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Pokémon Mini

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Pokémon Mini
Pokémon Mini in "Wooper blue"
Manufacturer
TypeHandheld game console
GenerationSixth
Release date
Introductory price
  • US$40 (equivalent to $71 in 2024)[4]
  • ¥4,800 (equivalent to ¥4,951 in 2019)[5]
  • £40 (equivalent to £84 in 2023)[6]
MediaROM cartridge
CPUS1C88 @ 4 MHz
Memory4 KB SRAM
Storage4 KB BIOS ROM, 8 KB EEPROM (6 save "files")
DisplayMonochrome LCD, 96 × 64 px
Power1 × AAA battery, up to 60 hours
Dimensions74 × 58 × 23 mm (2.91 × 2.28 × 0.91 in)
Weight70 g (2.5 oz) with cartridge and battery
RelatedPokémon Pikachu

The Pokémon Mini[a] (officially stylized as Pokémon mini) is a handheld game console designed and manufactured by Nintendo in collaboration with The Pokémon Company. Themed around the Pokémon franchise, it is the smallest Nintendo system ever produced with interchangeable cartridges, weighing just under 70 grams (2.5 oz). It was also Nintendo's cheapest console ever produced at US$45 (equivalent to $80 in 2024) and came bundled with the game Pokémon Party mini.

The Pokémon Mini debuted in North America on November 16, 2001, initially available only through Pokémon Center stores and the Pokémon Center website. It later launched in Japan on December 14, 2001, and in Europe on March 15, 2002. The console was released in three colors named after characters: "Wooper Blue," "Chikorita Green," and "Smoochum Purple."

The device features a dot-matrix display, a directional pad, three action buttons, a single speaker, an internal real-time clock, an infrared data port for multiplayer gaming, a reed switch to detect when the device shakes, and a built-in motor for force feedback.

Sales of the Pokémon Mini were poor and only ten official games were released, five exclusive to Japan, while North America received just four titles, one fewer than Europe. Over time, hobbyists have reverse-engineered the device, enabling the development of homebrew games and making official titles playable on other platforms.

Technical details

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The Pokémon Mini is powered by the 8-bit S1C88 CPU with 16-bit instructions, custom-designed by the Nintendo R&D3 team and manufactured by Epson. This processor, clocked at 4 MHz, manages game execution, user input, and graphical output.[7][8]

The device features a monochrome dot-matrix display with a resolution of 96 x 64 pixels and a refresh rate of 30 frames per second. Unlike the Game Boy, it lacks the ability to display shades of grey and does not rely on a display driver. Instead, it uses a "Picture Rendering Controller" to transfer image data from memory to its internal framebuffer before outputting it to the screen.[5][9]

Input is provided by a D-pad for movement, three action buttons labeled "A", "B", and the shoulder-mounted "C", a power button, and a reed switch called the "shock sensor" capable of detecting motion, allowing players to interact with certain games by shaking the device and allowed the device to function as a pedometer.[5] The system includes a built-in rumble feature for haptic feedback.[4][10] An infrared communication function capable of operating up to 1 meter (3 ft 3 in) away, enables multiplayer gaming between up to six Pokémon Mini devices.[5][11] Game states can be saved to the 8 KB EEPROM, which provides six internal save files, though the number of files used per save varies by game.[12][13]

Games are stored on Game Pak cartridges, which could have up to held up to 2 MB of game ROM,[14] although all commercially available games are under 500 KB.[15] Internally, the 4 KB BIOS ROM initializes the system and handles power management, as the console remains in a suspended state rather than fully powering off.[16] The console includes 4 KB of internal static RAM, which is shared with video processing functions.[15] A battery-backed real-time clock allows the device to function as a watch and enabled time-based features in games.[11] Audio is produced by a single-channel square-wave generator with adjustable pulse width and three volume settings (0, 50, and 100 percent).[17]

It is the smallest Nintendo system ever produced with interchangeable cartridges,[18] measuring 74 millimeters (2.9 in) in height, 58 millimeters (2.3 in) in width, and 23 millimeters (0.91 in) in depth. With a cartridge and battery inserted, it weighs 70 grams (2.5 oz). Powered by a single AAA battery, Nintendo estimated a battery life of up to 60 hours of gameplay.[19]

List of games

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A total of ten games were officially released for the Pokémon Mini. While all were available in Japan, only four were released in North America and five in Europe, all as launch titles. Due to low sales and limited interest in the system, later titles were not translated from Japanese. These titles would eventually receive fan translations. Games sold for US$10 (equivalent to $18 in 2024) in the United States.[4]

Games were developed by Denyusha[20] or Jupiter[21] and published by The Pokémon Company in Japan and by Nintendo in other regions.

