Pokemon games are selling well in both Japan and the US -- and Nintendo will milk the little monsters for all they got. With Pokemon Stadium funneling more and more Game Boy owners over to the N64 in Japan, it's no surprise then that the sequel is already on the way.

Although the first title was only released in Japan, Nintendo has finally decided to bring the monster battles stateside with this second revision of the best-selling Japanese hit. Instead of giving US players the more limited Pokemon Stadium (1), Nintendo of America chose instead to directly bring Pokemon Stadium 2 to the US and Europe. To make things a little more confusing (or less, depending on how cosmopolitan you are), the US version of Pokemon Stadium 2 will sell under the moniker of the first title.

Features                                                          
                                                                     intro to pokemon stadium 2

In case you're not familiar with the first game, Pokemon Stadium enabled owners of the Game Boy Pokemon games to load their monster data to the N64 with the help of the included 64GB Pak attachment (see hardware section) and then pit them against each other in Final Fantasy-style turn-based battles.

Remember those turn-based battles in most of the popular role-playing games like Final Fantasy? Two (or more) creatures or humans square off against each other, enabling the player to input attack commands and watch the battle. Pokemon Stadium instantly reminds you of those RPGs -- minus the quest and storyline. Confused? You should be.

The premise behind this type of game genre, popularized by Pokemon for the Game Boy and Monster Ranchers for the PlayStation, is not story or action. "Collection" and "training" are the key words.

Unfortunately, the first Pokemon Stadium didn't include all the Pokemon monsters from the Game Boy series and gamers were limited to only around 40 of them. That's all about to change.

In Pokemon Stadium -- or Pokemon Stadium 2 as it is called in Japan, large-scale battles are now possible with the full 151 Pokemons -- and you will even be able to have them participate in training mini-games to get the monster up to speed.

There are several new game modes:

Tonikaku Battle
This mode is easy to play even if you're not familiar with the Pokemon titles. This is a kind of learning mode, to break you gently into the game and teach you the basics, so you can later graduate to training and fighting with your own monsters.

Event Battle
The Pokemon league mode, set against a time limit. The two settings you can control are the "fight time-limit" and the "technique-entry time-limit." Fights can be set to last from 5 to 90 minutes and you can give yourself (and opponents) anything from 10 to 90 seconds in which to enter their next technique (fighting move) -- a 10 seconds isn't too long! If you're both still standing when the fight time runs out, the monster with the most HP remaining wins the bout.

Research Mode
The mode that allows you to organize a Pokemon album and swap monster data with your Game Boy. Plug the Game Boy Pokemon cartridge into the 64GB Pak and load the monster data, then view the monsters in full polygonal 3D and send them into battle.

Winner's Castle
The tournament mode which sees you do battle for six trophies. Pit six of your monsters up against six of your opponents at various difficulty levels.

Chibbikko Club
There are nine types of mini-games in this mode. Like the regular battle mode, you don't need detailed knowledge of the Pokemon universe to enjoy them. You can participate with up to four players, and you don't even need to use the Game Boy cartridge to play this mode. If there are fewer than four of you playing, the CPU makes up the numbers.

Free Battle
A tag-team battle mode for up to four players, this mode is the sequel's star attraction. Pitching players in a 2 Vs 2 tag-team match, each person gets to choose three of the fighters for the team of six. With up to 12 different types of Pokemon in the field, it's essential to have a good all-round knowledge of the different monsters' capabilities.

GB Building
The same as in the last game. Here, you can play the Game Boy version of the game using your N64. Essentially, the GB Building is a software emulator that displays the action of the Game Boy game on screen in limited color, similar to a Super Game Boy. Remember that it will only play Pokemon games, though.

While gamers were mostly limited to one-on-one battles in the original Pokemon Stadium, Nintendo has added a special Ultra Cup and a total of nine new mini-games to PokeSta 2. These games let up to four players go head to head and battle each other by throwing rocks, hammers and all kinds of other unpleasant projectiles.

Pokemon Stadium 2 promises to pump out the same excellent 3D, 60fps visuals as its predecessor. The Pokemons square off in various fighting areas where they will pull off amazing attacks, such as Pikachu's lightning bolts that will literally light up the screen with its 11,000 volt glory.

Outlook
Pokemon Stadium2 was fun, it had all selections of pokemon monsters.  Nintendo has announced that it will publish this verison of Pokemon Stadium in the U.S, so expect to hear a lot more about the game soon.