Pokémon Diamond and Pearl [US Import] (DS) Review
Unless you have been living under a rock for the past 10 years, you would have heard about Pokemon, those little creatures that caused no end of schoolyard bickering. While the popularity of the series is now but a shadow of what it once was, the franchise is still going strong. And if the newest series of games in the series, Diamond and Pearl are anything to go by, Pokemon still has a lot of life left in it. There are several new features found in the land where the game takes place, Sinnoh. The most important of these are the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection modes, the Poketch and the Underground, which help differentiate this version from others.
The story is typical RPG fare, and quite similar to previous entries in the series. The main character hears about a rare Pokemon at a nearby lake, and goes to check it out with his best friend/rival. A Professor and his assistant are leaving the lake as the main character arrives, and they left behind a briefcase. As the characters check it out, they are attacked by wild Pokemon, and the player then has a choice of which Pokemon they would like to use to defeat the wild Pokemon.
After the battle, the characters meet the Professor of the game, who gives them the mission of filling their Pokedex. 107 new Pokemon are added into this instalment, bringing the total amount of Pokemon up to 493. Most of these can be obtained through the course of the game, but some require trading from previous versions. Using the GBA slot of the Nintendo DS and the Pal park area in Diamond and Pearl, players can trade their Pokemon over from Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald, FireRed and LeafGreen into Diamond and Pearl. You can also trade over a legendary Pokemon from the game Pokemon Ranger, Manaphy, if you have 2 DS systems.
The core element of the game. The battle itself takes place on the top screen, while battle choices like moves or items are handled by the touch screen. Pokemon animations make a return from Emerald, and battle animations have been overhauled. One massive difference in the battle system compared to other games however is the introduction of attack classification. They are now organised into physical, special or status depending on how the attack is executed. For example, the move Ice Punch used to be a special attack in previous games, but now it is a physical attack and its power goes off the attack stat.
The addition of online modes is the major drawcard of the game. There are 2 main options Friend Code or Non Friend Code. With Friend Codes, you can add your friends so you can trade and battle with them. The online battles are great fun. The battles are only a touch slower than normal single player battles, but that is to be expected. A great option is being able to chat with the person you are playing against, through VoIP. You can clearly hear the other person speaking, and while it is happening there is no lag. If you arent social however, there is an option to turn Voice Chat off. The Non Friend Code areas are the Battle Tower Wifi room nd the Global Trading System. The Battle Tower room lets you play random teams of Pokemon that other people have uploaded. You can download 7 teams to play against, and the computer uses them. Its a shame that you cant battle random people like you can race random people in Mario Kart, but its a step in the right direction.
The Global Trading System (GTS) is a very useful and handy idea. You can put any Pokemon in your party onto the GTS, and ask for a Pokemon in return. You can be quite specific in what you want as well, being able to choose the gender of the Pokemon and the general level that you are after. While the system can be abused slightly, when people put up poor Pokemon and asking for high level legendary ones, the system still works incredibly well. The best part is that you can put a Pokemon in there and then leave and continue your journey, then come back to see if you got a trade later. It requires 1 Gym Badge to use, and is one of the most useful things in the game.
The berry system returns, and there are 21 new berries added to the previous list bringing the total up to 64. These new berries add a range of new affects when used. Contests from Ruby and Sapphire also return, but under the new name of Super Contests. 2 new stages of judging are added to the contest. Visual Judgment lets you use the touch screen to put items on your Pokemon to increase its appeal, while Dance Judgment has you playing a rhythm mini game where you press buttons on the touch screen to timed prompts, like a simplified Dance Dance Revolution. The Pokeblocks used in Ruby and Sapphire to help Pokemon in contests have been replaced by Poffin. Poffin is made much like the Pokeblocks, only you use the touch screen to make it instead of timed prompts.
A new feature in the game is the Sinnoh Underground. When you obtain an Explore Kit, you can venture into the Underground. In the Underground, you can do a variety of things. One of the main things you can do is excavation. Excavating areas yields many items, like evolution stones, Pokemon fossils and spheres. The spheres are the currency of the Underground, which you can use to trade for items. In the Underground,
Secret Bases from Ruby and Sapphire return. Using a special item, you can make a secret base anywhere in the Underground, and customise it to your liking. Items to decorate your base can be bought off people in the underground using spheres. These secret bases are also used for another feature Flag Retrieval. You can play this mini game with a friend who also has a secret base. The objective is to take your opponents flag from their secret base and bring it to your own. Opponents can also put obstacles in your way, like boulders, to hinder your progress. By winning the game, you can get more items for your secret base. The mini game is fun for a while, but as with many mini games its appeal is lost over time.
The controls are very much alike to previous versions on the series, but with a few key differences. Most of the action takes place o the top screen the overworld is displayed here, and battles also take place on it. The touch screen is unfortunately regulated to in battle menus and a new feature called Poketech. As with previous games, the A button is used to select something, and the B button cancels selections. The X button takes the place of the Start button in previous games it now opens up the menu. Likewise, the Y button replaces the Select button, which uses an item that you have assigned to it. The control pad is used to move. The Start, Select, L and R buttons handle minor things, like scrolling through selections.
The graphics found in the game are decent. They are a vast improvement over the last entry to the series, Emerald, mainly for the use of 3D models. Unfortunately, these 3D models are limited to scenery only, like buildings, instead of the actual Pokemon battles. While the graphics look nice and the animations are smooth, you get the feeling that with a bit of extra time spent, the graphics could be much better. It doesnt use the full capabilities of the DS, which is a shame. The sound in the game is very similar. Most of the music in the game is quite enjoyable, but certain areas begin to annoy, namely Pokemon cries. In all the years that have passed since the original Red and Blue came out, the cries of the Pokemon have remained unchanged. With all the extra space on a DS game card, it would be possible to have the Pokemon actually say their name like in the anime. Even a redo of the old cries could be done sounds from an old Gameboy begin to sow their age when theyve been in use for 10 years.
While both Diamond and Pearl are enjoyable games, there are several small touches that could be done to improve the game as a whole. The touch screen could be put to much more effective use it could be used in the PC to move your Pokemon around, arrange your Pokemon party, etc. Having said that, the games are the best in the series so far, if mainly for the implementation of Wi-fi. Having an online mode really opens the game up, and allows people to do things that they might not otherwise be able to do if friends didnt also have the game. The game is also quite lengthy expect to be playing for a long time if you wish to catch em all. While some negative points bring the game down, they dont stop it from being fantastic.
