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> Results: Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team
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Mild Cartoon Violence We Found: It's Pokemon. They fight a lot. Very dramatically, but also inoffensively. Pokemon is still a gaming phenomenon, despite its being around for over a decade now. The reasons for this longevity are simple: solid gameplay and a hook that's irresistible to most children: once you start, you "Gotta catch them all!" Regardless of this marketing ploy, the Pokemon games (both card and video games) have generally been superb. They have offered countless Pocket Monsters, solid strategy, and often surprisingly intense role-playing experiences to fans on a regular basis -- until now. This newest episode, POKEMON MYSTERY DUNGEON: RED TESCUE TEAM, seems contrived, as if the developers crammed the Pocket Monsters into a game where they don't really fit very well. Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team comes from ChunSoft and this is basically a Pokemon-themed version of their long running series of Mystery Dungeon games. Anyone looking for a classic style Pokemon video game is going to be disappointed. The game begins by having players answer a series of questions to determine what kind of Pokemon monster they will become (out of a possible 16 beasties included). From there, the task is to search the virtual world for fellow Pokemon to challenge, befriend, and then take with you to clear countless and randomly generated dungeons. The dungeons make up the play world of this game and they are filled with treasures to collect and monsters to defeat. The combat is turn-based and not very tactical, although players can link moves in one turn. The objective is to make it through a dungeon by finding the staircase to the next dungeon. While the action is nonstop and the random generation of the dungeon's configuration offer lots of replayability, the challenge is low. Playing through the game becomes a chore rather than a joy. The Game Boy Advance version is very similar to Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Blue Rescue Team for the Nintendo DS system and each version has six unique Pokemon. Players who own both can gain access to all.  
It's fun to pretend to be a Pokemon and kids will enjoy the replayability, but parents have come to expect more from games in this series. The violence is cartoonish and mild, often silly and slapstick, and there's quite a bit of reading involved.
Note: This review also appears at the non-profit Common Sense Media. GamerDad is proud to support their efforts in helping parents and children. Read the review there, HERE Comments? Chat about it in our forums! Format For Printing | Tell A Friend | Digg | Slashdot | del.icio.us | Buy This Game Home > Review Archive > Video Games > Results: Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team |
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