Pokemon Stadium 2

The final entry in the short-lived but memorable Pokemon Stadium series.

Transfer Pak Troubleshooting

Even when this game was fresh and new, the transfer pak was very finicky. The passage of time has not made this any easier. I often get the error screen that something went wrong with the Transfer Pak. Here are some things to consider when using the Transfer Pak.

Firstly, isolate the point of failure. Sanity test #1 - is the game working? Try it out on a Gameboy to make sure the game is working correctly and there are no internal battery issues.

If the transfer pak with a game never gives you an error message but also never shows you the game, then the problem is likely that the connection between the controller and the Transfer Pak is not working. See if you can clean the transfer pak's connector with a cotton tip and 90%+ rubbing alcohol. Let it dry before trying again.

If you get the error screen, that means the transfer pak is being read, but it's not able to interpret data from the cartridge. Clean the connectors on your game cartridge. I also recommend looking into the transfer pak - there was a hair (!) in the slot meant to receive the game which was causing the issue. If you still have issues after cleaning the cartridge and removing debris from the transfer pak, you may have to remove the plastic case to clean it.

Even if it's all clean, I've found that the degree of game insertion makes a big difference. If I put it in lightly, it won't read the game at all. If I put the game in until it bottoms out, I get an error. I need to have the game cartridge a few millimeters away from the bottom of the transfer pak for it to read.

You can also get an unusual error where it correctly reads that you have a game, but claims there is no saved file. If you checked the game on a gameboy, you should be able to confirm that this is wrong. This probably means that you haven't inserted it to the correct depth. Try again. This happened to me and I nearly panicked thinking that my Yellow somehow died while trying out the Transfer Pak.

Now let's say you get everything working and it's all going great... be very careful how you place the controller! The Transfer Pak is easily jolted out of position and you will get an error if you so much as nudge it the wrong way. I recommend gently laying the controller with the face of the transfer pak facing a surface. Gently pick it up at an angle perpendicular to the table to avoid accidentally tilting it against the surface.

Pokemon Lab

Pokemon Stadiuum 2 lets you store Pokemon on the Nintendo 64 cartridge. Absolutely amazing! Unlike gen 1 and 2 games, there is no internal battery on the Nintendo 64 cartridge, so it will last indefinitely (or at least as long as your cartridge is readable and working). If you have Pokemon on your games you'd like to store long term, I recommend storing them here.

Unfortunately, you need to have a Transfer Pak with a game inserted to make use of this. The game must be working - if you don't have an internal battery or if the save file is corrupted, you will not be allowed to enter the Pokemon Lab at all. This is frustrating because it means you can't view your Pokemon without having to go through the rigamorole of the transfer pak, but it is what it is.

Looking at your Pokemon here is very easy, and you can quickly see their moves, stats, and even where you met them! There is even a tabular view that lets you compare Pokemon en masse.

Unfortunately, this tabular view filters Pokemon based on the generation of game. If you have a gen 1 game, it will only show you gen 1 Pokemon. And of course, nowadays most gen 2 games have dead internal batteries. This means you probably won't be able to view your gen 2 Pokemon in the tables - at least, not without fixing up your gen 2 cartridges with a new battery.

Dead Internal Battery

If your cart is one of many that has a dead internal battery, you cannot use the home or Pokemon lab features. Not even to see what Pokemon you have in the boxes. You can play it on the Gameboy, but you will run into an error when you try to save. As such, there really isn't any point in trying to play with a cart that has a dead internal battery.

Expansion Pak Detected

If you have an expansion pak, the game will inform you on startup that you have an expansion pak. As far as we know, this not used for anything.