“Pokemon X & Y” are the newest entries in the massively popular video game series developed by Game Freak. “Pokemon X & Y” were released in the U.S. on Oct. 12, but what if you want more monster catching action than they can offer?

If you want more monster hunting, a great game series to check out is the “Dragon Quest Monsters” series by Tose. “Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 2” for the Nintendo DS, which is the most recent title in the series. The series plays like a mix of the old 16-bit era “Final Fantasy” games and “Pokemon”. It has similar amounts of praise, and was a serious competitor to “Pokemon”. However, the series never really caught on in America.
“Digimon” was another competitor to “Pokemon”; the anime had its own ideas and style. The anime went in some weird directions in later seasons, but the games never really did anything unique, excluding “Digimon World” from Bandai and Flying Tiger Development. The sequels would take a much more conventional approach, copying Japanese role playing game (JRPG) dungeon crawler formulas. However, the first “Digimon World” had you raise a single Digimon at a time from birth to death. You’d start with a baby, and depending on the way you treated it and how well you trained it, it would “digivolve” into its next form. Once it reached its final most powerful form, it would die and become an egg. Then you’d start training from the start.
A less obvious recommendation is the fantastic “Suikoden II” by “Konami”. It is a more classic story driven RPG, but what makes it related to “Pokemon” is its roster of characters. Your party is made of 6 party members that you recruit throughout the game, all with distinct and well-written personalities. There are 124 party members to recruit, each with different conditions and requirements. It makes “catching ’em all” not only massively satisfying, but very rewarding in game. Many characters have special attacks that can only be used when you have another specific character in your party, and they can have a massive effect on battles. There are so many other reasons to recommend “Suikoden II”, but as of now it’s hard to get a copy of. It isn’t available for digital purchase, and a physical copy can be anywhere from $150 to $699, on www.amazon.com.
The “Pokemon” anime is ridiculously popular, and having been such a big part of many childhoods, it is definitely worth mentioning. “Pokemon” was first aired internationally in 1997 and is still airing today. “Pokemon” is currently on its 16th season.
Much like the game, the first season of “Digimon: Digital Monsters” is also worth a look. The show featured a group of kids from the normal world dropped into a digital world. The setting allows for some great bits of surrealism, and some really absurd and creative situations. There are often episodes framed entirely around whatever new oddities they find. In one episode, they find a lone refrigerator filled only with eggs.
On the music side of things, “Pokemon 2BA Master” is the first soundtrack created for the English “Pokemon” series. It has songs both from the show and inspired by the show, often with the show’s original voice actors. There’s a 90’s dance remix of the theme song, and a full “PokeRAP” listing all of the original 151 Pokemon. The album is goofy and dated, making it a riot to listen to with anyone who watched the show as a kid.
The band Powerglove put out an album “Saturday Morning Apocalypse” featuring metal remakes of cartoon theme songs. There are two different versions of the “Pokemon” theme; one is a version with lyrics while the other is strictly instrumental.