The second WiiWare Pokemon game is luckily an actual game as opposed to a petting zoo, but Pokemon Rumble, which came out in Japan in June, is just a monotonous beat-'em-up with a bunch of Pokemon.

The game's setup is simple, you venture out with a team of up to four players, pick a Pokemon, and beat the hell out of the hordes of wild Pokemon that come your way using two attacks. When your Pokemon gets weak, you switch to another so you don't die and end the game. Sometimes you fight a stronger boss Pokemon. That's all the game is.

Admittedly, it's cool to see the attacks you've grown used to seeing played out in the portable iterations transferred to a brawler, but there's no substance. It retains the "gotta catch-'em all" vibe, but that's all it has. Your Pokemon can't level up or improve, they're just waiting around until you go to a venue where they're strong against the enemies or you find a better incarnation of them.

It almost has a Mystery Dungeon feel to it because you just go through a seemingly endless amount of repetitive floors. Like Mystery Dungeon games, it is unforgiving as once one Pokemon bites the dust, the entire gang loses.

It's a fun idea, and a different take on the series, but after playing around with this game, I'm pretty sure I'm skipping it.

Pokemon Rumble's still awaiting a North American release date and price point