Pikachu is making his solo
game debut in Pikachu Genki Dechu (which literally
translated means "Pikachu is feeling fine"), a
co-production of several companies including Nintendo, Umbrella
(Marigul), Creatures and Game Freak. In essence, the game is a
virtual pet simulator, much in the line of Bandai's Tamagotchi or
the countless imitations it continues to spawn. But since this is
Nintendo we're talking about, there is a special little twist.
Like Star Fox and Pokemon Stadium, the cartridge will ship with
an added hardware bonus that is vital to the underlying concept
of the title: A voice recognition system.

This accessory consists of
an ear phone with an attached microphone that connects to a voice
recognition device. This in turn plugs into one of the N64's
controller slots. Once you start up your N64 with the Pikachu
cart, you are greeted by a colorful polygonal forest accompanied
by the appropriate ambient effects and the usual dose of super
happy music.

Using the analog stick,
you maneuver through the forest until you find Pikachu, sound
asleep on a tree trunk. This is where the microphone comes in --
simply call out Pikachu's name and the virtual creature will wake
up and look at your in astonishment. Since you're dealing with a
shy, wild animal it's vital to gain Pikachu's trust and make
friends.

Pikachu and his
environment are represented with great attention to detail. The
polygonal Pikachu looks just like his anime counterpart.
Depending on the creature's mood, Pikachu's face expresses
sorrow, anger, happiness, or embarrassment (in addition to little
"mood bubbles" that pop up over Pikachu's head). If
left alone, the yellow monster will run around the forest
examining things, sneezing its trademark 100,000 volt sneezes,
and looking for something to play with while muttering things
like "pika pika" under its breath. Very cute.

When Nintendo demonstrated
the voice recognition device at the Nintendo Space World '97,
Pikachu responded to several voice commands (both male and
female). If you called Pikachu "baka!" (stupid), the
creature would get angry, shout something back and run off into a
different corner of the forest. Once Pikachu is angry, it will
not listen to your commands and you need a lot of patience to
gain its trust again. On the other hand, Pikachu would be really
happy about friendly comments like "kawaii" (cute) and
readily play ball when encouraged. Every time you say a word, the
microphone icon in the lower right corner will light up and let
you know whether the command was understood.

An odd concept for a game?
Sure, but Nintendo didn't forget to include some puzzles,
interesting quirks and hidden items for Pikachu (and you) to play
with. For example, when Pikachu gets hungry, it will look up into
a tree and discover an apple. Since the apple is to high up to
reach, you will need to help Pikachu. Simply grab Pikachu's
favorite toy -- the ball -- and throw it at the apple. If you're
good, the apple will fall down right into Pikachu's waiting arms.
In addition to items, there are also several mini-games for
Pikachu to play with. For example, Pikachu will question users on
certain other Pokemons -- you need to identify them by name by
looking at their shadows -- and there is even a Pikachu Fishing
Excursion included as a side-quest.

Just like other virtual
pets, you will need to keep Pikachu happy by feeding it and
keeping it entertained. Several other creatures from the Pokemon
series are also confirmed to make appearances in the game. As of
yet, it is not known how many words Pikachu will understand --
but there is no denying that the game is interesting to say the
least.