Pokemon Rumble Blast has been released on 3DS and been provided for us to preview/review by the publisher.

Believe it or not we are still playing it. Here are some extracts of what we made of it in chronological order:

"Pokemon Rumble Blast neatly misses the point of what makes the Pokemon game series so compelling, but provides an entertaining arcade romp and a wish-list for future Pokemon quests..."
- Novel Gamer (Wed, 28 Mar 2012)

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Pokemon Rumble Blast 3DS Release

19/09/2011 15:01

Pokemon Rumble Blast brings immediate arcade action to the Pokemon world. Based on a game originally for Wii-Ware, are the changes enough to break or fix the formula?

The original version of Pokemon Rumble Blast was released for Wii-Ware (as Pokemon Rumble). It was a pretty entertaining diversion, using a group of Pokemon in a more action setting. The choice of attacks is based on the Pokemon's own abilities and utilises the same balance of strengths and weaknesses as the main games in the Pokemon series. To play well, it is vital to have a balanced team and target the weaknesses of the enemy, especially with the huge boss Pokemon.

However, the strength of the original version was in allowing four players to gather around the Wii and take on dungeon crawls together in a great co-op style. This version features a local wireless cooperative play mode, in which players team up to take on levels and work together to overcome the challenge. In this version only two players can join forces and it remains to be seen how much of the original's frantic charm will manage the translation. It should still work very well, as even with less players (or even solo) the Wii-Ware original was a highly entertaining diversion.

At the heart of the Pokemon world is the discovery and trading of Pokemon. This game allows for the discovery of more than 600 Pokemon and the game uses the Streetpass feature to share Pokemon with passers-by. The Miis of the original owners may well even make an appearance in-game, once they have been met.

With the added ability to trade with other players, Pokemon Rumble Blast gets closer to the heart of what makes Pokemon such an addictive setting. The top-down viewpoint (which worked so effectively in Ghost Recon) should allow the 3D to create the impression of an area filled with toy Pokemon.

Pokemon Rumble Blast is currently planned for release for the Nintendo 3DS system towards the end of 2011.