19.3.2011

Played the first two generations, and then, called it quits. I had a blast with both Poke'mon Red and Silver, plus, the several Poke'mon spin-off games that ended up on the Game Boy Color and N64. But then, I decided to take an extremely long break. The Poke'mon formula is addictive but it wasn't enough for me to go nab the next couple of generations.So fast-forward to a couple of days before the official N.A. release of B/W. I was looking at the different details, and thought, "why not?" So, had it pre-ordered and here I am right now. I'm taking my sweet time with the game so I'm far from finishing it with 32 hours clocking in.There are a lot of impressive things in the game and of course,some disappointments. But overall, I think B/W is a good generation to try on for someone who hasn't played Poke'mon in a long time. It definitely does give off a refreshing feel even if it uses a lot of familiar past Poke'mon game elements.Good stuff...+ Battles are much quicker now from what I remembered. Same with the speaking text. You can now change how fast you want the text to go.+ Two - three Poke'mon VS battles now.+ Game animation is more fluid.+ 3-dimensional buildings in a city. I'd have to give Game Freak a lot of credit for that, even though, graphics is really something I don't judge into that much.+ You have the change of seasons and weather per area.+ Different forms of climate regions are explored as well.+ Different shops/people will offer events that may be a daily thing or happens only on a particular day.+ Unlimited TM/HM usage is a huge relief!+ The scope of the Unova region is huge. There is a lot more to do now than I can recall, in terms of battling and backtracking areas. Also, finding secret items is a fun quest of its own.+ The prices for items have gone up for the better from experience. I find myself purchasing items with money worries, which is a plus, compared to the first two generations where it was easy to not spend much money. (And the duplication cheats pretty much annhilated the point of buying Poke'balls...) Maybe, this may be attributed to how much easier it is, in B/W, to be KOed by a lower leveled Poke'mon no matter how high you are. Back in the early days, it was easier to KO by your level number and not so much by your element power.+ The Battle Subway offers up a nice challenge.+ Enjoyed the brief interactions with several of the people you run into. Some of them may even be weird....+ You get the bicycle after the beginning of the game. Yaay...+ I like the use of the C-Gear shortcut options. Yet...(continued in the negative section)..+ What I liked the most among all these positives is: there's an improvement in plot. There is now a story that I can actually care about compared to the past. It's like combining the plot of a Poke'mon show/movie with the game. It's still a bit simple, but it's much better than: "I am going to be the best Poke'mon master in the whole world! Once I defeat the Elite Four and Team Rocket, I'll come back home and wave my ego in my (pre-determined) RIVAL's face!!"You still have the goal of filling up a Poke'dex and beating every single gym leader in the Unova Region. Yet, you now have story-interactive gym leaders, a ditzy best friend, and a best friend who has a determined dream. Above all, you now have enemies whose goals are not to obtain rare and powerful Poke'mon. We now have Team Plasma, who thinks on the same level as extreme activism (-- worse than that?). To say further would be spoiling it.What I wasn't crazy about:- The Poke'mon PC. There were some new features added to it from the last time I saw it, but, I was hoping there were more flexibilities in the system. I wish Game Freak could just combine DEPOSIT and WITHDRAWL together. Meaning, you could switch and move around Poke'mon without having to manually switch in and out all the time. It's 2011, and we're still manually going back and forth between DEPOSIT and WITHDRAWL. Also, the Battle Box. You can't just move Poke'mon from your party to it or withdrawl Poke'mon. You have to first move Battle Box Poke'mon into any of your boxes just to withdrawl a Poke'mon.- Edit update for the C-Gear: After further exploring, I finally understood about check-marking the box underneath all the other items. Yet, the check-mark pretty much saves the area in the item selection that you were last lingering on. I think this could still be implemented in a slightly better way, but it's better than opening up the C-Gear menu entirely. I think the boxes need to be moved to the top part of the screen rather than the bottom part.- I said there were more things to do/see, but within each town/city, other than item/Poke'mon related events, you just talk to some people and battle others. There is still this feeling of wasted potential. In the amusement park related city, for example, there could've been carnival-like mini-games here. You can't even access the ferris wheel (again). Sure, the Battle Subway is the main meat along with the gym, but there was just this feeling of "that's it?". This feeling echoed with me from the very first main town. I know there is a lot that was put into this game already, but, Game Freak has the chance to push the system even further to match Level-5's "Ni no Kuni".- The mail feature is very limiting. You can't type out your own words. You're forced to use the system's custom made mail.- In 2011, you still can't skip cutscenes or chats with NPCs. Oh Game Freak...Neutrals:o Feels a bit odd to be going through a region that mirrors the NYC tri-state area. It's like combining NYC with Japan elements. In the past Poke'mon games, we had stores with multi-leveled floors and I didn't understand that until I had a trip to Japan. Now, back with a Poke'mon game that focuses on my region, it took a bit of a time to get use to this.o I actually tried not to remember too many Poke'mon names after Red. I just couldn't keep up even when I was playing Silver. :D So with White, I'm just taking it easy with some names. In the long run though, I'm not even going to bother with them too much (and just their custom made nicknames).o I remain neutral on graphics. Graphics are the least of my concern for any game.o The Poke' balls seem to have irregularities in the type of Poke'mon they can contain? Sometimes, the basic Poke'ball can capture a powerful Poke'mon and the higher level balls don't seem to work at all.o Game Freak should make the next generation have a more interactive wi-fi community than just limiting a wi-fi city to Black. Also, GF should also be thinking of letting us customize our characters in the future, too. (Although, I'm not sure if I'll be playing a Poke'mon game after this one. I stopped being die-hard during Silver/Gold's time after all.)o Is there a duplication method for items/Poke' balls in B/W? I have to wonder...Overall, my experience has been 9/10 so far. The game is definitely not Famitsu perfect, of course, but it's fun and that's what counts the most. Even if it uses the same ol' battle formula with some improvements.

