to battle 76 and has to start all over.

PBR's system, specifically in the Stargazer Colosseum (Round 2), makes much more sense to me. The player is pit against teams that are determined and can thus be reliably prepared for, and since the player does not expend a huge amount of time on those four battles, the opponents can be made more challenging. Less time is lost than in the tower, the battles can be researched and planned, and, in my opinion, victory is sweeter over more "competent" opponents.

This doesn't counterbalance all of PBR's bad, but it at least supplies something that the other games can use. Not that the tower/subway should be replaced, but rather have an alternative, as I'd much rather be able to get my trainer card star from the PBR sort of format than the Battle Tower system.

Kay, jumping back into sabbatical-mode.

[DHR-107]

I know I'm somewhere in the 80's on the 100 Battle roulette thing... Mainly because I was disappointed with a lot of the other Colosseums requiring you to use much lower level Pokémon and things like that. I think my main team is one I made for the very start of Gen 4 OU... And it's certainly not supposed to work very well in doubles. Luckily Breloom is still awesome alongside Salamence or PorygonZ to crack harder opponents.

I honestly cannot remember how far I got (in the rest of the game) because I got sucked into trying to complete the 100 Battle Challenge...

The announcer is awesome though! So ridiculously over the top.

[MavsObbession]

Originally Posted by Fat Firestorm

I would buy a sequel with Nick McCord as announcer regardless of game quality. Would be required to use IT'S A ONE HIT WONDER though as that is the best line from any Stadium-line game.

I agree, I'd be willing to sell any of my possessions for any game with Nick McCord in it!

[M. Rock]

Originally Posted by Fat Firestorm

I think this ranks as the worst Pokemon video game purchase I ever made. And I bought Hey You Pikachu. The stadiums ranged from tedious to aggravating. The Free Battle Mode didn't let your change your Pokemon to LV100 while the game did for Online Play so I had to change EVs depending on which medium I was using which was also annoying. I also remember playing my cousin in a Singles OU style match where I forfeit due to taking the risk of a Sleep Clause or something meaning they didn't include simple options that were there in the decade old Pokemon Stadium.

Only good thing it was for was practicing doubles matches against random opponents which you can do on the DS now. I'd appreciate a version for BW2 or the next generation on the Wii U, but it'll have to be a lot better made than this one for me to justify even paying half the price of a retail title for it.

To add to this, the game moved at a terribly slow pace. I know they tried to do better animations, but it only made the battles take longer than they should.
As for the graphics, they were good, but still unpolished. Some of the models looked like they were ripped straight from Pokemon Stadium with a slight touchup (see Slowbro's model). Also, the backgrounds for the stadiums are fake. If you look closely, some of the imagery gets blurry/muddy (to varying degrees) when a pokemon undergoes an attack animation, and sometimes its pretty bad. That's just unproffesional.
So many things about this game that were half-assed, the only good thing about it was the auto-leveling in the DS and WiFi battles.

[Ray Jay]

Originally Posted by Fat M. Rock

To add to this, the game moved at a terribly slow pace. I know they tried to do better animations, but it only made the battles take longer than they should.
As for the graphics, they were good, but still unpolished. Some of the models looked like they were ripped straight from Pokemon Stadium with a slight touchup (see Slowbro's model). Also, the backgrounds for the stadiums are fake. If you look closely, some of the imagery gets blurry/muddy (to varying degrees) when a pokemon undergoes an attack animation, and sometimes its pretty bad. That's just unproffesional.
So many things about this game that were half-assed, the only good thing about it was the auto-leveling in the DS and WiFi battles.

I actually have to disagree with this; it's undeniable that there was a lot of pressure for Nintendo to release a Wi Fi game for the Wii and this was one of the first (actually, might have been THE first iirc). In terms of pacing and graphics style, I actually felt that they were enjoyable, and although the game did feel a bit rushed at points, I don't think it was ever meant to be a stand-alone game, more of just a Gen IV-Compatible console, wi-fi enabled game. And for that, I definitely enjoyed it.

