Home

 › 

Articles

 › 

My Pokmon Ranch Review for the Nintendo Wii

My Pokmon Ranch Review for the Nintendo Wii

My Pokémon Ranch is a great tool to assist people who have Pokémon Diamond or Pokémon Pearl and have not completed their post-game Pokédex. But it is very important to realize, before you even consider plunking down 1000 Wii Points for this title, that this is not a game. There is no story, no overreaching objective, and no real beginning or end. So, what exactly is this “game” good for?

My Pokémon Ranch screenshot

As soon as you start the game up, you are introduced to Hayley, who is a is a very nice girl starting a Pokémon ranch. She has six Pokémon of her own to contribute to your budding ranch, but it will be up to you to level up the Pokémon ranch by adding Pokémon. You can add Pokémon one of two ways: either by transferring your hard-earned Pokémon from Diamond or Pearl, or by waiting while Hayley supplies you with one Pokémon per day. Your first upgrade comes when you have twenty Pokémon in your ranch, so if you’re waiting around for Hayley, then you’ve got two weeks of logging on daily before you can get that much needed upgrade. From then on, upgrades will become pretty regular with the most substantial ones coming at the fifty, one hundred, and five hundred marks.

As I said before, My Pokémon Ranch is not really a game. But the most game-like facet it has is the little upgrades that come from putting more Pokémon in your ranch. When you have your first six Pokémon, there is quite literally nothing you can do with your Pokémon besides taking a picture. You can’t move the camera or your character, you can only watch the action on the automated camera. This isn’t so bad at first, simply because the Pokémon are so cute, and you can import your Mii and watch them interact with the different Pokémon. However, after a few minutes it seems like nothing more than a screensaver and gets insanely boring.

My Pokémon Ranch screenshot

Luckily, these ranch updates give you the ability to move around your ever-expanding ranch and zoom in on your favorite Pokémon. You still can’t control anything directly, but you soon gain the ability to pick up Miis and Pokémon as well as mark some Pokémon as favorites, so you can quickly zoom in on them and see what they are doing. As you progress and gather more Pokémon, your ranch residents will also learn how to do special parades. These parades happen randomly and can include everything from Unown spelling out a keyboard to Pokémon assembling into a giant clock.

As you level up, you will also be able to unlock little toys for your Pokémon to play and interact with. Some, like balloons and Poké Flags, are pretty useless, and Pokémon will just randomly pick these up and then put them right down. However, toys like the microphone, which lets Pokémon step up and sing, or the cannon, which fires Pokémon across the ranch are pretty cool, and watching the Pokémon interact with them can actually be a little bit fun. But, because there is no way to really control the interaction between the Pokémon and the toys, watching even the most interesting interactions gets stale after a while.

My Pokémon Ranch screenshot

However, these features still don’t add much more interactivity to this title. The most fun people will probably get from My Pokémon Ranch will be for those who use Pokémon Diamond or Pearl to transport Pokémon. After you make your first transfer, rancher Hayley will be able to peer into your Pokédex and see what Pokémon you are missing. She’ll then put up wanted posters for these Pokémon with specific information on how to catch them. If Hayley is feeling extra generous, she might even trade you a Pokémon missing from your Pokédex. Of course, if you’ve already completed your Pokémon Diamond or Pearl Pokédex, then you won’t even be able to use this feature, and you’ll only be able to observe the Pokémon you’ve already transferred.

My Pokémon Ranch screenshot

Other than the wanted feature, the picture feature adds the most depth to this title. However, there aren’t any photography goals, and the only real use for these pictures is to show your Pokémon to your family and friends. You can also save them to an external SD card if you can’t get enough of Pokémon photography, but since there’s no real point, I can’t imagine really loading up your memory with photos. It would probably be more interesting to download Pokémon snap from the Virtual Console if you’re that into Pokémon pictures.

Graphics in this title are amazingly cute. The Pokémon that you import are transformed from their usual style into a super-deformed “chibi” style. This often has some hilarious results, especially when you transfer large Pokémon like Dialga or Lugia. But, even though the Pokémon here get major points for being cute, this title definitely falls flat on a technical level. The graphics are reminiscent of last gen and could even pass for Nintendo 64 graphics. Textures are extremely repetitive, and some of the lines are a little awkward, especially on fences and land plots. While you may not notice these technical issues at first, as you play the game you notice them more frequently. The game may be a downloadable title, but because the game space is so small (you never really see anything beyond the ranch, which never becomes that big), there is no excuse for why this game couldn’t have been given another coat of polish.

Sound in My Pokémon Ranch is not bad and consists of some cheerful tunes as well as the occasional Pokémon sound effect. The music is pretty cute, but it can get quite repetitive if you are doing some marathon Pokémon ranching. Luckily, Nintendo foresaw this and included a music mute button that allows you to revel in all the Pokémon sound effects with no note of the tunes.

Overall, if you have Pokémon Diamond or Pearl and have not completed your Pokédex, then My Pokémon Ranch is a great way to extend your gameplay experience. But, if you don’t have either of these titles, or you have completed your Pokémon Diamond or Pearl Pokédex, there is really no reason to own My Pokémon Ranch. Unless, you just like looking at your Pokémon run around on a big screen. Even then, I’m not sure if it is worth 1000 Wii Points, especially when there are so many more interesting and interactive games out there.

RATING OUT OF 5 RATING DESCRIPTION 3.1 Graphics
Graphics are definitely reminiscent of the last generation and feature some awkward lines and textures that become much more noticeable as you upgrade your ranch. 3.5 Control
Controls are a strictly point-and-click affair with no complications. 3.0 Music / Sound FX / Voice Acting
Background music is pretty inoffensive, but if it gets on your nerves after awhile you can always turn it off. Pokémon noises are cute. 2.5

Play Value
If you are playing Pokémon Diamond and Pearl and have not completed your Pokédex, then this game will help you and will probably be a lot of fun. However, if you have completed your Pokédex or do not own Diamond or Pearl, then this game is a complete waste.

3.0 Overall Rating – Fair
Not an average. See Rating legend above for a final score breakdown.

Game Features:

  • The Pokémon phenomenon debuts on WiiWare with My Pokémon Ranch, a game that lets you watch as Pokémon and Miis interact with each other for the first time.
  • Enjoy the relaxing ranch life by viewing your ranch and its Pokémon, taking pictures and sending those pictures to your friends via the Wii Message Board.
  • My Pokémon Ranch can be linked with the Nintendo DS Pokémon Diamond and Pokémon Pearl Game Cards to deposit the Pokémon you’ve caught in these games in your ranch.
  • You can deposit a maximum of 1,000 Pokémon from up to eight different game cards. Make your ranch livelier by playing with your friends and family.

  • To top