PixlBit

Since I'm on the theme of Emulator Oddities, one that caught my eye was very strange indeed. Today's emulator oddity on deck from my Xbox Emulators is the Pokemon Mini. On November 16, 2001 the Pokemon Mini was released in America. Luckily, through the use of emulation I can discuss all the games that were on this curious little handheld that ran for the price of $50 or so at launch. So let's talk about the Pokemon Mini!

 

The Pokemon Mini is a curious case. To put this into perspective, The Game Boy Advance had released just months earlier in June of the same year. To say there were very few games for this is to put it mildly. I could count the number of games released for the Pokemon Mini on two hands.

Let's talk some of the titles. The most off-putting is that all the games are in black and white, yet another issue especially considering that the GBA was out and about with it's colors and fun games. First up, you're going to notice a certain theme with these titles see if you can spot it. I have Pokemon Party Mini which features a few different mini games in it. You've got Hitmonchan's boxing which doesn't work. In the game you had to shake the system to punch...so I guess we'll be skipping this one. Also included are games such as Pikachu's Rocket Start, Bellossom's Dance, Chansey's Dribble, Sneasel's Fakeout, and Celebi's Clock...which really isn't even a game at all...it's a clock...you can even set an alarm with it that plays a jingle to wake you up.

  

Also on my emulators are the following games: Pokemon Pinbal Mini, Pokemon Race Mini, Pichu Bros. Mini, and Pokemon Breeder Mini... so if you wanted to guess and say Pokemon was a common theme you were close, but the theme is the fact that these games are well...mini. And that's the feeling you get. You're playing pokemon mini games on a miniature handheld gaming system...you can't get more nerdy than that!

Of course you have the usual suspects. Pokemon Tetris is the culprit in this case as once again Tetris rears it's head in some form or another on yet another console...God bless Tetris...the true cross generational game next to Pong, Pac-Man, and Mario. There are some games that are on this emulator that were exclusive to one title or region. For instance, I have Snorlax's Lunch Time which originally was exclusive to Pokemon Channel on the Gamecube. I also have Togepi's Adventure which is in Japanese only, and unfortunately I don't really have the time or patience to sit down with it and translate what to do with something I'd rather turn into scrambled eggs...I bet they'd taste delicious...mmm scrambled togepi...

Pictured above...yes it's apparently that small...can't say mini is false advertising!

Anyways I just wanted to give a dose of a sort of strange handheld, because for what it's worth this thing would probably only appeal to hardcore Pokemaniacs. If you got yourself a console and games it could easily run you a couple hundred dollars, so I'd venture towards the emulators myself if you're curious to try any titles. Luckily theres homebrew/hacking site for your curious pokemon adventuring online. Anyways join me on my next bad where I discuss my final emulator oddity. This time it's a Sega peripheral!