[iss]

Originally Posted by Fat Firestorm

I would buy a sequel with Nick McCord as announcer regardless of game quality. Would be required to use IT'S A ONE HIT WONDER though as that is the best line from any Stadium-line game.

I would buy 50 copies of this.

please come back nick we miss you ;_;

[MavsObbession]

Originally Posted by Fat iss

I would buy 50 copies of this.

please come back nick we miss you ;_;

R.I.P Nick. ;_; Where did you go????????

[M. Rock]

Originally Posted by Fat Ray Jay

I actually have to disagree with this; it's undeniable that there was a lot of pressure for Nintendo to release a Wi Fi game for the Wii and this was one of the first (actually, might have been THE first iirc). In terms of pacing and graphics style, I actually felt that they were enjoyable, and although the game did feel a bit rushed at points, I don't think it was ever meant to be a stand-alone game, more of just a Gen IV-Compatible console, wi-fi enabled game. And for that, I definitely enjoyed it.

Yeah it definitely was a sort of "expansion pack" for D/P. I do judge a game on multiple factors, the most important one being fun. I really just didn't have any fun with the single player mode. I also don't understand why they had to make it come out so soon after D/P, I wouldn't have definitely waited longer for a more polished game.
I respect your opinion, but PBR was one of the worst game I've ever bought. Another contributor to the rage is that I paid the full retail price for it when it came out, and $50 is a lot for a 13-year-old with a slim allowance.

[Honus]

Not too bad a game, actually, I enjoyed beating all the colosseums, although a closer resemblance to Stadium would have been cool.

The announcer was definitely fantastic though, I loved the line where it's like "Oh the irony, the only one who fainted was it's own teammate' whenever Surf/EQ was used; got me every time.

[Dark Arceus]

First all i can say is something about the announcer. Never have an announcer again. The best thing that can be said is that the game is actually correct in the announcement of moves (I watched some 2011 videos and I hated the announcer incorrectly announcing moves that were just used so freaking much). Plus I hate announcers because all they can do when they don't understand what's happening is stating the blatantly obvious or over exaggerating things (A hitmontop at low health that knows priority moves will be knocked out first move next turn without a chance to do anything when it has been revealed it can use priority moves lolwhat?)(This has happened two times with me present at two tournaments).

I never really enjoyed Battle Revolution like the ultimate games, aka Stadium. Lack of mini games, bad graphics (Am I the only one that noticed the most graphical attention seemed to go to Dialga and Palkia?), and stupid/boring AI really hurt the game. In terms of the game as an expansion of D/P it kind of succeeds due to having a graphical representation of a battle instead of plain sprites and a random wifi battle option that should have been in the games in the first place, but then the lack of pokemon limitation hurting random battles due to the amount of all legendary teams that can be found.


Really I say, hopefully for Wii U (Or I heard that that may not be the official name), that they make a Pokemon Stadium 3, instead of a Battle Revolution 2 or something, with following functions...
(Sorry for speculating, just want to get some ideas from stadium and battle revolution and if they get mixed together a stadium 3 could be amazing).

...

---

-Ability to transfer pokes from any 4th or 5th gen game to the game and be able to have multiple games at once (I had one ds ss,d,and pt and it sucked to not be able to use everything on one game).
-Maybe have some way that can allow you to mass transfer pokemon between games. Seeing as how 1 by 1 trading takes forever.
-MINI-GAMES! Maybe return classics from the other stadium's and make some unique ones that don't suck.
-Quiz feature. Maybe differing levels of quiz for those who wan't their knowledge to be tested?
-1v1,2v2,3v3 battles for 1 trainer vs. another/cpu with customizable settings (Level, what pokemon are allowed, etc.)
- For 4 players with 2v2 team battles with customization like above.
- I liked the cups/stadiums or whatever they were in the other 2 games where you could fight other trainers controlled by cpu (Maybe it was a gym leader tower or something?)
- Rentals with good movepool. Battle Revolution did fairly well on this actually. Not to many cringe worthy movepools when stuck with CPU pokes for whatever reason.
- Coustomizable characters.
- Ability to play ds games on screen.
- Good graphics for all (AKA No focusing on mascots *Cough*Dialga/Palia*Cough*)
-Maybe some way to earn rewards as a sort of bonus for whatever the newest game is at time of release (B/W2 maybe?)

