Hey You, Pikachu!

• Release Date: November 06, 2000
• Genre: Simulation
• Style: Life Development Sim
• Similar Games: Pokémon Snap (Nintendo 64), Pokémon Stadium (Nintendo 64), Seaman (Dreamcast)

Game Description

Have you ever wished you had a Pikachu to call your own? Wonder no more with Hey You, Pikachu! from Nintendo. Players will not only be able to watch Pikachu as he romps around a 3D forest, but also communicate with the yellow monster. Thanks to the bundled Voice Recognition System, which lets you "speak" to Pikachu through a microphone attached to a controller port, you'll be able to tell the creature where to go, what to play with, and even help it solve puzzles. Watch out, though, certain words might make Pikachu upset and unwilling to respond to your commands!

Review: Overall

Considering the origins of Pokémon, a game like Hey You, Pikachu! is quite a departure from the norm. When you think about the movies and games, and how much fighting is a crucial part of the Pokémon series, it is quite a shock for a totally non-violent game to come out. Sure, Pokémon Snap was tame in that department, but this game takes cuteness to the extreme.

The game is the first Nintendo 64 game to offer the voice recognition and only the second console game to offer this unique feature. The first was Seaman, a virtual pet game for the Dreamcast that was programmed for a totally different audience. It was squarely aimed at adults, where this game is for young children. Both games have similarities, but end up being quite different.

Hey You, Pikachu! allows children the opportunity to play along with Pikachu, the most recognized of all the Pokémon characters. While Pikachu only speaks a single word (its name), it does show a great deal of expression in its face and body language. You know what it is thinking and how it feels. You also get to interact with it through the microphone, though only through a handful of words. While adults may find Pikachu's vocabulary very limited, it is just right for children, the audience at which this game is aimed.

The game starts off with a series of small adventures. Each adventure represents a complete day -- you wake up in your bedroom and finish the day there, ready to go to bed. In real time, each adventure is about 10 minutes long. This is the ideal length for small children, as it keeps the game from getting boring. You have the option at each day to save the game, and can end there or carry on. While at first you have no control over which adventure you go on, these adventures serve as tutorial to teach about Pikachu and how to interact with it. You also learn about Pikachu's world, and what you can and cannot do. Once you finish all of these adventures, you have free reign to go where you want, though the game still helps you out. You are never really on your own. Nintendo obviously understood that small children may not be able to remember all the different actions available to them and makes sure they get the help they need.

One problem is that while the box says for ages 12 and under, it is really aimed at ages four to seven years old. The game is so cute and linear that most children older than that will probably find it too juvenile. However, the one big problem is that the game contains a lot of text. If a child cannot yet read, the game is very difficult and possibly unplayable. Beginning readers may find the pages after pages of text to be overwhelming. If your child is of this age, and you think Hey You, Pikachu! will serve as a good toy your child can play with on their own, you may want to rethink your purchase. But what the game does offer is a great opportunity for you to play and enjoy the game with your children. Young children still want to do things with their parents, and this offers something completely different from a traditional book or videotape. Plus, you get the enjoyment of watching as your child learns to interact with Pikachu and can see their confidence grow as Pikachu does what they tell it to do.

Another thing this game will do is help build your child's patience level (or cause some serious screaming fits, depending on your child). At the start of the game, Pikachu does not understand much. It will come when you call its name, and that is about it. But as the game goes along, you can teach Pikachu to fetch items and other small tasks. Most of phrases Pikachu understands consist of only one or two words, and the game will usually tell you what to say. For example, you tell Pikachu to "reel" in the fish or to "taste" a strawberry. While you can say whatever you want, most phrases will mean nothing to Pikachu. You also need to speak clearly, or it may not understand you. An exclamation point will appear over Pikachu's head if it understands you and a question mark if it doesn't.

Besides Pikachu, quite a few other Pokémon characters appear in the game. Charmander, Squirtle and others pop up as Pikachu has picnics with them or baby-sits for them. If your child is a fan of the Pokémon series, they will be delighted to see these other characters.

While the gameplay is limited, and it may be a bit intimidating for its target audience to play alone, Hey You, Pikachu! does offer a little world for your child to explore and enjoy. With your help and some patience, they will find a fun and rewarding experience, and the time you spend with your child as they play the game will be time well spent.

Review: Enjoyment

The game is enjoyable for the target audience. There is a sense of accomplishment as you learn how to talk to Pikachu and get it to listen to you. About the only real negative is thelimited amount of control that you have over the game. The path is pretty much set, and you are just doing what it tells you to do at a given time. The one nice thing about this is that it is next to impossible to not progress in the game. Unlike many games that can really frustrate young gamers, Hey You, Pikachu! will let them progress and really feel like they have accomplished something.

Review: Graphics

While the graphics are simple, everything is easily identified. The camera is easy to control and zoom around with no problems. There are quite a few different environments to explore, and each one is well-designed and easy on the eyes. The game will not win any awards for graphics, but it does a very good job at building Pikachu's world.

Review: Sound

It's hard to really say anything good or bad about the sound, as there is so little. The only word Pikachu utters is its name. Everything else is either text or Pokémon language (like when Squirtle talks to Pikachu), which is as indecipherable as the adults in the "Peanuts" cartoons.

The music is the typical cute fare that you come to expect from Nintendo. While it is quite good, it is not something you would burn onto a CD and listen to.

Review: Replay Value

Once you finish the tutorial, you can go back and play whichever area you want. There are new areas to explore (like searching for treasure) that were not part of the tutorial. But once you play an area a few times, it gets a bit old.

Review: Documentation

{@Nintendo} always does a good job with their documentation. The manual is consise and has plenty of color pictures. There is also a nice reference card that shows all the phrases {%Pikachu} will understand for each of the different areas. {@Nintendo} always makes sure that gamers know what they are doing, and this game is no exception.

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hey you pikachu