This game is important for the future of my gaming career for one reason: It was my first Pokemon game. This introduced me to my favorite game series of all time and it ultimately led me to my favorite genre(RPGs) and I would later get into Pokemon competitively which amplified my love for the series into a whole new level. And it all started from this game when 9 year old me played this game for the first time.
If you played Pokemon Diamond or Pearl than you are already familiar with how to approach this game. It is largely the same with a few minor details and tweaks here and there. But if you haven’t then you should still know what to expect assuming you’ve played a Pokemon game before. This particular installment(along with Diamond and Pearl) adds over 100 new Pokemon and a lot of them have really good designs or are really good in battle and has a few new mechanics.
In this game you explore the Sinnoh region collecting Gym Badges by defeating Gym Leaders and then the Elite Four and finally you face the Champion in Pokemon battles. Meanwhile you have to stop the villainous Team Galactic from stealing Pokemon and for attempting to make a new world. Team Galactic is pretty cool. I don’t know why but I always enjoyed them(not to mention they’re awesome battle music).
Speaking of battles they are a lot better this time around with the physical-special split. Prior to 4th gen special and physical moves were determined by type. This all changes in this game by making physical moves physical and by making non-physical moves special. This changes a lot and makes Pokemon that weren’t so useful last generation really good and vice versa. This might seem like a small change but it really does make battles a lot better.
The competitive aspect is really good. Unfortunately Nintendo discontinues DS online play in May but the online in this game is fantastic. You can battle and trade with people all over the world and it’s really fun. There might not be many people playing online now since most of them migrated to Black and White and from that to X and Y but if you do find a battle or trade partner then expect a good time.
Overall this game is fantastic and I highly recommend it for any Pokemon fan to pick up and enjoy on their DS or 3DS.
I give this game a 9/10
If you played Pokemon Diamond or Pearl than you are already familiar with how to approach this game. It is largely the same with a few minor details and tweaks here and there. But if you haven’t then you should still know what to expect assuming you’ve played a Pokemon game before. This particular installment(along with Diamond and Pearl) adds over 100 new Pokemon and a lot of them have really good designs or are really good in battle and has a few new mechanics.
In this game you explore the Sinnoh region collecting Gym Badges by defeating Gym Leaders and then the Elite Four and finally you face the Champion in Pokemon battles. Meanwhile you have to stop the villainous Team Galactic from stealing Pokemon and for attempting to make a new world. Team Galactic is pretty cool. I don’t know why but I always enjoyed them(not to mention they’re awesome battle music).
Speaking of battles they are a lot better this time around with the physical-special split. Prior to 4th gen special and physical moves were determined by type. This all changes in this game by making physical moves physical and by making non-physical moves special. This changes a lot and makes Pokemon that weren’t so useful last generation really good and vice versa. This might seem like a small change but it really does make battles a lot better.
The competitive aspect is really good. Unfortunately Nintendo discontinues DS online play in May but the online in this game is fantastic. You can battle and trade with people all over the world and it’s really fun. There might not be many people playing online now since most of them migrated to Black and White and from that to X and Y but if you do find a battle or trade partner then expect a good time.
Overall this game is fantastic and I highly recommend it for any Pokemon fan to pick up and enjoy on their DS or 3DS.
I give this game a 9/10