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The Pokemon series is one that, in this
day-and-age, should need little introduction.
 Having established a
series of Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance and now
NintendoDS releases totalling more than twelve outings for the main
bloodline of the series alone, the series has also received
countless spin-offs, including three on the NintendoDS prior to
this more anticipated release.
Pokemon Dash,
Pokemon Link and
Pokemon Mystery
Dungeon: Blue Rescue Team have all received mixed responses,
both within the industry and at retail, and with
Pokemon Diamond
& Pokemon Pearl about to sink any memory of these
titles, the question has to asked, does it deserve to?
The proceedings of Pokemon Pearl will be
instantly familiar to those who have encountered any previous
release in the series. With the exception of some dual-screen and
Touch Screen features, and a little readdress to the balance of
certain Moves and Pokemon Stats, little of the formula has changed.
Set in the new region of Sinnoh, players begin by choosing either a
Male or Female avatar, before embarking upon a quest to become the
greatest Pokemon Trainer in the land and, of course, “Catch ‘Em
All”.
Like the many editions before, the title retains a top-down
perspective, launching a separate battle-screen each time an enemy
is encountered. The battles take place as turn-based events, with
the player selecting their chosen Move via the Touch Screen. Each
Pokemon and Move has a series of set attributes to determine its
effectiveness and, as would be predicted, certain Move or Pokemon
“Types” have a greater or lesser effect when met with their
opposing Type. A complex grid-based system is used to determine the
balance of the many types, and while basic suggestions such as
Fire, Water and Grass maybe reasonably easy to predict, the
tactical nature and depth of the system has received would could be
considered a much-overdue polish, and certainly brings the series
back into the direct rivalry with those RPG series considered to be
the leaders of the genre; including the overblown Final Fantasy
XII.
While many of the battles are executed randomly – such as when
walking through caverns or long grass – Trainer Battles return
(instant battles initiated by an AI opponent Pokemon Trainer), as
does the series of Gym Challenges. Every Gym hosts a different Gym
Leader, who specialises in a specific Pokemon Type. Tailoring your
team – as ever, limited to six – to each of the Gym Leaders makes
the title a breeze, however, a substantial amount of effort would
have to be incorporated into training-up your team to be strong
enough for each subsequent Gym.
While the main storyline of the game may be limited to a
twenty-to-thirty hour adventure - which in itself is by no means
bad for a handheld RPG – the beauty of the title reveals itself
after the game has been completed. A further Pokedex (a device
cataloguing all the player’s caught, seen and battled Pokemon) is
unlocked, revealing a new total of nearly four hundred critters,
and players are granted the ability to upload Pokemon caught in
their previous adventures with either Pokemon Ruby,
Pokemon Sapphire, Pokemon Emerald, Pokemon Fire Red
or Pokemon Leaf Green.
As ever, the Multi-Player aspect of the title is already been
revered by those having already benefited from its release
elsewhere in the world. Not only does the title allow wireless
Pokemon trading and battling locally, but also via the Nintendo
Wi-Fi Connection. Whilst playing through the title in a solitary
fashion is hard-to-knock, playing alongside other human players is
simply staggeringly good fun.
Graphically, the title hasn’t received too much of an improvement
since the Game Boy Advance outings in the series. Some 3D elements
occur, sharper resolutions and the likes, but little that would
warrant any conclusion being drawn as to the extent of the
NintendoDS’s capabilities. The sound quality is encouraging,
however, as limited as the music and effect in a title such as
this, never really gets the chance to shine.
Although many may think that the series is beginning to get stale,
or that the limited advancements with the use of the Touch Screen –
especially when given
Final Fantasy III’s direct-control
system via the Touch Screen – may make the title weak, it would be
impossible for any credible games journalist to refer to the title
in a derogatory many due to these issues. It may not be the
leap-forward fans were hoping for, but Pokemon Pearl is
incredible fun, and a title of this calibre is one that rarely
appears. And with the already announced link features with Wii’s
Pokemon: Battle Revolution announced, there’s plenty more
icing-on-the-cake to come.
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