Sitting in the DS slot of my Lite is Pokemon (Pearl) and in the cartridge slot is one of my personal favorites, Mega Man Battle Network 3. Two favorite RPGs of mine, and whenever I complain, or hear anyone else complain, about the laziness of the Pokemon franchise, I always look at the Battle Network games as inspiration for the little pocket monsters. Because one thing that I'd argue MMBN does better than Pkmn, is it battle system.



That's not really fair, I consider MMBN's battle system the best of any portable RPG I've ever played. Pokemon's strength is the evolution of your team, choosing from the Pokemon you have at your disposal and raising them accordingly to win. It's about finding as much or as little variety in the hundreds of critters as you can. My twitch sensibilities are much more engrossed with MMBN's action-styled system, as you move in the environment, firing your weapons at your opponents. There is some excitement as you move and try to line up your attack. Not that there isn't some excitement as you use Surf on another Pokemon, I just find it can get monotonous unless there is something at stake, like a gym badge.



Both battle styles can get tedious, they are both leaves from the JRPG tree, but the add pressure of moving and shooting, and not getting horribly damaged by a single botched movement make MMBN more enthralling. This action demands my attention more, and that's what I want from the Pokemon series. I always think about the battles in the anime, Pikachu running across a sheet of ice, dodging an Arcanine's flamethrower. Instead Pikachu uses Thunderbolt. Arcanine is paralyzed, it may not be able to move... And I want more. They put a game very similar to one that worked on the original GameBoy on the DS, I know they can provide something more stimulating. Even if it is limited to a 3 x 6 grid, actively staring down another pokemon and getting the dream, the one they started in the anime, a little bit closer to reality, would make my next adventure a much more memorable one.

So in the meantime my DS sits in civil war as I decide between the more interesting world of Pokemon or the better battling of Mega Man's RPG adventures. Now if only they could make Pokemon play like Mega Man 9...[img][/img]