DrEnzyme's Profile

Ever since red and blue came out for the gameboy, people have been head over heels for pokemon. There are pokemon cards, pokemon movies, pokemon TV shows, pokemon toys, pokemon T-shirts and even a pokemon Boeing 747. With all the pokemon smeared over everything its easy forget where it all started from, the humble video game.

So what makes this pokemon game different from all the others? Well, if you can link up to a wireless hot-spot you can battle and trade over the Internet which means that now you can finally get those pokemon that the developers don't want you to have. The new wifi battle feature means that now you can vs anyone in the world with another pokemon game. As a result, the online battling circuit has become much more organized, so you're going to have to know your stuff before you try to go online.

The game developers have also made some minor improvements to the gameplay as well. Take the starter pokemon for example; when Ruby and Sapphire came out for the GBA, I remember a friend saying to me; "It's a sad day when you have to choose between a lizard, a chicken and a mud fish". Thankfully, I can say that this generation offers a bit more variety; now you get to choose between a penguin (water type), a tortoise (grass type) and a monkey (fire type).

The graphics are nice too. With the DS's added power, the developers had the capability to throw in some 3D graphics, adding a nice touch to the game world. Unfortunately the battle sequences are still 2D, which Nintendo are going to have to change by the next generation if pokemon is to keep up with today's fancy technology.

Another great feature is the ability to import your pokemon from the GBA games after you've unlocked the national dex, which means that you don't need to start from scratch when it comes to raising a decent team of pokemon for online play.

The battle mechanics are as stunning as ever; it's evident that the developers have spent the bulk of their time making sure that everything works properly in this department. Aside from legendary pokemon (most of which are not allowed in online play), there are no pokemon that can't be beaten by other pokemon; you will have to plan out a team very carefully before taking it online.

Now for the downsides:

Pokemon has never pretended to have a fantastic storyline; but lets face it, the plot's about as deep as a puddle. The major "bad-guys" in this generation are called "Team Galactic"; but if you look closely you'll realize that "Team Galactic" are the same people from "Team Rocket". The only difference is that everyone in "Team Galactic" has blue hair. Your ever-present rival is still ever-present, except this time he's a complete klutz who keeps getting P4WNd by the aforementioned blue-haired villains. And let's not forget the obligatory professor. If it's not Professor Oak whose ordering you around, it's Professor Birch or Professor Elm or some other tree-themed scientist. It might just be me, but these plot devices seem to wear thin after the FORTH time they're used.

And another thing...

Diamond/Pearl offers up some 493 pokemon to choose from, making it the biggest pokemon game ever made. Unfortunately, you'll only able be able to choose from 150 of these until you've (practically) beaten the game. So what's the point of catching these pokemon if there's nothing left to do with them? Unless you're a hard-core fan, there IS NONE.

Aside from these minor inconveniences, I found that pokemon was a pretty enjoyable play. If you've never played a pokemon game before or if you're a hard-core fan of the series, go out and buy it. If you've played a pokemon game before and thought it was average (or if you hate blatantly repetitive plot lines) then give this one a miss.