Pokemon Rumble Blast review

Now we need David Attenborough to narrate over this

Review written by
Matt Clewley

July 20th, 2014

We all get rather curious about spin-off titles of some of the biggest games on the planet. These spin-offs mainly consist of different gameplay compared to its main base of gaming operations. Some people see them as ideas to make a quick buck, others see it as a new gateway to something wonderful. With games like Hyrule Warriors being hit and miss with some fans, let's hope Super Pokemon Rumble (aka Pokemon Rumble Blast) will hit good expectations.

This game has been out for quite some time now and I'm glad to be reviewing it. So, Super Pokemon Rumble is another spin-off that offers a different recipe to the one we all love. Rather than it being a turn-based RPG series, it gives us what at first seems to be an all-guns-blazing approach to fighting opponents. Its story is a simple one, involving wind up Pokemon toys, bitchy bad guys and health replenishing glowdrops. Glowdrops are the Pokemon Center to you, you go and get some of these when the HP of your Pokemon toy is low.

You do collect a lot of Pokemon toys in this game, however it doesn't feel as good as it does in the main game series. You keep track of the Pokemon, but when you don't have a Pokedex you don't have that epic feeling of capturing as many Pokemon as you can and not reading a description of what the Pokemon is when you go into the town to have a look at the collection section.

The gameplay is one thing I am quite interested in. You practically go around and beat up as many toys as you can, and whilst you get more toys when you defeat more enemies, you will have update your strength by using the most powerful toys you find. There is no leveling up in this game, so don't grow too attached to your Pokemon in a strict line up. You also have only two moves, so you can either head out to the highway with two offense moves or balance out your moves with one attack and also a defensive move. You pay to learn a move, in the town you can either use the random move machine or you can pay megabucks for a good move for one of your Pokemon to learn (100k for Giga Impact?!) so you can't learn them naturally.

Now playing with toys is a childhood highlight of almost every person you can think of, I remember my remote control Cubone being the greatest thing ever until it broke. You will have broken toys if you're reckless in this game, you have 3 keys (well, lives) so you have to be careful, especially against the boss Pokemon. This game is a great brawler, I do enjoy smacking other Pokemon whilst hunting down my deserved victory of every level I think I can sail through.

It's a simple idea, but it is very effective, though it does sadly get quite tedious with the whole structure of each town with the levels and the boss checkpoints. The visuals of this game are great, the toy Pokemon may not look like the prettiest bunch in the world, but I don't think they are meant to look perfect as they are toys (even though my toy Cubone was practically spot on).

The background visuals are pretty, especially when you are in nature themed levels like caves and forests. Everything in the background is polished, and makes the game look very attractive, though it would have been cool to have a toy themed background. The toys seem to stand out compared to the background, which is a good idea for character prominence.

The game has a fantastic classical soundtrack, which seems over the top for a game like this, but trust me it is done nicely. It's an awesome feeling, waddling into battle with your head held high whilst epic music backs up your quest. Or even the battle music, it's a nice pumping feeling you get when you're slaying down enemies that oppose you. Music in any Pokemon game is decent, and I never expected otherwise.

Super Pokemon Rumble is a fine spin-off and is possibly one of the best to come out in recent years. The fighting is fun and all, but can get quite samey after you keep spamming the A and B buttons. I mean, we all enjoy doing that in games like Super Smash Bros, but with only two moves to your deck you feel quite limited.

The levels get typical and the story isn't the most interesting one, but there is plenty of variety when it comes to the Pokemon. The levels are samey with the whole "defeating a horde and then progressing to the next stage" gameplay. Even though it is a spin-off, you don't have one toy which you can train up to make stronger, but you experiment with other Pokemon, so just like Game of Thrones, don't get attached to anyone. The prices to pay for the town-exclusive moves are quite irritating, but I suppose it adds fuel to the fire building up in your desire to complete the game.

This game works better when it is on the Wii as multiplayer - on 3DS it seems to be lacklustre compared to other Rumble games, but it's worth picking up and buying now that time has passed since its release and its sale price has gone down.

This game is a brawler, and it is also a win in my books, for those who love beating the crap out of things in games and also have an undying love for Pokemon then this is for you.