Pokemon Champions Is Nintendo’s New Version of Pokemon Stadium (With Some Big Changes)

When Pokemon Stadium released back in 2000, it introduced fans to 3D Pokemon battles for the first time. It also brought us a new way to engage with Pokemon, focusing almost entirely on battles rather than an adventure storyline. Now, Pokemon Champions arrives as a spiritual successor to that style of Pokemon gameplay. Like the Pokemon Stadium games before it, Champions is centered on Pokemon battles above all else. But that doesn’t mean it’s Pokemon Stadium 3.

Though Pokemon Colosseum was something of a successor to Stadium, the game added an RPG story mode back in. That makes Pokemon Champions the first purely battle-focused installment we’ve seen on consoles in quite some time. So, when I sat down to play the game on Switch 2 for the first time, I couldn’t help but compare it to Pokemon Stadium. Some elements felt delightfully familiar, while others left me yearning for a bit more nostalgia. Here’s how Champions compares to Stadium.

Pokemon Champions Brings Back Big Arena Battles, But It’s Missing What Made Stadium Great

After completing the tutorial for Pokemon Champions, I got to build my Pokemon team and dive right into battle. Immediately, I felt like I was right back in my parents’ living room playing Pokemon Stadium. After all, I’d just built a team of Pokemon I didn’t have to roam Kanto to catch and sent them into a colorful arena for a 3D Pokemon battle. And the in-depth animations for Pokemon moves are back in full force, as well. Initially, battling in Champions did feel quite a bit like the N64 days. Then, I noticed what was missing.

One of the most iconic things about Pokemon Stadium was its announcer, whose excited exclamations and colorful descriptions brought the battles to life. Though the console volume was admittedly set pretty low during my preview, I still noticed the lack of that announcer commentary in Pokemon Champions. Given the game’s future role in competitive play, I can see why Game Freak skipped the announcer this time around. But not having those lines ring out during battle did take the charm down a notch for me. And it wasn’t the only thing.

The other big Pokemon Stadium feature that doesn’t appear to have carried over to Champions is, of course, its mini-games. More than anything else, playing these silly mini-games with my brother is my core memory of Pokemon Stadium. And from what I can tell, Pokemon Champions will not feature similar mini-games. The title is releasing for the Switch, Switch 2, and mobile, so again, I see why this feature didn’t come back. But boy would I have loved to see some new takes on those classic mini-games in Champions, to give it a little something for those of us who aren’t likely to linger over PvP battles for too long.

Recruiting and Building a Team Looks Different in Pokemon Champions

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I Played Pokemon Champions, And It Feels Like a Mobile Twist On Pokemon Stadium (Preview)

Pokemon Stadium let you transfer your team from Pokemon Red, Blue, or Yellow to the game. In that way, Pokemon Champions isn’t too different. It will support Pokemon HOME transfers, letting you bring your faves into the game. But if you decide to recruit new Pokemon directly in the game, you’ll be feeling the shift towards gacha-style mechanics in modern free-to-play games. The Recruit feature in Pokemon Champions lets you choose one of 10 randomly pulled Pokemon from a daily lineup. This feels very much like 2026’s answer to the Rental Pokemon in Stadium, with all the monetization and random chance you might expect for a modern iteration. And where Stadium was a one purchase situation with all Pokemon available in-game, Champions players will need to use in-game currency to add new members to their teams.

That said, Pokemon Champions will allow for more flexibility with the stats and movesets of your in-game recruits. While many competitive players will no doubt transfer their teams from HOME, you can still make adjustments to stats, abilities, and movesets within Champions. That’s a level-up from Stadium, where Pokemon came with pre-determined movesets and couldn’t really be trained up in-game. Yes, stat adjustments through training do cost more VP, but it is a nice option to allow for more unique strategies with your battle team.

Ultimately, while I will miss the commentary and mini-games that made Pokemon Stadium feel special, I’m quite curious to see what players make of Champions when it arrives on Switch and Switch 2 on April 8th. I think the game’s competitive battle focus will be ideal for a certain kind of Pokemon fan. As for me, I’ll largely be watching from the sidelines while occasionally testing my “cute Pokemon only” playstyle in the meta and dreaming about that sushi-eating Lickitung mini-game.

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