| ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age. | |
| PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids. | |
| OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age. | |
| NOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age. |
Parents need to know that this game offers an extremely narrow gaming experience. Gamers should think of it as an add-on to the Nintendo DS Pokemon Diamond/Pearl experience and should only consider buying it if you already own one of those two games. It's all about participating in battles using Pokemon that you upload from your Pokemon Diamond/Pearl DS games. Pokemon fans may have a hard time ending play, so a timer may be a good companion. This game has an online component where you can play with others; Common Sense Media does not recommend unsupervised online play for anyone under the age of 12.
The sole purpose of POKEMON BATTLE REVOLUTION is to battle with all the Pokemon creatures that players have previously captured in Pokemon Diamond or Pokemon Pearl for the DS. Players can upload their collection of Pokemon to the Wii game -- a really handy feature -- and then battle with either the game's trainers, their friends in head-to-head matches, or with other players online.
The online play feature sounds wonderful, but the implementation is clumsy and poorly designed. Players have to enter long friend codes, which are different from the codes on their DS games. And there isn't any tracking of compiled scores or ratings for comparison. The head-to-head battles are the most fun of these wireless gaming choices, so the much-vaunted online ability is actually peripheral to the game experience as a whole.
The bottom line is that this is a fun way for young Pokemon players who own either Pokemon Diamond or Pokemon Pearl to extend the gameplay of those games. However, older Pokemon fans will soon tire of the battles without an accompanying adventure.
Families can talk about why Pokemon is such a popular license. Why do you like Pokemon? Do you like that this game rewards your efforts collecting Pokemon on the DS by allowing you to use them for future battles on the Wii?
| Platforms: | Nintendo Wii |
| Available online? | Available online |
| Genre: | Role Playing |
| Developer: | Nintendo |
| Release date: | June 27, 2007 |
| Price: | $49.99 |
| ESRB rating: | E for Everyone |
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