The Inside Scoop on Gaming

If you're like me, you don't get those darn Pokemon things. What the hell are they, anyway?

If you really want to know, Pokemon are most likely leftover video game characters. Some poor guy in the Nintendo offices spends all day designing new characters for Mario to jump on and squash (good work if you can get it.) Someone at Big 'N' saw the huge pile of unused characters and thought up the concept of catching weird little creatures and training them to fight. The logistics of it don't stand up to too much scrutiny. The MST3K theme song holds the answer: "...repeat to yourself "it's just a show. I should really just relax'..."

Pokemon Jr comes in a wee 6" x 3.25" x 1.5" box all turquoise and purple like the everything else in Poke-world. It's a cute little package. Unfortunately, the box isn't designed for storage of the game components. Not that you can't, you'll just have to open the box carefully so you don't destroy it.

Inside the box as 26 Pokemon "power cards," 6 pokemon trainer checklists, 60 page rule & story book, 2 Pokecoins, 48 "hit tokens" and 1 six-sided die.

The game is designed to be played by adults with their younger children. There's even a section on page 2 titled "A Note to Parents." The parents take the role of the GM while the kids are stuck being players. The instructions are written with the non-gamer in mind, probably a good idea considering the target audience. Interestingly, the word "role-playing" don't appearing in the little booklet.

The rules are very simple and, from what I can tell, reflect the TV show perfectly. First of all, there are absolutely no character creation rules. Why? Because the Pokemon trainer, and their abilities aren't important. The trainers are instead defined by their Pokemon.

This made part of the Pokemon: the First Movie make a little more sense. At the beginning of the movie a bunch of trainers were trying to get to an island in the middle of a hurricane. The authorities were warning them to not venture out into the storm or else their Pokemon might get hurt......

Their Pokemon???? What about the trainers themselves? They can die too, right?

Not in the world of Pokemon. "... repeat to yourself 'it's just a show'..."

Each of the "power cards" represents a different Pokemon (there are a couple doubles, so there's only 22 Pokemon in the set, not 26) Each Pokemon has two attacks, one on each side of the card. On the left side of the card, next to the picture of the Pokemon, is a red Gameboy-looking thing that gives the name of the Pokemon, the attack, die roll target numbers, the effect and a little piece of information on the Pokemon.

For example, for Pikachu it reads:

Pikachu GROWL ROLL 3 4 5 6 1 HIT and Flip Pokecoin ATTACK AGAIN Pikachu can be moody and shy.

Pokemon fights work thusly: The play closes to the Narrator's (parent's) left goes first, the players take turns rolling the die making their Pokemon attack until one faints.

Example: Pikachu vs. Squirtle

Squirtle makes his Bubble attack, rolls a 4. Pikachu takes three Hit Tokens to represent the damage. In the upper right-hand corner we see Pikachu has 9 HP. When he gains 9 or more Hits, Pikachu will faint. Pickachu retaliates with Growl, rolls a 6 and Squirtle takes 1 hit.

Pikachu then gets to flip one of the Pokecoins, which have a picture of Pikachu's smiling face on one side for the "yes" result, and a "fainted" X's-on-the-eyes but still smiling Pikachu for a "no" on the other side. He flips and gets the "yes" and gets to attack again.

This simple system is used for all actions in the game. In one of the adventure episodes, the trainers need to cross a river. The only way to get across is to have your Pokemon Hit the tree until it falls.

Game play is even simpler, actually. There are 15 adventure Episodes in the rule book, but each episode is actually one event and it would take five of them to fill the space between commercial breaks.

Since it's non-gamer, possibly unwilling parents running this game, the game designers found an interesting way around the necessary GM duties. At appropriate point in each adventure, the players are asked to describe their actions, and describe their surroundings and perhaps even the results of their actions.

This sets Pokemon Jr apart from every other RPG on the market. It makes sense, since it is aimed younger children and their parents. Chances are, the parent know little about Pokemon, and care even less. Rather than forcing a reluctant GM to create the world, PJr has the poke-freak kids, who already know all this stuff do it. Furthermore, it encourages the kids to develop their imagination.

Are there a lot of people in the Pokemon Center? What are they doing? What does Nurse Joy do to help the injured Pikachu?

You kids watch the show. Let them tell you. And if they don't know, they'll learn to use their imagination to figure it out. What a great idea!

In the end, Pokemon Jr is a cute little game which has neat mechanics (which I think would work well in a Street Fighter II RPG) but will only appeal to younger players who are already into Pokemon. But it can be found on clearance in some stores for a fraction of it's original selling price.

For two bucks, it's worth a look.

