Pokémon Trading Card Game 2 Review

By Charles

February 21, 2026

I wanted to play this game on a real cartridge so much that I bought a Game Boy Advance SP just to play this game. I had a great time and don't think I wasted my money whatsoever. This is one of the best games I have ever played. Either way, look forward to more obscure Game Boy reviews in the future!

Pokémon Trading Card Game 2: The Invasion of Team GR!

GBC, 2001 ~$400 sealed ~$100 used

37

/40

PRESENTATION

CONTROLS

CONTENT

This game pushes the Game Boy Colour to its limit, further improving some of the returning cards with multiple colour palettes. The menus and attack animations still look great, and a lot of the character mugshots have been improved. The most impressive graphical accomplishment is how the developers were able to adapt the more abstract artworks of the Vending Series cards. Finally, the music is simply fantastic. I often had to stop in some dungeons before initiating more battles to let the music play out. Even the smallest locations have their own music. This might be the best Game Boy soundtrack.

This time, there are 445 cards. Hunting them down is fun this time, since there are more decks to try out while battling for packs and more ways to collect cards. There is a feature where some opponents put restrictions on your deck, but it happens so much that it goes from fun to annoying. Building new decks isn't so bad since the new additions bring many deck archetypes that feel a lot closer to the modern game. The metagame isn't well known, so the hunt to find the strongest deck is a lot more interesting. The game is easily twice as long as TCG1, and, while this helps a lot, you're still left wanting more by the end.

9

10

Pokémon TCG 2 is improved in every way. It has more depth, more cards, and better graphics. This game feels like a real adventure that rivals even the main series Pokémon titles on Game Boy. I understand that it doesn't seem like it's that fun from the outside, but you have to play the game to truly understand how good it is. While I had a great time from start to finish, there was still that empty feeling once I was done. I think this game needed a small postgame story to be perfect. I also found it annoying when my opponent made me change my deck when I was on a roll.

8

10

All of the controls still work well just like in the previous version, along with the addition of more deck saving and editing features. These really are just overkill and almost feel more convenient than TCG Live is today. Despite not being able to read any of the Japanese text, I could figure out how to do everything.

FUN FACTOR

WORTH THE MONEY?

This is definitely a niche game and would not be worth buying a Game Boy for everyone. However, if you already have a system, I would definitely recommend this game. I got it for around $100 and it's worth it.

WORTH THE TIME?

If you enjoyed the first game in the series, this game is an improvement and a must-play. You don't even need to worry about translating the game - you can understand what's going on without reading a thing, since the user interface is the same as TCG GB 1.