Pokemon Diamond and Pearl - Hit or Miss?

In the new age of technology, and with the newest generation of video game consoles now hitting the market in full-swing, Nintendo somehow manages to slide in enough time to create a new spin on an ever-growing series of games. Pokemon - a word that's become more popular to kids than anything the educational system could ever hope to come up with - is now one step beyond its predecessors, with new content, a new console, and a fresh twist on an already-enjoyable series. Pokemon Diamond and Pearl has been hyped up for its US release ever since its release in Japan. Now, with hundreds of thousands of kids rushing to game stores on opening day - and often dragging their parents along for the ride - the games have sold well over a million copies in its first week alone.

But does its gameplay live up to the hype?

Fans around the nation have had mixed opinions on the question: is newer better? With the new age of technology becoming a monthly arrival - especially in the video game industry - it has become more and more apparent to video game companies that glittery looks no longer passes for good games. Game Freak, the developer of the newest Pokemon generation, tried to give the series a new and inventive twist worthy of approval - and fans responded eagerly, swarming stores with over a half-million pre-order coupons to claim their prize and judge for themselves if the series was worth the hype shown on TV.

Pokemon Diamond and Pearl smashes into the video game industry with the same core fundamentals the series has always had - new characters, new Pokemon, new areas to explore and an all-new adventure to undertake. Sticking to that tradition, the game begins the same as any of the other games, with your character (a boy or a girl, depending on what you chose) and your rival running off to collect data on all the Pokemon in the world for the Professor's research. Unlike most of the previous games, however, Diamond and Pearl put a higher emphasis on actual storyline, taking well over 5 to 10 minutes to fully hash out before you can actually start on your adventure - a testament to the amount of effort and detail that was put into the newest Pokemon generation even though the same core elements remain unchanged. Further along the story, you encounter all the wild Pokemon you can shake a stick at, battling trainers such as yourself all the while as you trek across the country accomplishing the eventual goal of beating the Pokemon League and catching all of the almost 500 Pokemon available to collect.

Along with all the previous titles, the same mechanics are implemented - you fight battles with your partner Pokemon that you catch in little round balls called "Pokeballs", eventually making your team bigger and stronger by defeating other Pokemon as you adventure through a slew of areas - caves, tall grass, forests, and even fields of snow this time around. The combat system, while flavorful in all its DS glory, offers very little differences from other games - newer, brighter graphics and new attacks accompany the same Pokemon series package. However, the package is delivered with such delight that it rarely gets boring, each player soon finding themselves constantly switching their team as they catch another of the immense quantities of new Pokemon.

In all of the presentation, though, the graphics of Pokemon Diamond and Pearl are probably what got the biggest overhaul from their predecessors. The entire game has revamped itself from its old 2D world to splurge into a 2D world with 3D elements (commonly called "2.5D"). Buildings in cities are rendered in full 3D to give the world a sense of depth, and even though the vast majority of the game is still two-dimensional, the game presents itself in an entirely different approach that makes players feel as though they were playing a completely different game from all the others. All of the artwork in both 2D and 3D are displayed in rich, vibrant, and sharp color.

The sound, as well, has gotten a huge overhaul, although slightly less so than the graphics. The musical accompaniment to the game is superb, fitting all of the scenes nicely and giving further depth to the cities and areas that you travel through. Battles are full of sound effects, from the attacks themselves that your Pokemon use to the sounds they make when entering and leaving battle. However, as all Pokemon games are, the sounds sooner or later become nothing more than a set of droll tunes, and some of the Pokemon sounds are borderline-annoyances - although, to be fair, the quality of each sound is far and above most other games for the DS, which gives further evidence to support the claim that the games' producers put forth a lot of effort into these games.

Quite possibly the most useful feature of the new Pokemon generation, however, lies in the fact that it no longer has to use wires to connect to others - utilizing the WiFi and wireless capabilities of the Nintendo DS, Pokemon Diamond and Pearl immerses itself in an entirely new realm of online play. Players can not only trade on a global trading market or battle other player trainers, but also chat with them - all completely online in the virtual Pokemon realm via the WiFi connection.in the player's DS. Even without an internet connection, though, players can still connect with each other locally through the wireless capabilities of the DS, although in almost every case you must know the friend codes of the people you want to battle or chat with.

The biggest downfall in this game is, as any of the other games, its lack of a true replay value - after playing through the game once, and catching all of the almost 500 Pokemon, online play is the ony way to extend the game's survivability - thankfully, this is easier due to the technology of the DS, but still offers little in the way of true entertainment except through its variety of minigames and contests to participate in.

Overall, the game has a huge variety of new things to explore, and even though the game may appear to be over-hyped, fans of the Pokemon series will not be disappointed. If you haven't been a fan of the series before, however, you probably won't want to visit this title.