Good Pokemon game if you like battling and enjoy some extras.
Pokemon was quite a big hit back in the late 90's and in 2000. When Pokemon Red, Blue and Yellow were released back in that time period, people wanted an easier and exciting way to battle with their friends with their Pokemon. So Nintendo gave us Pokemon Stadium in 2000, which lets trainers transfer their Pokemon from Red, Blue or Yellow versions into the game for battling. You could also do a lot of extras on your spare time, such as take pictures, play mini-games, and even play your Pokemon versions onscreen for secrets. With the released of Pokemon Gold and Silver versions in late 2000, Nintendo just had to make a sequel to Pokemon Stadium for the new RPGs.
Pokemon Stadium 2, like its prequel, lets you transfer your Pokemon from all the versions of the Game Boy Pokemon RPGs into this game for battle. There are a ton of events organized for battling. There are Cups which only certain Pokemon can battle. Only certain levels of Pokemon may enter in a cup. You can have a Free Battle where anything can go out. The battling structure is based on the battles that take place in the Pokemon RPGs. There are special events also present in Pokemon Stadium that takes you on a series of battles at a time. There's a Gym Leader tournament for battling all the Gym Leaders from the Gold and Silver versions, and a Pokemon League afterwards. Besides the entire battling taking place, there are small events where you can just have fun. There are 12 mini-games to enjoy with you doing fun little activities with little Pokemon. You can also trade Pokemon easily here when going to a Pokemon Center in the game. Oh, and there's also a school which you can learn everything on how to battle Pokemon. There will be quizzes and battles to test your knowledge. This isn't really a necessity, but it's a fun little place to go and battle certain trainers in the school. There's also a Mystery Gift area, where you randomly receive items from a CPU or from your friends. And lastly, you can play your Pokemon versions in here if you have them inserted in a transfer pack (included with game) incase you want to make some adjustments to those games.
Pokemon Stadium 2 does not offer a whole lot of variety of things to do, but if you are into battling very much, then you can expect yourself to be playing this often. So the overall gameplay is simple and basic, but can be pretty fun.
Graphics:
As a late-gen N64 game, there are some pretty good visuals present. Released in early 2001, Pokemon Stadium 2 did not have enough good visuals to knockout other system competitors such as the Dreamcast and the PS2. Still, the game looked decent in its way. The Pokemon in Pokemon Stadium 2 have good animation, but some are on the blocky side. But this was developed sorely for the N64, and Nintendo was preparing themselves for the Gamecube to be released later that year. So there's nothing too negative about the graphics.
Sound:
Some of the music is repetitive, so you'll have to get used to that. A couple songs actually came from the Gold and Silver games, but remade to sound more realistic. The announcer's voice during the matches might annoy some people, but then again, maybe it won't. Everything else, such as the sound effects and cries of Pokemon, sound decent.
Conclusion:
Most of Pokemon Stadium 2 is about battling. It's nice the game has a bit of other stuff to do such as go to Pokemon School (who would’ve thought school would be fun?), play mini-games and do Mystery Gift, but you would sometimes be wishing for more extras. As said before, if you love battling frequently, you'll definitely get some enjoyment out of Pokemon Stadium 2. If you aren't a fan of battling, then I'd advise you not to purchase this.
Pros:
-Lots of different battles
-A couple extras to see
-Battling and trading is easier here then the handheld games
Cons:
-Wish there were a few more extras