Pokemon is a massively popular franchise and continues to be the one part of Nintendo that even surpasses Mario. (Debatable I suppose..) Most people like to go with the main Pokemon games, (Red, Diamond, Ruby, Heartgold..etc) but the spinoffs can be pretty fun as well. Anyone remember Pokemon Stadium, Pokemon Ranger, or Pokemon Colosseum? I’m not going to say that they’re better than the main games of the series, but they are still very good games in their own right. Pokemon Mystery Dungeon has spawned a whole sub-series of video games, but this is the first one that I’ve played.

From the start, you can tell that this is a very different Pokemon game. There are no humans (Not many humans anyway) to speak of and the Pokemon can speak in perfect English. (Via translator) The main character wakes up as a Charmander and he has no idea what has happened. Is he truly a pokemon? Is this all some kind of misunderstanding!? Well, Charmander has no time to think about such trivial matters as a Pikachu comes on the scene. One thing leads to another and they decide to form a team. They help those who are in need of help and they often do it for a modest reward.

For the most part, that’s the plot, but things get more dangerous as the game goes on. The world starts to turn against the heroes as they retreat into the mountains. Can Charmander prove that he’s a nice pokemon and save the world, Or will they track him down and watch as the planet is destroyed? Either way, you’ll want to see the conclusion!

Well, the story line may not be incredibly hardcore and epic, but considering that we don’t have cut scenes, I’d say that it does a nice job. The storyline was fun and didn’t drag on, this was largely because of the gameplay. The gameplay for this game is still turn based, but there are tactics involved. (Ever play Yu Yu Hakusho Tournament Tactics?) In case you haven’t played the game that I mentioned, you are essentially playing from an overhead perspective. Each move counts as a turn and likewise with an attack. It’s simple enough to learn, but making the most out of each situation can take some experience.

The story mode in itself is decently long, but the game has a Lot of replay value. After you complete the game, there are dozens upon dozens of missions left. (Maybe even Hundreds) One day I may go back and complete them all, but they just kept coming and coming and coming and coming! The missions never get boring, but I’ve always got more games to play, so I just didn’t have time. The mission’s Rank determines how tough it will be, but you probably knew that.

When you aren’t completing missions, you can go and spend your hard-earned cash. I found that it’s best to use the cash for new friend areas, but you can also buy some items. There’s even a bank where you can leave your money. (Because when you lose a mission, any money that you were holding goes Kapoot!) Leveling up to 100 and getting as many allies as you can, will also increase the replay value of this game. That’s one thing I’ve always loved about Pokemon, you get a lot of play time for you money!

This was a solid way to start the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon series. I am looking forward to the next one and I’m sure that it will be a blast. This is definitely a great game to get and I recommend it to just about anyone. The game is fun and as long as you keep on leveling up, it shouldn’t get to be extremely hard. There is also a certified planet destroyer near the end of the game, so you may want to keep an eye out for that. I wonder which Pokemon game I’ll get next! (Rangers 2, Mystery Dungeon 2, DS Remake 2)

Overall 8/10