Criticism was directed to the fact that many felt it was better suited to fans of the series than a casual audience, and that a full experience of the game necessitated the use of Transfer Pak capabilities.

Like prior entries in the series, Pokémon Stadium 2 utilizes turn-based RPG gameplay.

Teams of up to six fictional creatures called Pokémon can be used in battle, either against computer controlled opponents, or against other players.

Players can use these creatures' special moves against an opposing Pokémon, with these moves having many effects, such as doing damage or by inflicting status conditions; for example, a Pokémon can be poisoned, which causes it to take small amounts of additional damage each turn.

Progress can be made by winning trophies in the Stadium, a tournament mode consisting of four "Cups", as well as completing the Gym Leader Castle, where the player earns badges by defeating Gym Leader characters who first appeared in the various Game Boy Pokémon games, culminating in a battle against the character Red.

When all Stadium trophies have been won and the Gym Leader Castle is completed, the player's rival will want to battle.

[2] There are a large number of mini-games, such as a game where a top-like Pokémon named Hitmontop must be used to knock other Hitmontop off of the arena, and a game where a Pokémon named Delibird must sort and deliver gifts, with the player who delivers the most gifts being crowned the winner.

[2] The Game Boy Tower feature returns from the prior entry, Pokémon Stadium.

[8][9] Scheduled for a late 2000 release, the game was demonstrated publicly at the 2000 Nintendo Space World festival.

[1][9] It was considered by IGN to be part of a large franchise-wide marketing push, coupled alongside the release of Pokémon the Movie 2000,[7] and Nintendo Life considered the game to be part of a larger push to capitalize on the success of the Pokémon franchise's first generation.

[7] Nintendo announced more information on October 3, including the dates of the Japanese release and official tournaments.

[10] On October 25, Nintendo set the game's North American release date for March 26, 2001.

[2] Pokémon Stadium 2 was a nominee for "11th Annual GamePro Readers' Choice Awards" for "Best Action Game of the Year", but lost to Grand Theft Auto III for PlayStation 2.

The re-release functions identically to the original, though players are unable to use the game's Transfer Pak features.