Pokemon: Let’s Go Pikachu – Pika Review

For more than twenty years there has been one constant for me as a gamer, as a cartoon lover, and as a general kid at heart, Pokemon. From the first time I saw the show, to the first deck of cards, to now, I have always loved Pokemon. It is a show that brings people together and has been something I have been able to share with my son who is now eight. We are going to dive in right now with our review for Pokemon: Let’s Go Pikachu.

From Developer Game Freak, comes the newest release, Pokemon: Let’s Go Pikachu (and Eevee). Pokemon games have been in the forefront of Nintendo systems for twenty years now, and one of the best ones was arguably one that came out with Game Boy Color. That one is Pikachu Yellow. With Let’s Go Pikachu you are basically taking the best thing from that game and updating it with the original story that we all love, and mixing in elements of Pokemon Go and Sun and Moon. Pikachu is my favorite character in all of Pokemon and to have him on your shoulder traveling around with you like Ash is the coolest thing for kids and adults who grew up in the times. Being able to interact with Pikachu and play with them is immersive just like the show.

The next part of the new game we will talk about is the Pokemon catching. Now if you are like me, or anyone else who has grown up with Pokemon for the last twenty years, you will notice a big change to the game mechanics. We are all used to battling to catch our Pokemon friends and not catching more than one or two (for breeding) normally. Well, get that out of your mind folks. Now you will want to catch as many as you can. There are shiny creatures in this game as well and there is a better chance to catch them with bigger catch combos. What is a catch combo? That is when you catch the same Pokemon more than twice in a row. The bigger the combo, the better the chance to catch rarer versions of those creatures. We also used to use repel to keep them away from us, and now we use lures to bring out the rarer options as well.

Nintendo has always had these games out for small handheld consoles like Gameboy, DS, 3DS, and now they have made the leap to the Switch. Personally having the games on the Switch feels like a great idea. Now you can play on the small screen or keep it docks and play it on the television screen and make it fun for everyone to watch. Not only has it moved platforms, but they have also increased the level of graphics that they decided to use. The jump to full 3D animations and characters makes this one of the better releases for the series. One other mechanic that was added to the game is the ability to have one extra Pokemon friend out of its Poke ball following you around. This is great for certain Pokemon because if you have bigger Pokemon you have the ability to ride them around the map. Creatures such as Onix and Charizard are just two examples. This aspect makes moving around quicker is some terms but also more fun.

Traditionally you capture Pokemon and keep six on you at any one time, but in Let’s Go Pikachu and Eevee you now have a Pokemon box that you keep on your person. At any time you can take the ones that you don’t want and send them to Professor Oak for rewards as well. The more of one type you send to him the better the reward. So once again, catch everything you can and make sure you have plenty of Poke balls to go around. You have the ability to catch all one hundred fifty-one Pokemon from the original series in the game, and this includes Mew, Bulbasaur, Charmander, and Squirtle. Some of them are still split between Pikachu and Eevee but still have some chances in certain rare instances to be caught.

One of the more important changes that have occurred in the series is the drop in multiplayer. If someone else is playing near you with a different game you can now have them jump in for the fun with you. From my understanding, when someone gets close to you with their system you can shake your joy cons and they will drop into the game. You will both be able to play together and catch Pokemon and battle as you go. This is a newer kind of multiplayer as opposed to the traditional playing over the internet or local battle rooms. These options are still available as well, however. One other big feature is the connectivity to the not required, but still fun to use Poke Ball controller attachment. It works with as a wireless controller like the Joy Cons and it will give you a more immersive feel to the game world.

Note: Our copy was previewed on Nintendo Switch with a code provided by PR.