Pokémon Stadium

For your money, you get not a traditional Pokémon game in the mould of Red or Blue, but instead a suite of toys and games to play with your captured Pokémon. A Transfer Pak is included - which slots into the bottom of an N64 controller, allowing it to take a Game Boy cartridge - although Mario Golf and, of course, Pokémon are the only games to support it at present.

Having imported your Pokémon collection, you can then enter them in a variety of different competitions, fight against the trainers in Blue and Red, and take on your mates to find out who really is the best trainer. A stock of "rental" Pokémon at various levels are available in case you think your collection is not up to scratch - but imported Pokémon are a little stronger than rental monsters of the same level. There is a collection of sub-games, button-bashers featuring various Pokémon, and to top off the collection you can even use the Transfer Pak to play Pokémon proper on your TV. Stadium, in perhaps its most useful feature, lets Pokéfans organise and arrange their Pokémon and items. Pokémon can be stored on the cart - up to 240 - and playing the contests will reward you with rare or hard-to-find Pokémon to download to the Game Boy.

Via the lab, it is also possible to trade Pokémon with your friends, and if your Pokémon perform well there are a host of hidden features to unlock - including a facility to play Red or Blue at a greatly accelerated speed - handy for training Pokémon quickly. Mewtwo is in there too, but you'll have to find him for yourself.

Many Pokémaniacs will already be salivating at the prospect of seeing their favourites in full 3D, thanks to the power of the N64. Each monster is rendered in colourful glory, and the animations for each attack and event are well realised and imaginative. The stadium background, although a little featureless, sets off the action neatly. Commendably, the developers have managed to bring Pokémon to the big(ger) screen while retaining the crucial humour and charm of both the GB version and the cartoon.

As I took my faithful collection into battle, the office rang once again with the cry "Go Charmander! Kick his booty!" - and Charmander won't disappoint. The attacks, especially the fire and water-based ones - look excellent and really add to the fun of facing off another trainer. The sub-games are fun too, if a little limited

It's a shame, though, that more of the original Pokémon voices have not been included - probably down to limited cart space. And there is no point in buying Stadium if you missed out on the Game Boy version - many of the features are only accessible via either Red or Blue.

The question is, is it worth buying an N64 for Stadium? A lot of Game Boy owners will be wondering whether to pester their parents into yet more Pokéxpense. Shrewdly, Nintendo has announced it is to release a special package, containing Stadium and a few other goodies for Ł99. And to any committed trainer - especially with a few fellow Pokémaniacs - it will extend the lifespan and amusement value of your favourite game substantially. Pokémarvellous.