Style: 3 (Average)
Substance: 2 (Sparse)

Pokemon Jr Adventure Game: 1) Pokemon Emergency
Author: Bill Slavicsek and Stan! (I don't get it either) Category: game Company/Publisher: Wizards of the Coast/Hasbro/Milton Bradley/Nintendo >whew< Line: Pokemon Jr Cost: $10 Page count: 60 ISBN: 1-58228-215-3 SKU: 41413 Capsule Review by Dungeon Curmudgeon on 06/14/00. Genre tags: Anime	If you're like me, you don't get those darn Pokemon things. What the hell are they, anyway? If you really want to know, Pokemon are most likely leftover video game characters. Some poor guy in the Nintendo offices spends all day designing new characters for Mario to jump on and squash (good work if you can get it.) Someone at Big 'N' saw the huge pile of unused characters and thought up the concept of catching weird little creatures and training them to fight. The logistics of it don't stand up to too much scrutiny. The MST3K theme song holds the answer: "...repeat to yourself "it's just a show. I should really just relax'..." Pokemon Jr comes in a wee 6" x 3.25" x 1.5" box all turquoise and purple like the everything else in Poke-world. It's a cute little package. Unfortunately, the box isn't designed for storage of the game components. Not that you can't, you'll just have to open the box carefully so you don't destroy it. Inside the box as 26 Pokemon "power cards," 6 pokemon trainer checklists, 60 page rule & story book, 2 Pokecoins, 48 "hit tokens" and 1 six-sided die. The game is designed to be played by adults with their younger children. There's even a section on page 2 titled "A Note to Parents." The parents take the role of the GM while the kids are stuck being players. The instructions are written with the non-gamer in mind, probably a good idea considering the target audience. Interestingly, the word "role-playing" don't appearing in the little booklet. The rules are very simple and, from what I can tell, reflect the TV show perfectly. First of all, there are absolutely no character creation rules. Why? Because the Pokemon trainer, and their abilities aren't important. The trainers are instead defined by their Pokemon. This made part of the Pokemon: the First Movie make a little more sense. At the beginning of the movie a bunch of trainers were trying to get to an island in the middle of a hurricane. The authorities were warning them to not venture out into the storm or else their Pokemon might get hurt...... Their Pokemon???? What about the trainers themselves? They can die too, right? Not in the world of Pokemon. "... repeat to yourself 'it's just a show'..." Each of the "power cards" represents a different Pokemon (there are a couple doubles, so there's only 22 Pokemon in the set, not 26) Each Pokemon has two attacks, one on each side of the card. On the left side of the card, next to the picture of the Pokemon, is a red Gameboy-looking thing that gives the name of the Pokemon, the attack, die roll target numbers, the effect and a little piece of information on the Pokemon. For example, for Pikachu it reads: Pikachu GROWL ROLL 3 4 5 6 1 HIT and Flip Pokecoin ATTACK AGAIN Pikachu can be moody and shy. Pokemon fights work thusly: The play closes to the Narrator's (parent's) left goes first, the players take turns rolling the die making their Pokemon attack until one faints. Example: Pikachu vs. Squirtle Squirtle makes his Bubble attack, rolls a 4. Pikachu takes three Hit Tokens to represent the damage. In the upper right-hand corner we see Pikachu has 9 HP. When he gains 9 or more Hits, Pikachu will faint. Pickachu retaliates with Growl, rolls a 6 and Squirtle takes 1 hit. Pikachu then gets to flip one of the Pokecoins, which have a picture of Pikachu's smiling face on one side for the "yes" result, and a "fainted" X's-on-the-eyes but still smiling Pikachu for a "no" on the other side. He flips and gets the "yes" and gets to attack again. This simple system is used for all actions in the game. In one of the adventure episodes, the trainers need to cross a river. The only way to get across is to have your Pokemon Hit the tree until it falls. Game play is even simpler, actually. There are 15 adventure Episodes in the rule book, but each episode is actually one event and it would take five of them to fill the space between commercial breaks. Since it's non-gamer, possibly unwilling parents running this game, the game designers found an interesting way around the necessary GM duties. At appropriate point in each adventure, the players are asked to describe their actions, and describe their surroundings and perhaps even the results of their actions. This sets Pokemon Jr apart from every other RPG on the market. It makes sense, since it is aimed younger children and their parents. Chances are, the parent know little about Pokemon, and care even less. Rather than forcing a reluctant GM to create the world, PJr has the poke-freak kids, who already know all this stuff do it. Furthermore, it encourages the kids to develop their imagination. Are there a lot of people in the Pokemon Center? What are they doing? What does Nurse Joy do to help the injured Pikachu? You kids watch the show. Let them tell you. And if they don't know, they'll learn to use their imagination to figure it out. What a great idea! In the end, Pokemon Jr is a cute little game which has neat mechanics (which I think would work well in a Street Fighter II RPG) but will only appeal to younger players who are already into Pokemon. But it can be found on clearance in some stores for a fraction of it's original selling price. For two bucks, it's worth a look. Style: 3 (Average) Substance: 2 (Sparse)

Pokemon Jr Adventure Game: 1) Pokemon Emergency