Key
† Game was bundled with Pokémon Mini console
Title Genre Developer Release date
NA JP EU
Pokémon Party mini † Mini games Denyusha November 16, 2001 December 14, 2001 March 15, 2002
Pokémon Pinball mini Pinball Jupiter November 16, 2001 December 14, 2001 March 15, 2002
Pokémon Puzzle Collection Puzzle Jupiter November 16, 2001 December 14, 2001 March 15, 2002
Pokémon Zany Cards Strategy Denyusha November 16, 2001 December 14, 2001 March 15, 2002
Pokémon Tetris Puzzle Nintendo Unreleased March 21, 2002 March 15, 2002
Pokémon Puzzle Collection vol. 2 Puzzle Jupiter Unreleased April 26, 2002 Unreleased
Pokémon Race mini Racing Jupiter Unreleased July 19, 2002 Unreleased
Pichu Bros. mini Mini games Denyusha Unreleased August 9, 2002 Unreleased
Togepi's Great Adventure Adventure Jupiter Unreleased October 18, 2002 Unreleased
Pokémon Breeder mini Simulation Jupiter Unreleased December 14, 2002 Unreleased

Pokémon Party mini

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Pokémon Party mini[b] is a minigame collection developed by Denyusha. It includes six minigames which all take advantage of the system's capabilities and abilities:

  • Hitmonchan's Boxing: As a Hitmonchan battling against a Machop in a boxing match, the player must shake the system to 'punch'.
  • Pikachu's Rocket Start: As a Pikachu, the player must launch off a starting line before another Pokémon (A Rattata, Eevee and another Pikachu). Pikachu can run using the buttons or shaking the system. An Elekid gives the signals which is achieved through the system's rumble ability.
  • Bellossom's Dance: A rhythm game. As a Bellossom playing against two other Bellossom, the player must match the right moves with the D-Pad, and shake the system to jump.
  • Chansey's Dribble: A simple soccer dribbling game. As a Chansey, the player must use the D-pad to position the ball, and make sure Chansey kicks it into the finish line as quickly as possible.
  • Slowking's Judge: As a Slowking, the player predicts if a tennis ball will land in or out of the court.
  • Sneasel's Fakeout: A rock paper scissors-like game for two players. As two Sneasel, the players decide who is on defense and offense in a game of Basketball.

Additional modes include "Battlefield", where two to six players battle for the highest score in the aforementioned minigames, and "Celebi's Clock", a clock with date, alarm and stopwatch function.[4]

Pokémon Pinball mini

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A screenshot of Pokémon Pinball mini. The player must use the Diglett plunger, seen at the bottom, to bounce the Poké Ball into each of the open holes above.

Pokémon Pinball mini[c] is a pinball game developed by Jupiter. The player uses Pokémon such as a Diglett or a Pikachu as the 'bumping' mechanism. Along the way, players can catch more Pokémon for use, and other Pokémon can function as level obstacle elements. There are 70 "Quest" levels, and 10 levels each in Time Attack and Score Attack modes.

Pokémon Puzzle Collection

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Pokémon Puzzle Collection[d] is a puzzle minigame collection developed by Jupiter. It features four different game types, which can unlock over 80 Pokémon in the game's "Minidex".

  • Motion Puzzle: A sliding game where a moving image of a Pokémon has to be unscrambled by the player.
  • Shadow Puzzle: The player must find different shapes and put them together to make an image of a Pokémon.
  • Rescue Mission: A Pokémon is trapped, and the player must remove the blocks so they can access the rest of the maze.
  • Power On: A Pipe Dream-like game where one has to connect a Pikachu to a light bulb, creating a circuit.

Pokémon Zany Cards

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Pokémon Zany Cards[e] is a card game compilation developed by Denyusha. It includes four playing card games featuring Pokémon-themed cards and characters from the Pokémon anime.

  • Wild Match: The player battles against other characters from the Pokémon anime by making the most evolutionary matches, which at turn gives out coins, with the player who has the most coins winning.
  • Special Seven: The player battling with other Pokémon anime characters must get rid of their hand of cards, which can be determined by suit or matching Pokémon.
  • Card Duel: A two-player only game where the players must attempt to get each other's deck with the highest valued card.
  • Four Kings: A single-player Solitaire-type game where cards must be stacked into a specific order, while Magikarp (which functions as the "King") must top the deck off.

