PokéROM

PokéROM
A Pikachu PokéROM
Basic info
Platform:	PC
Category:	Educational
Players:	1-4 players
Connectivity:	None
Developer:	Basis Applied Technology
Publisher:	The Learning Company Mattel Interactive
Part of:	Generation I miscellaneous
Ratings
CERO:	N/A
ESRB:	N/A
ACB:	N/A
OFLC:	N/A
PEGI:	N/A
GRAC:	N/A
GSRR:	N/A
Release dates
Japan:	N/A
North America:	2000
Australia:	???
Europe:	???
South Korea:	N/A
Hong Kong:	N/A
Taiwan:	N/A
Websites
Japanese:	N/A
English:	Official site (archive)

PokéROMs are a series of educational CD-ROMs created in 2000 by The Learning Company and Mattel. It can be run on both Windows and Macintosh.

Gameplay

The entire game is guided by Professor Oak, voiced by Stuart Zagnit.

Upon startup, the player is asked to choose a name and difficulty level; there are five difficulty levels, corresponding to the elementary school grades 1-5.

After doing so, the player is shown a 6×4 array of tiles with either natural numbers or elementary arithmetic expressions of natural numbers (incorrectly referred to as equations by the game), which are then concealed after a fixed amount of time. This is a game of Concentration, in which player must reveal two tiles with equivalent values at the same time, which causes both tiles to disappear. Underneath the tiles is stock artwork of the Pokémon featured on the disc.

After pairing all the tiles, the player has freed the Pokémon, and gains the option to view to Pokémon in its natural habitat or go to the Pokémon Sanctuary. Clicking "Print" allows the player to navigate through various images of that Pokémon from Pokémon the Series. Selecting the Pokémon Sanctuary enters a loading screen featuring various screenshots from Pokémon the Series. Once at the Pokémon Sanctuary, the player can either go to the Trainer Center or Observation Lab.

The Trainer Center contains the Trainer Race, a multiplayer quiz game for 1-4 players, stylized as a virtual board game. The players are put on a board with 11 stations. In turn, players are each asked a question from a pool of 200 on math, science, reading and social studies, as well as Pokémon; getting a question right advances the player's piece by one station. The first player to reach the end is the winner.

The Observation Center allows the player to click on pinging circles on a horizontally scrolling landscape to view various screenshots from that Pokémon in Pokémon the Series.

Releases

The Premiere Series (also spelled Premier Series) contains ten discs: Bulbasaur, Charmander, Squirtle, Pikachu, Meowth, Psyduck, Poliwhirl, Gengar, Eevee, and Mewtwo. These were primarily single releases in blister packs. These were all available together in the Complete Collection release. Two-disc packs were also available in blister packs. Some of these PokéROMs were bundled with Pokémon-branded Kellogg's products.^[1] A sampler PokéROM for the Premier Series featuring Mew was included with some copies of The ClueFinders 4th Grade Adventures: Puzzle of the Pyramid.^[2]

The Movie Series contains ten discs: Articuno, Zapdos, Moltres, Hoothoot, Togepi, Marill, Elekid, Ledyba, Slowking, and Lugia. This set is focused on Pokémon the Movie 2000: The Power of One, featuring stills from that movie. These were primarily single releases in blister packs. Two-disc packs were also available in sleeves, containing one of these three pairs: Zapdos and Elekid, Articuno and Lugia, Moltres and Togepi.

The Mystery Series contains 30 discs, which were released in Mystery Packs, packs containing two visible discs and one hidden disc; the discs are arranged diagonally from the bottom to the top, with the central disc turned over. The 20 Pokémon released as visible discs are: Butterfree, Arbok, Jigglypuff, Venonat, Geodude, Mr. Mime, Lapras, Exeggutor, Jynx, Chikorita, Cyndaquil, Totodile, Spinarak, Mareep, Bellossom, Sunflora, Quagsire, Snubbull, Scizor, and Stantler. Pokémon released as Mystery Discs are: Charizard, Blastoise, Gyarados, Dragonite, Sentret, Hoppip, Gligar, Heracross, Donphan, and Blissey.

Images

Premiere Series

• 
  Bulbasaur PokéROM (packaging)
• 
  Bulbasaur PokéROM (disc)
• 
  Squirtle PokéROM (packaging)
• 
  Squirtle PokéROM (disc)
• 
  Charmander PokéROM (packaging)
• 
  Charmander PokéROM (disc)
• 
  Pikachu PokéROM (packaging)
• 
  Pikachu PokéROM (disc)
• 
  Meowth PokéROM (packaging)
• 
  Meowth PokéROM (disc)
• 
  Psyduck PokéROM (packaging)
• 
  Psyduck PokéROM (disc)
• 
  Poliwhirl PokéROM (packaging)
• 
  Poliwhirl PokéROM (disc)
• 
  Gengar PokéROM (packaging)
• 
  Gengar PokéROM (disc)
• 
  Eevee PokéROM (packaging)
• 
  Eevee PokéROM (disc)
• 
  Mewtwo PokéROM (packaging)
• 
  Mewtwo PokéROM (disc)
• 
  The Complete Collection of the Premier Series
• 
  Premiere Series Collection cover
• 
  Premiere Series 2-disc pack
• 
  Premiere Series single pack back

Movie Series

• 
  Articuno PokéROM (packaging)
• 
  Articuno PokéROM (disc)
• 
  Zapdos PokéROM (packaging)
• 
  Zapdos PokéROM (disc)
• 
  Moltres PokéROM (packaging)
• 
  Moltres PokéROM (disc)
• 
  Hoothoot PokéROM (packaging)
• 
  Hoothoot PokéROM (disc)
• 
  Ledyba PokéROM (packaging)
• 
  Ledyba PokéROM (disc)
• 
  Togepi PokéROM (packaging)
• 
  Togepi PokéROM (disc)
• 
  Marill PokéROM (disc)
• 
  Elekid PokéROM (disc)
• 
  Slowking PokéROM (packaging)
• 
  Slowking PokéROM (disc)
• 
  Lugia PokéROM (packaging)
• 
  Lugia PokéROM (disc)
• 
  Articuno and Lugia two-pack
• 
  Moltres and Togepi two-pack
• 
  Movie Series PokéROM single pack back
• 
  Movie Series PokéROM 2-disc back

Mystery Series

• 
  Charizard PokéROM (disc)
• 
  Mr. Mime PokéROM (disc)
• 
  Lapras PokéROM (disc)
• 
  Mystery Pack
• 
  Mystery Pack back

Discs

The discs are mini discs called bootable business cards, defined by the appearance of having the sides cut off to create the size and shape of a business card. These discs are only intended for use with spindle-type CD-ROM drives or trays with inner mounting rails; they are not intended for use with caddy trays, slot-loading drives, and most iMac computers.

External links

• Commercial for Mystery Series PokéROMs
• Video of Pikachu PokéROM playthrough
• Review of the Psyduck PokéROM
• PokéROM (found Pokémon edutainment series; 2000) - LostMediaWiki

References

Related articles

This article is part of Project Sidegames, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on the Pokémon Sidegames.