Pokemon is clearly a franchise that has developed a cult status. From their Trading Card Game (TCG) which is very popular, to the animated series/movies to the theme park, with millions of fans young and old the Pokemon video games continue to strive. To be quite honest I’m not in exactly the right position to review this title - Pokemon Dash - because I can’t get my head around why anyone would spend their hard earned cash on any of the Pokemon games or merchandise. I don’t mind the animated series - it came on TV when I was in my late teens, so I decided to give the Pokemon Blue ago, but just as with the cards, I was very disappointed. But Pokemon have gone from strength to strength, with literally thousands of Pokemon cards, and by the end of 2005 there will be 27 Pokemon-themed games released (in Japan), not to mention each of the critters cameos in titles such as Super Smash Bros. Melee.

            Pokemon Dash is exactly what it says it is. You race as Pikachu (by running) against 5 other Pokemon, such as Meowth, Bulbasaur and Torchic. The aim of the game like most racing games is to reach the Goal as quickly as possible, by running from checkpoint to checkpoint. Your movement and speed is controlled by swipes across the Touch Screen – the quicker you swipe the faster you’ll run in the direction you’re swiping. The top screen is used as the radar during gameplay. The radar shows you the positions of your opponents, the locations of the checkpoints and the balloons.

During the game you have to race checkpoint to checkpoint, which can get quite confusing at first. Especially when you reach the edge of the island and find there is no way to cross the ocean. What you have to do is find the balloons to rise above - to use the balloons swish along the Icons (at the edge of the touch screen) representing rise, and up you go to the clouds above. When you look down you can see all the islands that the course crosses. When you locate where you have to go you swish the Dive Icon, pop the balloons to drop faster but be careful to not land on the roads or hard surfaces because Pikachu will faint for a while, giving your opponents more of a lead or a chance to catch up. Other Icons in the race are items such as the Forest pad which allows you to run faster through the dense forest and the Sand pad which also allows you to run faster but over the sandy area’s (both types of train slow you down this includes the grass areas). The Swamp pad allows you to run across the swamp areas, because if you don’t move fast enough you will sink and drowned. You also can cross the ocean on the back of a Lapras, which is helpful when you haven’t any balloons.

On foot you compete in the Grand Prix’s with up to five cups with five courses on each cup -so there’s quite a few races to compete in and you have to be sure to finish in third position or better otherwise you won’t be able to compete in the next cup. Once you’ve completed all the cups in Regular GP, if you choose you can compete in the lot more challenging Hard or the Expert GP, which also have the same cups and courses set-up.

The Special Menu appears when you when you’ve completed the Regular GP’s (a special little treat added by Nintendo for the faithful fans of the Pokemon franchise) in third position or better. This allows you to insert a Game Boy Advance game in the slot provided by the NintendoDS (Pokemon; Ruby, Sapphire, Fire Red and Leaf Green). This allows you to unlock up to six new cups. You unlock a cup by regeristing your party Pokemon, which contains up to six courses. When you complete one of the cups Time Attack mode becomes available. Like other games of this calibre, Time Attack simply means race against the clock, completed by racing through all the checkpoints - but you can only race on cups that you have previously completed. To play multiplayer you need is at least two NintendoDS’s, both with game cards. To play one player selects become leader and the rest of the players join a group. You can race with up to six players – each needing their own game card.   

            The graphics are up to standard for the game although they can be a little shaky at times, but that could be due to the speed you are travelling. The Pokemon are very well presented with idealistically “cute” visuals and solid background detail – if never really challenging the NintendoDS hardware. The theme tune for the game is a lively tune fitting for this type of Pokemon game.

            Not being a fan of the Pokemon franchise I was rather sceptical about Pokemon Dash, but after a while and a bit of practice I found I started to enjoy the game. In a way it’s almost a Pokemon version of Mario Kart with a twist - and after just a small amount of play you’ll be enjoying this game to its fullest beating scores and kicking the ass out of your friends.