The sequel of Pokémon Trozei is already here and with a nice $7.99 price tag, this puzzle game is really worth every penny. With over 700 Pokémon to catch, this little game is really replayable. An enjoyable game but…
PUZZLE MEETS STRATEGY
The game looks nice, but for some reason, it feels cheap.
GAMEPLAY
Pokémon Battle Trozei looks like a ‘match-3’ game. It’s inside the genre but we can say it’s a remixed way to play it. First, you can move the Pokémon any way you want, and second, you can think of strategies to use in the game.
When three Pokémon are matched horizontally or vertically, they will disappear from the screen and damage the wild Pokémon. Now, if you do a match of 4 Pokémon and then you make a normal one really fast, you will activate the Trozei chance. This will allow you to do links with only two Pokémon instead of three, making larger chains and emptying the stage.
The game also has scatter attacks that allow you to attack more Pokémon at the same time. You have the normal scatter attack if you match 5 Pokémon and there is a double scatter attack if you match 5 Pokémon, both horizontally and vertically, at the same time (this requires 9 Pokémon).
Some Pokémon can invade your space, adding more challenge.
The game is more frenetic than you think, for example, if you make another Trozei chance just after you emptied the previous stage, you can continue the combo and do more damage than you can believe.
Now, let’s talk about the strategy. You can do a 90 combo attack and do 3K damage, and you can do a 50 combo attack and do 15K of damage. This is because there are Pokémon attack types that are super effective against others similar to the original Pokemon games.
To add more strategy to the formula, every Pokémon has a star damage system. 1-Star Pokémon will do less damage than a 3-Star Pokémon. Some of them also have special abilities such as stronger attacks and the ability to heal (the wild Pokémon can attack you, making you to take damage. They can also invade your play space, adding challenge when you try to do combos). You will lose the level if you lose all of your life.
Hint: Glowing Pokémon shadows are the secret ones.
Specific combos, score or actions will unlock secret Pokémon in the stages. Having specific Pokémon can also unlock secret phases. Sadly, there isn’t any explanation at all about this so you have to find it by yourself or search it on the Internet. Meanwhile, there is no need to explain the secret levels. I find it a bit lazy that they didn’t explain how those can be unlocked by having a tutorial. The only hint you can actually find are the glowing Pokémon on the phases, but that is all.
The tactile controls of the game are perfect and you won’t find any problem playing this game when you’re using the tactile screen. Of course, playing this game on a 3DS XL is a lot batter than a 3DS, just for the larger screen size.
GRAPHICS & SOUND
I will be honest, the game can look a lot better. With over 700 different Pokémon in the game, there are a lot of cute heads available to play, however, there aren’t any animations.
Big combos, lots of damage.
Every animation you will see in the game are tween movements – they don’t blink, or at least have another frame with a little difference when they’re getting damage. It’s really disappointing to see this in a Nintendo game because it feels cheap.
For the other side, the game menus look great and you can see the design is based from Pokémon X and Y, but sadly the logo of the game on the title screen looks ugly. It has a really bad compression and it isn’t something important to care about, but it’s the logo of the game. They should at least noted that.
If you want to ask, there is no 3D effect for this game and I won’t complain about it because you will be watching the tactile screen, so there is no use for this 3DS’s feature.
The soundtrack for the other side is good, but nothing memorable and some tracks feel generic. The FX sounds are well made, however, making a chain higher than 80 links will break your head. To be honest, making a combo higher than 30 links is hard enough.
The last thing to add, and something else that made me sad, is that you can’t hear the voices of Pokémon on the Pokédex or when they appear. Nothing to care about, but it would have been a great touch.
The Pokédex is really big, however, the information is basic.
PRESENTATION:
The game presentation is solid. They teach you how to play the game very well and the manual is complete. Not to mention that the game is really easy to navigate, however, I have to complain about a lot of things:
– There isn’t any hints on how hidden Pokémon or locked phases can be unlocked, therefore, you have to use a guide sometimes.
– The Pokédex is really basic.
– Pokémon with two types are now just one (need to create strategies from zero).
– They don’t explain, even in the tutorial, how or when you unlock the supporter Pokémon.
– No chart explaining the Pokémon types. Not a big deal, but people who enjoy puzzles and never played a Pokemon game can buy this game and not know what hits what super effectively.
Pokémon Battle Trozei has a lot of levels, Pokémon and strategies to do. The gameplay is a great mixture between puzzle and strategy. Sadly, the game presentation isn’t the best and can feel a little cheap. Overall, it’s a game that Puzzle and Pokémon fans can enjoy.
Score in text: Gameplay: 90 – Graphics: 70 – Audio: 70 – Presentation: 70 – Final Score: 78.
