Pokémon Pearl

THE BAD:
- ...however the touch screen isn't used enough
- Too easy
- Ninty have to change the Pokémon storyline a bit

SUMMARY:
Finally, a PROPER Pokémon game on the DS. After all the first DS Pokégames, this is the real deal. So can Pokémon Pearl earn the Poképrize of being just as good as the previous GB and GBA installments? Lets take a look...

GRAPHICS

Pearl Version has a clever crossover of 2D and 3D visuals.

Pokémon Pearl, thanks to the DS graphics system, produces a lovley 3D cartoony style of graphics. These visuals are a major improvement of the previous flat versions (no offense to them) and everything looks spot on. One thing I do have about the visuals though is they go a bit, how would I say it, weird when you move. The buildings look like they are moving and if you look up close, you can see some of the outlines messing up. A bit bad, but otherwise the visuals are very nice.

STORY

These are the new playable characters in Pearl Version.

Uggghh, where do I begin? Same old repetitive formula. New trainer, get all 8 badges, bad guys try to rule world, legendary appears, blah blah blah! Come on, Nintendo! This formula isn't working! It was good in Red and Blue, good in Gold and Silver, getting annoying in Ruby, Sapphire and Emerald and Pearl just takes the biscuit. Lets get a new story Nintendo, this one is just so boring, repetitive and just makes the recent Pokegames look like old ones with enhanced graphics and new features. Same old boring story. Please Nintendo, come up with something new. Then we Pokéfans can rejoice!

GAMEPLAY

A battle in Pokémon Pearl

Pokémon Pearl sticks to the old classic Pokémon gameplay, collecting Pokémon, training them up and loads more. However it is come with added features, like online Wi-Fi battles and trading and touch screen controls, but the touch control isn't used enough. You mainly use it to touch the attack you want to use in a battle, change the features on the Pokétch (a watch) and other stuff, but the screens hould be used more. Maybe a way to touch things on the screen to use certain moves? Like if you used the Bubblebeam move, you could have to pop all the bubbles on the bottom screen, or maybe touch screen control to move your character around? That may of been nice. Pearls gameplay is nice and simple, but it is ruined by the story. Pealrs gameplay and story are like a Big Mac and mushy peas. Similarities? They don't mix.

BAD

Pokémon Pearl is far too easy.

I have actually explained all the bad sides of this game excpet one, so lets get to it. The game is too easy. There, I said it! Its basically collect items, beat some guys and get all 8 badges, but it seems SO much easier than the previous games and, this may be just me, a bit shorter. I completed this in under 7 hours, and the others took me over a day! Its easy and short, and could of been longer. And a lot harder.

OVERALL
Pearl is a good start to Pokemon RPG on the DS. But, like I said with Wind Waker, its a great game. In the Pokémon dimesion, however, its a only a good one.

Pearl is too easy and short. Good but dissapointing.

FINAL SCORES
Neoscore---------4.2
% Score----------82%
/10 Score--------8/10
Grade------------B

THE BAD:
The game isn't that difficult to finish, which can be a letdown in some cases.

SUMMARY:
As the next new installment in the Pokemon series, Pokemon Pearl introduces all the classic aspects of all the previous games, as well as entirely new ones. This time around, you explore the Sinnoh region, which is home to a variety of Pokemon that are only native to this particular region. And speaking of Pokemon, there are 100+ new Pokemon that are waiting to be captured so that they can be studied to learn more about the mysteries that surround them.

Like in the previous series, you can choose the gender (it doesn't matter which one you choose, the storyline will be the same regardless) and the name that you want your character to be referred to throughout the game, but once chosen, it cannot be changed. You also get to choose between three starter Pokemon to start your adventure with, each possessing certain abilities such as water or fire. You can only choose one, and the starter that you choose effects how you progress through the game. You can train your Pokemon by battling wild Pokemon or another trainer's Pokemon. And on the subject of wild Pokemon, they can be captured and can become a part of your team.

Like all the Pokemon games before, you must travel to eight different gyms and defeat their leaders. However, it will not be an easy task. The gyms usually have a certain Pokemon type that they excel in using, such as Ghost and Grass, and the leaders have the toughest Pokemon of that particular type to battle with. If you lose, then you'll have to train your Pokemon to get strong enough to battle them again. If you win, then you are awarded a badge in recognition of your victory against the leader as well as prize money, which can be used to buy Poke Balls, which are used to catch Pokemon which, and recovery items for your Pokemon. Collect all eight and you'll be eligible to battle against the Elite Four, who are supposedly the strongest trainers in the region.

