Pikachu's Beach
Pikachu's Beach (Japanese: ピカチュウのサマービーチ Pikachu's Summer Beach) is a minigame exclusive to Pokémon Yellow. If the player brings a Surfing Pikachu to the Surfin' Dude (Japanese: なみのりオヤジ Surfing Old Man) at Summer Beach House (Japanese: うみのいえ Sea House) on Route 19, Pikachu's Beach can be played. A common way of obtaining a Surfing Pikachu is to transfer one from Pokémon Stadium, though there are other methods.
If the game is played on a Super Game Boy, Super Game Boy 2 or Game Boy Color, Pikachu's cheeks appear blue due to the limited color palette of these consoles.
It is important to note that Summer Beach House is exclusive to Pokémon Yellow, not being present in any other main series games set in Kanto.
Gameplay
The goal of the minigame is to score as many points as possible. The player controls Pikachu using the Game Boy's Control Pad. As Pikachu is launched over a wave, the left and right buttons can be pressed to cause Pikachu to flip. Bonus "rad" points may be granted for landing safely.
The score system, measured in "Radness", is as follows:
- one flip = 50 points;
- two flips = 150 points;
- three flips = 350 points.
More points are granted depending on whether the player performed a flip in the opposite direction at least once in any number of flips: 180 points in a total of 2 flips and 500 points in a total of 3. The HP (not to be confused with the HP stat of Pokémon) counter in the lower right corner acts as a timer and is constantly decreasing from 6,000 HP. On the opposite side of this counter is a progress bar that shows how far Pikachu is from the shore. The game will finish once Pikachu reaches the shore. "Radness" along with remaining HP is then summed up to determine the final score.
The game scroll rate will increase the more flips Pikachu manages to pull off successfully, which consequently increases the rate at which Pikachu reaches the shore. The scroll rate drops if Pikachu fails a flip and falls underwater. When the game is over, Pikachu is scored based on the remaining HP and "Radness". The high score is saved and can be recalled anytime by checking the machine at Summer Beach House on Route 19. The Game Boy Printer can be used to print out the high score as well.
Trivia
- This minigame was referenced in the anime episode The Pi-Kahuna.
- In Pokémon Snap, a Pikachu on the Beach level can be seen on a surfboard.
- In Pokémon Battle Revolution, it is possible to obtain a Pikachu that knows Surf. When used in-game, Pikachu will use a surfboard.
- The music theme for Pikachu's Beach is stored on a soundbank which doesn't exist in the previous main series Generation I games, along with the Rocket Duo encounter and Printer Error themes and an unused track.
- There is a seemingly unused 750 point "Radness" bonus. It isn't achievable regardless of how many times Pikachu flips and/or has flipped in the opposite direction or not.
- The gameplay of this minigame is similar to the popular NES game, Excitebike.
- An unused house interior for Routes 19 and 23 exists in Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen's data, possibly belonging to Summer Beach House, which suggests that Pikachu's Beach might have been planned for the Generation I remakes.