Category: Pokemon Video Games

By forest_snivy

One of the many things that makes Black and White versions stand out from its predecessors are their large amounts of version differences. Because of this, answering the typical “which version should I get?” question is not so easy. Like every version before them, some Pokemon are exclusive to either Black or White versions—but there is so much more to each version, which creates interesting similarities and contrasts as stark as black and white.

Another simple example of differences between Black and White versions is that in Black, there are more Rotation battles, which are one-on-one fights in which a trainer can switch between three different Pokemon without taking up a turn. White version, however, includes more Triple battles—3-on-3 fights similar to Double battles.

A more major difference between the two games lies in Unova itself—Opelucid City; and Black City and White Forest. Black version places an emphasis on more “modern” qualities, such as vast, expanding cities with enormous skyscrapers and the latest technology; while White version showcases more “traditional” ideas in the form of an old-styled town and an underdeveloped, natural forest. These differences can be likened to Ruby and Sapphire’s Team Magma and Team Aqua difference, as only one team is villainous in each game. But unlike Ruby and Sapphire, Black and White’s emphasis and contrast between modern expansion and old traditions expands deeply, adding a whole new layer of depth to the storyline present in Black and White.

If you combine the version-exclusive Pokemon with the “version-exclusive” emphasis on either modern-day growth or traditional simplicity, you end up with the two “mascot” Pokemon: Reshiram and Zekrom. To an old fan of the series, the decision to make Reshiram as Black version’s cover Pokemon, and Zekrom as White version’s, may seem a bit odd at first; traditionally, the cover Pokemon is a similar color or shade of the color, metal, or gem of the game’s title. Reshiram, despite gracing the cover of Black version, is white in color, while the black Zekrom strongly rests on the cover of White version. There is actually an economic reason for this: if a person has not heard of a certain game, but is, for example, looking through a store for something to buy, they will naturally be attracted to games with more appealing covers. Now imagine walking through a store and seeing…a white game cover. Or a black game cover. No contrast, nothing interesting to catch anyone’s eye. A black Pokemon on a black cover does not seem like such a good idea anymore, now does it?

But is that really the only reason why Game Freak made the decision to have Reshiram and Zekrom put on their respective version box art, to maximize on profit? Actually, that plays only a small role in their decision. In order to fully understand why, we must look at what Reshiram and Zekrom truly represent.
Continue reading “The Past, Present, And Uncertain Future: Analysis Of Version Differences In Black & White”

Tags: Nintendo DS, Pokemon Black & White

By: Brian Hsieh

With the release and end of Carita’s Hydreigon and Janta’s Golurk events in Japan, one should wonder about events hitting America or other countries. Heartgold and Soulsilver received many events, but soon began to slow down fast between events. With Black and White, other countries have received just the Victini event while Japan has received five others. Japan has also received far more Heartgold/Soulsilver/Diamond/Pearl/Platinum events than the other countries. There are currently no events in other countries at the moment so it could be wise to at least release the ones we didn’t receive now but that seems doubtful.

I understand that it is a Japanese game first before it gets translated and ported to America, Europe, and other countries, but the length between each event causes fans to lose interest before any of the other Pokemon arrive to complete their Pokedex. A great example of this is the Celebi event. At level 50, Celebi takes the player back in time in order to see the argument between Silver and his father, Giovanni. This is an important and new development in the storyline as we have all guessed of Silver’s origins especially when hinted in the Pokemon Adventures manga, but to actually play it is something different. You even got a chance to battle Giovanni, one of the strongest gym leaders. Once fans knew of this event, they patiently waited for it to be released in the states. Unfortunately, other subpar events were released and by the time Celebi hit the WiFi scene, players Pokemon were far beyond 50 and could easily defeat Giovanni’s Pokemon, which were laughable compared to the likes of the Gym Leaders and Elite Four. Maybe this event was meant to be played a little before entering Kanto, but that does not make up for the fact that Giovanni has only four Pokemon that aren’t as powerful as the current Kanto Gym Leaders. Considering the fact that Giovanni disbanded Team Rocket to train for three years to only have his Pokemon under leveled compared to his actual Red/Blue/Green gym battle is inexcusable (with Nidoqueen actually leveled down for some reason).

