Back in 2009, Nintendo released Pokemon Rumble on the WiiWare shop - as one of the most expensive games on the service at a whopping 1500 Nintendo Points (about £10.50), it had you playing as a lonely Rattata, who's delusional enough to believe he can win the Battle Royale, where hoards and hoards of Pokemon attack him en masse. Needless to say, he loses quite badly, and it's up to you to guide him through the six different areas of the game, befriending new Pokemon to ultimately win the Battle Royale.
Competitions were never fair when Victini, the Victory Pokemon, took part...
Super Pokemon Rumble is the follow-up to WiiWare's Pokemon Rumble, and aims to be a much more substantial game (and considering you'll be paying about four times the price, it should be). Now confirmed for a December launch, the game's set in a world called Toyland, and sees you playing as tiny little wind-up Pokemon toys, who face off against waves of oncoming Pokemon, as you try to battle your way to the end of each level. Unlike the normal handheld games, the battles here aren't turn based - but many of the other principles still apply. You've still got to catch 'em all, but rather than catching them in a Pokeball, instead, you befriend any Pokemon you beat badly enough, and they join your team. Type differences still apply, as well - if your lowly electric-type Pokemon comes up against a hulking great ground type, and can't scratch it (as ground's immune to electric), you can always switch between your different befriended Pokemon, and keep the battle going.
There are over six hundred Pokemon to collect, from old favourites like Pikachu, to new Pokemon like Tepig, Oshawott and Snivy from the new Pokemon Black and White games. As well as the main game, there's two different battle modes to play through - in Team Battle, you're joined by two of your Pokemon team, and must battle your way through a series of mini-bosses to the end; and in Charge Battle, "two large battalions of Pokémon collide in an explosive event that challenges the strength of the player's team", whatever that means.
Maybe this is Charge Battle. They seem to be charging, anyway.
StreetPass lets you increase your chances of encountering mythical and legendary Pokemon, as well as letting you battle the Pokemon of people you walk past - presumably in a similar style to Super Street Fighter IV: 3D Edition, where you assemble a team of figures with various stats that battle other people's teams Top Trumps style as you walk past. Local wireless lets you and a friend team up and defeat Pokemon together, with the added bonus of making it easier to befriend rare Pokemon.
Super Pokemon Rumble launches on the 2nd December on the 3DS - and while it's not the proper 3DS Pokemon adventure many people were hoping for, it'll at least tide you over until that one comes.
