One last send off for the mobile game
As Pokémon Rumble Rush shackles its doors, we wanted to give a final send off to the mobile game. The latest entry in the Pokémon Rumble franchise, Pokémon Rumble Rush was a very unique and interesting experience. Instead of trying to innovate and reinvent itself, like all its predecessors did, Pokémon Rumble Rush boiled itself down to its core concepts, and by putting a new spin on them, it was able to excel in a way the previous entries in the franchise had failed to achieve.
We’ve previously covered the Pokémon Rumble series in our article, In Review: Pokémon Rumble. Since then, Pokémon Rumble Rush changed quite a bit, implementing UI changes and the Battle Royale, allowing the game to hearken back a bit more to its original formula. It’s interesting, though, to see how much the Pokémon Rumble Rush fandom worked together and what lengths they would go to in order to help players find exactly the Pokémon they were looking for. This is largely due to Pokémon Rumble Rush’s main mechanic. Rather than having set areas to explore that for the most part never change in terms of available Pokémon, Rumble Rush was very different. Using Guide Feathers, players could uncover hundreds of different areas to explore with many possible combinations of Pokémon available in them. This is where the collaboration aspect comes in, as each area has a set coordinates on a grid. This allowed players to share the coordinates of areas they found with certain Pokémon available in order to help other fans get a better chance at location those same Pokémon.
A variety of sites and discord servers sprung up to help fans coordinate and locate various locations in each sea as they switched out every two weeks. Using everything from Reddit to Google Sheets, players would input data into websites for easier access to help other players in their quest to catch them all. Despite Rumble Rush lacking any sort of multiplayer for the better part of its lifespan, it managed to promote cooperation in a way few other games had, especially in this particular series itself. Fans came together to create a coordinated effort towards collecting and recording the data necessary to keep these sites and databases running for those that needed them most, whether they were just a casual fan trying to locate a specific Pokémon or a more intense player looking to grind a certain area for a 5* Pokémon. Even I often lurked and referenced these places on my quest for a Sky Shaymin once one became available, and it was a huge help every two weeks when I had to write articles about each newly released sea. It’s something that is truly unique and I have never seen anything quite like it in any other part of the fandom.
In a year where the Pokémon fandom has seen a lot of controversy due to disagreements over expectations of a game, it was interesting and refreshing to see the cooperative and friendly environment within the Rumble Rush community. Perhaps because the game was so bare bones and easy to play, it did not leave much room for controversy to grow. And while bickering and such still existed, as with every fandom, the efforts toward collaboration far outshine them. It was also obvious that the game had plans for bigger and better things, with many UI changes being implemented following the announcement that the game was set to shutdown. The Battle Royale was also a rather late addition all things considered. While some had a feeling it was coming due to the nature of some of the later seas, many were hopeful that the game would see a longer lifespan, similar to that of Pokémon Duel which was able to stay running for a few years. But alas, shortly after celebrating its first birthday, Rumble Rush had to announce the news that it would be shuttering up soon.
It’s unclear exactly why the game is shutting down. The game had been highly anticipated since its alpha testing back in 2017 and while it received average reviews from critiques, many fans received it quite well, giving it 4 stars on the iOS store. It will also be the second app to close that supported My Nintendo, following the shutdown of Miitomo in 2018. It’s not even the first Pokémon mobile game to shut its doors, with Pokémon Duel also retiring last year. Fans speculate that it may be due to the success of Pokémon Masters as compared to other Pokémon mobile games. Pokémon Masters has been highly successful and as a gacha game is definitely generating more money through in-game transactions than Pokémon Rumble Rush. In addition, with the release of Pokémon Café Mix a few weeks ago, it is also possible that staff is being moved around to support the newer games. We may never know.
That said, there is no denying that Pokémon Rumble Rush is a gem in the Pokémon fandom that was cut down way too soon, before it could truly shine. The collaboration and efforts in the community to put together comprehensive maps and lists of available Pokémon is unlike anything else I have ever seen. It is truly an admirable effort that deserves more recognition than I could ever give it. As a long time fan of the Pokémon Rumble series, this game really brought me back to the days when I played the original on the Wii. It was fun, made for great entertainment when I need a short break from the world, and showed that even in times of intense fandom controversy, the true spirit of cooperation and enjoyment still exists even if it’s in places you don’t always expect to see it.
Goodnight, sweet prince. May we see you once again in the future.