8.4.2011

So it's time for another pokemon game. Truth be told, I'm not a huge pokemon fan. I played red/blue when I was in high school and had very enthusiastic friends, but after that I meandered through the series, I've played most of them up to this point but mostly just trying them out without really dedicating myself to finishing/collecting everything.So Black/White is pretty much your standard pokemon game. You start out with friends/rivals getting starters from the local professor, you quickly meet the 'evil team' and are turned loose on the world to go find the 8 gym badges so you can become the pokemon league champion. Standard cut and paste from every other pokemon game,though I did appreciate that they cut out a lot of the exposition and got you started on your way pretty fast.And there's a whole new cast of pokemon to catch and battle. Honestly, I'm a little disappointed how thoroughly new everything is, not that it's a bad thing, but I kind of liked the older generations for introducing new versions of older pokemon by means of 'young' versions, or new evolutions. There are more than a handful of new parallels to match older generations, a new 'pidgey', a new 'caterpie', and others. The designs run the gammut from cute and charming to big and badass, to uh, well, things like Trubbish, whose name really speaks for itself ;9 But that's pretty typical of any pokemon generation, there's good designs and... not so good. You pick your favorite starter, and then fill in the rest of your team with whatever you like or whatever you need for the next gym/story event. As always, what you can catch/evolve/etc is balanced (somewhat) around what you need.The story is very linear, in that there's actually more of a story instead of a string of random events as you progress along. Unlike some earlier games, you *have* to complete the gyms at the time you encounter them, your progress will be impeded in some way until you've beaten the gym. To balance this somewhat, you no longer need gym badges to do anything except keep control of your pokemon, any HM you receive such as strength/cut/fly/etc can be used immediately. Not that it means much since most of them only lead to extra items rather than new areas like way back in Red/Blue.I will say that it brings probably the creepiest pokemon villain ever to the table. N is basically a pokemon fanboy that has a legion of minions to do his bidding. From the get go he gives you these long winded speeches about friendship and destiny and changing the world and how all the pokemon are his friends. It's downright creepy, so he's quickly a villain you hate to run into.So far (and by that I mean I'm only about halfway through the game) my only major complaints are that I'm just not seeing a lot of the new mechanics that were introduced in the older games. Some of these are in the online component (berry farming is only accessible via gamesync, which is not working until Nintendo of Japan can get it's servers up after the earthquake crisis) but one has to question the reasoning behind developing parts of a game to *require* connecting to a specific domain when some of those parts would function perfectly fine offline. Dunno I haven't gotten to try the gamesync function yet so it's hard to say. Just seems silly to release a game then not have part of its functionality available for another 2 months after release (and longer now, with the delay). Or other features, like being able to add beaten trainers to a list and be able to re-challenge them later on, that seem to be just missing from the game. Perhaps it's just me, or maybe I'm missing something, but usually the idea of a sequel is to build on what you've brought before. At it's core pokemon is the same game its been for 15 some years plus, but its the periphery that's changed considerably and it seems like Nintendo isn't running with some of their good ideas from the past.Anyway, if you're completely new to pokemon it's an excellent game to get started on. If you're an old fan of the series that is content with what's come before, it's also an excellent game. If you're someone that is expecting a complete revamp of the series however, looking for a new model that shies away from series conventions, this really isn't for you and expect to be disappointed.All in all, I find it pretty fun.

