Today is the ten year anniversary of Pokémon Battle Revolution, so it’s time to look back on this famous game.
I can remember the first time ever playing Pokémon Battle Revolution. I was playing Pokémon Diamond and Pearl with a few of my friends. We had decided to hang out at one of our houses after school to see whose team was the best of the best. With each of our teams featuring a unique hacked Mystical legend, we were about to launch into battle when one of my friends made a suggestion. “Why don’t we play on Pokémon Battle Revolution?” At the time I didn’t know what the game was, but shortly afterwards I was greeted with 3-D graphics, intense battle stadiums and themes, and a nostalgia from the reminiscent battle feeling of playing Pokémon Stadium with my cousins.
Pokémon Battle Revolution takes place on an island known as Pokétopia. Featuring both a story mode and multiplayer mode. Players are able to either borrow a set of rental Pokémon or port in their Pokémon from their copy of Diamond, Pearl, Platinum, HeartGold, and SoulSilver.
In story mode, there is a total of ten colosseums that players can battle in. Each had their own set of rules and challenges. From the Fortune Battle style in the Neon Colosseum to the Tournament Battle in Sunset Colosseum, each colosseum has a unique leader as well whose outfit can be bought later on in the game. In addition, there is a unique eleventh stadium specifically for Wi-Fi and multiplayer battles known as the Lagoon Colosseum. While this particular colosseum has no other really unique features, its theme and backgrounds were some of the best in the game in my opinion. It was the most often battlefield chosen when my friends and I went to battle.
While on the surface, Pokémon Battle Revolution may look like just another Pokémon Colosseum or Pokémon Stadium reskin. Though, Pokémon Battle Revolution actually featured several unique features that its predecessors either lacked or never fully expanded upon.
The largest difference that often goes unnoticed by players stems from the graphics, specifically how physical attacks are rendered. Some may recall that when using Take Down in Pokémon Stadium or Shadow Rush in Pokémon Colosseum, the attacking Pokémon would often lunge and then the screen would cut to the target getting hit by the force of the attack. However, in this manner, no two Pokémon were ever actually shown making contact. This all changed in Pokémon Battle Revolution, where Pokémon could approach and actually hit each other Both actions rendering their animations at the same time. Meanwhile, special attack animations remained largely the same in style, Pokémon Battle Revolution definitely showed that physical contact is possible and sets a precedence for the 3-D models in our games in the future.
Pokémon Battle Revolution also had a feature known as Mystery Gifts. Similar to how Pokémon Colosseum and Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness allowed for you to transfer purified Shadow Pokémon to your copies of Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire. After meeting certain requirements, Pokémon Battle Revolution allowed players to transfer Pokémon and items to the physical copies of Pokémon Diamond, Pearl, Platinum, HeartGold, and SoulSilver. Most of these were obtainable through acquiring the in-game currency and defeating certain colosseums.
Along with gear for your avatar, you could also purchase berries, TMs, evolutionary items, specific held items, and even the mystical Soul Dew. As for the Pokémon, there were three transferable Pokémon that could be obtained from Pokémon Battle Revolution. The first, and most famous, comes from beating story mode’s final boss, Pokétopia Master Mysterial, for the first time. Following this, a Pikachu will become available for download to Pokémon Diamond and Pearl, Pokémon Platinum, and Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver in the Shop. It is free and can be downloaded by multiple games, but no two Pikachu can be downloaded by a single card. However, this is no ordinary Pikachu. As you may have noticed in the image above, this Pikachu knows the move Surf, as well as Volt Tackle, and is holding a Light Ball. It was a pretty powerful package that can’t be beat. In addition, through entering special codes in the “Self-Introduction” menu, players could obtain an Electivire and a Magmortar, each with special powerful movesets that were battle ready!
So while Pokémon Battle Revolution was not a perfect game, it was definitely a needed sequel to a style of game that has long since been missed. It was always so much fun to plug into the TV and watch my little Shaymin squadron decimate my enemies. I can still remember battling my heart out on Wi-Fi battling the day before the connectivity was cut. And while the Wii U was a disappointment with its lack of a game in this style, the Switch has given me hope that one day I’ll be able to battle with my team on the big screen again.
