Pokémon Stadium (Japanese)

Pocket Monsters Stadium ポケモンスタジアム
File:Pokemon Stadium ja.jpg Cover of Pocket Monsters Stadium
Basic info
Platform:	Nintendo 64
Category:	Battle Simulation
Players:	1-4
Connectivity:	Transfer Pak
Developer:	Nintendo, HAL Laboratory
Publisher:	Nintendo
Part of:	Generation I main series
Ratings
CERO:	A
ESRB:	N/A
ACB:	N/A
OFLC:	N/A
PEGI:	N/A
GRAC:	N/A
GSRR:	N/A
Release dates
Japan:	August 1, 1998
North America:	N/A
Australia:	N/A
Europe:	N/A
South Korea:	N/A
Hong Kong:	N/A
Taiwan:	N/A
Websites
Japanese:	Pokémon.co.jp Nintendo.co.jp
English:	N/A

Pokémon Stadium (Japanese: ポケモンスタジアム), sometimes known as Pokémon Stadium 0 among English-speaking fans to distinguish it from the later sequels, is the first game of the Stadium series, and was released in Japan in 1998. This version featured only 42 Pokémon instead of all of the 151 Generation I Pokémon. As a result, not even every evolution family was included. This game was originally intended to make the finals of the tournaments held in Japan available for those who didn't participate in them, so that they could challenge the finalists with their own Pokémon. The demand for a complete game was high so an Nintendo 64DD expansion disk was announced shortly before the release of the game. As the 64DD was a commercial failure, a sequel with all of the Generation I Pokémon (known as the original Pokémon Stadium elsewhere in the world) was released instead.

Gameplay

The game starts with a keyboard, and it asks if the player or players would like to use their Game Boy Pokémon. If not, the player can only access the Battle Mode.

• Battle (バトル): Players can battle against other humans or computer-controlled opponents.
• Organize (せいとん): Players can transfer Pokémon and items between their party, PC boxes, and storage boxes in the game.
• List (いちらん): A list of a player's Pokémon and their stats can be examined.
• Pokédex (ずかん, or Encyclopedia): Players can view their Pokédex in 3D.
• Register (とうろく): A team can be registered.
• Party (てもち): The player can examine their current party.
• GB (Game Boy Tower in international versions): A Generation I game can be played on the Nintendo 64.

Many of these features were integrated into Oak's Lab in future Pokémon Stadium games.

File:Japanpkmnstadium.jpg

The main menu. An error message that tells you that the game has not/cannot access game data from a Generation 1 game cartridge.

Battle Mode

Battle Mode features two modes: Free Battle (フリーバトル) and Tournament (トーナメント).

Free Battle

In Free Battle, a player can battle against another human or a computer-controlled player under one of three rulesets: the L1-30 Division, the L50-55 Division, or Free Battle, where Pokémon of any level may be used.

There are eight pre-set Trainers with Pokémon ranging from level 20 to 100.

Tournament

This mode features two tournaments based upon official Pokémon tournaments.

• L1-30 Division: This tournament is based on the Nintendo Cup '98. There are four divisions: the Poké Ball, Great Ball, Ultra Ball, and Master Ball.
• L50-55 Division: This tournament is based on the Nintendo Cup '97. The total levels of the three Pokémon selected cannot exceed 155. The opponents in this mode are based on actual competitors in the 1997 tournament.

Unlike future Pokémon Stadiums, there are no Continues.

The credits roll after a tournament is cleared.

After one of the tournaments is cleared, the player obtains a Doduo Game Boy upgrade that allows the Game Boy games to be played with frame skip at double speed. When both tournaments are cleared, the Dodrio Game Boy is obtained, allowing the games to be played with frae skip at triple speed.

Pokémon

Pocket Monsters Stadium only featured 42 Pokémon available for play. Most of these Pokémon were used in official tournaments, with a few Pokémon added for type balance. Below is a list of the Pokémon that were included in the game.

#	Pokémon		Type
0003		Venusaur	Grass	Poison
0006		Charizard	Fire	Flying
0009		Blastoise	Water
0015		Beedrill	Bug	Poison
0022		Fearow	Normal	Flying
0025		Pikachu	Electric
0031		Nidoqueen	Poison	Ground
0034		Nidoking	Poison	Ground
0051		Dugtrio	Ground
0057		Primeape	Fighting
0059		Arcanine	Fire
0065		Alakazam	Psychic
0068		Machamp	Fighting
0076		Golem	Rock	Ground
0082		Magneton	Electric
0091		Cloyster	Water	Ice
0094		Gengar	Ghost	Poison
0095		Onix	Rock	Ground
0097		Hypno	Psychic
0101		Electrode	Electric
0103		Exeggutor	Grass	Psychic
0113		Chansey	Normal
0115		Kangaskhan	Normal
0121		Starmie	Water	Psychic
0123		Scyther	Bug	Flying
0124		Jynx	Ice	Psychic
0127		Pinsir	Bug
0128		Tauros	Normal
0130		Gyarados	Water	Flying
0131		Lapras	Water	Ice
0132		Ditto	Normal
0134		Vaporeon	Water
0135		Jolteon	Electric
0136		Flareon	Fire
0142		Aerodactyl	Rock	Flying
0143		Snorlax	Normal
0144		Articuno	Ice	Flying
0145		Zapdos	Electric	Flying
0146		Moltres	Fire	Flying
0149		Dragonite	Dragon	Flying
0150		Mewtwo	Psychic
0151		Mew	Psychic

While the other 109 Pokémon cannot be used in battle, their 3D sprites can still be viewed in the other modes.

Special Pokémon

If the player clears the Master Ball division of the L1-30 Division with a Pikachu in his or her party, the Pikachu can learn Surf. A Surfing Pikachu can also be obtained in the international Pokémon Stadium.

Trivia

• From the start, Nintendo had no plans on making a sequel or an expansion to this. The game was foremost a promotional game to increase the main series popularity. The stadium's sole purpose was to enable battling in 3D. The demand for a Pokémon 3D game on the N64 was answered with a separate project that Game Freaks worked on simultaniously during the developement of this game.
• Pikachu is the only Pokémon allowed to battle in this game that can still evolve in Generation I; in fact, Raichu does not appear in the game at all.
• The game recieved alot of criticism because of the difficulty of this game. Mostly because in L1-30 Division lots of the opponents pokémon had powerful moves like Blizzard even though none of the rentals had them.
• This is the only game of the Stadium-series where Pikachu can learn surf of the japanese versions.
• The game is compatible with Pokémon Yellow despite being released beforehand. A similar situation exists with Pokémon Colosseum, which contains 3D models of the player characters from Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen even though Colosseum was released several months beforehand.
• During the credits, Caterpie, Weedle, Hitmonchan, Hitmonlee, Clefairy, and Jigglypuff are shown battling, even though these Pokémon cannot be used in the game.
• The game's name may be a reference to 64 Mario Stadium, a Nintendo-centric Japanese variety show that featured televised coverage of Pokémon tournaments.

Links

• Overview of Pokémon Stadium by gengarsrevengeX
• Credits of Pokémon Stadium by gengarsrevengeX

See also

• Pokémon that are included in the Japan-only Pokémon Stadium

This game-related article is part of Project Games, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on the Pokémon games.