over the years many iconic video game
franchises have tried and failed
miserably to enter the third dimension
welcome to watchmojo.com and today we’re
taking a look at the Pokemon franchises
attempts to break from its 8-bit past
arguably made up of the largest
collection of lovable videogame
characters the Pokemon franchise
attained instant popularity around the
world when pokemon red and blue first
launched in Japan on the Gameboy in 1996
taking on the role of a trainer the
turn-based role-playing franchise
expanded into dozens of unique
adventures and spin-offs that appeal to
younger gamers it then generated its own
trading card game animated show and film
series maintaining a regular flow of
entries on the portable consoles it was
just a matter of time before gamers
began demanding to play in a 3d
environment on their more powerful home
systems in response Nintendo launched
several 3d titles in the late 90s to
capitalize on the franchise’s
unprecedented popularity starting the
home console invasion was the crossover
brawler Super Smash Brothers the
Nintendo 64 title featured several
characters including a 3d version of the
series mascot Pikachu
soon after pokemon stadium launched in
north america and dazzled gamers with
its stellar graphics however stadium
disappointed fans with its lack of a
defined storyline and absence of
sprawling environments meanwhile parents
of younger gamers were pleased when
Nintendo published two non violent
spin-offs
the first was Pokemon snap a photography
title that allowed gamers to venture out
on a rail bound Safari asked to capture
the creatures interactions with each
other players were rewarded for the
quality of their photos children who
wanted the chance to interact with
Pikachu were given the option to play
Hey You Pikachu
featuring rudimentary voice recognition
technology microphone wielding gamers
were able to befriend and train the wild
creature through 200 separate voice
prompts skipping out on a true free
roaming 3d game entry Nintendo later
released Pokemon Colosseum on the
Gamecube in 2004 expanding on the
elements of stadium it added a
serviceable plot and took the series in
a positive direction by adding an
adventure mode the following year
Pokemon XD Gale of Darkness arrived and
was penned for recycling too many
elements from the previous title
continuing the trend of featuring the
use of a designated battle arena over a
sprawling 3d world nintendo published
pokémon battle revolution taking place
in the theme park titled poke Autopia
the game featured eleven separate battle
Coliseum’s as a result it received
terrible reviews
the franchises appeal further diminished
with the release of the download-only we
title my Pokemon wrench following the
production of PokePark Pikachu’s
adventure it’s clear that the series
widespread appeal will continue to
diminish on the home consoles until it
can innovate in the third dimension what
may be needed is for the franchise to
deliver on the spirit and structure of
its classic handheld adventures not only
will this satisfy its aging fanbase but
it will also entice new gamers to try
their hands at collecting and training
Pokemon
franchises have tried and failed
miserably to enter the third dimension
welcome to watchmojo.com and today we’re
taking a look at the Pokemon franchises
attempts to break from its 8-bit past
arguably made up of the largest
collection of lovable videogame
characters the Pokemon franchise
attained instant popularity around the
world when pokemon red and blue first
launched in Japan on the Gameboy in 1996
taking on the role of a trainer the
turn-based role-playing franchise
expanded into dozens of unique
adventures and spin-offs that appeal to
younger gamers it then generated its own
trading card game animated show and film
series maintaining a regular flow of
entries on the portable consoles it was
just a matter of time before gamers
began demanding to play in a 3d
environment on their more powerful home
systems in response Nintendo launched
several 3d titles in the late 90s to
capitalize on the franchise’s
unprecedented popularity starting the
home console invasion was the crossover
brawler Super Smash Brothers the
Nintendo 64 title featured several
characters including a 3d version of the
series mascot Pikachu
soon after pokemon stadium launched in
north america and dazzled gamers with
its stellar graphics however stadium
disappointed fans with its lack of a
defined storyline and absence of
sprawling environments meanwhile parents
of younger gamers were pleased when
Nintendo published two non violent
spin-offs
the first was Pokemon snap a photography
title that allowed gamers to venture out
on a rail bound Safari asked to capture
the creatures interactions with each
other players were rewarded for the
quality of their photos children who
wanted the chance to interact with
Pikachu were given the option to play
Hey You Pikachu
featuring rudimentary voice recognition
technology microphone wielding gamers
were able to befriend and train the wild
creature through 200 separate voice
prompts skipping out on a true free
roaming 3d game entry Nintendo later
released Pokemon Colosseum on the
Gamecube in 2004 expanding on the
elements of stadium it added a
serviceable plot and took the series in
a positive direction by adding an
adventure mode the following year
Pokemon XD Gale of Darkness arrived and
was penned for recycling too many
elements from the previous title
continuing the trend of featuring the
use of a designated battle arena over a
sprawling 3d world nintendo published
pokémon battle revolution taking place
in the theme park titled poke Autopia
the game featured eleven separate battle
Coliseum’s as a result it received
terrible reviews
the franchises appeal further diminished
with the release of the download-only we
title my Pokemon wrench following the
production of PokePark Pikachu’s
adventure it’s clear that the series
widespread appeal will continue to
diminish on the home consoles until it
can innovate in the third dimension what
may be needed is for the franchise to
deliver on the spirit and structure of
its classic handheld adventures not only
will this satisfy its aging fanbase but
it will also entice new gamers to try
their hands at collecting and training
Pokemon
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