  The legendary Pokemon Palkia.
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Who would have thunk it at the time? Ten years after its debut, the Pokemon franchise is still motoring along while the many imitators and duplicators have vanished faster than a Ninjask...or is that a Raichu or a Jolteon? Whichever. You get the point.
Pokemon it seems is destined to be a childhood institution much like Thomas the Train, Sesame Street or the Marvel, DC superheroes are. In developing the latest releases in the video game series - ’Pokemon Pearl’ and ’Pokemon Diamond’ - Nintendo has done the smart thing and tapped back into the very reason the franchise is a favourite with generations of children in the first place: all of those unique and evolving creatures. Nintendo has really upped the ante with 107 new Pokemon in 'Pearl' and 'Diamond', so you’d better stock up on those precious Pokeballs, my friends.
If you have played any of the other Pokemon games like ‘‘FireRed’,
‘BananaYellow’ or ‘PurplePrune’, you know the deal by now because the core gameplay and plotline has never changed…ever. As a wide-eyed newbie Pokemon trainer you meet Professor So-And-So and are offered three starter Pokemon to choose from to begin your journey. In ‘Pearl’ and ‘Diamond’, you have a turtle with a tree growing out of its head, a hyperactive monkey whose tail is on fire and a cute penguin with an attitude problem to pick from.
Sounds like the development team has been smoking a little too much of that ‘Leaf Green’, if you know what I mean…and I think you do.
Just like the other instalments, you travel from city to city, location to location, exploring the various regions, capturing and evolving your Pokemon by battling other trainers, completing side quests and challenging gym leaders so you can achieve the swanky title of Pokemon Master Chief. Whoops. Sorry. Wrong game.
The evil Team Rocket, Magma and Aqua have been replaced by the despicable Team Galactic whose name is the really only thing that sets them apart from any of other evil Pokemon gangs we’ve encountered before. Cyrus, the Team Galactic leader, wants to atone for picking such an uninspiring team name by capturing the legendary Pokemon Dialga and Palkia. He intends to use their combined power to…muwhahah!…take over the world. Gee, where have we seen that before? Pokemon ‘RecycledRed’ or ‘Second-hand Sapphire’ maybe?
As the first Pokemon titles on the Nintendo DS, ’Pearl’ and ’Diamond’ are special in so many ways even if the mechanics and plot have been regurgitated more times than the Second World War in first-person shooters. The integration of the Nintendo Wi-Fi system alone makes these the best Pokemon titles that have ever been released. Players now have the ability to make trades with the rest of the world. Using the Global Trade Station, you can put your Pokemon up for auction
online and see if there are any takers for a one-for-one swap.
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The legendary Pokemon Dialga.
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To give you some idea of how many people are swapping Pokemon, I used my ’Pearl’ version to trade with my son. He has claimed the ’Diamond’ release leaving me the 'Pearl' one because it is “cooler”…or so he says. Once I had put everything in place, it took us about a minute to exchange the cartridges and log back into the GTS as him. By that time, someone else had already agreed to the deal and I got another stupid dime-a-dozen Zubat in return for my precious turtle. My son eventually got his Turtwig a day later. A thousand blessings to you faceless Japanese Pokemon trainer. You made his day by trading that turtle whatchamacallit for his skunk thingy.
The interaction between Poke fans doesn’t end there. With the DS Headset (sold separately) you can add friends and chat with them online. You can also share your stats, challenge others to battles or play mini-games against one another.
‘Diamond’ and ‘Pearl’ are not all about battling Pokemon either. For those who are into the Pokemon skill and beauty “pageants“ called “contests”, there is a whole separate and expanded offshoot that focuses on those competitions. Sort of 'American Idol' without the singing for Pokemon.
Ah, fergit. Who are we kidding? Nothing beats shouting out…Empoleon! Use Hyper Beam! in a battle…and everybody knows it.
The Nintendo touch screen gets a workout too with the introduction of the Poketch. The Poketch is a special multi-purpose watch you aquire in the game. You can operate its various fuctions using the touch screen and the stylus. The Poketch displays the current time, acts as a calculator, a calendar, an in-game pedometer, a search tool and a way to check on your Pokemon. Eat your heart out, James Bond.
Above and beyond all the recycling, if the development team can be criticized for anything it is putting the ‘Pearl’ and ‘Diamond’ versions out in the first place. When it comes right down to it, they are essentially the same game as they have identical plotlines except that ’Diamond’ focuses on the legendary Pokemon Dialga being resurrected and in ‘Pearl‘ it is Palkia. There are some very minor differences when it comes to where and when some of the wild Pokemon species can be found but other than that, ‘Pearl’ and ‘Diamond’ are the same exact title. If you assume you need both to "Catch 'em all", you are mistaken.
While naysayers can decry the repetition, the strength of the handheld series continues to be that nobody will whip through the games in few weeks. Diamond’ or ‘Pearl’ are worthwhile investments because they represent months and months of gameplay.
That reminds me...anyone got a Ghastly or an Alakazam? If so, I have an ultra powerful, superduper Zubat to trade. Come on. I'll throw in a Psyduck and a Majikarp. Stupid Zubat. Stupid, stupid Zubat.
WHAM! Rating: |
8.5 out of 10 |
ESRB Rating: |
E (Everyone) |
Official Web Site: |
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