Topic: One Year Later: My Pokemon Ranch

I should start calling it One Week Late at this rate XD Anyways, here was last week's game, and what a game! Expect the ACTUAL OYL article in the next 24-48 hours.

One Year Later 005: (6/09/08) My Pokemon Ranch

13) My Pokemon Ranch (Ambrella [Nintendo], 1000pts)
When Nintendo announced WiiWare in late 2007, it showed off a number of titles it would publish for the service, and on June of 2008, we Americans got to face the truth: not all Nintendo-published WiiWare titles would be games, persay. My Pokemon Ranch is not an action game, not an RPG, not an RTS, not a shooter, not anything but an expanded Pokemon Box. Players may bring up to 1000 pokemon into the ranch from up to eight game carts (only the DS games need apply), and in MRP, they are able to see the pokemon in super-deformed designs that make N64 models look heavily detailed. Those without carts may receive one pokemon from Hayley a day, and even then, players only have one or two questions to decide which one of the 300+ pokemon she’s going to give you. Miis may also be brought in to play with the pokemon, and players can play with some toys and take pictures if they wish. It even has a pokemon parade mode of sorts, which only helps solidify the game as a Mii Plaza but with pokemon. There are occasional visitors who resemble pokemon, themselves, to add a little something to the mix. However, the biggest thing with value in regards to this game is that Hayley will provide a Phione and a Mew to you at given points in the game, thereby rewarding you for your pokemon collection, and both are transferable to the DS games! And, for a little easter egg, shake the remote either zoomed in or all the way out for some fun little twists. That sums the game up quite nicely.
Reception: Reaction to the game was pretty much entirely negative from a mainstream review point-of-view. NintendoLife felt that the game was not much more than an interactive screen saver with some pokemon-game relevance, giving it a low 4. IGN did not see it positively either, stating that it was a Mii Plaza with pokemon and definitely not worth the asking price (giving it a 4.0 as well). However, for hardcore pokemon fans, this was a game to get, and it usurped Dr. Mario Online Rx from the top spot and stayed their until Strong Bad’s Cool Game for Attractive People. Even after it dwindled in rank, it launched back up with the launch of Pokemon Platinum. It is drifting slowly, but the chance that it will disappear from the Top 20 even "Two Years Later" is low.
Outlook: Ambrella released an updated version of the game to coincide with Pokemon Platinum’s release, but no MPR sequel should be expected. However, Ambrella developed a new Pokemon WiiWare game involving the SD models from this very game: Pokemon Scramble! I predict it to come out in America in late summer.
Factoid: Ambrella’s games before MPR were Hey You, Pikachu! (N64), Pokemon Channel (GCN), and Pokemon Dash (DS).

Hoo, boy! Anyways, the next article will also include the chart for June 2008's WiiWare releases, and it is pretty obvious what it looks like considering MPR was released in that time frame <.<