Pokemon Pearl Version

"The best genertion of Pokemon yet, no doubt about it"

Intro

Well, it's been a long 3 years since the release of FireRed and LeafGreen versions for the Game Boy Advance, and it's not a surprise that Gamefreak decided to go with the Nintendo DS in making the new Pokemon game. With the huge memory the DS games can handle, it's perfect to add tons of new Pokemon and to make the biggest Pokemon Region around. In total, 107 Pokemon were added to the game making the grand total reach up to 493! Some might look a little familiar because Gamefreak has made even more evolutions to older Pokemon to make them even more powerful. The area you play in this time is called Sinnoh. Sinnoh is definitely the biggest Region of Pokemon yet, beating out Hoen which used to be first in line. They added tons of new elements to the game like Time of Day, Snow areas, and even muddy areas. Not only is Sinnoh huge, but it looks fantastic. All of the buildings are now in a cool-looking 3D, and it looks fantastic. It actually looks like a real building now, and some cities, actually look like cities. But what else is new in these games? Many more: there are new touch screen mechanics like virtually every DS game has, and there's also battling and trade locally with friends, or on Wi-Fi over the internet. So one might ask, “Is Diamond/Pearl the best Pokemon game yet?” And I would reply with, “Yes. Yes it is.” Simple as that.

Story

Wait, let me answer your first question, “Is this story like all of the other Pokemon games?” And my reply is, “Yes. Yes it is.” But whoever said that the story in Pokemon games were bad? Well, they're not, and it's no different here. Your a trainer ready to set off on an adventure, you can chose to be either a male, or a female, but there is no big difference other than looks. You can also name yourself, and your rival who lives next door to you in the small village called Twinleaf town. You start off by watching a television show about how a team of unnamed personnel are trying to catch a so-called Red Gyarados, who is a Pokemon in the game. After you finish watching it they tell you to search for the Red Gyarados, but it really isn't important later on. When you can start to play, you walk downstairs and your mother will tell you that your rival (whatever you named him, so I'll call him Rival) wanted to see you but she doesn't know why. So you head over to his house, and he runs into you at the front door. He tells you to go to Verity Lake with him, so you must go there, but he forgot something in the house, so you have to talk to him in the house before you can go to the lake. Once on the way there, you meet up with him and he tells you that he wants to go to the lake to search for the Red Gyarados, so you go there with him. Once there, you see an old man, and a young girl. Once they leave you go up to the small grass on the shore of the lake and you get attacked by 2 wild Starly's! But the old man left his suitcase behind with Pokemon inside of them! So you can take one of the 3 starter Pokemon: Chimchar, Piplup, or Turtwig. Which ever Pokemon you chose, Rival takes the Pokemon that has the advantage over yours. In this case, I took Piplup, so he took Turtwig. Grass beats Water. So after you beat the Starly you must meet with the old man, and he tells you that his name is Prof. Rowan and he'll let you and Rival keep the Pokemon you took. After this is all done, you start your Adventure to, yes, battle all 8 of the Gym Leaders, and beat the Elite 4 at the end to become the Pokemon Champion. On the way though, things happen with a team called Team Galactic, who were the group who wanted the Red Gyarados and are trying to take over Sinnoh. The story can get a bit wonky here and there, but all in all, it's still great.

Graphics

Pokemon games have never been known for its graphics, but in Diamond and Pearl, they look absolutely fantastic. The overworld is pretty much the same as the Gameboy Advance Pokemon games, but instead of 2D buildings, Gamefreak decided to make all of the buildings and landmarks into 3D which look unbelievable. The battles are sadly still in sprite form with pretty average battle scenes, but the whole upgrade with the buildings and environments are awesome and look fantastic. All of the Pokemon have new sprites, even the old ones, so there's still a fresh new look to them. The menus are pretty simple, like all other Pokemon game, but on the touchscreen, Gamefreak made a great decision to make all of the buttons thumb-friendly, which means that they're all pretty big, so you wont press anything by an accident. All of the items in the game have a picture, but some of the items just look stupid. For example, Arceus needs certain plates to change it's typing, but the pictures of the plates are just square and different colours, and they look pretty lame. All people in the world are sprites, just like old games, so while the buildings look super-fantastic, the people are still sprites, so it looks kind of odd. But seriously though, while playing Pokemon Pearl, I found absolutely nothing horrible, and it never, I mean never, takes away from the experience.

