For anyone that has played the main Pokemon games, you will know how vital Pokemon types are to your success in battle. For example, we know that using a Fire Type attack against a Grass Type Pokemon will double the damage, and that is exactly the same way in Pokemon Battle Trozei as well. Once you catch Pokemon, as mentioned above, you can choose one at a time to be a support Pokemon for your team, which means they will show up throughout each puzzle to help. Sometimes this will mean a replay is necessary after losing to pick a more useful Pokemon for that specific level. Each Pokemon is ranked on a scale from one to five stars, so sadly most Pokemon will be completely useless very quickly. There are also some Pokemon with unique moves like Chansey, that will heal you rather than attack the enemy when matched.
One problem with the game is that it varies in difficulty way too often. Most of the time, it is a complete breeze with no challenge and you will mostly be just going through the motions by matching Pokemon without any sort of strategy. The strategies mentioned above are nice, but usually they really aren’t needed. The problem arises mostly with the final battles in each level, that often feature a great difficulty spike that doesn’t fit the rest of the stage. It would be better if battles were more balanced, so we didn’t have to go through the easy battles that are mostly a waste just to get to some challenging puzzles.
The repetitive nature of the game also can get quite tiresome. While you can collect over 700 Pokemon, it really only feels like there are a few different ones overall, with the only difference being the type, as well as special ones like Chansey. Otherwise, it feels like you will be doing the exact same things over and over again each level. It’s not to say that it isn’t a ton of fun for awhile, but it’s not something that you will likely want to be sitting around playing for hours, even though it can be addicting in small doses.
Compared to the original that had more depth, it was very smart to make Pokemon Battle Trozei! an eShop game that can be bought for only $7.99. While this costs more than the typical puzzle game that you may get on your mobile device for only a few bucks, this one brings something that they can’t, Pokemon. Even though there isn’t a ton of change, as mentioned above, it is still pretty awesome to have a puzzle game with the Pokemon brand where you can capture all 718 Pokemon. Due to the ability to capture so many different Pokemon, you will likely keep coming back again and again to catch ’em all.
The game’s biggest fault is that it is quite lacking in game modes. There is the main mode where you can go and capture Pokemon across the different zones and then there is cooperative local multiplayer to spice it up a bit. It might have been nice if some sort of competitive multiplayer was added, especially if it was done online. However, the game is essentially a single player only experience with one game mode unless you happen to have friends who have their 3DS and the game locally. Even if one other game mode was added, it would have felt a little more substantial, but at the cheap price, the lacking of more modes is tolerable.
Pokemon Battle Trozei! is a worthy follow-up to the original that chooses to go with the more pick up and go gameplay seen with most puzzle games today. With tons of Pokemon to capture, you will have plenty of content to keep coming back to, especially at only $7.99. The actual game mechanics are pretty unique, with the actual battling against Pokemon on top of matching Pokemon in your Trozei Box. Non-Pokemon fans likely won’t find much here to enjoy, as you will lose a lot without any care for Pokemon, but for any Pokemon fans that like puzzle games, this is definitely worth the price of admission.
[Editor’s Note: Pokemon Battle Trozei! was reviewed on the Nintendo 3DS. The game was provided to us by the publisher for review purposes.]