And end idealistic game hopes

[MavsObbession]

Originally Posted by Fat Dark Arceus

First all i can say is something about the announcer. Never have an announcer again. The best thing that can be said is that the game is actually correct in the announcement of moves (I watched some 2011 videos and I hated the announcer incorrectly announcing moves that were just used so freaking much). Plus I hate announcers because all they can do when they don't understand what's happening is stating the blatantly obvious or over exaggerating things (A hitmontop at low health that knows priority moves will be knocked out first move next turn without a chance to do anything when it has been revealed it can use priority moves lolwhat?)(This has happened two times with me present at two tournaments).

I never really enjoyed Battle Revolution like the ultimate games, aka Stadium. Lack of mini games, bad graphics (Am I the only one that noticed the most graphical attention seemed to go to Dialga and Palkia?), and stupid/boring AI really hurt the game. In terms of the game as an expansion of D/P it kind of succeeds due to having a graphical representation of a battle instead of plain sprites and a random wifi battle option that should have been in the games in the first place, but then the lack of pokemon limitation hurting random battles due to the amount of all legendary teams that can be found.


Really I say, hopefully for Wii U (Or I heard that that may not be the official name), that they make a Pokemon Stadium 3, instead of a Battle Revolution 2 or something, with following functions...
(Sorry for speculating, just want to get some ideas from stadium and battle revolution and if they get mixed together a stadium 3 could be amazing).

...

---

-Ability to transfer pokes from any 4th or 5th gen game to the game and be able to have multiple games at once (I had one ds ss,d,and pt and it sucked to not be able to use everything on one game).
-Maybe have some way that can allow you to mass transfer pokemon between games. Seeing as how 1 by 1 trading takes forever.
-MINI-GAMES! Maybe return classics from the other stadium's and make some unique ones that don't suck.
-Quiz feature. Maybe differing levels of quiz for those who wan't their knowledge to be tested?
-1v1,2v2,3v3 battles for 1 trainer vs. another/cpu with customizable settings (Level, what pokemon are allowed, etc.)
- For 4 players with 2v2 team battles with customization like above.
- I liked the cups/stadiums or whatever they were in the other 2 games where you could fight other trainers controlled by cpu (Maybe it was a gym leader tower or something?)
- Rentals with good movepool. Battle Revolution did fairly well on this actually. Not to many cringe worthy movepools when stuck with CPU pokes for whatever reason.
- Coustomizable characters.
- Ability to play ds games on screen.
- Good graphics for all (AKA No focusing on mascots *Cough*Dialga/Palia*Cough*)
-Maybe some way to earn rewards as a sort of bonus for whatever the newest game is at time of release (B/W2 maybe?)

And end idealistic game hopes

It'd be awesome if they made a Pokémon Stadium 3! Hopefully, they'll make a Pokémon Battle Revolution 2 (with MUCH better quality and game modes), or Pokémon Stadium 3 once the Wii U is released.

[Cobraroll]

I have one big... what can you call it... beef(?) with the 3D Pokémon games. Namely, the total disregard of texturing... of the Pokémon. The backgrounds (see Colosseum) are usually textured somewhat realistically, but the Pokémon seem to be made of plastic.

Pokémon aren't easy to transfer from Animé graphics. With realistic textures, they'd have to make a few crucial decisions (are Bulbasaur slimy or leathery? Do Charizard have scales? What does the belly of a Psyduck feel like?). Look at the Super Smash games, for instance. The trophies in particular. While most other characters have quite detailed textures, the Pokémon are all mono-coloured smooth surfaces and chunky "spikes" instead of anything resembling hair, feathers or fur. They look like cheap toys when standing still, their movements might be animated brilliantly, but those textures are just misfitting.

