Poking around this site reminded me that this game existed! Thank you, Backloggd! I had v2 back in the day, which I'll rank once I'm able to get a version working on my current computer, but I was able to play a couple matches of this version.
Pokémon: Play It! v2 scratched a very specific niche - if you loved the Pokémon Trading Card Game back in the day, didn't have anyone to play it with, and did not have access to the GameBoy Color game based on the TCG, that was your best bet. But for a brief window of time, you had to go with this instead. To be clear, this game is super limited - you can choose from one of initially two decks, though you can unlock two more with a code. There is no way to build additional decks, and outside a few lessons, a couple quizzes, and a few downloadables/printables, there isn't much else to do.
The decks also kind of suck. This is to be expected since the game was packaged as a "learn to play" set, and obviously you're not gonna start newbies out with all the most technical metagame cards. But you do feel that suckiness in a vacuum. They're all half-decks (30 cards instead of the standard 60), and there aren't any real power cards in play. Your hardest hitters are Base Set Machoke, Jungle Seaking, Base Set Charmeleon, Base Set Arcanine, and (due to a glitch) Base Set Magmar - cards that don't have much going for them besides hitting hard (not even type effectiveness, since Julie exclusively uses the Fighting deck against the two Fire decks). Draw power, the absolute cornerstone of the early TCG, is almost nonexistent; three decks have exactly one Bill, and the other deck has two Jungle Meowth. You have very few Trainer cards overall, and each half-deck is filled to bursting with energy cards and Basic Pokémon. And since they're half-decks, each game wraps up right around the time it's getting interesting.
As a tool to learn the TCG, this disk is fine. It captures the novelty of the TCG well enough, incorporating things like anime voice clips and special effects to make matches more showy and flashy. But it doesn't really capture the essence of the TCG. v2 didn't do so hot in that regard, either, but there was enough to keep me coming back there as a kid. I suspect I would've bounced off this release pretty hard.
Also, the CGI is terrifying. Opponent Julie always creeped me out as a kid, between her dumb hair and dopey overalls and eerie smile. And I don't even know what the hell is going on with those other kids in the opening.
Pokémon: Play It! v2 scratched a very specific niche - if you loved the Pokémon Trading Card Game back in the day, didn't have anyone to play it with, and did not have access to the GameBoy Color game based on the TCG, that was your best bet. But for a brief window of time, you had to go with this instead. To be clear, this game is super limited - you can choose from one of initially two decks, though you can unlock two more with a code. There is no way to build additional decks, and outside a few lessons, a couple quizzes, and a few downloadables/printables, there isn't much else to do.
The decks also kind of suck. This is to be expected since the game was packaged as a "learn to play" set, and obviously you're not gonna start newbies out with all the most technical metagame cards. But you do feel that suckiness in a vacuum. They're all half-decks (30 cards instead of the standard 60), and there aren't any real power cards in play. Your hardest hitters are Base Set Machoke, Jungle Seaking, Base Set Charmeleon, Base Set Arcanine, and (due to a glitch) Base Set Magmar - cards that don't have much going for them besides hitting hard (not even type effectiveness, since Julie exclusively uses the Fighting deck against the two Fire decks). Draw power, the absolute cornerstone of the early TCG, is almost nonexistent; three decks have exactly one Bill, and the other deck has two Jungle Meowth. You have very few Trainer cards overall, and each half-deck is filled to bursting with energy cards and Basic Pokémon. And since they're half-decks, each game wraps up right around the time it's getting interesting.
As a tool to learn the TCG, this disk is fine. It captures the novelty of the TCG well enough, incorporating things like anime voice clips and special effects to make matches more showy and flashy. But it doesn't really capture the essence of the TCG. v2 didn't do so hot in that regard, either, but there was enough to keep me coming back there as a kid. I suspect I would've bounced off this release pretty hard.
Also, the CGI is terrifying. Opponent Julie always creeped me out as a kid, between her dumb hair and dopey overalls and eerie smile. And I don't even know what the hell is going on with those other kids in the opening.