My Pokemon Ranch Review

See those Pikachus? They're running away from this God-awful excuse for a game- if it even deserves to be called that.

Where do I begin? Well, it's only gonna go downhill from here, so we might as well start with the graphics, possibly the only enjoyable thing about this game. The Pokemon have been given a cute Chibi look that is actually pretty cool. The Miis are able to blend in with this graphical style. And... that's everything good I have to say about this piece of shovelware. Be prepared for some hate.

Next is the sound. They could've at least made an effort to put in some good music to play while you interact with your pokemon, but no, they put in horrible elevator music that will get on your nerves so much you'll probably have to mute it. To add insult to injury, they didn't even update the pokemon cries to fit with the Wii, they just borrowed from the DS games. Gritty, fuzzy, pokemon cries may not sound so bad on the DS, but they don't sound at all good on the Wii.

Now the gameplay, or complete lack thereof. Everyday, you come back to your Ranch to find a new Pokemon, which the ranch manager lady will give you a preview of the day before. You'll also get some new toys to watch your Pokemon play with, but that still brings little entertainment. Each day someone invites you to visit their ranch, which is themed in some way. One ranch you encounter is one full of pikachus and pichus. This still gives you as much entertainment as visiting your own ranch, so there's basically none to be had. You can also take screenshots of your Pokemon in action, but its not like you'll be rushing to your Wii everyday to look at them or send one to someone else. I hope not, at least.

The game costs 1000 Wii points, or, to put it simply, 10 bucks. There's nothing to justify that high price. The only motivation you have is to fill up your ranch with 999 pokemon, which you'll wonder how the heck is possible, in order to get Mew. But unless you commit yourself to getting pokemon into your ranch as much as possible, its pretty much pointless.

CONCLUSION:
This so-called "game" is an absolute abomination. The cutesy-styled Pokemon and the promise of a Mew with 999 pokemon are nowhere near enough to justify this game's ripoff price of 10 bucks. There is nothing that could possibly warrant a purchase of My Pokemon Ranch unless you are absolutely desperate for some Pokemon action on the Wii. But even then, there's Pokemon Rumble for the Wii (which, judging from the demo, seems pretty darn good) which has REAL gameplay and you get bang for your buck. I think I said in my Kirby's Adventure video review that I would buy Kirby's Adventure for 2000 points, if not more. However, I wouldn't think of giving up a fraction of 1 point for this piece of crap. Stay away from My Pokemon Ranch.

SCORE: 1/10