Welcome to VC Weekly, N-Europe’s guide to the wonderful world of Nintendo’s download service. Written by Sam C Gittins

There have been many Pokémon spin-offs over the years, some successful, others less so but I think we can safely say that the following games definitely fall into the former category, they are certainly interesting in any case. Anyway enough from me and on with the games! 
  
Available for download this week we have...   

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Blue Rescue Team  
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team

Price: GB £8.99, EU €9.99
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Chunsoft
Released: 2006
System: DS

Personally I've thought of the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon titles to be an interesting set of spin-off games at the very least, even though I haven't previously played any of them on their release, it turns out they are quite in-depth for the amount of gameplay they offer plus they have an intruiging premise as you start your adventure. Prior to venturing out on your quest - the premise is you are a human who has awoken in a strange place as a Pokémon - you'll be asked a series of questions - almost like how you're asked questions in the main games - which will determine the Pokémon you'll be playing as from a possible selection of sixteen which include all three sets of starters from the first three generations of titles in the original games plus Pikachu, Eevee, Machop, Cubone, Psyduck and Meowth... that's right! You'll then get to pick your companion who can be any of the others available except for they have to be a different type and obviously can't be the same as your main character - so that's the aforementioned creatures out of the running - basically you are going to get lumbered with a starter Pokémon, just as well they are all excellent then!

Many of you might be wondering whether to go for this version which is on the DS or the other which is on the GBA, it seems as a last minute decision they were released on alternate platforms in order to generate more sales and make the game available to a wider user-base which isn't a bad thing but originally both games were to be exclusive to the DS so if it was me choosing then I would go for Blue as it has all of the features that Red has except you have the added option of touch-screen controls plus extra information on display via the top screen such as your party stats or just the map plus there is a slight difference to the visuals; plus you know... Blue team for life as the kids might say today. At this point you most likely already know if you like the idea of playing DS games on the big screen, so if it appeals then this is the version for you as playing on a larger screen certainly enhances the experience to a degree, even playing on the Gamepad is an improvement.

So many sprites in the game, check out the Eeveelutions!

Things start out a little bit on the challenging side to a degree - if you're not used to playing these types of games - although it's not too much of an issue once you're gained some levels along with items to aid you in your rescue mission which is rather a large task seeing as there are over three hundred different creatures to save; while you're on a mission it's possible an enemy may wish to join your cause but you'll need to have purchased friend areas they can stay in, these can be bought with "Poké" - the currency in the games - from a Wigglytuff acting as a merchant within the main town, in addition to these you can also purchase items - from the Kecleon shop no less! - or even choose to link together previously learned moves but if you have any excess cash you'll want to bank it before going onto the next mission. Should you fail then you'll lose any items or money you have on you though you can call on someone who has the game to rescue you, the only way to do this now on the Virtual Console versions is by password, a very long one at that but at least here you can take advantage of the touch-screen if this is a feature you will be using.

It seems the DS version of this title is certainly sharper than its GBA counterpart, overall I rather like the style which is portrayed by both titles in general as it certainly brings the Pokémon universe to life in new ways which I certainly appreciate, for a series which I seem to have - perhaps rather wrongly - ignored over the years, it's clear to me now that there is an understated charm to the worlds contained within plus the animations are fantastic. You might have expected the music to be skimped on but nope! There's clearly an excellent selection of aural accompaniments to keep you engrossed in every area you visit throughout your adventure in addition to some choice sound effects as well.

Aww yeah! Three of Gen 1's finest critters.

Clearly it's only right to recommend the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon titles as there is a lot to them which I hadn't even been aware of until relatively recently, even experiencing some of what the titles have to offer there is no way that I could consider myself an expert on them - that honour would surely go to our very own Glen-i who's knowledge and love of the series surely knows no bounds - but I can honestly say that I have a deeper appreciation of what they bring to the greater universe surrounding the entire franchise in general in the monumental year of its Twentieth anniversary. There is surely no better time to invest in one of these titles, though this DS version may be slightly more expensive when compared to the GBA version below you do get a whole other control option in addition to extra information on display at perhaps the cost of screen size depending on how you play, either version is a trade-off because of this but you still get essentially the same experience overall.

