Pokémon: Diamond/Pearl

Back in the late 90s, a little video game available in two flavours and known simply as Pocket Monsters took the video game world by surprise. Essentially rekindling the fledging Game Boy flame and reviving hardware that was nearly a decade old, the Japanese RPG collect-a-thon caught everyone in the industry flatfooted. Its popularity was off the charts and simply couldn’t have been predicted.

A few years later, it was translated into English and released across the globe as Pokémon.

As Poké-fever swept the globe, it seemed like it was impossible to avoid those little critters, especially the obnoxiously cute Pikachu. Millions of children not only trying to catch them all, but also watching the television show and movies, collecting toys and trading cards – it was everywhere.

And then like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles before them, the Poké-fad waned, replaced by the no less obnoxious Yu-Gi-Oh. But although the media barrage had subsided, Pokémon never disappeared, and Nintendo kept releasing rather successful revisions and spin-offs on its various platforms. And now finally Nintendo’s ridiculously successful DS – seriously, who in Japan doesn’t own a DS by now? – has its very own real Pokémon titles: Diamond and Pearl.

Essentially the same game, the differences between the two largely come down to what Pokémon you will be able to catch and collect. It is impossible to catch them all in a single version, and trading between the two versions is essential. For review, I tested Pokémon: Diamond.

So, how is it? A fresh take on the series or just another rehash of content with some extra Pokémon thrown in to make it all seem like it’s a new product? To be honest, I couldn’t tell you if it’s stale now because the last Pokémon game I played was Pokémon: Red waaaaaay back when it originally came out. If anything, playing Diamond brought back all those memories of playing it in the late 90s. A nice experience, but it definitely reinforces that little has changed within the last decade.

One again you’ll start off with some kind of event that sees you picking from one of three Pokémon, and once again you’ll always regret picking the one you did because your rival will choose the Pokémon that’s paper to your rock. You’ll once again be asked by an eccentric Pokémon professor to collect data on all the Pokémon – over 480 of the little buggers – and add it to your Pokédex. You’ll once again travel the world catching, collecting, and training various Pokémon and visiting the various Pokémon gyms to test yourself against the world’s best Pokémon trainers.

It’s all very familiar, and if you haven’t played a Pokémon game since the originals (or indeed, not at all), it doesn’t take long to get into the swing of things. The rock-paper-scissors style battle system is still as intuitive as ever, and the basic RPG challenges will never stump you. This is a light, happy experience – one with a surprising amount of depth at times.

But just because it is familiar does not mean that there’s nothing fresh. There’s some neat, new features, such as having a little mentor find and help you in various situations, or having tag-team battles. The game also makes use of the internal clock in the DS for use in a day/night cycle within the game. (However, because the game hasn’t been localised for the Southern Hemisphere, you’ll be seeing the stars outside your window long before you see them in the game.)

Additionally, the game has, obviously, been given a bit of a graphical overhaul. While a lot of the sprites look like they’ve been ripped from a Game Boy Advance game, especially in the battles, the architecture is made up of textured polygons that create a cel-shaded feel. It adds the sensation of depth while also keeping that Saturday morning cartoon feel. Most of all, it’s charming, as it should be.

Perhaps the biggest change, however, is the inclusion of WiFi. This Pokémon is online, and it’s all the better for it. While the game can be seen as a light-hearted RPG, the real meat of the game comes from the addictive, compulsive collecting, training, and trading of Pokémon. The latter is especially important, emphasised by the fact that it is impossible to collect them all unless you trade with other players.

Which is always kind of hard unless you’re still at primary school.

However, thanks to the inclusion of WiFi, players will now be able to trade Pokémon with players from all over the world. Never again will you have to feel inadequate about your Pokédex, as you no longer need to personally know anyone with the game. Obsessive collecting has never been more antisocial, but with a game like Pokémon, such a feature removes what could have been essentially its biggest flaw.

Ultimately, however, it’s still Pokémon. If you didn’t like it back in the day, you’re not going to like it now. If you’re someone who has played every edition of Pokémon, then you’ll probably find enough new content here to warrant the purchase – especially the ability to take the game online. And if you’re someone who played Pokémon back in the day but sort of lost interest after Red and Blue, as I did, then this is perhaps the game to rekindle that flame of interest.

It’s a cute, light-hearted RPG with a surprising amount of depth and plenty of content to keep you addicted and entertained for months to come. If your DS is itching for a new game, then you shouldn’t pass up on Pokémon: Diamond or Pokémon: Pearl.