Pokemon Diamond and Pearl for Nintendo DS

Pokemon. Since it's original release in 1997 the game has become one of Nintendo's trademark series. Pikachu has become as recognizable as Nintendo's mascot himself, Mario. Over the past ten years the Pokemon game formula has changed little. While Pokemon Diamond and Pearl has added some new features to the long lasting series, little remains unchanged.

Graphics:

The graphics in the games have improved in every new installment in the franchise. The graphics in Pokemon Diamond and Pearl have improved upon those found in Pokemon Fire Red and Leaf Green. It still retains a overhead view of the game where you control a small sprite on screen. The character sprites look somewhat bigger and more detailed and the building and backgrounds have taken on a somewhat 3D rendering. The problem is these graphics don't look all that different from the last installments graphics. Sure, they look somewhat nicer, but unless you compare them side by side there isn't too much of a difference in quality. In battle the only noticeable difference is now the background takes up the full screen instead of a small oval around the Pokemon like in the last games. The pokemon sprites themselves look like they've been reused from the last installment. Male and female pokemon are suppose to look different however in 90 % of the pokemon the only noticeable difference is the tail is about 1 mm longer or the horn is 1 mm shorter. In most cases you have to stare at the pokemon for a good half hour to notice the difference. The attacks in battle also look reused.

While the graphics are satisfactory, the problem is it doesn't seem like they tried to improve the graphics and opted to take the easy way out. The Nintendo DS is suppose to be as powerful as the N64 and a DS cart can hold upwards of 2 GB of data, so there really isn't an excuse hardware wise.

Audio:

The audio in the game in the game is also very familiar. The Pokemon calls sound exactly the same. The music heard throughout the game is easily forgettable however, it does it's job, providing atmosphere to the game. In caves the music is slower and eerier, outside in open field it's happy go lucky, there's even different songs for normal battles and gym leader battles. Overall the soundtrack is easily forgettable but it does add to the game. The game is made more enjoyable with the sound on.

Game Play:

One of the new things that has been implemented in an attempt to use the touchscreen are the Poketech applications. The problem is almost all of these applications have very little affect on the actual game and most of the time you'll forget it's even there. Now on the lower LCD screen you can view what time it is, use a calculator, write yourself a message (which is deleted if you switch to another application), count, look at your teams health, view a map, see how many steps you've taken, and many other "useful" things. Overall there are probably on 2 Poketech applications that are actually useful in the game and at most you find yourself using them once or twice throughout the course of the whole game.

Other than these silly Poketech applications, the touchscreen is hardly used. Instead of selecting to attack with the D Pad you can now touch it with your stylus. Instead of scrolling through your items by pushing down or up you can now make a circular motion over the Pokeball in the center of the lower LCD screen to scroll. The touchscreen functions could have been left out and you wouldn't notice at all.

The day night system makes it's return. The time in game will reflect the time set in your DS clock. Now you can have sunset, night and morning instead of running around in the same setting. Some Pokemon can be caught only at certain times of day, some battles at certain times and the music changes somewhat. Overall it's a nice touch.

The game itself hasn't changed at all. You still pick one of three starter Pokemon (fire, grass, or water). You still go from town to town fighting gym leader and collecting badges. There's the still a team *insert name here* trying to conquer the world and you have to stop them. Oh and you still have a rival who comes out of nowhere and challenges you (usually right before you enter a gym or before you fight the team of bad guys). The game is the exact same game it was 10 years ago. The elite 4, the gyms, everything. NOTHING NEW.

The Pokemon themselves are new, but they're still the same Pokemon. All these Pokemon are starting to blend into each other. Out of the new Pokemon only a handful are actually original. All the others look like revised versions of the old Pokemon. You still have your generic squirrel Pokemon, bird Pokemon, dog Pokemon. There really isn't too much originality in the all these new Pokemon design.

The most welcome addition to the game is trading and battling over Wi-Fi. Now with a friend code you can trade with anyone anywhere in the world as long as you have their code. Also since there are now so many Pokemon you can use the Global Trade System (GTS) to trade just for the Pokemon you need (as long as you've seen it once before in the wild).

Overall:

Overall the game hasn't changed. It's the same game. The graphics are a little better, the battle is a little more refined but it's still the same game. If you enjoyed the previous installments of the series you'll probably like this one too, but if you didn't, don't waste your time, it's the same game.