Gameplay

What Red, Blue, Yellow, Gold, Silver, Crystal, Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald made totally famous has returned in Diamond and Pearl and has evolved. The battling and basic gameplay is still the same, but things have been added, and things have returned. You walk around with the Directional Pad, and while walking, you can use B to run faster. A is action, the menu is with X, and an item you have set to the Y button is used by pressing Y. There's a new item called the Poketch, which is the watch that your characters wears, which is on the bottom screen while you're running around in the overworld, and it does a bunch of different things. There are a ton of different ‘channels' on the Poketch. Some of the these channels include: the time, a calendar, a timer, and a step counter. Some of these channels can be really useful for certain things like the step counter for hatchings eggs. When in battle, there are tons of things to do. You can attack, use items like Potions and Pokeballs for catching Pokemon, and run from wild Pokemon. The battling is still the turn-based RPG style and it still works perfectly. All Pokemon have 6 stats: HP (hit points), Attack, Defence, Special Attack, Special Defence, and Speed. All Pokemon have different stats, and what moves you teach your Pokemon will reflect on what stats your Pokemon have. For example, Hitmonchan has massive Attack but very low Special Attack, but if you teach him moves that use Special Attack, it will do barely any damage to the Pokemon you're fighting. Each Pokemon has either one type, or two. There are 24 types total, and they all have their weaknesses and effectiveness. Water beats Fire, Fire beats Grass, and Grass beat Water, and so on. If your Pokemon uses a move that corresponds with its type, then it will do even more damage.

While in the overworld you can run into wild Pokemon in tall grass, water, and caves. You can also get caught by a trainer and you have to battle them. The battles are never too hard, so you can usually beat them easily. After you beat them you get Pokedollars which you can spend on items at the shop. If your Pokemon get too hurt, you can heal them in a Pokecenter which is always in a town no matter where you go. There are many items you can use in Diamond and Pearl. Items can repel wild Pokemon, heal your Pokemon, make your Pokemon stronger if you make them hold the item, and special items that let you battle old trainer, and ride a bike. The touch screen works perfect in the battles. There are big buttons on the touch screen you can use for attacking, using items, changing Pokemon, and running from wild Pokemon. You can also use the directional pad to chose the things you want to do, but the touchscreen is really, really easy to use and it way better than the d-pad. Your Pokemon gain experience after defeating a Pokemon and they gain more if they defeat a more powerful Pokemon. After a certain amount of experience your Pokemon will level up, and it can learn certain moves on certain levels, and it can evolve into a more powerful Pokemon. Diamond and Pearl have perfect gameplay, which make it a game you will play for hours on end.

Replay Value

Pokemon Diamond & Pearl have tons, and I mean TONS of things to do even after you have beaten the Elite 4 (basically the last boss). You can try to collect all 493 Pokemon by inserting your old game into the GBA slot of the DS and migrating them to Diamond/Pearl. Once in the game, you have to go to Pal Park, and retrieve them by catching them with Pokeballs. This is a great addition because people have trained their Pokemon in other Pokemon games, and now they're able to still use them on the new game. There's also the ability to battle people online by getting their friend codes and setting it up in the basement of a Pokecentre. You can also trade Pokemon online too, but it must be with friends. But you can also trade Pokemon in the Global Trade Centre in Jubilife City. In the GTS, you can search a Pokemon you want and if people are willing to give them up, you must give them what they want. You can also post a Pokemon up for trade, and people can take it if they meet what you need. There's also a Trainer Tower on a huge island you can go to after you beat the Elite 4 which you battle people over and over but your Pokemon don't gain experience.

Overall - Outstanding

Pokemon Diamond & Pearl are without a doubt the best Pokemon games ever made. And to tell you the truth, they're the best games on the DS yet, just beating out Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow. From the 40 Hour + main story, to the 3D buildings and landscapes, to the new touch screen controls, to the Wi-Fi battling, Diamond and Pearl have it and simply work perfectly. Also, the ability to transfer your old Pokemon over from past games for the GBA make it a must buy for a Pokemon fan, and even a must buy for any human being that owns a DS.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 05/17/07