9.4.2011

I'm a total noob when it comes to Pokemon, so if you're a seasoned player looking for helpful tips and tricks, this review isn't for you. But if you're someone wondering if this game might appeal to you, feel free to read on.I taught at an alternative school in the late 90s and early 2000s, and while I enjoyed many a Magic: The Gathering game with some of my older students, I have to say the whole Pokemon trading card thing passed me by completely. I saw the cards in the hands of many younger students, and while I thought the animations were cute, I didn't find them to have the sophistication of Magic, and thus brushed them off as no more than a cute and passing fad,for young players.I recently purchased a DSi XL and if you read that review, you'll know that I'm mourning the loss of a beloved online game called Faunasphere, and looking for a viable alternative. I'm not a huge rpg fan, and I probably wouldn't have considered Pokemon White had it not been for the limited time offer on capturing Victini. The offer intrigued me, and the more I looked into the Pokemon gaming series, the more intrigued I became.I purchased White and began playing and yes, it's your typical rpg "battle-to-level" format. However, there are many elements to this game that go beyond that simple format, and which keep me coming back to it, even though I have plenty of other new DS games calling to me, waiting patiently to be played.I have to comment on the whole battle-to-level thing, because I really dislike this element, and it's the only reason I'm giving it 4 stars instead of 5. It's one thing in an rpg if you're leveling your own character, but to be forced to battle innocent, cute-looking Pokemon against each other...well, it just seems wrong, like cock-fighting or dog-fighting, really. And yet......when you advance further, you come across more subtle, less conflict-oriented moves like "gust" (causes a wind-storm around the opponent) or "psy-wave" (sends a psychedelic spiral of energy toward your opponent) that makes it seem less like fighting and more like...I don't know...testing magical abilities. Yes, they do damage, but they don't have quite the emotional kick as moves like "scratch" or "head-butt." Still, the object, of course, is to beat your opponent's Pokemon and to make them "faint," rather than die. And if you're trying to capture a wild Pokemon, you have to make them weak enough to capture them, which requires these same battle tactics. I had to restart the game because at one point I captured a Munna (manatee-like creature) by scratching it with my Purrloin (cat-like creature), and that just seemed wrong, given what a sweet and docile creature the Munna is...I couldn't live with myself and resolved to try some other means of subduing it. So I'm not at all thrilled with the battle aspect, obviously, and yet......the story-line is engaging, and the Pokemon themselves are simply wonderful. I hate having to "capture" them from the wild, but oh, I sure enjoy finding new ones, because each one is cooler than the next! And to advance to the new (and in my mind, less-threatening) moves that they can learn is a definite plus...nothing like subduing an adversary with a primate-like creature, Panpour, that blasts them with a "harmless" water-gun!So while this game pushes a few buttons, what can I say...it's fun. And there's a whole online aspect I haven't yet explored, which allows you to go to a dreamworld (via website) and have a house and a garden and plant berries and meet new Pokemon and such, and it all just sounds so involved, but so lovely at the same time.I've been bitten by the Pokemon bug, for sure...time will tell if I'm susceptible to it or immune. I just have to reinterpret it somehow, in order to work-around my misgivings concerning battles, and I think I'm coming close to doing that...in my mind, humans and animals are working together to strengthen the animal spirits through non-lethal sparring so that they are strong enough to protect themselves from further human encroachment and assist us in healing the Earth. (Long shot, I know.) It helps that they "evolve" out of their cute selves into strong, warrior-looking creatures that can hold their own......yah, now that I can get into. Dreamworld, here I come! :D