Pokémon Tetris

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Pokémon Tetris[f] is a Puzzle game developed by Nintendo. It plays like most versions of Tetris, but in addition to traditional piece rotation, shaking the system will cause falling pieces to flip horizontally. All of the Pokémon from Pokémon Gold and Silver can be "caught" and added to the in-game Pokédex, although rarer Pokémon can only be found on higher difficulty levels.

The game was not released in North America, but was rated by the ESRB under the title Pokémon Mini Shock Tetris, suggesting it was planned for release.[22]

Pokémon Puzzle Collection Vol. 2

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Pokémon Puzzle Collection Vol. 2[g] is a puzzle minigame collection developed by Jupiter, and is the sequel to Pokémon Puzzle Collection. In addition to the returning "Motion Puzzle" and "Shadow Puzzle" modes, two new modes have been added:

  • Pick-Up Puzzle: The player clears Poké Balls on the field in a forward-only position, and can only move if Poké Balls are faced in the respective direction.
  • Stretch Puzzle: The player, through a given number, must fill gaps in a grid by stretching bars.

The game was not released in Europe or North America, but was rated by the ESRB under the title Pokémon Mini Puzzle Collection Vol. 2, suggesting it was planned for release.[23]

Pokémon Race mini

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Pokémon Race mini[h] is a platform racing game developed by Jupiter. Similar to the later-released Pokémon Dash, the player controls a Pikachu and races against other Pokémon including a Chikorita, Wooper, Pichu, and Sandshrew in a competition for the fastest Pokémon.

Pichu Bros. mini

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Pichu Bros. mini[i] is a minigame compilation developed by Denyusha, and is the sequel to Pokémon Party mini. It features six new minigames based on the Pichu Bros. specials:

  • Skate Pichu: An Endless runner game where as one of the Pichu Bros., the player must avoid obstacles by shaking the system.
  • Magby's Hot-Air Balloon: As Magby, the player must land a hot-air balloon on an island without falling into the sea.
  • Hoppip's Jump: The player must press the C button at the right time to make Hoppip jump.
  • Teddiursa's Shaking Fruits: By shaking the system, the player must make Teddiursa eat a piece of fruit in the shortest amount of time.
  • Smoochum's Angel Kiss: A Whack-A-Mole-type game where the player, as Smoochum, must attempt to kiss the Diglett that pop out of the holes by pressing the buttons at the right time.
  • Cubone's Bone Club Fight: As Cubone, the player must shake the system to throw the bone and make sure it hits the target.

The "Battlefield" and "Clock" modes also return from the original.

Togepi's Great Adventure

[edit]

Togepi's Great Adventure[j] is a top-down action puzzle game developed by Jupiter. The player guides Togepi out of maze-like levels in a tower while avoiding obstacles and other Pokémon. The game features over 200 levels spread across three towers.

Pokémon Breeder mini

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Pokémon Breeder mini[k] is a virtual pet game developed by Jupiter. The player is given an egg that hatches into a Treecko, Torchic or Mudkip. The player must keep the Pokémon happy by feeding it, playing with it, and using toys. Feeding the Pokémon with special Pokéblocks can improve its stats.

Legacy

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The 2003 GameCube game Pokémon Channel has an in-game Pokémon Mini that can be unlocked.[24] Users can play emulated demo versions of some Pokémon Mini games, as well as a full exclusive game, "Snorlax's Lunch Time."[25] This official emulator was instrumental in helping a few hobbyist software engineers reverse engineer the handheld and create their own emulator. This allowed them to build new emulators to run the games on other devices, such as the PC, Dreamcast, Nintendo 3DS, and Analogue Pocket, among others.[26] These efforts let hobbyists create homebrew games and tech demos.[25] One of these demos, SHizZLE, was released at Breakpoint in 2005 and caused some excitement within the demoscene and media by showing off advanced graphics rendering techniques.[6][18]

