Still Catching- Pokemon Black/White Review

Sean”White Version”NOLA: If I were to check our analytics, I would see that very few children are reading this right now. I would imagine, that on average, our readers are in their early thirties, about 70% male, and that 99% have played a Pokémon game before (yes, your browser knows whether or not you’ve played Pokémon before, and yes- our website magically collects that data). With that as a given, I don’t really need to explain the basics of Pokémon in detail: you select your first Pokémon, you are tasked with collecting information on all eight million species while you journey across the universe to earn eight badges from eight gym leaders.  The bulk of gameplay revolves around traveling from town to town, engaging in RPG-lite combat with your team of rocks, papers and scissors.  So if I assume that you already understand that, the question I’m sure you’re asking is “what makes this one different.”

Just like past releases, Pokémon White is a slight variation of the Pokémon formula; however the marginal improvements provide a much more meaningful impact this time around.  The core cast is made up of over 150 entirely new Pokémon, and for once it doesn’t feel like the creature creators phoned it in. Every new animal I encountered was colorful, animated and most importantly, unique. For the first time since my original run-in with Pikachu, I was excited to catch new, unrecorded Pokémon. There are also several battle types, to keep competition fresh. Although most fights are classic one-on-one or two-on-two Pokébattles, there are occasional three-on-three and “Rotating Battles,” which place three of your Pokémon on a Lazy Susan to give you a total of 12 attack choices every turn.  The new battle types add an extra layer to strategic planning by adding an emphasis on support commands, and will make you think twice before giving Tail Whip and Leer to each and every one of your pets.

The other major addition to the game is the C-Gear. The C-Gear is a passive system, similar to the Street Pass mode that the 3DS offers, which allows Pokémon Masters to exchange information without opening their DS’s. Throughout the course of the game, the C-Gear will not only collect information about your Pokémon play-style, but also about your personality, based on questions asked by various townsfolk. If left on, the C-Gear can provide useful information, like how many people in your area that play Pokémon and leave their C-Gear on like dogs, and how many people in that same, minuscule demographic like cats. I wouldn’t bank on many people using the feature, however, because the Gear uses almost as much battery power when closed as the DS uses during play – completely sapping my battery during an average work day.

Pokémon Black/White is the best possible game for first time trainers. I may have caught ‘em all a half-dozen times before, but if I were doing it all over again, for the first time, I couldn’t imagine a more magical introduction to the series than with this game.

Once players get past the game’s tutorial, the myriad of small changes start to endow Black/White with its distinct personality. After getting acquainted with , Pokémon‘s recurrent (albeit growing) roster over the years, getting a fresh menagerie of creatures feels invigorating. No longer are players able to blow through the game’s gym leaders with their preferred pocket monsters, the title encourages finding new favorites to complement a trainer’s play-style. Sure, there’s a handful of clunkers in there- from Pokémon which resemble a set of cogs to a ice cream cone, but most of the designs display enough kawaisa to charm the most finicky badge collectors.

Pokéfan’s have been adamant about being able to battle and trade online. While the aforementioned C-Gear allows a connection with pre-established acquaintances, the Pokémon Global Link promises tournaments, and a gateway to the Dream World. Here, player build a house, purchase furnishings, and can play mini-games in a berry-driven economy. Regretfully, The Global Link wasn’t ready for Black/White‘s launch; players will have to wait until March 30th for online functionality to go live.