I will start out by saying I really am not a Pokémon fan, but I also do not hate the franchise. In fact this is my first real true Pokémon game experience.

Features:

• 6 Player Multi-card Play
  
• Importing of tracks via Pokémon RPG GBA titles
  
• Full use of the touch screen

Gamemodes:

Regular GP
This is the basic starting point in the game. The opponents are fairly easy and the courses are simplistic.

Hard GP
The opponents become faster and are tougher to beat as well as the tracks are a little more open and spaced out.

Expert GP
Opponents are hard but with the added bonus of starting in a hot-air balloon and having no set way to hit each checkpoint. It gives the game a little breath of life.

Special
Use GBA Pokémon Cartridges to import special Pokémon looking tracks. The tracks are simple and usually not as much fun as the regular tracks.

Time Attack
Gives you 2 different modes once you unlock "Expert GP." Fairly standard mode which is just trying to beat the fastest time.

Practice
Gives you 5 different options on what type of practice you actually want. If you're having a hard time with certain playing aspects of the game, this is a good mode to use as it claims 'practice.'

Multiplayer
Uses 2 or more cards and lets you race on any Cup you've opened as well as a Battle Cup.

Beginning a game starts you off in a very basic tutorial. It does cover some basics like being able to pick up power-ups that allow you faster travel over surfaces that are unfriendly to Pikachu (snow, forest, grass, sand). Where you'll travel the fastest is on the brick roads. The tutorial seemed to me to go slow, but I remember whom this was intended for.


Awww, Pikachu!

After the tutorial finishes you have a choice to select "Regular GP" and that takes you to the circuit selection. Obviously since I hadn't played any the first choice was my only choice, but there were 4 other question marks to unlock.

Playing was actually kind of mildly amusing as you are racing against all the other Pokémon. While they aren't dumb as rails, they also aren't going to write complex quadratic equations either. I found the level of competition fine for where I started. Pikachu starts out in the back for the beginning of the race, which is pretty standard for any racing game I've known. Once the 3 pokeballs are lit, you're off and running. The goal of the game - Hit the checkpoints in order. I'd be lost without some kind of directional arrow, and luckily they do provide that. The navigation was fine until you got up into a hot-air balloon. If you didn't bother to watch where the arrow was pointing, you are pretty much out of luck for getting a decent finishing time. The reason for this is the map they provide on the top screen is simply a snippet of where the checkpoint is and a vague idea of what the area around said point looks like. It can be frustrating to be doing so well then falling a few places behind simply because you missed the arrow. After placing first in the race, however, I was happy to find during the next race I was up front.