I feel that GameFreak should make up their mind regarding future Pokémon 3D games. Texture the Pokémon properly, or make the entire art style of the game fit the Pokémon. Cel-shade graphics or something. At the moment, it just seems half-assed, with the same old Pokémon models walking around in increasingly detailed environments.

[Dark Arceus]

Originally Posted by Fat Cobraroll

I have one big... what can you call it... beef(?) with the 3D Pokémon games. Namely, the total disregard of texturing... of the Pokémon. The backgrounds (see Colosseum) are usually textured somewhat realistically, but the Pokémon seem to be made of plastic.

Pokémon aren't easy to transfer from Animé graphics. With realistic textures, they'd have to make a few crucial decisions (are Bulbasaur slimy or leathery? Do Charizard have scales? What does the belly of a Psyduck feel like?). Look at the Super Smash games, for instance. The trophies in particular. While most other characters have quite detailed textures, the Pokémon are all mono-coloured smooth surfaces and chunky "spikes" instead of anything resembling hair, feathers or fur. They look like cheap toys when standing still, their movements might be animated brilliantly, but those textures are just misfitting.

I feel that GameFreak should make up their mind regarding future Pokémon 3D games. Texture the Pokémon properly, or make the entire art style of the game fit the Pokémon. Cel-shade graphics or something. At the moment, it just seems half-assed, with the same old Pokémon models walking around in increasingly detailed environments.

I somewhat agree about the poor quality of graphics for the 3d games. While I really can't say I like the background with how really generic it seems mid battle (I view it as bad but may just be me, whatev) they, as in the game makers, tend to only focus on the popular pokemon when making the game. Why do you think Dialga and Palkia look better then everything else (Or is this just my view) but those were like the only pokemon with any effort in the game. I haven't used a huge variety though and generic randoms from CPU's are kinda not memorized for me, so that has me thinking if any pokemon actually seemed to have some effort on their 3d image?

Edit: Holey Crap my grammar is really bad here. Hopefully the message of only specific pokemon being the focus when making 3d comes across. For example the Pokedex 3d was made with good graphics and nearly all the pokemon looked good.

[Texas Cloverleaf]

Interestingly enouch, I rather enjoyed PBR the first time I played through it. I transferred over my boxoes of mons and put together a few solid teams (++mewtwo abuse) that cleared the early colloseums no problem, but I found the later collosuems to occasianlly be quite testing of my adaptability. Neon, Waterfall and that one by the ocean were excellent colloseums as I recall, and i thoroughly enjoyed playing them. Neon was also where I realized Agility was an egg move on Empoleon, to my dismay.

I also really enjoyed the final stargazer colloseum fights. The themes they came up were really interesting to see how effective they could be, especially in a doubles environment where the weather effects could be used to greater effect. Of course they held the advantage due to my mons being singles oriented what it was still quite fun overall.

[Layell]

I enjoyed PBR although I eventually gave it to kid who was a family friend with my synch data of about 350+ pokemon to mess around with so he was happy.

I never really played Stadium but I did own Colloseum and XD. It's tough to talk about PBR without mentioning what it was supposed to live up to. Wifi random was fun but that really should have already been in 4th gen, yeah the models were the same from Stadium but they were touched up. Look at moltress heck form just XD -> PBR and tell me there isn't a difference.PBR played it very safe with modes for my taste. Once you beat the main mode there was some difficulty but I just didn't have it in me for that one random one and the 100 battles (having done it in Colloseum just to get Ho-oh in gen 3). It's far from the worst pokemon release game, (Pokemon channel and Pokemon Dash tie for me), although in terms of the classic turn based games it may be the least playable and certainly least standalone.

If Nintendo just had the sense to make a Colosseum and Stadium hybrid game with the best of both (and more wild pokemon dang it). Otherwise I am not looking forward to any console pokemon games.

Also the best song by far: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rr40M...feature=relmfu