Pokemon Pearl Version

"Pearls are Forever... Well, Diamonds, too"

PROS: Wi-Fi = teh awesome; ability to catch almost anything; return of day/night cycle adds more depth; battle system flows more logically

CONS: Not much else has changed

For my 50th review, I thought I'd do a juggernaut. Because I can.

You still have to catch them all. This time, there are 493 of them. Yeah… that's a lot. Good luck.

Pokémon Diamond and Pearl are the latest installments in Nintendo's gigantic handheld RPG series. I bought myself a copy of Pearl but it doesn't matter which you get, as both games are essentially the same with a couple different exclusive Pokemon, which are easily obtainable on the other thanks to the DS's Wi-Fi connection.

Yes, you heard that right. Wi-Fi. For Pokémon. You can trade with friends that live OVER NINE THOUSAND miles away… well if you know anybody across the ocean at least. There's also the Global Trading Station – GTS – where you can put up a Pokémon for trade asking for another. Half of the people that use it put up level 1 starters or fodder asking for level 100 ubers… so it isn't always easy. But if you have the patience, you can get a lot of good stuff. You can also battle with friends without having to go to their house. You can even have random battles later in the game through the Battle Tower. Wi-Fi adds so much more to the Pokémon universe, and if you don't have Wi-Fi, it's totally worth it to buy it just for this.

Wi-Fi really isn't the only thing that's changed. The battle system has been re-hashed to make it flow more logically. Now, Physical attacks usually involve direct contact with the foe and Special attacks do not, instead of them being type-based. This changes the stats of some Pokémon because their properties have changed because of this. The movepools are also deeper, as they're added a boatload of new attacks, including 50 new TMs. Sadly, there are still HMs too… they even went to replace the Flash HM with an even more useless one that half of my friends didn't even find… and still beat the game without any problems. Also, Surfing is incredibly slow now. Fortunately, there isn't all that much Surfing water around here.

This time, the land is Sinnoh. It's pretty expansive, about the same size as Hoenn. However, the routes aren't as long as some, but at least there isn't so much water. The story is essentially the same. You are a 10-year-old trainer starting a Pokémon journey, you have to catch as many Pokémon as you can, raise a team, beat gym leaders and some evil syndicate trying to take over the world. The megalomaniac's motive this time around makes a bit more sense than the last one's… but the plot is still the same. You have to stop him from harnessing some power and getting what he wants just because he's a megalomaniac. And you can't sic your Pokémon on him… when the hell are they going to let you kill the bad guy?

Excluding Wi-Fi and the battle system, not much has changed. The game is still the same, only with new Pokémon, new areas to explore, and new sprite designs. At least they returned the Day/Night system from Johto, so you can explore areas at different times and get different wild Pokémon, etc. Day-specific events have also returned, which is great.

You can only get 150 Pokémon with your own game card before defeating the Pokémon League champion. You can, however, trade with friends and get more than that. After you see the 150 in the Sinnoh PokeDex, you will get the National Dex and so much more opens up to you. This is where the playtime will come in… getting all 493, which is actually impossible since you can't get some Pokémon legitimately. But coming close is good enough for most people. You can use a Poke Radar feature in order to locate where some hide, you can also import Pokémon- especially legendaries and starters – from the GBA games using the “Pal Park”. BE WARNED THAT THESE POKÉMON WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO RETURN TO YOUR GBA GAME. However, it's a very easy way of getting the Pokémon you can't get in Sinnoh… which are all legendaries and starters.

In the end, Pokémon Diamond and Pearl will take a long time to complete and offer a lot of playtime. However, not all that much is different than the older generations… it's just an expanded version of the previous one. However, it's more addictive than Ruby and Sapphire. In the end, these get a 9 out of 10. Nintendo and Game Freak could have re-hashed the story, too… but it's still an addictive, fun RPG that anybody can pick up and play, and it's very easy to play for over 100 hours.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 05/30/07