There has been a lot ofPokemonmerchandise over the years. While Game Freak handles the primary games and third-parties are tapped to make spin-offs, most other facets are managed by The Pokemon Company. The anime has been running for most of the franchise’s life, and shows no signs of slowing down. ThePokemontrading card game is in the same boat, taking its own path in adapting the basics ofPokemonto a card format and continuing to expand. All the while, plenty of toys and other small merchandise pours into the global market. Taken together,Pokemonis one of the strongest media franchises in the world and shows no signs of slowing down.
Within the torrent of products withPokemonbranding, there are bound to be a few gems that got left behind.Toys like thePokemon Battle Trainergameby Hasbro made big splashes in a few kids’ lives, while others missed out on them completely. A particularly rare piece of memorabilia was thePokemon Master Trainerboard game, produced by Tomy for Japan in 1997. The game was translated to English in 1999 by Hasbro and Milton Bradley, receiving a Johto expansion in 2000 and an altered Hoenn version in 2005. It was a fun way to experiencePokemonwith friends, but some questionable design choices may produce some less than pleasant memories.
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Pokemon Master Trainer is a Fun Simulation of Pokemon
Pokemon Master Traineris a unique take on the first generation ofPokemon, and allows fans to bring one-to-five friends along as rivals. The game’s rules permit a single-player experience, but it’s designed to have rivals to compete with. The presence of other trainers growing in power and competing for resources is a concept thePokemongames have not fully explored, so it’s interesting to experiment with it here.
Players usedifferent colored Ash Ketchum tokensand select one of six starter Pokemon. Pikachu, Clefairy, and Meowth are included with the regular trio, and picking a weaker starter has the potential advantage of moving first. Power Point values are printed on Pokemon chips, in addition to attack power and catch requirements.
Players will set out into Kanto to gain at least twenty cumulative Power Points in their team and challenge a Master Trainer at the Indigo Plateau. There are no battles aside from player matches and the final Master Trainer fights, so even with a lot of board to cover, games proceed quickly. Wild Pokemon are divided into four color-coded tiers that occupy the four quadrants of the region, and legendary Pokemon are set aside. One of the game’s best features is that players can move in any direction after Cerulean City.EarlyPokemon’s non-linear mid-gameis often forgotten, but it’s a unique part of those generations and seeing a board game represent it is interesting.
Beating Pokemon Master Trainer Is Surprisingly Tough
Unfortunately, players revisiting the game will quickly unearthPokemon Master Trainer’s many flaws. For one, dice control everything. Wild Pokemon have three, two, or one die numbers on their chips, and players must match one of them to catch the Pokemon.Poke Ball items are declared before rolling, but it’s unclear what to do with them if a player’s base roll succeeds.
Item cards are abundant, and they can be anything from the vitally important Attack Bonus cards, to the infuriating Time Machine, which allows one roll by anyone to be re-rolled at the owner’s discretion. Event cards may be even more dangerous, with players having a chance to catch a legendary, gain a free Pokemon, draw multiple items, or force a trade without another player’s input. Movement rolls are also absolute unless a player interacts with another trainer or reaches Cinnabar Island.
Cinnabar is now the gateway to the Indigo Plateau, and the rules are contradictory as to whether players who accumulate 20 Power Points are forced into Cinnabar or get the option to warp there. This starts the infamous endgame ofPokemon Master Trainer, in which players circle a compact version of the board. They collect resources and challenge Master Trainers until their conscious Pokemon have less than twenty combined Power Points, and then are dumped back on Cinnabar.
Healing is very limited, and the best chances for matching the unfairly strong Master Trainers are found in Evolution Bonusesrather than legendary Pokemon. It’s not guaranteed that one player will be able to catch a full evolutionary line, so success depends entirely on luck.Pokemon Master Traineris a unique and potentially fun party game, but it’s best to use house rules to keep it fun.
