Pokemon Rumble Blast

It was only a matter of time before Nintendo brought its immensely popular Pokemon franchise (over 200 million games sold) to 3DS. The latest title, though, isn't a traditional adventure, ala Pokemon Black and Pokemon White, but a sequel to the 2009 WiiWare action game, Pokemon Rumble. The result, Pokemon Rumble Blast, should keep fans busy until a meatier title arrives.

This fast paced action game tasks you with wandering through Toyland in search of wind-up dolls that bear a striking resemblance to over 600 Pokemon, even ones pulled from Black and White. From there, it's an all out rumble, where your Pokemon attack rivals in real time battles. Succeed, and you stand a chance of befriending defeated foes and adding these creatures to your stable.

Doing this is key to beating the game, since Pokemon possess unique attributes and abilities, making them valuable for laying the smack down on enemies, including especially large/strong Boss Pokemon, which may become allies later on.

In addition to the main quest, Pokemon Rumble Blast comes with a handful of modes. Battle Royale is an all out free-for-all, where the goal is to be the last Pokemon standing. Team Battle, meanwhile, pits two of your Pokemon against a series of mini-bosses. There's also Charge Battle, a crazy mode that sends two battalions of Pokemon on a collision course.

On the multiplayer front, the game has co-op via local Wi-Fi, giving players a chance to battle together and increase the chance of befriending Pokemon. We're also interested in the StreetPass functionality that lets gamers challenge Pokemon as they pass each other, without even opening their 3DS systems; you can also use StreetPass to view other players' Miis.

While all of this sounds interesting, it remains to be seen whether Pokemon Rumble Blast will keep us entertained, especially when its prequel was so light on content and fairly mindless.

That said, we'll let you know if Pikachu's latest is worth the dough shortly before its October 24 debut.