N-Philes

Pokémon Dash

Posted by Victor Chaves.

For my first N-Philes review I chose Pokémon Dash, and I have to say that this game is one doozy of a tough game to review. This is mainly because Pokémon Dash revels in mediocrity rather than exemplifying itself as a good or bad game. I only found myself enjoying the game in the beginning and deciding that it was more of a chore when the game reached the harder difficulties where map memorization was required to win. This game can be defined as a lollipop - once you lick away all the hard candy, you can only chew away at a tasteless stick.

As far as the game concept is concerned, it's aces. After all, what's better than Pokémon running around in a race? However, the execution was very poor. Basically, you control Pikachu with the touch screen by moving the stylus. The direction you point determines which direction Pikachu will run. Essentially, all you have to do is make it to all the checkpoints in the race before the other Pokémon do. You can't just blindly tap the screen and expect to do well, however, as you must figure out how to successfully navigate your way through swamps, ice, water, grass, sand, and forests. The best way to bypass these is to snatch a power-up that will allow the player to go full speed across any land mass except water, in which you hop on a Lapras. You also have the ability to grab a couple of balloons and fly over anything that is in your way, and by popping the balloons you can quickly descend. This is all fine and dandy, and for the first time you play on the easiest difficulty level, it's fun. The maps are new, the other participants are tough but fair, and you find yourself wondering, "Should I save the balloons, go for the power-up and run across? Or fly and quickly make it to the next checkpoint?" The first grand prix comes and goes, and all was well.

But the game comes with a "HARD GP" - awesome! Here we go! In here, the opponents are harder, and...and...that's it. The opponents are more difficult only because they are on rails. Basically, the other Pokémon go slightly slower than you but follow an almost flawless path for every track. It gets to the point where the only winning strategy is to memorize tracks, which is not that fun. Luckily, you can occasionally find little mistakes in their path. Sometimes they skip a powerup and you can fly right by them. Although, once you miss a checkpoint or get lost for a moment, the race is over and you lost. You thankfully have enough lives in the game to where you can retry a track if you miss something. In the end, you can close your eyes and maneuver the tracks without having to worry about colliding with anything in your way. To have that kind of memorization, though, is beyond what I'm willing to go through to play a video game.

Looking at the other game modes, "Time Attack" mode is the same thing as the main game, but without other Pokémon. Then there's "Practice", which is Time Attack without time. One great feature was the "Special" track collection. The Special mode is where, when you have a Pokémon Advance game in the DS, Dash will automatically see what Pokémon you have in your party at the time and create a track that is made in the image of that Pokémon. For example, when you have Pikachu in your party, you will start in challenge mode to race in a really large island shaped like Pikachu. The Pokémon's colors are represented by the land types (i.e. Pikachu is yellow, so there is a lot of sand). Multiplayer mode requires more than one copy of the game. The racing is just like in the regular game, and if one person knows the track better than the other then the race is over in a little over a minute.

As far as minor details go, there are a couple of things that annoyed me. In the harder difficulties the game becames harder to control, and as a result I'd run into the water and lose precious seconds off the clock because I had to move my stylus so quickly. Also, you always control Pikachu. Squirtle, Bulbasaur, and all other Pokémon are absent, even in multiplayer! The sprites for the other Pokémon are on the cartridge, so why not allow a choice? The music was quite enjoyable and reminiscent of the Pokémon RPG music. The graphics, however, are nothing special. It looks nice playing with Pikachu at the title screen, and the races and other Pokémon are pretty decent, but nothing particularly shines.

As harsh as it sounds, this game is just another way for Nintendo to cash in on one of their franchises. If you want a Pokémon knock-off that's good, go for Pokémon Snap or those great party games in Pokémon Coliseum, as those are at least enjoyable. Pokémon Dash is really only for those who like a racer that's fun for about an hour.

This game gets an N-Philes score of D.

Posted in: Reviews

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