Pokémon Stadium was born from an abandoned project, changed its name crossing the Pacific and ended up, in 2000, among the best-selling home console games in the United States. A look back at the history of a game that took Pokémon from the Game Boy’s monochrome screen to 3D.
A first Japanese Stadium, in 1998
The adventure began with Pocket Monsters Stadium, released in Japan on August 1st, 1998. The project was originally planned for the 64DD, the Nintendo 64’s disk drive, and was meant to let every Pokémon from the Game Boy games battle. As the 64DD kept being delayed, the game ended up coming out on cartridge, with only about forty Pokémon usable in battle, chosen among the most played in tournaments. The others were meant to arrive through an expansion disk for the 64DD, which never saw the light of day.
This first Stadium already laid the foundations: the Transfer Pak, which reads Game Boy cartridges, the GB Tower for playing Pokémon Green, Red and Blue on the TV, cups and Rental Pokémon. It would never be released outside Japan.
Pokémon Stadium 2… which became Pokémon Stadium
On April 30, 1999, Nintendo released Pokémon Stadium 2 in Japan. This time, all 151 Pokémon were playable, and the game added the Gym Leader Castle, the Kids Club and its mini-games, and the lab with its trades. This is the game that was translated for the West under the simple name Pokémon Stadium, since the first one never left Japan. A lasting source of confusion: the Western “Pokémon Stadium 2” corresponds to the third Japanese game, dedicated to Gold and Silver.
Development was handled by Nintendo. Satoru Iwata, then president of HAL Laboratory and future president of Nintendo, said he personally studied the battle logic of Pokémon Red and Green, without having Game Freak’s specification document, in order to reproduce it in Stadium. For the Western version, the game was adapted: the Poké Cup from Pokémon Yellow replaced the Japanese Nintendo Cups, a photo Gallery was added in the United States and Pikachu can learn Surf at the end of the game (see the differences between versions).
The Western release
| Region | Release date |
|---|---|
| Japan (Pokémon Stadium 2) | April 30, 1999 |
| North America | Late February – early March 2000 |
| Australia | March 23, 2000 |
| Europe and France | April 7, 2000 |
| Nintendo Switch Online | April 12, 2023, worldwide |
The Western release arrived at the peak of “Pokémania”. In the United States, on March 6, 2000, Nintendo launched a $7 million advertising campaign on television, in the press and on the internet, organized a national tour, the Pokémon 2000 Stadium Tour, and offered a Nintendo 64 bundle in the game’s colors. Every box contains the Transfer Pak, essential to enjoy the link with the Game Boy games.
In France, the game came out on April 7, 2000, fully translated. The battle announcer was voiced by Jean-Claude Donda, a well-known voice from French cartoons. Pokémon Red and Blue had come out in France a few months earlier, in October 1999, and Pokémon Yellow would follow in June 2000.
A huge commercial success
In Japan, Pokémon Stadium 2 topped the sales charts on release and passed 1.3 million copies sold at the end of 1999, according to Nintendo. In the United States, the million mark was crossed within a few weeks, and the game became the best-selling console game of 2000, driving Nintendo 64 sales that year. It was later re-released at a reduced price in the Player’s Choice range. In total, known figures exceed 3.9 million copies, including more than 3.1 million in the United States and more than 100,000 in the United Kingdom.
A more measured critical reception
The press was broadly positive, with an average of about 79% on the aggregator site GameRankings. Critics agreed on three points:
- The 3D models of the 151 Pokémon and the move effects were praised, even though the animations were judged a little stiff (the Pokémon never touch each other) and the backdrops rather bare.
- The link with the Game Boy games is the game’s main asset: making your own Pokémon battle on the TV and playing Red, Blue and Yellow on the big screen.
- Without a Game Boy cartridge, however, the appeal drops: several critics found battles with Rental Pokémon had no stakes, and the game repetitive. Some described it as a mere complement to the Game Boy games.
The mini-games divided opinion: judged too simple by some and often compared unfavorably to Mario Party, they were enjoyed by others for how well they work with several players. Our review revisits these points with hindsight.
The legacy
Pokémon Stadium started a series. Pokémon Stadium 2 (2001 in Europe) took up the formula for Gold, Silver and Crystal, with twelve mini-games and an academy for learning the rules. On GameCube, Pokémon Colosseum (2004) and then Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness added a true adventure mode, and Pokémon Battle Revolution (2007) extended the concept on Wii with the Diamond and Pearl games. After that, the series stopped: 3D battles arrived directly in the main games, on Nintendo 3DS, with Pokémon X and Y in 2013.
Pokémon Stadium also left its mark on Super Smash Bros.: a “Pokémon Stadium” stage, inspired by its battles and its changing terrains, has appeared since Super Smash Bros. Melee.