28.4.2011

A couple of years ago I broke my Pokemon cherry and played Pokemon Pearl, and then after losing my DS and the game, Pokemon Platinum - after never really understanding why the Pokemon franchise was such a successful one I found myself hooked and for a few weeks my life had to adapt around the time I was dedicating to the game! And now I couldn't resist having a bash with the latest Pokemon game...If you aren't familiar with the Pokemon games then this game is the latest in a series of games which involve travelling around a fantasy region called Unova and battling strange monsters called Pokemon. You can capture wild Pokemon and train them up, a big part of the game is seeing how may you can collect and serious gamers try to catch them all.Many of the Pokemon require very specific conditions to appear and capture, so it isn't just a case of wandering round and hoping every type will fall into your lap. Newbies may find it all a bit daunting as the game is massive, but as you advance through and talk to the other characters - they explain things on a very simple level to point you in the right direction.The genius of the game isn't the epic scope, it's all down to strategy. Your success is determined by your choices when you create your 'team' of Pokemon and decide which one to use in battle and when. Even though I've clocked up a lot of Pokemon hours through the Platinum game, I'm still getting to grips with which types are weak or strong against other types, but after a while you do start to be more strategic in your choices rather than just opting for the cutest ones!Where Pokemon Platinum was a tweaked version of Pearl/Diamond, this is a completely new game and it looks incredible. As you walk around various settings and when you have battles, the angle of view changes so that you can see all the action - this small feature makes a massive difference and helps you to become fully immersed in the game. The actually battles themselves feel much slicker now, in Platinum it could become a little laborious if you were travelling through a region and doing battle after battle without encountering something new as you were constantly watching the same few routines of animation, but now there's much more visual variety.There's a lot of additional activities you can do to, from sub-plot and and side games to a vast array of online stuff too. This has always been the case with the last few Pokemon titles and here much is familiar but plenty has changed too. You may never use the online side of Pokemon gaming, but if you do then it opens up even more options and adds to the play value of the title.In a nutshell: When I first started playing Pokemon I thought it was a silly game for kids. And yes - it is a bit childish at times, but it's really drawn me in and there have been times when I've sat down to quickly level up my little Pokemon army, explore a cave, or check how many items I've collected - and before I realise it two hours have passed! This is an engaging title which combines the look and turn-based-battle gameplay of an RPG, and the forward thinking of chess. I can fully understand why some people obsess over the Pokemon games and make it their mission to do everything possible in the game. With a massive array of items to collect, moves to learn, and Pokemon to catch and personalise - you can have thousands of people playing the same game and yet each player would get a very individual experience from it. This is a beautiful game to play with more animations and more detail to the environments you explore.The Pokemon world is a big one and there's a lot to learn - but it's a world worth visiting and when you do, you might end up spending a lot of time there. Black and White is reassuringly familiar, but also refreshingly different too.

