Pokemon Black and White Review




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Developer: Game Freak Publisher: Nintendo
Release Date: March 6, 2011 Available On: DS

Pokemon Black and White really need no introduction. The fifth generation of the Pokemon series kicked off in America on March 6 and has sold like hotcakes ever since. Chances are if you are reading this review, you or someone you know has already purchased one of the new Pokemon titles, and are fully aware of many of the new features that were implemented into the traditional formula. For that reason, I would like to spend most of this review discussing – from the perspective of a hardcore Pokemon fan – what exactly makes Pokemon Black and White the two greatest games in the franchise.

First of all, Pokemon Black and White are the first Pokemon games since Red and Blue to focus on the beauty of discovery. Although each Pokemon game features an extensive amount of exploration and discovery of new Pokemon, Black and White force you to start fresh from the beginning in the Unova region. The only Pokemon that appear throughout the entire quest are the new ones, and there are over 150 to collect. Upon completion of the game, the world of Unova opens up and you are allowed to collect the remaining 490+ monsters from the last four generations.

It was a brilliant idea, making players learn all of the new monsters as they explored the new region of Unova: there was no “fallback Pokemon” to train, nothing that was immediately familiar and recognizable, bringing back the challenge of trying to identify exactly what each new Pokemon is useful for. There were many times throughout my adventure to the Elite Four that I was completely unaware what I was fighting. I had no idea what attacks were affective, meaning I had to tinker around and explore the possibilities. This aspect of the experience has been sorely missing, and it’s all because you have always been able to rely on past experiences to make progress.

It won’t win any awards, but the story of Pokemon Black and White is also deeper and more engaging than ever before. You once again start off as a young boy or girl (although you’re slightly older than in previous games – roughly 14 years old, rather than 10), and you choose one of three Pokemon to accompany you on your quest to collect eight Gym Badges and challenge the Elite Four. There are some interesting characters met along the way, including the group of evil-doers known as Team Plasma and its leader, the mysterious N. Team Plasma is not quite as twisted as Team Galactic (who performed illegal, unethical experiments on stolen Pokemon in the fourth gen’s Sinnoh region), but its motivations are quite like PETA, which makes it a pretty interesting collection of Poke-criminals. At first, it appears that they are all about making a statement, but eventually the agenda is similar to all of the other Teams from Pokemon’s past: take advantage of Pokemon by stealing them and using them against the will of their owners.

Some of the events that happen throughout the game are more “mature” in their nature than they have been in the past. By the end there are some pretty epic confrontations with N and other members of Team Plasma, not to mention legendary Pokemon – giving the game’s plot a vibe that is much closer to that of a 16-bit RPG than the typical childish Pokemon story. Is this a good thing? I think so. Pokemon needed to grow up, and although they do not address any of life’s toughest questions by any means, Black and White are definitely targeted toward a slightly older audience. This was appropriate, considering that a bulk of the fan base is now in its mid-twenties, abandoning study time for final exams in college to level-grind their new Pokemon, not meeting up at recess behind the swings to connect with Link Cables or IR receivers.

The core mechanics have not undergone any kind of “revolution”, but you could definitely say that Pokemon Black and White have evolved the series quite a bit. The battles are still random, turn-based encounters or confrontations with trainers scattered around the region, but they are quicker, tighter, and more intuitive than ever before. Even the doubles, triples, and rotation battles are easy to grasp; the latter two are new to the series and fit snugly as interesting new ways to throw one Pokemon team against another, introducing plenty of new strategies that are exclusive to each battle type. Still, the process of choosing attacks, using items, and catching Pokemon is as simple as tapping commands on the touch screen, and it all happens so much quicker than ever that the high encounter rates in certain areas are much less of a problem than before.

Pokemon Black and White introduced plenty of new attacks to the already-huge list and there seems to be a focus on the “buffer” moves that raise or lower the stats of a Pokemon in battle. There are plenty of new offensive attacks, but using these buffers now seems to be more important than ever: new moves like Quiver Dance, for example, can simultaneously raise the Special Attack, Special Defense, and Speed of its user, making it that much more difficult to take down in battle. Since doubles battles are more common, learning the mechanics and taking advantage of your Pokemon’s Abilities is now very important. Using a Pokemon with Lightning Rod to draw Electric-type attacks away from a Flying-type ally is a smart strategy that helps you avoid being wiped out so quickly by moves like Thunderbolt.

There are some other new mechanics that completely change the way that Pokemon works, but none are more important than the new, infinite Technical Machines (TMs). Unlike previous Pokemon games, you can now use TMs as often as you’d like, which essentially allows you to tinker with the moves of your Pokemon more than ever. It also means that the TMs are more valuable than ever, and as a result, some of the stronger ones have been hidden in the toughest areas of the Unova region. This means that the trek to earning them is more like a side-quest, and less of a random event. However, it is incredibly rewarding once you’ve finally tracked down all of the best moves, like Flamethrower, Earthquake, and Psychic.

There are plenty of NPCs located throughout the game that randomly give you things, so exploring each town and talking to everyone is still an important part of the game. The random, daily events are also back and show up everywhere, so backtracking and visiting different parts of the game on different days is sometimes beneficial to the experience. Luckily, there are now guides online that help you track down all of these daily events, so take advantage of them if you’d like to find everything in the game. The seasons also change each month, which actually changes the appearance of certain Pokemon and completely re-shapes the landscape of Unova, allowing you to access new areas that you couldn’t previously if you re-visit them.

Overall, Pokemon Black and White are not only the biggest games in the series, the most exciting to explore and discover, and the most intuitive to play, they are also the best-looking and best-sounding Pokemon games to date. The classic tunes from Red and Blue are nostalgic to hear now, but the soundtrack in Black and White is legitimately improved. I was humming along a lot more frequently than I even realized. It’s too bad that the Pokemon cries are still those god-awful MIDI sound bites; some of the newer monsters actually sound a little bit meaner than they ever have before, but the cries still sound like they’re filtered by gravel, or coming through a portal from Hell.

If you have not picked up a copy of Pokemon Black and White, I highly suggest that you remove yourself from your sitting position and do so. Pokemon is back and better than ever. Catching the monsters has absolutely never been so much fun, and exploring the region of Unova is compelling enough to keep you playing for hundreds of hours. Not only are these the best Pokemon games ever created, but Pokemon Black and White also get my nod for the best Nintendo DS games to date. That’s a big statement, but I just can’t think of any game on the DS that offers more enjoyable gameplay and addictive mechanics than Pokemon. These two games take the cake as the pinnacle of the franchise. Forget what you’ve ever known about Pokemon: pick up Black or White, embrace yourself for an adventure, and lose yourself in the world of Unova – no one will blame you.

Graphics: 8.5
Sound: 8.5
Gameplay: 10
Creativity: 10
Replay Value/Game Length: 10
Final: 9.8 out of 10
Written by Cliff Bakehorn Write a User Review

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