Pokedex 3D Pro

Genre: Application / Misc.

Players: 1

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Review:

Within a few months of the release of the Nintendo 3DS in 2011, Nintendo released a free app called Pokedex 3D. The premise was decent enough – players could build up their own little simulated Pokedex (a sort of Pokemon encyclopedia) to read up on the critters from the games and see 3D renderings of them using the Nintendo 3DS’s stereoscopic 3D screen. However, it was very limited by its design – it was only a Pokedex containing the Pokemon that were featured in Pokemon Black and Pokemon White, and in order to fill out even that limited Pokedex, players would need to trade with other players using the software via SpotPass… which is a tall ask for a limited non-game, even a free one.

In 2012, Nintendo took another crack at the idea with Pokedex 3D Pro on Nintendo 3DS. This software has the same basic premise, but attempts to do away with the limitations – now the Pokedex is filled out right from the start, featuring a full Pokedex from the games Pokemon Black 2 and Pokemon White 2. This Pokedex features full information on all the Pokemon contained within, including the different Pokemon’s names, type, moves, egg group, and of course, appearance in full 3D.

Looking at this game in retrospect, the impressiveness of this is somewhat subdued – this game features decent 3D models of all the Pokemon in this game, but… well, all Pokemon are in 3D now, and have been since the first mainline Pokemon games on the Nintendo 3DS. So the big selling point of “now see all the Pokemon in 3D!” doesn’t really carry much weight. It looks fine, I suppose, although just a bit “off”.

As for what you can do in this software, aside from sorting by various criteria, you can see the Pokemon superimposed on your camera feed using an AR card… again, a feature that’s far less impressive in the wake of Pokemon Go doing the same thing on your phone. There’s also a “Name That Pokemon!”-style trivia game. Again, nothing you can’t find in countless online quizzes.

Well, okay, so this software offers a lot of outdated stuff that’s redundant, that you can easily see or do elsewhere, but at least it’s free, right? Ha, no. This software costs $15. Yikes. But at least you can go back and download the original Pokedex 3D for free still, right? Again, no. That software has now been removed from the eShop.

I can just end this review right there, right?

Pokedex 3D Pro is a rip-off. It’s not only outdated, but all the features it offers can easily be found elsewhere, generally for free. It takes an idea that at one time was kinda’ neat when it was free, fixes the problems that release had, and then sticks gamers with a $15 bill for their troubles. Here’s an idea – you want a 3D Pokedex on your Nintendo 3DS? Just get a Nintendo 3DS Pokemon game. Trust me, it’ll be a far better use of your money.

tl;dr – Pokedex 3D Pro is software that allows players to see 3D representations of all of the Pokemon within the games Pokemon Black 2 and Pokemon White 2, see them represented in an AR camera mode, and play simple trivia games focusing on them. Even ignoring how dated this concept is, it’s crazy that they’re charging $15 for this. There is absolutely no way this software is worth that cost – do not buy this.

Grade: D-

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