Anyone remember Pokémon Stadium? It was the year 2000, the fourth year of N64, and Nintendo wanted to try their hand at a 3D representation of their successful collect 'em up. This game allowed players to battle in the third dimension, with Pokémon that looked better than ever. It was much loved, especially for its connectivity with the Game Boy Pokémon titles.

Cut to 2007 and Pokémon Battle Revolution, which allows players to battle in the third dimension, with Pokémon that look better than ever. It was hyped up greatly, mainly due to its connectivity with the DS Pokémon titles. Starting to see a pattern here? In seven years Pokémon 3D hasn't evolved - and although it nearly reached its full potential in the likes of the Gamecube's Pokémon Colosseum, Battle Revolution seems to forget this and actually devolves a little.

The first thing to explain about Pokémon Battle Revolution is that you need either Diamond or Pearl on DS to really enjoy it. Because of this, if you're not the proud owner of a DS as well as a Wii then you shouldn't even consider picking up Battle Revolution. Unlike Pokémon Colosseum there is no Story mode to be found here; in fact, when looking back at the Gamecube release, Battle Revolution has about a third of its content. It's like Nintendo decided to forget that the previous two games ever existed. The game takes place in Pokétopia, a Pokémon theme park where all of the fights take place. There are two main modes offered to you - DS battle mode and Colosseum mode. In DS Battle mode you battle against up to three friends using your DS as a controller. This works as well as you'd expect, basically being a big screen version of the battles to be found in Diamond and Pearl. In Colosseum mode you'll find the single player component of the game, along with Free Battle and the Wi-Fi mode. Free battle is just that - you and another person can duke it out using two, or just one Wii remote, although passing the remote to the next player quickly becomes a nuisance, so it's best to have a spare one to hand.

In Colosseum mode you battle through a series of colosseums that grant you access to other places to fight. Each colosseum forces you to win up to eight battles in a row, lengthening the mode considerably. A colosseum can take upwards of an hour to complete, without accounting for limited retries and overlong battles. Once you complete this epic area, one or two new ones open up on the world map. There are eleven colosseums in total, each throwing a new battle dynamic into the mix. One might feature a straightforward battle, while another asks you to go through a series of one-on-one battles where you select the order to send your pocket monsters into the arena. The most interesting of these, the fortune battle, involves you spinning a wheel and picking Pokémon from either person's team to fight for you. This creates a tough challenge, but bad luck can mean certain doom. Apart from this, no battle types really and they normally involve the same actions as any other section in the game.

You play through Colosseum mode with a battle pass, which contains what your character looks like and what Pokémon they have available. You can make these with your own Pokémon (imported from Diamond or Pearl) or rent a battle pass. Renting can mean boring times ahead however, as you battle with default monsters. You can earn more passes throughout your adventure, but to get these you have to battle through the same colosseum repeatedly. If you own the DS game then choosing a rental Pokémon over your own would be like throwing the game out the window - it's just not the same. The real fun comes from using your own team against your opponent's, which is still fairly challenging. All the Pokémon on the field are altered to the same level as the highest combatant, which means that die hard trainers may find themselves against Level 100 Charmanders and the like. Even though using your own team can be fun, it doesn't hide the fact that this single player mode is a complete waste of your time. It's like the handheld game but without any of the levelling up, catching Pokémon, talking to people, using items, exploring areas…I could go on. It's a joke.

But not all of Battle Revolution is bad, as the battles themselves are fundamentally well executed. These are the same as they always have been, with the same options to fight, give in and change which Pokémon you send out. The game once again has four moves available for each Pokémon, which can be used to damage foes or cause both positive and negative status effects. The attacks have been pulled right from the DS game and so they work in the same way. Each move is of a different type, making it more or less effective against certain Pokémon. This can get pretty complicated, with knowledge of the different Pokémon becoming key to your victory.

Although this age-old system hasn't changed in the slightest, you can use the Poképointer to control the game, directed by your Wii remote, or just turn the controller on its side and press the buttons that way. The controls don't try to be innovative - and why should they - as they work just fine with buttons. The battles can also be heaps of fun; they're the fastest seen in a 3D Pokémon game to date and you can get really involved with the intensity of the battle as it progresses. For the first time in the series, a commentator talks over the match and while the dialogue can be pretty annoying, the fact that it is the narrator from the show adds some authenticity, even if you will have heard all of his phrases by your third battle.

At least the transfer of Pokémon from your DS game to the Wii is perfect; taking mere seconds, your entire collection of Pokémon is copied into the Battle Revolution. Unlike the previous instalments, you don't just trade Pokémon across - you copy everything. Even if you have 100 Zigzagoons in your boxes, every last one will be copied to your Wii, which allows you to create an unlimited amount of battle pass combinations that you can use both in the Colosseum mode and - more importantly - online. It's amazing how fast the transfer of that much data takes place and it will please heavy collectors for sure.

The overall presentation of the game is very nice, this being by far the best looking Pokémon game to date. This isn't just in the environments either; the animations of the Pokémon look great too, each having its own individual attack routines. The monsters actually hit each other when they attack one another, which makes the battles look a lot more dynamic. Camera movements around the stadium also help to create an atmosphere, giving more credence to what the commentator is saying. The sound effects are pretty weak though, with some battle cries sounding like they came straight from the DS game, while the music, despite not being memorable, is interesting enough not to detract from the battles. The menus are clean, or should I say bland, with nothing interesting in them and lacking overall flair.

The only mode that sets Pokémon Battle Revolution apart from its predecessors is the Wi-Fi mode. You can take either rental Pokémon or your own online to battle against opponents from around the world. To start with you must choose whether to play against friends or a random opponent. Friend codes are on offer here and entering a twelve-digit code is just as enthralling as it ever was! If you choose Random then you go through the process of starting a battle in the same way as you do in Free and DS Battle mode. You pick which Battle Pass to use and then the game searches for an opponent. You begin battling - and then it starts; the game's speed disappears and suddenly you're stuck waiting around for it to load. It's to be expected of course, with Pokémon being a turn-based game, but the improvements that the game makes in theses areas get lost in this mode.

That's not to say that it can't be fun, however, because when you're winning online you get a great feeling of accomplishment that the rest of the game sorely lacks, while still worrying about what your opponent will do next. If you're thinking about going online with a rental pass, don't even bother. You will be defeated so quickly that you won't even know what happened, as the rental Pokémon are just too weak. I started a battle against a person and I sent out a Charmeleon - the next thing I knew a Latias was blasting me into oblivion. It wasn't a very happy time! Once you finish the battle, you are asked if you would like to exchange battle passes. These Friend Passes can only be used in Free mode, making them seem worthwhile until you realise you can't use them online. The online mode is as competent as the DS game, but lacks any sort of voice chat or even communication for that matter. This makes it feel like you could be playing against a computer for all that its worth, which is mildly disappointing.

Pokémon Battle Revolution is worthless if you don't own the DS game; there simply isn't enough independent content to warrant a purchase, if you fall into this category. For everyone else if you own Diamond or Pearl then you should consider picking this up when it's on sale. For diehard fans that love 3D Pokémon, this can be fun - but when compared to the two Gamecube titles it's hard to recommend to anyone and is a step backwards in terms of content. Battle Devolution would have been a more fitting title, with the tagline "You need to have caught them all on DS."

Reviewed by Sam Atkins for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).