7.3.2011

I played the original red/blue games and loved it. For a while, I picked up each new generation game - yellow, gold/silver, crystal, etc... until I found myself getting too disappointed in the fact it was the same graphics & same Pokemon over and over again to keep going on. I hadn't bothered buying the "new" offerings in recent years because I was waiting for something really original to make it worth purchasing and playing again - well, less than an hour into playing, I knew this is what I was waiting for! There is not one Pokemon you'll be familiar with (at least not until after you beat the Elite Four) so it's like playing Pokemon for the first time having to learn what the different Pokemon are - for me,that's what made Pokemon so exciting to play to begin with. Not only that, the updated graphics are something finally worth noticing. There are some nice animation sequences, the buildings are 3D, and the towns are (mostly) more than four buildings - they actually look like cities. Some views as you cross a (very long) bridge are outstanding. The game feels new, not just a remake. I believe this version of Pokemon blows all past versions away.I plan on giving this to my sister to play to introduce her to the Pokemon world. She has recently expressed interest when she sees me playing. This is perfect since if she starts playing this game now, she's not "behind" the rest of the Pokemon community in knowledge of what Pokemon are out there since it's new for everyone. But I also love you can catch some of the old school Pokemon after beating the Elite Four around the White Forest so she can familiarize herself with some of the classics without having to trade.The 3-on-3 battle feature is new, but there is sadly only a handful of times you get offered that kind of battle against your in-game opponents. Basically your first three Pokemon go out and can attack/be attacked by the Pokemon directly across from them and one space over. This way, the Pokemon in the middle can attack any Pokemon, while the two on the end can only reach to the middle of the opponent's side. I didn't personally think there was anything extraordinarily fun about battling this way - it just makes for a giant melee with some Pokemon left turn after turn with nothing to do but twiddle their thumbs. It's something new though, so I appreciated it. The 3-on-3 is a battle form you'll be challenged with in White version - in Black, you get opponents challenging you to rotation battles. I find rotation battles more fun, actually - Three Pokemon go out on a rotating platform so you can choose your attacking Pokemon (only one is attacking/being attacked) from any of the options making type weaknesses harder to take advantage of since your opponent will likely rotate weaker Pokemon away while you rotate stronger Pokemon in. You do get to try one rotation battle in White, all the other special battles will be 3-on-3. Wild Pokemon also attack you sometimes in pairs, which can be fun/annoying. If you want to catch a wild Pokemon that's part of a team, you have to make the other one faint first. Rarer (not legendaries) wild Pokemon are easier to spot/catch because grass will visibly move in the spot they are located at (or whirlpools will form in water) and they won't run so you can be sure to reach them. Just use a repel to keep regular wild Pokemon away if you have to travel through a bit of grass/water to get to the spot (the repel does not keep you from engaging in battle with the rarer Pokemon & you want to use repel since if you're caught in a regular wild Pokemon battle before you get to the rarer Pokemon spot, the rarer Pokemon will disappear). This sure beats running back and forth blindly in grass just hoping to run into the rarer wild Pokemon you had to deal with before!

13.3.2011

I've always wondered why Nintendo didn't devote more resources to what is possibly their biggest cash cow. Sure they have the movies and dolls and television shows and peripheral games but the main series is only in its 5th generation after over twelve years and this is the first new generation of Pokemon in the past five years. So what is the reward for fans after such a lengthy wait? There are 156 brand new Pokemon which is cool on one hand but what bothered me was that there is no tie to previous generations. When generation 4 came out many of the new Pokemon were higher evolved forms of previous generation Pokemon and in a few cases lesser evolved forms.This is not the case with generation 5 as none of the new Pokemon share an evolutionary chain with previous generations. There is also no previous generation Pokemon to be caught during the main portion of the game. It's like Nintendo decided to wipe the slate clean. Maybe it's not such a bad idea since a twelve year old who bought the 4th generation game in 2006 would be starting to think about college at this point. Still, breaking the evolutionary links between prior generations was not a decision I liked.The biggest change is visuals. Castelia City, for instance is rendered in 3D (not 3DS type 3D) and it is pretty huge. There is a very impressive walk across a bridge with the massive skyline looming ahead. Visually it's pretty stunning but gameplay wise... well. The problem is a magnified problem from previous Pokemon games. There are lots of people to talk to but very few are worth talking to. In Castelia City there are possibly in excess of a hundred people to talk to and few have anything interesting to say so you find yourself wandering, talking, looking in trashcans fruitlessly and the immense size of Castelia City means it takes far longer. The walk across the bridge takes at least a minute or so and after the first WOW it just becomes tedious. Likewise to go from one end of Castelia City to the other takes a bit of time. This is always a problem when game makers decide to make extravagant hubs. It looks great for awhile and then it just becomes a time wasting annoyance.The new Pokemon have new looks (and many aren't so great looking) but under the hood they're basically the old water/fire/grass/etc Pokemon with most of the same old abilities. This is the other problem I've always had with the series; so many of the attacks are darn near useless. Let me use Timburr as an example. He/she has the old Focus Energy attack which improves your chances of getting a critical hit. Why would I waste an entire attack just to get a better chance at a critical unless I was expecting a really drawn out battle. Later he gets the attack Wake-up Slap which inflicts big damage on a sleeping foe but Timburr has no way to put a foe to sleep. Plus, it wakes the enemy up. There are very few useful combo attacks and the ones that exist tend to made difficult because Game Freaks often wont give a single Pokemon all the pieces to the combo. At level 37 Timburr gets Scary Face which reduces the enemies speed but again why waste an attack just to possibly be first in future attacks. Almost always the payoff just isn't worth the effort.The main point I'd like to make is despite the glitzy new 3D towns and more isometric view it's very much the same Pokemon game as before. The interfaces have changed somewhat but not so that I would say that they've improved. The entire series essentially hinges on one premise and that's that collecting is a lot of fun. As long as Nintendo doesn't forget that the money will likely continue to roll.