A new item that closely resembles the PokeWatch from the Gold/Silver versions is the Poketch. This item can be accessed from the touch screen of the DS and includes many useful features, like an item-finder which can be used to find items that are not visible, and a step counter, which is useful if you're hatching Pokemon eggs. At first, it will have a limited amount of features to use, but as you progress, you'll eventually get more and more.

When you reach a certain point in the game, you'll be able to go to the Underground. Here, you can dig for all kinds of items that include ancient shards that can be exchanged for rare items, fossils that can be revived back into living Pokemon, and other interesting objects. One object in particular is the sphere. These come in different colors and can be buried in the ground to grow bigger in size, and there are hikers that will give you things in exchange for spheres. But the rarity of the item will determine the size and color of the sphere needed to get that item.

The biggest improvement in the Pokemon series so far is the inclusion of Wi-Fi. No longer will you just be able to chat, battle and trade with your friends from across the street, now you can do all of that with people from around the world.

In conclusion, the game is the best of the series so far, and it doesn't seem to be slowing down anytime soon. I give this game a 4.5/5 because I enjoyed playing it, and I know you will too.

THE BAD:
- Lack of new pokemon
- Slower saving
- Since it is now on Nintendo DS, it cannot battle or trade with any other games besides diamond. (And Pokemon Ranger to get Manaphy)

SUMMARY:
Pokemon has been one of the most popular games on hand held consoles for years. Pokemon Peal is the newest edition to this collection of games, and is the first of its kind to be on Nintendo DS. This change has been very successful, and sales skyrocketed days after the game was released in the US.

The change from Game Boy Advanced to Nintendo DS has made it possible to add many new features, using wifi and the touch screen. People can now trade and battle around the world with wifi, making this game great even if no body you know owns it. The ability to trade on wifi means that you can now get rare pokemon that are usually unobtainable without special events, or great luck (shinnies). Battling also means that trainers can show of their skills to others and make a name for themselves. Also, the use of the touch screen has been a huge change. You can now use it in the place of the A and B button in most cases, and for use in the underground and pokemon contests.

Peals graphics has changed quite a lot from the old games, and the over world sprites are now larger. Use of shading makes objects have a 3D effect, adding some well needed detail. The animations of pokemon seen when looking at their profile and when in battle have also improved, as well as the attacks they use. Overall the graphics are good and don't cause any major concerns.

A new feature, well it isn't really new, it has returned from Gold and Silver, is night and day! This feature is great as it makes the game feel more realistic and you now get some different pokemon that can be found during either the night or day time.

The storyline is now longer, with many cities and towns to visit. It might take a while to learn their names, but it is worth it once you experience all the features each town can offer. The storyline itself begins with the usual you meeting the professor and getting your starter, and you meet your rival etc. You begin your quest for the badges of Sinnoh. Along the way you will have to fight team galactic, who have been stealing peoples pokemon for their benefits. They pop in randomly through the game, and aren't used that well in the storyline. But not to worry, they aren't all useless, after all, the leader gives you a master ball! After beating the Elite 4, their are many things to do, including catching new pokemon and going to new areas. Training your pokemon will keep you occupied for many hours.

The old Game Boy Advanced games (Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald, Fire Red and Leaf Green) aren't useless to you. After beating the Elite 4 you get the opportunity to migrate 6 pokemon from them every day. This is done by putting your Game Boy game into the Game Boy slot of the Nintendo DS. You cannot migrate pokemon with HMs. Migrating only 6 a day can be annoying, but there needed to be some restrictions, and it is good that we can migrate at all.

The underground is a big new feature added to Peal. Underground is huge place, consisting of walls to mine, and hikers to buy things off. To buy things from these hikers you have to mine orbs, using the touch screen, the bigger the orb, the better you can buy. Orbs aren't the only things you find when mining, you can find fossil pokemon from all the generations, and some rare items like shards and heart scales. The underground is now the only place you can make your secret base, but the interaction with others secret bases can be fun, involving traps and stealing their flag. Stealing someones flag means that you get to remove a boulder from your base, making more room.

