Yes, I Really Couldn't Think of a Better Title than This

Back in the good ol’ days, I collected the Pokemon Trading Cards like crazy. All my friends were into it, and we had a great time battling, trading, and calling the other one names when they were winning. The big problem is that the Pokemon TCG is expensive. So, in a solution to help bring people into the game, and to help those without budgets that can support the game, Nintendo has created Pokemon TCG, the video game.

Pokemon: Trading Card Game is a card based strategy game that has received an E rating by the ESRB.

Story
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If you have ever played a Pokemon game, you have the story down pat. You, the adventurous type, plan to travel around competing in gyms (areas to card battle) in order to gain respect, and a chance to go after the big wigs of the business. Nothing to see, move along people.

Step out into the World
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The Pokemon TCG overworld is fairly similar to the other Pokemon games. There are eight gyms and several other sites to see. However, while the Pokemon RPGs featured many towns and out-of-the-way areas, Pokemon TCG only features the gyms and other buildings. This means when you exit a gym, you are brought to a screen where you can instantly move to a different one. It makes the world seem very small, and I would have liked at least a basic outside overworld.

Inside every gym, some tourists and challengers hang out. There are usually 3 challengers under each gym, along with the gym master whom you must beat to earn a badge. Some gym masters let you challenge them right away, while others demand that you first take on their pupils.

There are also a few other locations to visit. You can stop by the Challenge Dome where random challenges pop up that award the winner with rare cards. There is (I'm going to murder the spelling) Mr. Ishikara's house, where Mr. Ishikara will trade you rare cards since he's everybody's best buddy. There is a lab that helps you start off, and then there is also the final gym where you can go for the grand masters.

Card Gameplay
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Go find a person to duel, and accept the challenge. Now you enter the battle mode.

If you've played the Pokemon TCG at all, you'll be able to catch on quite quickly. If not, they do have a tutorial at the beginning which explains the major rules.

For those who haven't played, here is a brief overview:

Each player has his or her own deck, and they shuffle. You draw the top seven cards. From there, you place down any basic Pokemon cards--Pokemon that are in their first stage (that have not evolved). Once that is done, a coin is flipped, and the turns start.

During a turn, you can play more Pokemon cards, evolve your Pokemon, use item cards, or play down 'energy cards' which allow the Pokemon to attack.

Then your leading Pokemon gets to attack. Its moves are printed on the front of the card, along with the energy requirement. If you have enough energy, you can use that attack.

Your Pokemon (usually) attacks the other front Pokemon, in which it receives 'damage counters.' If the number of counters builds up to match its health, that Pokemon is KOed, or Knocked Out (My sister believes that KO is actually Killed Off. Hm...).

You win when (1) you knock out the predetermined number of Pokemon, (2) the opponent has no more Pokemon left, or (3) your opponent has run out of cards.

Indeed this is just a basic overview, but the game is just at the right level for Pokemon fans, and for people interested in getting into the Trading Card Game scene.

After you win, of course, you'll get more cards, which you can then add to your deck. Keep winning, and you'll eventually come across some very cool cards that will boost your deck up to its full potential.

The Cards
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The cards themselves are very well done. Pokemon TCG covers the first few sets from the real TCG: Basic, Jungle, and Fossil. The game also features a number of promotional cards, and cards that can only be found in the video game. All of the art represents the cards well in their real-life form, and there are enough cards to keep you collecting for a while.

Multiplayer
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Using the Infrared Port, you can trade cards. Or, you can connect up and battle a friend with your cable. It’s a solid multiplayer investment if you can find someone with a second copy. Its also a lot more space economical than carrying around your entire collection of real cards.

Since this is a strategy game, I find that the multiplayer is a lot more addicting than in other games. Since each game is built around your deck, you can play in many different ways, and have many different types of battles. Offensive, Defensive, Disabling, Special Power decks, all customizable at your fingertips. It makes the game much more fun, especially with a friend.

Graphics and Sound
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Graphically, the Pokemon TCG is nothing eye-popping or jaw-dropping. All of the people in the overworld are standard Pokemon stuff, and the battle animations are not incredibly flashy or colorful. The cards themselves did make quite a nice transition, but other parts of the game could have used a splash of color (like the menus). What can I say, the GBC is limiting.

The sound is also pretty average. However, one noticeable tune is the strange sound when you run into the really, really strange guy, IMAKUNI?. Yes, he has a question mark at the end of his name. The music becomes very, uh, funky, and it lets you know when you've run into a room where IMAKUNI? is hiding out.

Replay
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I found the replay to be fairly high. You'll want to collect all of the cards, which means you'll have to battle some people over and over, finding the best strategy. IMAKUNI? is very fun to hunt down and fight, just because his deck loses often and he gives you a truckload of cards. Also, once you've completed the game, the Challenge hall randomly holds competitions where you can win some of the special cards that you may have missed out elsewhere.

Miscellaneous Cool Stuff
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Ooh, a new section! This is like the "Problems" section, except I point out all the cool quirks.

One really cool thing is the save system. Although you can save at any time, if you're in the middle of a match, you can just click the gameboy off, and pick it back up when you turn the gameboy back on. I cannot see why they don't have this in other games, kudos to the game designers.

Also great is the fact that you can battle people as much as you want. It was a major disappointment after you went through Pokemon Blue, Red, or Yellow and had no one left to fight. In fact, the only person you can't re-duel at the end of the game is your life long rival, and no one cares about him.

And, there are several decisions you get to make. One guy in the game is in desperate need of energy cards, and if you give him all your spares, he'll lead you to a special rare card. There aren't many of these special occasions, but they are very welcome.

Problems
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I would have like to seen an outside overworld map, instead of being able to instantly trek from one gym to another. The game is a bit too short because of this.

However, the biggest problem with the game is that it relies heavily on luck in some circumstances. Many of the cards found only in the Gameboy version can attack randomly. One of the most powerful cards, a GameBoy Zapdos card, attacks any Pokemon randomly, and I've had my own Zapdos hit three of my benched Pokemon one after the other, while totally missing the 5 on my opponents bench. Needless to say, it can keep you on your toes.

Also, the challenge hall opens up randomly. For most players, it will open up fairly often, giving them a good chance to win many rare cards. For me, I went about ten hours without having one open up. A three hour time limit would have been nice to prevent this from happening.

Overall
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Epinions says you can get this game for $15, and I highly recommend it. It will give you a fair number of gameplay hours, especially if you take your time. More importantly, it will give you insight into the world of Trading Card Games, and you may find that you want to look up more on the subject. If you do, be sure to check out the TCG game Magic: the Gathering. Hey try something new, you just might enjoy it! This is the captain, signing out. Lets go, Spock.