16.6.2011

Anyone familiar with this game has likely heard mixed reviews about it, but the consensus, I think, has been that this game is definitely different. And honestly, I'm not the sort of person to grade a game down on the sole basis of "but it's different from the original!" However, the difference is an important thing to note about this game, so I'll begin the review on that note (:Admittedly, I was a bit late to get into this game (due to a lack of funding at the time of the release), but I'm really glad I didn't put it off any later. I've had this game for about a week now and I can say with complete honesty that I'm thrilled with it. When initially faced with the plot during the first part of gameplay,I was a little indifferent, because it certainly had done a lot of branching out from the original games in a lot of ways. But in retrospect, I think it was really good to branch out from the older games. If the games had just continued to stay the same throughout 5 generations.. sure, it'd be a classic, but which ones would you really remember? Don't get me wrong, my Pokémon fanatic days date back to early 1998, but change can be positive.Anyway, I think after the initial jump, the newer aspects of the game comparatively to the old ones are pulled off quite nicely and fluidly, and aren't so radical as to lose the Pokémon fanbase (and title) entirely. I would be lying to say I wasn't a little annoyed with the hand-holding at the beginning of the game (e.g. being given a Pokémon at the beginning impromptu, following your two best friends around from town to town, etc.), but I think that each little annoying aspect at the beginning ultimately contributes to the plot in a very positive way and really lets the gameplay blossom into something else in a place it never dared to go before. I've noticed that this game really takes a different moral approach and invites the player to really consider themselves and their own goals and motives, rather than become swept up in a plot that consists of a mindless journey to "be the best". I think that the antagonists of the game are a very nice touch, especially with the addition of the high interaction factor with their leader (can you tell I'm trying REALLY hard not to give away any spoilers?), and really aren't as gaudy as they could have potentially been. And in addition to all this, the scenery truly is amazing, and I think all of us have been tempted at some point to change the settings on our DS to an alternate season just to see the changes in weather, foliage, and color of Deerling's fur.To conclude this ridiculous mess of spilled thoughts, I think the best advice I can offer to prospective delving into Pokémon Black or White is to have an open mind about it. I did, and I loved it. If that happens, no matter whether you've been a Pokémon nerd for 15 years or a few days, I'm sure you'll find a lot to love about this game, and a lot that professes the classics that Pokémon is so well-known and loved for.

18.4.2011

I know, there's so many games in the Pokémon franchise that they should probably stop now. How different can Pokémon get? Well, if you've never liked Pokémon, you probably still won't like it. However, surprisingly, this game feels so much more fresh in comparison to the previous ones. What I love most about this version is the fact that none of the previous Pokémon are in this game until you complete it. None what so ever. Now you're probably thinking, isn't that a downside? Not really. Wasn't it originally exciting discovering new Pokémon and learning their capabilities and finding out which one is for you? What went wrong with the previous games is that people already had their favourites and would generally choose that over anything else because they know they're good.

