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The Gamecube has been out for two years and now we finally have a Pokemon game for it. Unfourtunately this might not really be a game. Lets start with some details and what this game does right first. Apparently Prof. Oak has been hard at work on a television network for Pokemon (does the man have a life?). Now you've been chosen to test this network and see if it's any good. Right when the television is delivered guess who suddenly breaks into your house? If you said Pikachu you're unfourtunately correct (more on that later). So now you and Pikachu (who is apparently allowed to break the law) are now tasked to watch this network and see how it works. Each channel has different Pokemon themed shows such as PNF (Pokemon News Flash), Shop n Squirtle, Pichu Bros Party Panic Anime, and Slowpokes weather report. There are more but they're neither interesting or fun to watch. Let's start with the good. The graphics are okay, not heavily detailed, but they get the job done with the exception of some of the Pokemon models looking like they came from the N64 games. You can occasionaly go outside and see diferent Pokemon which is pretty cool. The shopping channel even sells bus passes which can take you to different areas to see diferent Pokemon. Now the bad and there are more of these than the good. If you hate Pikachu this WILL increase your hatred ten fold at least. He always wants to watch TV! It usually takes an act of congress to get him to go outside and see the different Pokemon which is arquably the best part of this game. Now some of the shows are okay but noo he wants to watch all of them including crap like Smoochum exercising for five minutes. It's like babysitting some annoying child. After a few days of this you will try to get him run over by the bus (sadly you cannot). Now my biggest gripe: lackof interactivity to the point you question whether you have a DVD or a game. Everything here has you watching.Sure you get to click on things but after that you only get to see what Pikachu does with them (which if you don't like him anyway you won't want to see him roll around with a ball for example). As an interesting side note (and this is neither good or bad) this game runs on real time like Animal Crossing. So if you're Gamecube's clock is set correctly and you turn this on at three PM it will be the same in the game. At first this intriqued me but it soon became clear that this feature is very limited here. For example there are no exact time specific events such as "Charmander only comes out from three to four in the afternoon". Instead it seems as though things are divided into three time sections each day: playing before noon, playing from noon to seven PM, and playing from seven PM to seven AM when the first section starts again. While simplistic it does keep the game from ending too quickly unless you mess with the clock . Each day when you save it unlocks things that when turned on in the proper time section the next day you can access. As stated before it isn't complex in the least but it does serve to strech out what would be an otherwise short game. I know you're thinking I'm being too harsh on a game that's geared towards children right? Well it's because I know that tons of older Pokemon fans will pick this up and be dissapointed. I almost did but thankfully I rented it first. Even at thirty dollars it's too much for what an older person would get out of it. However if you're a parent looking for good game for your pokemon loving child this is actually a good choice. I could see a child enjoying it. This is the one to buy though since you get the free Pokemon Mini which I hear are pretty fun. Anyone over ten would be wise to wait until this can be picked up for at most half the price, I know I'm going to.

Way back in the days of Red, Blue, and Yellow, a game was released called Pokemon Stadium. It featured tough strategic battles, cute minigames, and useful utilities like Pokemon storage, item storage, and a Pokedex. It was useful and entertaining and remains one of my favorite N64 games.

Later, Nintendo released a similar game called Stadium 2, which was identical to the first but with small adjustments to the unlockable features and battle moe, and including better graphics, new games, and compatibility with Gold, Silver, and Crystal Pokemon. This also was fun and useful.

However, with the release of Ruby and Sapphire, Nintendo actually split the expected Stadium-style games into three: Colosseum (which included battle mode and a new RPG mode), Box (which was purely a storage utility), and Channel (dealing with the mini-game side of things). Box looks like a useful utility, and Colosseum is wonderful, but Channel is a fun mixture between the classic Stadium and Stadium 2 minigames as well as the old game "Hey You Pikachu." In it, you befriend a wild Pikachu which is interested in your new TV (haha). You watch new shows every day, which include Psyduck's news, Squirtle's shopping channel, and Wobbuffet's quiz show. Each day you get new shows. The best part about this game is definately the availability of a special Pokemon episode featuring Meowth and the Pichu Brothers, who first appeared in the 3rd Mini-Movie "Pikachu and Pichu." This show comes in five parts, and you must search for the fifth along with Pikachu.

Though the addition of the animated episode was a wonderful touch, the interaction with Pikachu was not as good as the old game Hey You Pikachu, mostly because of the lack of microphone and the focus being taken off you befriending Pikachu. Also, the mini-games were not as entertaining as the Stadium and Stadium 2 games were. Mostly because of the cute episode, though, I give this game 4/5.

In may I bought this for my daughter Amanda.The minute I got it, my son christian annoyed my duaghter all the way home saying it is a bad baby game.But when he played it he loved it!