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Once again, you begin as a beginner. A sole Pokemaniac with only a free pack of cards and a will to win. But that will all change soon... at the start of the game, you are introduced to Dr Mason, who is the local expert. He will teach you how to play the game by leading you through an entire duel step-by-step. Once you have mastered the basics, you can then challenge your opponent a few more times to get into the swing of it, before venturing out into the world and duelling the other card players. There are eight different Card Playing Clubs to visit, with loads of players who love to use certain types of Pokemon.

Once you have won a medal you can then use it to activate the Deck Building Machines in the Dr Mason's Laboratory, which will help you to build some of the more popular decks used by trainers. Of course, the object of the game is to collect all of the cards and use them to build a deck which will completely obliterate your opponents.

Part of achieving this hinges on taking on the four Grand Masters to try to win the Legendary Pokemon Cards. Before you can enter the Pokemon Dome, you must win the eight Club Medals and then you'll need to have built a deck of cards capable of taking on the Grand Masters.

These Grand Masters are expert card players and have some very powerful cards, including the Legendary Cards you are trying to win. All in all, very similar to the RPG, but with more gambling.

Just like the Wizards Pokemon Trading Card Game, there are special promotional cards included in the game. These cards are a little different from the standard cards obtained from the boosters and can be used to help you win your duels. Speak to all the people inside the clubs and trade cards with them to gain Promo Cards, and also keep trying to enter the Challenge Cup held in the tournament hall.

Playing the Trading Card Game with friends is fun, and by using the infrared ports on your Game Boy Color, you can link with your mates and duel your decks. In every Club there is a desk that you must use to enter the duelling arena, or send and receive cards and deck configurations. There is also a rather nifty feature that enables you to card pop with your friends so both players receive a brand new card.

You can only pop once with each friend so by popping lots of friends, you can gain quite a few extra cards.

The Pokemon Trading Card Game is very well put together and includes all the elements of the Wizards card game. Anyone who has played the actual card game will love this Game Boy version as it enables you to practise playing cards without damaging your own precious Pokemon!

For other Pokemon fans, this could be a great way of getting to know trading cards, but it may not be of interest to all of you.

I've played the real Pokemon card game hundreds of time, but I have to say that this rather pale ghost of an RPG/Simulator is a poor excuse for the real thing.

The game takes ages to get going, and doesn't really get particularly exciting until you're actually going for gold. However, there's loads to see and do in the long term, and it's all in the name of Pokefun, innit?

I'm pretty sure I'll be sticking to my own deck, though.

Graphics 80%
Pure Pokemon cuteness!

Sound 60%
Plinky plonky Pokefun!

Playability 60%
If you like the card game...

Lastability 100%
You'll be playing forever!

Overall 87%
We predict that this game will sell!