4.4.2011

After the below par Diamond/Pearl, and later, Platinum versions (DP&P), I was not quite convinced with this upcoming game. To me, DP&P pushed the main story arc a bit too far. The idea of having Pokemon being able to control time and space is reasonable, but to have their base stats level with legendary Pokemon that have smaller roles in the Pokemon (Lugia and Ho-oh, for example) world does not make sense to me. To then also have the God Pokemon, Arceus, feature in the game but is only said to have created the Sinnoh region is completely ridiculous.Pokemon Black and White take a step back regarding the role the pokemon play in the Poke' world. The two legendaries look good,

11.4.2011

Before My Review: I was torn how to rate this game.Basics: New pokemon. Some say they're too unoriginal/ridiculous, but after completing the game, I think that they're still up to scratch. Take into account that there are an odd 600 pokeon now, you're bound to see some less inspired anime. In any case, I don't feel they detract from the game in any way.Best thing aout this game? Storyline. A genuine surprise, but there is a great plot, complete with its own twists, that Pokemon has never seen before, even if the game does labour a few points. Namely, how great the relationship between trainer and pokemon is. More, there are original characters, and they are more involved than previous games.A con of the new game: the menu.

14.3.2011

Call me old-school. Call me lame and boring. I love, love, LOVED the first few Pokemon games (Blue/Red/Yellow, Gold/Silver, Ruby/Sapphire). They were a huge part of my childhood, and I actually got extremely excited every time a new one came out.And then, came the Diamond/Pearl era. I looked at the gameplay and counted the Pokemon. "What da heo? Four-hundred something Pokemon? This is just ridiculous." Needless to say, I stopped playing for a long time. I tried getting back into HeartGold/SoulSilver, but I wasn't motivated enough to push through a remake.Now, it's 2011 and Pokemon White/Black (and probably a third version sometime after) have been released. Before it was in my hands,

3.4.2011

But that's not necessarily a bad thing.Admittedly, I prefer the previous games, being someone who is old enough to still have his original Gold cartridge for the Gameboy Color. But going into Pokémon White (while my girlfriend went into Black) I had to take notice of just how far the games have really come along.Animated Pokémon during battles was a welcome addition, although it's animation in the same sense that an animated gif. is a feature length movie.The pokemon move, sure, but it's very static and I'm still not really sure about whether I preferred them as static images or repetitive animated icons.The battles as a whole are supposedly much more fast paced, but I'm not sure I agree with that,

31.3.2011

WARNING: Some spoilers may exist.I was extremely skeptical when a 5th generation of Pokemon was released. Like everyone else, I thought, "Oh great, MORE pokemon?"However, the improved graphics and gameplay should make up for any misgivings any Pokemon fans have about even more Pokemon. The graphics in this game look extraordinarily nice and pleasing to the eye. Several scenes in the game (my personal favorite is Castelia City) show off the full power of the Nintendo DS.The plot in the game is also very well thought out with the villains being not just evil for the sake of being evil. The overall format of the game and how the villains were incorporated into the mainline plot of the game was

1.4.2011

*This Review was written by my thirteen-year-old son*I got Pokemon White version recently, and I am enjoying it loads! It has amazing graphics considering the small details that are put in, and the gameplay manages to be simple, fun and challenging. It starts off in Nuvema Town, a small scattering of houses with a road leading out to the rest of the Unova region. You can choose to be a boy or a girl, and then give your character a name. You are introduced to your two "best friends" and then taken to your bedroom in your house. When your friends arrive, you each choose a starter pokemon. (Water, Grass or Fire types) You have a practice battle against each of your friends,

16.1.2012

Those who are familiar to the Pokemon franchise will have long awaited Black & White, as it starts a fresh on the game series, this is evident in the way the game was made, for example before beating the elite 4, you can only catch the new Unova Pokemon, removing you from your comfort zone and going for your old favorites. Don't fret however, as the older Pokemon can be caught once the elite 4 are beaten.Black & White also feature a new graphics engine, using full sprites for the battles and more use of the 3d environments. The game also makes clever use of seasons, and night and day, all of which if followed by your DS's internal clock, the wild Pokemon can change depending on the season or time,

Pokémon: White Version (DS) - Reviews

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