My Pokemon Ranch Review

Platform: Wii
Developer: Ambrella
Publisher: Nintendo
Release Date: June 9th, 2008
Genre: Pokemon Simulation

1. Graphics: 3/10
2. Sound: 3/10
3. Interface: 3/10
4. Replay: 3/10
5. Gameplay: 3/10
6. Stability: 3/10
7. Overall: 3/10

The Pokemon phenomenon has debuted on WiiWare with the latest Pokemon simulation game, My Pokemon Ranch. Hayley, a young and kindhearted Pokemon Trainer, wants to make her dream of a farm full of Pokemon and Miis a reality. Using your Pokemon from Pokemon Diamond and Pearl, help Hayley make her dream come true as you help her build a ranch full of Pokemon. Are you up for the challenge or will you let this young girl's dream be crushed?

When you first start your life at the ranch, Hayley will explain her dream; to have a ranch full of Pokemon. Seeing as she only has six Pokemon at the beginning of the game, she turns to you and asks if you would be able to help her dream become a reality. Seeing as you have no choice on whether or not to help her, you must select a Mii to represent yourself and let your life as a collector begin.

Your first day at the ranch is very dull aimply because you have only six Pokemon to interact with. If something bizarre happens, you can always snap a picture of it, but besides that, there isn't really anything else to do. If you decide to import Pokemon, you can only import 24 Pokemon because of the size of your ranch. If you want to import anymore, you'll need to wait until the ranch upgrades, which will be the next day.

On top of not being able to do much on the first day, you also can't roam around your ranch freely. It won't be until the second day that you're granted the ability to roam around freely. Then again, after roaming around freely for a small period of time you'll want to get rid of the option. The reason behind this is because the controls are so wonky. I can't even remember how many times I accidently clicked the button to take a picture. Once you've taken 20 photos, My Pokemon Ranch will start deleting your photos. If you have 20 photos and you click the button by accident, you can say bye bye to your precious photo(s).

By capturing Pokemon in your Pokemon Diamond and Pokemon Pearl game cartridge(s) and transferring them unto the ranch, you and the other Miis will be able to interact with the Pokemon. In addition to Miis interacting with your Pokemon, you can also watch your Pokemon interact with other Pokemon. At the ranch, Pokemon will behave like you haven't seen them before. If you awake one of your Pokemon while sleeping, you'll face the wrath of that Pokemon. When all your Pokemon are clustered together, a conflict may emerge and some of them may engage in a fight.

At the end of each day, Hayley will ask you a question; what Pokemon would you live to see at the ranch tomorrow? She'll ask you two things about which Pokemon to bring. For example, if she says do you want to see a purple Pokemon and you say yes, a purple Pokemon will arrive at the ranch the next day. If you say no, she'll ask you another question. Say no again and she'll just pick a Pokemon at random. Most of the time Pokemon that you haven't seen before arrive, but sometimes this isn't always the case.

Besides interacting with your Pokemon, there really isn't much to do in My Pokemon Ranch. If you want, you can always take pictures of Pokemon at the ranch and post them on the Wii Message Board. Then you can send them to all your friends and show them how great of a photographer you are. You can even s ave pictures to a SD card and upload them to your computer.

If you own Pokemon Diamond or Pokemon Pearl, Hayley will often send you on a quest to find a particular Pokemon. She'll provide you with the location of where the Pokemon can be found. If you successfully capture the Pokemon and upload it to My Pokemon Ranch, she'll even consider trading with you. Most of her Pokemon are weak and know pathetic moves so trading with her may be an idea that you should consider skipping.

Essentially My Pokemon Ranch is just a means of storing Pokemon. If you download the game without owning Pokemon Diamond or Pearl, you're out of luck. Seeing as you'll only be able to gain one or two new Pokemon each day, it's going to take awhile to obtain enough Pokemon to increase the level of your ranch. If you can't increase the level of your ranch, you also cannot bring anymore Miis to the ranch.

As the level of your ranch increases, you'll also be able to have more toys delivered each day. Toys are essentially items that your Pokemon can play with. Some items, such as the cannon, will allow your Pokemon to be blasted to different areas of the ranch. Toys are certainly a nice addition to the game because they allow you to take unique photos of your Pokemon playing.

Graphically, My Pokemon Ranch is probably the ugliest Pokemon game ever to grace a console. The Pokemon are composed of very few polygons, which make them look ugly, and they lack textures. On top of this, all the Pokemon are essentially the same size. Dialga and Palkia are roughly about the same size as Riolu and they're even smaller than a Mii. I really don't understand why they just couldn't keep the 3D models from Pokemon Battle Revolution. It would've made the game look a lot better. My Pokemon Ranch sounds just as bad as it looks too. The music is fairly simple and repetitive and since you spend most of your time interacting with Pokemon, you'll also spend most of your time listening to the annoying background music. Honestly, I would rather listen to a baby crying than the hideous background music in My Pokemon Ranch.

All in all, My Pokemon Ranch is a missed opportunity at a great game. The controls are wonky, the graphics are hideous, and even the sound is horrible. On top of that, you have the very shallow gameplay. Besides taking photos, there really isn't much to do. The game reminds me a lot of Pokemon Snap, with only a fraction of the fun. Honestly, if snapping photos is your thing, you'll love My Pokemon Ranch. Taking photos of your Pokemon making totem poles and marching around a campfire is a really enjoyable experience. If you don't have Pokemon Diamond or Pokemon Pearl, it'll just be a waste of time because you won't have enough Pokemon to do any of these activities. In the end, My Pokemon Ranch is a complete waste of money.