Pokémon Stadium is a 1999 strategy video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 64. The gameplay revolves around a 3D turn-based battling system using the 151 Pokémon from the Game Boy games Pokémon Red, Blue, and Yellow, with several in-game challenges for players to overcome. The game includes four "Cups", each of which is a series of three-on-three Pokémon battles against an ordered lineup of opponents. The "Gym Leader Castle" mode involves battles against several boss opponents who appeared in the Game Boy games. Pokémon Stadium also features mini-games and numerous features available through its compatibility with Pokémon Red, Blue, and Yellow. Using the Transfer Pak accessory that was bundled with the game, players are able to view, organize, store, trade, and battle using Pokémon uploaded from Pokémon Red, Blue, and Yellow.
It was the first Stadium title released in Western regions, succeeding the Japan-only 1998 Nintendo 64 release Pocket Monsters Stadium. Pokémon Stadium was released in Japan in 1999, before being released in Australia, Europe and North America in 2000. Pokémon Stadium became one of the best-selling Nintendo 64 titles, selling one million copies before the end of the year. Critics praised the game's visuals and the connectivity with the Game Boy games but criticized the games' audio quality and repetitive gameplay. A sequel, Pokémon Stadium 2, released in 2000, supporting connectivity with the games Pokémon Gold, Silver, and Crystal. Stadium was re-released on the Nintendo Classics service on April 12, 2023.
Gameplay
Unlike the previous games in the series, Pokémon Red, Blue, and Yellow, Pokémon Stadium does not have storyline-driven gameplay. Stadium takes a more battle-focused approach with its gameplay, which functions similarly to Red, Blue, and Yellow. Players select teams of six Pokémon to battle. These are either Pokémon collected from Pokemon Red, Blue, Yellow usable via the Nintendo 64 Transfer Pak, or Pokémon with pre-determined movesets included in Pokemon Stadium. Six Pokémon are chosen as the party. Only three of them can be chosen for individual battles. Pokémon are depicted in 3D and have unique animations in-battle.
The game challenges the player to succeed in trainer battles at the Stadium, a tournament consisting of four in-game tournaments that last eighty battles in total, with each tournament having its own rules and restrictions. Players can store Pokémon and items from the Game Boy games in Stadium, and allows players to transfer Pokémon stored on Pokémon Red, Blue, and Yellow Game Boy cartridges to Stadium, where they can be used in Stadium's battle modes. Players can play the Game Boy games through Stadium via the connection. There are a large variety of games, such as a game based on Simon Says featuring Clefairy, and a game based on ring toss featuring Ekans.
Development
Pokémon Stadium was developed by Nintendo EAD. Producer Shigeru Miyamoto explained in 1997 that Nintendo EAD was then a group of 20 to 30 staff each devoted to every title. Within EAD, a programming group called SRD involved a separate company of about 200 people working exclusively for Nintendo. Nintendo EAD had previously produced Pocket Monsters Stadium, the prior entry in the series. Pocket Monsters Stadium was initially set for release on the cancelled 64DD console and was planned to feature every Pokémon from the Game Boy games. This number was reduced to 40 during development and eventually released on cartridge for the Nintendo 64.
Pokémon Stadium was initially released in Japan as Pokémon Stadium 2, acting as a sequel and expansion to the Japan-exclusive Pocket Monsters Stadium. Unlike the prior release, Stadium allowed the usage of all 151 species of Pokémon instead of the limited pool of 40 used prior,
Release and promotion
Japan
Pokémon Stadium was announced in the December 1998 issue of the Japanese magazine The 64Dream. In March and April, Nintendo held a tournament involving the game as part of the Pokemon Festival '99, an event to promote Stadium, Pokémon Snap (1999) and Pokémon Pinball (1999).
Pokémon Stadium was released to retail on April 30, 1999, for the Nintendo 64. Nintendo Official Magazine reported in July 1999 that Pokemon Stadium was the number one best-selling game in Japan, followed by Pokemon Pinball in second place. The magazine commented that it had been "a long time since Nintendo featured so well in Japanese charts. That's the power of Pokémon." It was the 10th best-selling video game of the year in Japan by August 1999.
Outside Japan
right|thumb|256px|Promotions for Pokémon Stadium were held at Blockbuster stores in North America.
Sales for the Nintendo 64 console fell 12.5% in the United States in the year prior to the release of Pokémon Stadium, with Enrique Rivero of Video Business describing sales as being "softer-than-expected". The report stated that this was largely due to consumers purchasing Pokémon games for the Game Boy instead.
On March 6, 2000, Nintendo launched a $7 million Pokémon Stadium advertising campaign on television, print, and online media as part of a wider $30 million Pokémon promotion. Nintendo released a promotional Pokémon Stadium bundle featuring a Nintendo 64 console, two differently colored Nintendo 64 controllers, a poster, a journal, and a "Cool Porygon" promo card for the trading card game.
Nintendo of America promoted the game through a national tour between March 11 and April 9 titled the Pokémon 2000 Stadium Tour, allowing them play Pokémon Stadium. Nintendo embarked on its first online marketing push for the franchise specifically for the United Kingdom, launching an official Pokémon Stadium website specifically for a UK audience.
In celebration of the game's North American release, Nintendo and Blockbuster partnered for a promotion in which the first Pokémon Stadium game cartridges delivered to Blockbuster contained a coupon for a limited-edition Pokémon Stadium sticker poster and a free "Pokémon Smart Card", which could be used to redeem up to sixteen stickers at Blockbuster locations. The Smart Cards were previously available in Blockbuster's 1999 promotion for Pokémon Snap.
The game was released in the United States on March 6 and in Europe on April 7, 2000. It sold over 100,000 in the United Kingdom. By April, Nintendo of America announced that Pokémon Stadium sold over 1 million copies. Anne Sherber of Supermarket News wrote that Nintendo had the biggest share of the American console video game market in 2000, with sales of the Nintendo 64 being driven by the release of Pokémon Stadium. Games magazine reporting that 12% of video games sold in 2000 were Pokemon-related titles.
Nintendo of America announced that it would be released as a Player's Choice title, a well-selling game with a lower suggested retail price, on December 26, 2000. At least more than 3.97 million copies have been sold, including 3.16 million in the United States, 710,765 in Japan, and more than 100,000 in the United Kingdom.