Notes

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  1. ^ Japanese: ポケモンミニ
  2. ^ Japanese: ポケモンパーティミニ, Hepburn: Pokemon Pāti mini
  3. ^ ポケモンピンボールミニ, Pokemon Pinbōru mini
  4. ^ ポケモンパズルコレクション, Pokemon Pazuru Korekushon
  5. ^ ポケモンアニメカード大作戦, Pokemon Anime Kādo Daisakusen, lit. 'Pokémon Anime Card Great Strategy'
  6. ^ ポケモンショックテトリス, Pokemon Shokku Tetorisu, lit. 'Pokémon Shock Tetris'
  7. ^ ポケモンパズルコレクションVol.2, Pokemon Pazuru Korekushon Vol. 2
  8. ^ ポケモンレースミニ, Pokemon Rēsu mini
  9. ^ ピチューブラザーズミニ, Pichū Burazāzu mini
  10. ^ トゲピーのだいぼうけん, Togepī no Daibōken
  11. ^ ポケモンそだてやさんミニ, Pokemon Sodateyasan mini

References

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  1. ^ "ハマるゲームが目白押し！ ポケモンミニ体験レポート" [A wealth of addictive games! Pokemon Mini experience report] (in Japanese). Nintendo. Archived from the original on December 16, 2002. Retrieved February 25, 2009.
  2. ^ Harris, Craig (November 15, 2001). "Pokemon Mini Hits the US". IGN. Retrieved May 6, 2024.
  3. ^ "Nintendo History". Nintendo of Europe. Archived from the original on September 4, 2012. Retrieved August 19, 2009. 2002: [...] Pokémon mini, the world's smallest console, was launched on March 15 across Europe with four titles, including Pokémon mini Party and Pokémon mini Pinball.
  4. ^ a b c d Harris, Craig (November 22, 2001). "Pokemon Mini In-Hand". IGN. Retrieved May 6, 2024.
  5. ^ a b c d Harris, Craig (September 4, 2001). "Pokemon Mini". IGN. Retrieved May 6, 2024.
  6. ^ a b Videogames Hardware Handbook. Vol. 2 (2nd ed.). Bournemouth: Imagine Publishing. 2016. pp. 14–17. ISBN 978-1-78546-239-9.
  7. ^ "Technical specifications, specs Nintendo Pokemon Mini". The Video Games Museum. Retrieved March 12, 2025.
  8. ^ "Minx CPU". Pokemon-Mini.net. Retrieved March 12, 2025.
  9. ^ "Picture Rendering Controller". Pokemon-Mini.net. Retrieved March 12, 2025.
  10. ^ "Pokémon Mini". Retro Magazine. No. 81. Imagine Publishing. October 2010.
  11. ^ a b "Pokémon mini Overview". Nintendo of Europe SE. Retrieved March 12, 2025.
  12. ^ "I/O Port". Pokemon-Mini.net. Retrieved March 12, 2025.
  13. ^ "Pokemon Mini Instruction Booklet" (PDF). Nintendo. 2001. Retrieved March 12, 2025.
  14. ^ "Cartridge". Pokemon-Mini.net. Retrieved March 12, 2025.
  15. ^ a b "Hardware". Pokemon-Mini.net. Retrieved March 12, 2025.
  16. ^ "BIOS". Pokemon-Mini.net. Retrieved March 12, 2025.
  17. ^ "Audio". Pokemon-Mini.net. Retrieved March 12, 2025.
  18. ^ a b Diver, Mike (September 10, 2015). "Rediscovering Nintendo's Forgotten Console, the Pokémon Mini". VICE. Retrieved May 6, 2024.
  19. ^ "Pokemon mini Technical Details". Nintendo of Europe SE. Retrieved March 12, 2025.
  20. ^ "Denyusha Consumer Games". Denyusha. Archived from the original on January 16, 2013. Retrieved February 24, 2009.
  21. ^ "Jupiter Game Software-Pokémon mini". Jupiter. Archived from the original on May 2, 2013. Retrieved February 24, 2009.
  22. ^ "Pokemon Mini Shock Tetris – ESRB".
  23. ^ "Pokemon Mini Puzzle Collection Vol. 2 – ESRB".
  24. ^ Irwin, Mary Jane (December 4, 2003). "Pokemon Channel: Watch TV thanks to your GameCube". IGN. Archived from the original on March 3, 2012. Retrieved January 27, 2014.
  25. ^ a b McFerran, Damien (June 30, 2016). "Hardware Classics: Pokémon Mini". Nintendo Life. Retrieved May 6, 2024.
  26. ^ Hagues, Alana (October 12, 2022). "You'll Be Able To Play Pokémon Mini On The Analogue Pocket Soon". Nintendo Life. Retrieved May 6, 2024.
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