Gamezebo Rating:

Nintendo is never going to put a full-fledged Pokémon game on iOS, and mobile developers need to stop aping the franchise with their deluge of imitation monster collecting/battling titles. Instead, these studios should look at Hunter Island and likewise build a unique experience out of the core elements that make Pokémon a juggernaut in the first place. The mobile market will be a better place for it.

Hunter Island is a role-playing game that takes place in a land populated by strange monsters. These "Arkadions" come in different shapes and sizes, and can be captured and tamed by specialized trainers called Hunters. As is the case in Pokémon, tamed Arkadions are used to battle wild Arkadions. Hunters also use their Arkadions to work out personal problems through fights.

The story for Hunter Island also delves into war and familial strife, but it's all background noise against the hundreds of fights you engage in as you work your way through the game's world. Hunter Island may borrow its concept from Pokémon, but its battle mechanics are its own.

You command a long line-up of Arkadions, though only a few can battle at once. Your opponents are held to the same rule. Once an Arkadion is knocked out, another takes its place until you run out of monsters. Arkadions attack one another with various single- and multi-attacks that are learned through growth and evolution. The more powerful the attack, the longer the Arkadion has to wait for its next turn.