Using Pokémon Black/White’s mascots, Reshiram and Zekrom, respectively, as catalysts, PokéPark 2’s tale is one of mystical wish granting, trance-inducing pastries, and villainous forces that seek to enslave Pokémon for apparently no other reason than to give you something to fight against as numerous rounds of tedious carnival-style side tasks are thrown in your path.
POKEPARK 2 THEME SONG FULL
Like its predecessor, PokéPark 2 offers an inviting world full of five generations of Game Freak’s creature creations to muck about in, but unlike the perpetually memorable act of choosing a Grass/Fire/Water starter companion before setting off on your quest to catch them all, it’s missing a similar central hook, a device that provides bait for players to care about the spotty narrative. Lamentably, that surface sheen quickly reveals its shallowness as the dull story, confined controls, and lack of replay value combine to yield an end product that verges on bringing shame to the triumph of Pokémon Black/White. In PokéPark, the emphasis is on platforming, mini-games, and less intensive RPG elements. PokéPark 2 asserts itself instantly with the same kind of visual strengths that drew Pokéfanatics into the earlier Pokémon Snap and Pokémon Stadium games: bringing loyalists’ favorite Pocket Monsters to life on a larger screen in colorful 3D.
Sometimes it works, as in last year’s simplistic yet addictive Pokémon Rumble Blast, but both 2010’s PokéPark Wii: Pikachu’s Adventure and now PokéPark 2: Wonders Beyond fall victim to an overdose of bubbly sheen a near-toxic imbalance of fan accommodation and actual enjoyable playable content. Over the past decade or so it’s become quite apparent that the problematic detail regarding non-mainline Pokémon titles is that they typically place depthless gloss above core gameplay mechanics, resulting in third-rate experiences that serve only as pre-nap entertainment fodder for budding grade schoolers.
POKEPARK 2 THEME SONG SERIES
No matter how cutesy or childish these games may appear on an external level, the deeper elements of obsessive strategy and real-life social interactions that accompany them allow players of any age to put aside egotistical, prideful reservations and embrace one of the most habit-forming video-game series of all time. The foremost meritorious accomplishment of the Pokémon franchise is its capacity to consecutively pulverize any generation gap-spawned barriers to smithereens like a recently awoken Snorlax stumbling over into a withering tree.