Those are some of the larger features in the game, but there are many small features which make the game great, including the new style of contests, New HMs, new pokemon moves and honey trees.

Pearl is a great game, but it is not perfect, and their are a few things that are negative to say about it.

Before beating the Elite 4, there are few new pokemon, and half the time the only pokemon you say are starly, bidoof, geodude, zubat and ponyta. This makes it hard to choose and find good pokemon to train up prior to the Elite 4, and can get quite boring in caves finding zubat every few steps.

Besides this, there are few major negatives, only things like slightly slower saving, when surfing you are slower, and you can no longer battle with the older generation games.

Overall, Pokemon Peal is the greatest pokemon game to be released as of yet and I recommend it to all pokemon fans, and people who like a good strategy game. There is no boundary for age. I hope you have got some benefit from my review and good luck with your pokemon adventures.

THE BAD:
- The Story Is Very Repetitive.
- No Easter Eggs.
- No Voice Acting.
- Repetitive.

SUMMARY:
Pokémon games are always very good, and this one is not exception. This game is perfect if you like Pokémon games.

The graphics are very good, and they improved from the original games, you can notice that if you played all the Pokémon Games that came before this one. The graphics in the overworld are mixed 3D with 2D, that creates awesome environments, everything is super detailed and decorated, the environment looks very real with all those details. In battle, nothing changed, you still fight in a huge white space, but the Battle Graphics really improved, and they look very good.
The characters are also very decorated... or at least enough. You don't see the actual character when you are walking in the overworld, you see a "Chibi" version of your character. The characters look very pixelated when a battle starts, that'something that needed to be fixed, but still, the rest of the graphics looks great.

The music is descent, not perfect. The music is very limited in each place, it plays a bit, but then it gets repeated. Many places have different music, but still the music is very similar to the other games, the music may get bored after a while.
In battle, the music is awesome, but then, it is repetitive. Considering that most battles have the same music, it gets bored. However, Gym Leader battles and other special battles may change the music, but that music you will hear once, and those are probably the best songs for battles, they sound great.
Like many games, the music here is simple, there isn't too much detail on what you hear, but maybe overloading the music would mess the game.

The gameplay is very good and simple, everything you will do in the overworld is to move around with the "D+Pad", check things and talk with people with the "A Button", take your bike out with the "Y" button, and go to your items menu pressing "Start".
In battles, everything you will do is to use the Touchscreen to select your attacks and items. If you don't like how the Touchscreen works, the buttons are there, you can use them normally like you did in the other Pokémon games.

This game has 160 Pokémon, most of them are new. You may be confused with the Pokémon you will choose first, however, you will meet all the Pokémon and know them well at the middle of the game.
Also, if you beat the game and you have seen the 160 Pokémon from this game, you can get your "National Dex", and with that you can see ALL the 493 Pokémon from the series.

This game has a "Import" Feature. This feature lets you move your Pokémon from the other Game Boy Advance games (ONLY) to your DS cartridge. This feature is probably one of the best things you can do in this game.
However, this feature is also very limited, you can ONLY import Pokémon that doesn't know a HM Techique, and you can only import 6 Pokémon every 24 hours. If you try to alter the time of your DS to import more Pokémon, you may screw the import system and who knows what else.

This game is not easy, but it is not hard either. Many people will enjoy the battles to the most, and that includes old and very young gamers. Everyone can beat this game without having many obstacles.

The potential of this game is the Online Mode. You can trade, Battle, and even chat using your voice using the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection.
You can trade ANY Pokémon with your friends, or use the "GTS" to trade with someone that is totally anonymous. Note that if you trade via GTS, you will NOT use your voice.
You can battle with your friends using Wi-Fi Connection, and the battle will put all your Pokémon to Level 50, 100, or a free-play. Everything depends on who is hosting the game and the rules he/she select.
And the feature that called my attention the most is the Voice Chat. You can talk with your opponent even if he/she isn't close to you. You can talk in battles, or by going to the special "Chat Room", that was made for that, to talk using your voice.
And if you want to battle a new opponent, and you don't want to talk using your voice, you can always dissable this feature.
Also parents, don't worry about your kid battling people they don't know. This game uses the Friend Code System. The other people will need the Friend Code and your soon will need their Friend Code to play together. There's NO WAY in which your kid will meet someone without your previous autherization, so don't worry, your kid will never meet child molestors in this game.


