Review: Pokemon Diamond/Pearl (NDS)

The sales of Pokémon Diamond and Pearl in America and Japan is enough to make your jaw drop. A staggering one million units were sold in its first five days on sale in the US. Nobody could foresee the longevity of this franchise; eleven years since it first arrived in Japan, and the same basic formula has been successful over and over again. Unlike many chart-toppers, this is a game that thoroughly deserves its popularity. It may not be much different from the original, but it's just as fantastic.

As is the tradition now, this Pokémon release comes in two flavours, Diamond and Pearl. They're essentially identical, save for a few different Pokémon in each. It might seem a cynical move to make you buy both if you want to "catch 'em all", but you can trade across versions with fellow players. Furthermore, unlike the old days, you can now trade your critters online, so you don't have to go outside and find people who own the game... which was a hurdle unless you had Pokémon-obsessed friends, went to a Nintendo-organised event or liked hanging out with kids.

  The start of the game is the same as before: a kind old professor gives you a Pokédex (an self-updating Pokémon database) and one choice of three starting Pokémon - a fire type, a water type or a grass type. Then you embark on your adventure to become Pokemon Master, catching more Pokémon as you go, and training them to become stronger. The world of Sinnoh is certainly a wonderful place to explore. Different sections connect each town or city (these are called routes) and are littered with various trainers who challenge you to battles, while long grass triggers random battles with wild Pokemon. Catching these is one of the most addictive elements of the game. When a new type of Pokémon appears before you, you'll want it, whether you're going to use it or not. Whittle down its health, throw an empty Pokéball at it and hope that it stays in. Catching them all will become an obsession.

  The addictiveness is the driving force of Pokémon Diamond/Pearl. You won't want to stop till you've become Pokémon master and caught them all. It's an experience like no other... well, it would be if it hadn't been done repeatedly before. Perhaps its biggest downfall is that it's too similar to every Pokémon game since the original Red and Blue. It's the same concept, similar story and the fights even seem to have the same animations. What Diamond/Pearl does have, however, is a degree of refinement. Not since Gold and Silver has there been a visible day/night cycle, for instance. It also has berries you can grow, a real-time clock, Pokémon genders, a nursery, eggs, custom Pokéballs, beauty contests and a variety of tools and gizmos to play with. It's also eventually possible to transfer every previous Pokémon into the DS game, which makes for an impressive roster. Graphically, the game does add a few nice touches: the world seems more three-dimensional than before, especially the 'gyms' with their multi-story rooms and clever little puzzles giving you the impression that you're in a three-dimensional space rather than static backdrops.

  Battles with random trainers are fun, but you won't find much of a challenge until you take on the gym leaders. Far stronger than the average trainer, each leader concentrates on one particular style of Pokémon. You'd think if you have the correct type (electric beats water, etc.) it'd be a walk in the park. Wrong. Not only will gym leaders' Pokémon be at a higher level than your own (unless you do some serious levelling up), there's normally one that throws a spanner in the works with its extraordinary attacking or defensive power. As frustrating as it could become when you lie on the brink of winning, only for your opponent to get a critical hit and beat you at the end, it's still incredibly fun and, most of all, addictive. The battles are the only thing to utilise the touch screen in a sensible fashion (you can move around the menus with it too, but it's unwieldy). You just touch the screen to give your Pokemon commands. It's simple, straightforward, and we'd much prefer that it be used in this way than with a tacked-on gimmick that could potentially ruin the fights.

  Outside of battle, the touch screen shows your Pokétch (Pokémon watch, see?). Like Animal Crossing, the real time is shown and the world changes depending on the time of day you play. It's not just cosmetic, either; different Pokémon appear at night or other specific times. Your Pokétch can be upgraded to support further applications such as a radar, pedometer or berry-locator. Others are fairly useless, though; why exactly would you need a calculator or memo pad?

  Pokémon has become a versatile little beast. Fighting and earning gym badges forms the basis of the game for anyone, but there are more distractions than ever. You might not want a full set of Pokémon, perhaps you're more concerned with multiplayer battles, in which case a lot of the moves needed to finish the main game are made redundant. There are one-off legendary Pokémon to catch, or perhaps you're more concerned with winning the beauty contests than with powerful moves. It's up to you, really. Multiplayer can be played the standard local way (now wireless!) or against registered friends online. Tactics are more important than what level you're at, since the playing fields can be evened and all Pokémon temporarily changed to level 50 or 100. Battles aside, the other online function is trading, which can be done with anyone over the world, friend or not. You can either put a Pokémon up for trade on the Nintendo WFC server (where it stays and automatically gets traded when someone wants it) or you can search for a Pokémon that someone else has put up, and swap it for what they're asking for. It's an excellent and logical system. The only gripe is that you can only put up one Pokémon at a time, and that almost everyone wants rare or legendary types. Perhaps this will change over time.

  Diamond and Pearl could be described as being the same old thing, rehashed, but that would be unfair. The original games are excellent examples of RPGs, and people continue to cry out for updates. They didn't want it to deviate too much from the classic formula, hence other Pokémon spin-offs being met with disdain from fans. An update is what they've got; graphical upgrades, new characters, new moves, but with the same classic gameplay. Whether this is your first Pokémon game or your fifth, this formula still works like magic.

Rating: 9 / 10

Words by Adam Gulliver