It's not every day that a quality Pokémon spin-off for a home console comes along. So when Poképark Wii: Pikachu's Great Adventure came along, many people were expecting a low-quality cash-in from Nintendo. Surprisingly, Creatures Inc. has managed to take the Pokémon license and put it to good use in what is most likely the best home console Pokémon spin-off since Pokémon Puzzle League.

PokéPark Wii is far from your typical Pokémon game. In fact, it plays more like the poorly received Pokémon Channel released for the Nintendo GameCube back in 2003. In PokéPark Wii, players play as Pikachu as he falls into a mysterious world filled with surprises and Pokémon. He discovers a vibrant park filled with challenges waiting to be solved. The game plays similarly to an action-adventure game, but instead of embarking on a quest to save the land, Pikachu helps the Pokémon in each of the park's different locales. For example, one of the quests has Pikachu helping the beaver-like Bidoof and its evolved form, Bibarel, build a dam at the base of a waterfall. By playing as Pikachu, players will navigate the park searching for crates with wood inside of them. By breaking the crate and carrying the wood back to Bidoof and Bibarel, they'll be one step closer to having their home built. Of course, a handful of wood certainly isn't enough to build an entire dam, so Pikachu must repeat this process several times before it's finally built. While it may sound a little dull on paper, it's actually pretty enjoyable for the most part, as long as you're willing to understand that it isn't supposed to be difficult.

The entire game isn't centered around tasks like that, though. In addition to helping Pokémon build attractions, Pikachu can also try out some of them. In Bulbasaur's Foot Race, Pikachu must compete in a standard sprinting race with six other Pokémon. The race is controlled by shaking the Wii Remote, and while it may appear a little gimmicky, it's actually more fun than you would expect.

Another attraction that proves to be enjoyable is Gyrados' Marine Slide. As you'd expect, this is basically the same thing as Bulbasaur's Foot Race, but set in the water rather than on the ground. By pressing the 2 button to accelerate, and using the Wii Remote's motion control to steer, Pikachu must race through the attraction as fast as he can, avoiding obstacles and passing through gates along the way.

Those two attractions are just two of the many featured in PokéPark Wii. Some other notable attractions include Empoleon's Snow Slide, Venusaur's Rope Swinging, Tangrowth's Swing Race, and many others. While some of them share the same basic concept, each has its own unique spin on things, resulting in a very enjoyable experience.

Besides playing as Pikachu in these races, additional Pokémon can be added to your roster by completing special side quests, referred to as Trials of Strength. One of these tests is hide-and-seek in which you must search for a certain Pokémon in specific areas. Some of the Pokémon hide in obvious spots while others hide behind objects. In the end though, it all proves to be entertaining.

Battling is what the Pokémon franchise is primarily known for, but instead of turn-based battles like on the handhelds, another one of PokéPark Wii's Trials of Strength has Pikachu battling his opponents in real time. Within 99 seconds, Pikachu must deplete his opponent's health bar while making sure he doesn't get knocked out. You can choose from short and long-range attacks, as well as type-based moves, which work the same way as they do in the handheld games. For example, that means your thunderbolt won't work on ground-type Pokémon.

While those are the two primary Trials of Strength, there are a couple of others, such as Tag Races, Quizzes, and Jumping Challenges. As with the attractions, all of these play decently for the most part, but become a little dull after awhile.

In the middle of all these different locales is the hub world, which acts as a base for Pikachu. Here he can socialize with some Pokémon that will provide services to him, such as Electabuzz, who will power up Pikachu's thunderbolt attack for him. After adventuring through certain areas and completing certain objectives, more Pokémon will start to appear here and provide additional services to you.

One thing that should probably be mentioned is that PokéPark Wii doesn't include every Pokémon. In fact, it doesn't even come close to containing half of the 493 available. Out of the approximately 190 Pokémon available, 14 of those are legendaries that can be unlocked by mastering certain events. Still, with that being said, the character models that are present are miles better than those of the WiiWare Pokémon games.

Another notable thing about PokéPark Wii is the presence of a password system to unlock special items and make certain Pokémon appear. Most of the items that appear are rather iconic to Pikachu, such as his balloons and his surfboard, but it was somewhat surprising and enjoyable to see these make an appearance.

When everything is said and done, PokéPark Wii is the most visually impressive Pokémon title to date, as well as the best-playing spin-off Pokémon game on a home console to date. While it isn't difficult to tell that the game is aimed primarily at younger audiences, people of all ages can enjoy what the game has to offer. While the game hasn't been confirmed to be released overseas yet, due to the nature of the series, it shouldn't be too much of a surprise if the game hits sometimes before the year closes. For now though, Pokémon fanatics will have to sit tight and wait for Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver to hit this March.