Try as we might, there's something we can't quite place about Pokemon that makes it so incredibly appealing. It gets to the point where you could almost stick the Pokemon logo on a mouldy sock, and we'd snap it up without even thinking. The difference is though, Pokepark Wii isn't just a game that's had the Pokemon brand shoe-horned into in as a clever way to get sales. Instead, it's a well thought out, and most importantly - incredibly fun game to play, for Pokemaniacs of all ages.
The game begins with a cutscene to make you go "aww", as Pikachu and his friends suddenly come across Mew (a rare, psychic Pokemon, that anyone who's played the games should instantly recognise), who comes to enlist Pikachu's pals' help. A crystal known as the Sky Prism has been shattered, and without its magical energies, the Sky Pavillion - a mystical land where Mew lives, will fall out of the sky, and destroy the Pokepark below. Luckily, its pieces have been scattered throughout the Pokepark, and it's up to Pikachu and his friends to get it back, and once again save the world. Not bad for a little electric mouse.
Sometimes it's almost too cute.
Overflowing with cute creatures, and smiling faces, the world of PokePark Wii is one that'll instantly have you grinning from ear to ear. Packed with positive messages tailored towards its young audience, PokePark Wii is a story of friendship, and one that'll go down a treat with younger children. Tasked with wandering around the park, befriending the Pokemon you find (which in turn leads to the appearance of yet more Pokemon, of which there are 193 to find), it's a thoroughly positive game that's a lot of fun to play.
Making friends with a Pokemon is a surprisingly simple task. Rather than having to prove your loyalty, or anything too serious, most simply want to play a game of tag, or hide and seek before they'll proclaim their undying loyalty. For some of the... larger Pokemon, the way to their heart is to simply give them food - which shows that art really does sometimes imitate life. If someone gave me a bag of chocolate, I'd probably be their friend too.
This being a Pokemon game, of course, it just wouldn't be right if there weren't any battles, and in the context of this game, battling is yet another way to friendship. Rather than following the same turn based style as the DS games, on PokePark Wii, the battles are in real time, but are simple enough to complete. Pressing 1 to dash at your opponent and knock them down, or trying to thundershock from a distance with A, you take a lot less damage than your opponents, and it's fairly easy to dodge their attacks, before lining up one of your own, meaning even younger children should have few problems.
Making friends is key to the game in many ways - not least because you'll need to call on your newly made friends if you want to complete the various attractions that lie scattered around the park. Basically a glorified, motion controlled minigame, each attraction is a fairly simple, but enjoyable affair - whether you're shaking the Wii remote like there's no tomorrow as you will your Pokemon on to complete a race, or swinging from a vine like a Pokemon Tarzan, there's a fair amount of variety here - and to add that extra bit of replay value, each Pokemon has their own individual target you can try and beat, if you want to earn some extra berries. Certain Pokemon are better equipped to take on certain tasks - so, for the swinging challenge, you're best off picking an Aipom (a purple monkey) thanks to its gymnastic abilities. It's probably not the best of ideas to pick a Pokemon that doesn't even have arms. Like we did.
"I *will* manage it. Just got to swing a bit."
Completing each attraction will net you a piece of the Sky Prism, along with a host of tasty berries. The berries form something of a currency for PokePark Wii, letting you buy extra goes on the attractions, or even upgrade your character, which will let you take more damage, and cause your attacks to have a longer range, or dish out more damage themselves. Along with the upgrades and attractions, you can also spend your hard earned berries on film for a camera, which lets you take pictures of your Pokefriends in their natural habitat. Yes, we used it a lot.
At the photo booth, you can save the photos you've taken to an SD card. That's where all these screenshots have come from!
As seems to be a theme for PokePark Wii, even the controls are nice and simple to get to grips with. Holding the Wii remote horizontally, you use the +Control Pad to move around, and the 2 button to interact with other Pokemon. Pokemon who have something to say have a nice big speech bubble above their head, and speaking to them often initiates challenges, of sorts. In the first area you come to, there's a Bidoof (basically a beaver) who wants your help gathering wood, in order to build a house for his relatives. There are plenty of little tasks like this to keep you busy, scattered amongst the areas, serving as a welcome change of pace from the minigames and friend making.
But although it's obviously been aimed at children, the sheer amount of text in the game could either be a positive or a negative depending on the age of your child. If they're just starting to get their head around reading, then PokePark Wii is a great thing to help boost them along, by proviidng an interesting, and friendly environment that'll actively encourage them to want to read. For younger children, however, you should be forewarned that you may find yourself constantly being called, to explain what things mean.
For the young, or the young at heart, there's plenty to keep the young Pokefan occupied here - and enough to convert plenty of new ones. With the simple controls meaning anyone can pick up and play, we can recommend this for both children and adults. The only real disappointment is the lack of any sort of multiplayer mode - which feels like quite an oversight considering the number of ready-made minigames.
Format Reviewed: Nintendo Wii
