What’s Your Tag? Nuzlocke Challenge!

I think it’s pretty apparent that we love our Pokemans around these parts. We love it so much, that we’ve decided to host our first ever Pokemon Nuzlocke Challenge! There will be streaming, prizes, and most importantly; lots of Pokemania.

For those of you unfamiliar with Pokemon Nuzlocke Challenges, it’s basically a way to replay your favorite Pokemon games with a modified set of rules. Of course these rules make the game incredibly difficult. We will be hosting our own competition with altered versions of the basic Nuzlocke rules. We will be playing Pokemon Fire Red for the Gameboy Advance. Anyone is welcome to participate.

The Rules:

1. Not for the ‘Faint’ of Heart: If a Pokemon ‘faints’ it’s considered a goner. You must release it into the wild. No revives. If all of the Pokemon in your party ‘faint,’ it’s game over.
2. One and Done: You may only catch the first Pokemon you encounter in each area. You get one attempt to catch it. If the Pokemon faints or you fail to catch it, you’re out of luck. You may not catch two of the same Pokemon. Players can choose any of the three starter Pokemon.
3. Doubles Second Chance Rule: If the first Pokemon you run into in a new area is a Pokemon you already have in your party, you have a second chance to try to catch a different one. If you run into the same Pokemon twice in a row, you’re out of luck.
4. Money Can Buy Love: You can buy any Pokemon being sold by the various NPC’s in the world, but you may only select one of the available Pokemon in the Game Corner. You can also trade your Pokemon to NPC’s.
5. A Special Bond: Players must nickname all of their Pokemon. All of your Pokemon names must fit a specific theme. You can choose any theme you like. (Ex: Dragonball Z Characters, The Cast of Friends, etc.)
6. The Elimination Challenge: Players will only have one opportunity to get as far as they can in the game. If all available Pokemon faint or if the player “blacks out,” the game and your challenge is over.

If you have any questions or concerns about the rules, let us know.

Getting the Game:

The most classic way to experience this challenge would be to bust out your Gameboy Advance and your Fire Red cartridge, but for those of you who lost your copy or don’t feeling like digging your GBA out of the attic, there is always emulation. Here is a link to a great emulator and the rom file for Fire Red. (Remember, Roms and Emulators are technically illegal if you don’t own the original cartridges, but we promise we won’t rat you out.)

Sharing Your Adventure:

A big part of doing a Nulzocke Challenge is sharing your story. Every experience will be different and that’s what makes these playthroughs so special. You will form special bonds with these Pokemon and in many cases they are types you normally wouldn’t use. We have setup a section in our forums for everyone to share their adventures and we highly encourage it. Plus, it’s the only way to win free prizes.

Free Prizes, You Say?

That’s right, folks. We will be giving free prizes to people who participate in our Nuzlocke Challenge. Not everyone will win something. We will be looking for the players who got the furthest in the game or the folks who have the most interesting stories to tell. We will be giving away Xbox Live Cards, a NES wallet, and even a few games. Make sure your email is up-to-date when registering for the forums.

Let the Games Begin:

Our Pokemon Nuzlocke Challenge will begin tomorrow (5/28/13) at 6:00pm Pacific Time. The end date is still to be determined, but we will keep you posted with any updates. We will be streaming all of our challenges on Twitch if you want to see the action unfold in real time.

Again, if you folks have any questions about how to get the game or enter the contest, feel free to ask. This should turn out to be a really fun competition. Good luck everyone!