ONM Remembered – Pokémon Week, day 4
“Ha ha ha! I am Dodorio! I laugh in the face of my enemies.”
from N64 Magazine issue 10 (December 1997)
Official Nintendo Magazine may have tried to explain what this Pokémon malarkey was all about, but those fuckers didn’t even play the game, never mind know what a Pikachu looks like. The heathens! Thankfully, N64 Magazine went all-out in covering the franchise: Max Everingham, their go-to guy for anything new in Japan, gave readers of the British Isles an in-depth look at what this strange sensation was all about.
The accuracy of the information is arguable, but you gotta admire Max’s gusto. He doesn’t just churn out a dodgy summary of the game and remark, “boy, isn’t this a popular franchise?” He gives a blow-by-blow of picking up the game for the first time and slowly coming to grips with it, and how accessible it would be for import gamers. And then he hunts down and catalogues heaps of exclusive merchandise, complete with further explanations of not just the Pokémon Trading Card Game, but also the Pokémon Combat Stickers! Which I swear he’s gotta be making up. Combat Stickers? Come on, surely the ’90s weren’t that dorky, right? Not even Japan ’90s.
Also, just for amusement’s sakes, they include a Japanese popularity chart for the colourful critters. Surprise! Nobody likes Drowzee.
When will people wise up and learn to respect the baddest tapir in town?