The story is repetitive. I don't remember the last time it changed.
You are a wanna-be trainer, you go to certain place, use Pokémon that aren't yours to save certain professor, then he will give you the Pokémon as a gift... Then you do your quest, but you meet a team that wants to conquer the world for good, using their Pokémon and the latest technology...
Honestly, ALL the Pokémon games are like that, the only thing that changes are the characters involved in the story.

No easter eggs. Everything respects the storyline of the game.

No voice acting, unless you organize some sort of Role Play with your friends from Far away.

This game is repetitive. Like I said before, the story is the same on every simple Pokémon game. Same with how the story has to take place. In the other Pokémon games, you entered a mysterious path full of trainers, and you had TO BATTLE THEM ALL. This game is the same, so it is repetitive in-game, and compared to the other games. There isn't too much game.

Overall, this game is a must-get if you like Pokémon games, or if this is your first one. Kids will enjoy it a lot, same with adults. There's no age limit, so go on now and buy this game.

THE BAD:
Unfortunatley, my compliments begin to dry up at this point. Let me be clear about something - this is still a great game. But it is very much a pokemon game and it still suffers from many of the gameplay flaws of its predecessors.

Graphics take the biggest hit. I realize that there is a certain expected formula for how these games are supposed to look but the fact is that we're up to the DS now and that means 3D graphic capacity. Pokemon Diamond/Pearl look almost identical to their GBA predecessors Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald. Sure, the pokemon twitch a little bit now and the moves look prettier, but all things considered this game could probably run on a GBA (graphically, speaking). Even the in-battle backdrops appear poorly rendered and very static. Anyone expecting a major step up, possibly even into a 3D realm will be solely disappointed. Again, I acknowledge that these games follow a formula and also that graphics aren't the be all and end all of a handheld game. Still - compare this game to Super Mario 64 DS, or the CGs at the beginning of Final Fantasy III and you'll understand my point. There was room for a ton of improvement here and sadly only incremental gains are made.

My second biggest gripe with this game is the lack of new pokemon. There are about 120 or so, if I'm not mistaken... but good luck seeing half that many. I'm twenty hours into the game and I've probably only had the chance to catch maybe two dozen new entries (which balloons to about three dozen if you count their evolved forms). But the problem goes so much deeper than that. My main issue is that you're always running into the SAME exact pokemon. I'm not kidding, every area offers the same fodder over and over. Fight in the grass and expect to face either a Starly, a Bidoof or a Ponyta a good 75% of the time. Go into a cave and you'll only ever see Geodude and Zubat, with the occasional Onix. Go fishing and it's Magikarp and Goldeen, even with higher end rods. Sure, the game has new pokemon and you'll sometimes find them in the wild... but there is still way too much repetition. It is no exaggeration to state that whenever you battle in the wild it is against this same core set of pokemon (Starly, Bidoof, Ponyta, Geodude etc.) a good 90% of the time. This is made even more upsetting by the fact that the day/night feature, which played a prominent role in Gold and Silver does essentially nothing at all. As far as I can tell the same pokemon always show up at all hours of the day and night, with little to no variation whatsoever.

That's probably the biggest issue for me. A new pokemon game is supposed to offer thrills through its new members (as the gameplay and story are always essentially the same). So when a game gives you very few new pokemon to play with, as well as very few different pokemon in general, it's rather disappointing.

One more complaint is with the way the overworld looks... the new diagonal perspective doesn't really add anything and while there's nothing fundamentally wrong with it, the old viewpoint is superior. I suspect this was an attempt to differentiate the DS titles from the GBA ones but sadly, it offers very little.

SUMMARY:
That's about it. Like I said before, this is still a great game and if you're a fan of pokemon you'll know just what to expect. My issue is just that I expected more from it. I feel more could have been done to improve the series and keep it fresh. As it stands, this is really just a spiced up GBA title rehashing the same formula (a successful formula, mind you) one more time. And that's sad, because a tweak in the graphics engine and a more robust lineup of APPEARING pokemon would've made a huge improvement.

(A copy of this review is posted for both Diamond and Pearl versions)