Verdict : A touching Pokémon adventure filled with fun and familiarity.

Looking up to the DS version with its blue hue from down here in the fiery pits of the red rescue team on the GBA we have the other part of the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon team, as we are now familiar with the simplistic story which sets up the events of the titles I thought it would be interesting to briefly recap on the history of the Mystery Dungeon series which these titles owe their format to at the very least. The very first title was a spin-off to Dragon Quest series starring a merchant named Torneko - released in 1993 - which in turn spawned a fair few sequels all tied into DQ but then a couple of years later in Japan there was Mystery Dungeon 2: Shiren the Wanderer which came out in the Super Famicom which in turn spawned a fair few sequels for either Japan and/or America only yet it wasn't until 2008 in Europe that we got to see the series thanks to the renamed Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer which is a remake of the original roguelike which came out in Japan only, indeed this was also a title I somehow missed out on and as a result of researching for this edition I've decided to pick up a copy in order to become greater acquainted with the Mystery Dungeon series in general.

Indeed I did use the term "Roguelike" which is a genre which has seen something of a resurgence in recent years, though "Dungeon Crawler" is more accurate in the case of these Pokémon-flavoured entries as you will be exploring the flooring of many randomly generated dungeons as you battle against other Pokémon in your search for the next floor, then rinse & repeat until your mission is complete. Mostly your love of these games will depend on how much you enjoy repetitive gameplay because there is a lot of it to advance through again and again and again... so just be wary of that before you decide to commit to either title because your average adventure in the wonderful world of Pokémon this most certainly is not.

A song of Fire, Ice and Electricity!

There are lots of little stories to follow along with as you play, some of the dialogue can be enjoyable even entertaining at times or even hilarious - unintentionally or otherwise - so be ready to laugh and/or cry simultaneously or otherwise depending on your tolerance for text or willingness to watch a bizarrely interesting tale unfold as the world of Pokémon suddenly becomes larger, even deeper in some ways which will either endear you further towards certain critters or explode in intolerance as you angrily mash the buttons to skip the text in order to get to the next part where you have control of your characters again... if this is the case then these experiences might not be for you. You'll find your rescue missions attached to the bulletin board outside of the brilliant Pelipper Post Office, they all almost exclusively involve just getting to a certain floor of a dungeon but whatever the mission you'll need to become versed with the battle system which has you pressing buttons to attack in addition to setting up linked attacks within menus, then there's things such as counters plus status-affecting moves along with a few items to aid you in your quest.

You'll get to explore a variety of familiarly-themed locations which will include Caves, Forests, Ice Caverns, Mountains plus more besides which wouldn't look out of place in a main Pokémon title thanks to the wonderfully illustrated style which simply oozes buckets of charm. There's plenty of extra details to take in around the main hub area which always seems to be bursting with character, couple this with the solid sound effects and you know you're in for a good time with these titles. One other thing to mention is the Wonder Mail codes which are shown in the mission descriptions which you can enter as passwords, these can be shared between players so in this instance Miiverse becomes a vital addition to these virtual versions because trying certain missions may nab you that certain Pokémon you've been meaning to recruit for a while.    

A Bulbasaur, Pikachu and a Numel walk into a dungeon... they promptly get lost.

While you might not have the touch-screen functionality with this version of the game you do have a small handful of exclusive Pokémon to start with - as does the other version - plus being that you only have the one screen, your map when in dungeons will be overlayed on the same screen, I wouldn't call it a huge issue but it's just something to consider. There is the price difference as well being that this is closer to six pounds whereas the DS title is nearer to nine so if this is an important factor to you then you might want to lose the extra features in the name of saving a bit of money. Whichever title you decide to buy though, I really hope you enjoy it as this is a series which certainly deserves to have even more of a greater following and who knows, it just might have made one more fan in the process of writing these reviews.  

Verdict : A condensed version of the dungeon based cult-classic crawler.

That's it for another installment of VC Weekly which will return again soon. So until then, enjoy the rest of the week and Game On!