Collection essentials #424: Pokémon Stadium 2 (N64)

It’s slightly awkward that I’m covering this before actually covering the second generation of Pokémon games, but oh well, not that big a deal.

You likely knew what I meant when I said that. But in case you don’t know what a “generation” is in Pokémon terms: when Pokémon first launched, it did so with multiple releases named after different colors, “Pokémon Red Version” and “Pokémon Blue Version” (and there was a “Green” in Japan). They were basically the same game, following the same story, with the difference mainly being that some Pokémon were available in one version but not the other. And eventually there was a “Pokémon Yellow Version” which was still mostly the same game but had more noticeable differences and additions. After some time, Nintendo released the next set of Pokémon titles, with a brand new story, a bunch of brand new Pokémon introduced, along with new and updated gameplay features and mechanics. A set of games like this is called a new “generation” of Pokémon games. Because they were made after, the second generation of Pokémon titles is not compatible with the original Pokémon Stadium. And so, Pokémon Stadium 2 was made to give fans a similar title compatible with the second generation.

The core premise of Pokémon Stadium 2 is basically the same as the first one. It’s a game about battling, with various challenges and tournaments to overcome, as well as some multiplayer mini games on the side and some convenient features for doing things like organizing and trading Pokémon. 

Pokémon Stadium 2 is awesome because it is not simply a lazy Stadium game barely updated to be compatible with the latest titles. The developers truly went the extra mile to make Stadium 2 a markedly better experience with various improvements and additional features. Practically everything is better, with better graphics, presentation (including enemy trainers that actually talk to you), a very robust set of tutorials to teach basic battling techniques all the way up to advanced ones, a database of valuable information, and in my opinion the minigames are better too. It’s also more challenging, and the new moves and mechanics allow for computer opponents that have a wider variety of strategies, and I love that. There aren’t many reasons why one might prefer the first Stadium game. Some may prefer the original’s minigames, some may not like the fact that the rental Pokémon in this game are a little worse, some may not like that two of the cups from the original game are replaced with completely different ones, but I think most would agree that Stadium 2 comes out far ahead. 

Of course, players are heavily incentivized to play by connecting their Game Boy titles and bringing their own Pokémon to battle with. However, one of my favorite parts of this game is one tournament that doesn’t let you bring your own Pokémon at all. That would be the “Challenge Cup”, a set of four challenges to defeat (with a different set of Pokémon eligible in each one), and every time you play it, you get a team of six Pokémon that is completely randomized within a certain set of parameters, so it never provides the same experience twice. There are certain rules, so for example the game won’t ever give you three Pokémon of the same type, and they will always have at least one attacking move that matches one of their types when possible. But otherwise the Pokémon, their moves and the items they have are random each time. 

As a kid, of course, I adored Pokémon Stadium 2 and spent tons of time with it. I have no idea how, but my childhood cartridge got misplaced at some point and I never found it, so I went several years without owning the game and eventually had to play through it all over from scratch. I eventually acquired the Japanese version for cheap as well, which I don’t consider an essential but I figured I might as well show it in the picture.

In my adulthood, I have greatly enjoyed doing various self-imposed challenges with the game’s Challenge Cup. For a while I enjoyed playing it and trying to see how far I could get with whatever team the game gave me without a single defeat. I was never able to get through all four of them in a row without a loss, you need to be incredibly lucky to do that. There’s another challenge I started doing later inspired by something I saw a YouTuber do, which is to play the Challenge Cup blindfolded, trying to win only going by sounds! It’s very challenging and fun, and also surprisingly doable if you know the game well like me. Once I accomplished it, I even did it while turning off the play-by-play announcer and only going by sound effects! All of this was on camera, and you can go watch all those videos on this playlist.

Pokémon Stadium 2 is nearly perfect for what it is, and it’s my #1 favorite Nintendo 64 game (well…with an asterisk, which I’ll get to before too long). I think my only real complaint with it is the fact that there’s no single-player tournament where both contestants can use all six of their Pokémon in the same battle; every single one requires the trainers to pick three out of the six for a given battle, which is fine but provides a completely different experience from the normal six-on-six matches that human players normally do. Still, this game in my opinion really makes the oldest two generations of Pokémon games worth revisiting even in modern times, and I suggest you find a way to do so if you like the franchise and somehow haven’t. Another quintessential essential for the Nintendo 64.