Pokemon has been around for about a decade now and although it seems to
have fallen from pop culture's high interest, it is still alive and
better than ever.
Pokemon Diamond and Pearl starts off like
every other Pokemon game. A young boy wants to become a Pokemon
trainer. Simple? Right, lets get started.
The count with this
Pokemon game goes up to a nice round number, about 500 Pokemon. Let us
repeat that, 5-0-0! The largest count of Pokemon yet and although some
might argue it, these Pokemon are actually different from one another.
The usual starters are you Fire, Water, and Grass, no twist there, but
this game introduces many new combo types and much more.
Touch
control is used in a big way now as you can now control your Pokemon
using the touch screen in battle. Seems simple, but it saves a lot of
time and it feels so much better than having to scroll through what now
seems thousands of menus in past games just to use something like
tackle. There are also a wide variety of mini games that use the touch
screen as well as a some other menus, such as polishing your Pokemon
badges that you earned from defeating a gym leader.
Speaking
of Gym leader, the battles in this game are much better than anything
you have ever seen. Thanks to the better graphic capability of the DS,
and the touch screen controls, battles in this game are much more
entertaining, and look very nice. Well done animations and well drawn
sprites are in every battle. When a move like ember or bubble impresses
you, it is pretty clear that Game Freak put a lot of time into making
this game and it shows that they didn't want you to finish it quickly.
This Pokemon game is much longer than the past version as well as quite
difficult. You will not be sweating bullets trying to beat a gym
leader, but the levels of the opponent's Pokemon increase as often as
yours which keeps things fresh.
Speaking of fresh, something
the DS games bring to the table are online mode. Never before done in
any Pokemon game, the online mode enables you to battle with your
friends online, and it has full voice chat support. A Pokemon player's
dream? Um, ya. There is very little lag when playing online and the
full animations are there. Single, doubles, trading, general voice
chatting, many things that past online DS games offer are there, and
more some! There is even an introduction to a new feature in Pokemon
called the Global Trading Station (or GTS for short) You will find
yourself there quite often to see if you got that Pokemon you wanted.
Think of ebay, Pokemon style, you put up a Pokemon for trade, and wait
for someone to come along and trade you what you wanted, however, you
need to have seen that Pokemon first, which is a little bummer, but
still doesn't ruin the GTS much.
There is not much else to
same, this Pokemon game is everything a Pokemon fan can want, and more!
New area, new Pokemon, new leaders, nice graphics, online mode, and so
much more! If you are a Pokemon fan, stop reading this and go out to
buy this game, or both versions! You will not be disappointed at all!
Great Presentation: Everything is done with quality in mind. Some menus seems flat (like online selection), other than that, great work.
Great Graphics: Not full 3D, but everything is sharp and clean, nice art direction as always.
Amazing Sound: Everything in here is just great, music is amazing, however, why can't
the Pokemon say their names! STOP THE NOSIES!
Amazing Gameplay: Same as always, but still an amazing piece of work, never gets old. Online... 'nuff said.
Perfect Lasting Appeal: I've never seen a someone's Pokemon game without at least over 100 hours clocked.
I would recommend this to any Pokemon fan, suggest a long rental for those interested.
