Talk to Pikachu in this Pokémon adventure.

Original N64europe Review

This is a great game.Solid controls,great graphics,good sound,enthralling music,and fun gameplay adds up to one of the greatest games of all...of,wait,I'm not supposed to be talking about Perfect Dark,I'm supposed to be talking about Hey You,Pikachu!This is barely passable as a true game,since most of the time,all you do is talk to Pikachu.And,not that good,either.

HYP! (Hey You,Pikachu!) has first-generation N64 graphics.That means that 5 years ago,this game would have had top-of-the-line graphics.But,it is the year 2000,but Nintendo seems to have forgotten the minor fact that games in 1995 have bad graphics when compared to today's games.The textures of the trees and grass are very simple,they don't have many details.Do you like pop-up?Then you'll love HYP!,because it has pop-up galore.But,not everything in this game is bad looking.When Pikachu does his lighting bolt,it is a sight to see.Also,all of the Pokemon you encounter look very clean,and you can see if they are angry,sad,happy,or surprised.This is the one area where HYP! really shines.But,the REAL thing that takes this game down is the fact that it is so sluggish.Your Pika-pal runs all over the place,and you can't keep up with him no matter what you do.Hopefully,GameShark will enable you to keep up with that little yellow guy.Bland scenery and very a low frame-rate detract from the score very much,but the animation is sweet.

The sound in Hey You,Pikachu! isn't terribly bad.The sounds in this game make HYP! seem like everything is alright with the world,and that is what HYP! does nicely.But,in truth,the SFX sound somewhat fake and will sometimes make you wanna grab the remote and turn them down.On the other hand,all the Pokemon say their names several unique ways.Pikachu alone says his name around 15 different ways,and when you include the cool ways he moves around,you can really tell what Pikachu's thinking and/or feeling.Non-Pokemaniacs won't like the way it sounds so cartoony,and it really does sound babyish sometimes.But,the sound isn't the worst part of the game.I haven't come to the worst part yet.

What can I say?There isn't much music at all.Every few seconds or so,the music will repeat itself in each area you visit,and it gets extremely annoying.The music creates the effect that makes you feel happy,and it does it along with the sound.But,even Pokemon lovers will wanna turn off the music and just listen to Pika and his pals.

This is a children's video game,but the controls are still bad.That is low.Basically,you press the Z-Trigger and talk into the special microphone,use some of the other buttons to select things,and walk around with the Control Stick.Simple,right?Now add the sluggish frame-rate and the fact that Pikachu zooms all over the place.Not so simple anymore,eh?After a little while,you may just wish Nintendo added a Pokeball or something that you could use to catch Pikachu in,so you could catch him and chuck him in a river,shut off the game,and never worry about it again.But,that would also be impossible as it takes a while for Pikachu to hear you,and when you chucked the ball at him,it would probably go to the right of him.Unresponsive controls mean a not-so-fun experience for anyone.

This is the worst part of HYP!,the gameplay.If a game isn't fun,it isn't a good game.The voice-recognition is terrible.Pikachu only understands a little bit of things.Many times,if you tell him to do one thing,he will interpret it for something else and do the wrong thing,like maybe eat something that he shouldn't have,and you'd lose the game.If you could call this a game.It's more of a complete simulation,as you have no goals whatsoever.The one thing that has a little bit of replay-value is fishing,but after you get the best rod and catch the biggest fish you can,you've got nothing more to do.This is a VERY simple game,people.I could complete it very quickly.There is even a part of the game where you play Hide-And-Seek.Yay,fun.Sloppy gameplay makes for any bad game.This fits the bill.

Hey You,Pikachu! is,overall,not a godo choice for anyone except Pokemaniacs.True,talking to game characters can be fun,but not if it's like this.You can't talk to that little yellow bundle-of-misery anywhere else,but I still wouldn't play this that long.Is you want to rent it,go ahead.It's a good idea,because some people might like this simulation.Some people.

- by Phillip Minnich