This situation is unfortunately happening with Pokemon Black and White as well. Pokemon like Genesect, Meloetta, and Keldeo must be captured through a WiFi event. There’s a long pause since the Victini event in other countries, which should be filled to keep interest in the Pokemon games. What’s worse is that Japan hasn’t released these events in their own country. I’m not sure what the delay is, but I’ve only touched my DS to finish the Celebi event and am currently waiting for the other events to surface. I hope this long delay won’t cause players to overlook the events when they eventually arise. I’m unaware of the length it took between events for Diamond and Pearl, but from the time I bought Heartgold, the events were pouring in right after another ended.
Continue reading “Pokemon WiFi Events”

Tags: Nintendo DS, Pokemon Black & White

By Jack Snell

Pokemon Red and Blue (Green in Japan) were the games that started the behemoth Pokemon franchise. An intensely addictive pair of games built around catching and growing 150 different creatures and having them to do battle for fortune and glory. One of the most notable things about these two games is that they are essentially the same game, but with different encounter sets. In other words, if you wanted to catch all 150 Pokemon without having to resort to cheating or exploiting glitches, you would need to buy both versions, Red and Blue, and trade the exclusive Pokemon between each game. This was a genius marketing strategy that allowed Nintendo to almost double its sales, and it’s now become a tradition in the franchise.

The games begin in Palett town, where the player meets Professor Oak and receives his first Pokemon, either a Charmander, Squirtle or Bulbasaur, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. From here the player embarks on a journey around the region of Kanto to defeat all eight Gym Leaders to win the eight badges required to enter the Pokemon League and take on the Elite Four and the Champion. Along the way you will capture a variety of Pokemon and raise a team that will be your main fighting force. After reaching a certain point in their training, certain Pokemon will evolve into greater, more powerful forms with increased stats and access to better moves.

The overall effect is addictive, all the while unrewarding in the end. Essentially, once you’ve beaten the Elite Four and the Champion, all the challenge is removed from the game. The only thing left is to pit your team against your friend’s team, although this isn’t something everyone can do, I know I certainly wasn’t able to do it very often in my youth. Later Pokemon games do a lot more to increase the replayability. That’s not to say there’s not a lot to do in Red and Blue, but once it’s done, it’s done and only a new game can make it fun and interesting again.

One thing I would especially like to point out is that Pokemon Red and Blue do have a certain charm to their map design and story progression that later games don’t have. You tend to revisit old places a lot more on the normal path of your journey without much backtracking and there’s usually something interesting to see or do upon your return visit that you couldn’t do before. There’s a greater conservation of detail, I guess you could say, that adds a great deal to the overall appeal of the games.

These are two genre definining games that command your attention during the time you are playing them. The story is compelling, you’ll feel the sense of caring or and raising your own Pokemon more than any other version of the game, and there are even some emotional moments, the Cubone mourning over its deceased mother comes to mind.
Continue reading “Pokemon Red Review”

Tags: Nintendo DS, Pokemon Black & White

By Jack Snell

If you’re on the outside looking in, the Pokemon series probably looks like the same game marketed with minor changes over and over for 15 years, each time to fresh brood of gullible children in a money spinning attempt. It’s not a fair or correct assumption, but I can understand the thought.

Pokemon reinvents itself to a greater or lesser extent every three years or so, but half-steps like Platinum and remakes like HeartGold muddy the distinction between generations. And where Silver and Gold’s astonishing sprawl of new features more than justified their existence (and their re-release last year), Diamond and Pearl’s more timid adjustments to the formula were less defensible.

It’s about time for a spring-clean, and Pokemon Black and White are exactly that. Game Freak has abandoned the guaranteed brand recognition of Pikachu and his 500-odd friends for an entirely new cast of 156 quirky, endearing, and occasionally disturbing monsters. It’s difficult to overstate how unexpectedly brave this is for a heavyweight Japanese series; imagine Capcom releasing a new Street Fighter without Ryu and Ken. It signals an eagerness to break with the past, a new spirit of regeneration.

Over the course of 70 hours, Pokemon Black and White has surprised me over and over again. The last time I could say that about a Pokemon game, I was still carrying around a Charizard-adorned pencil case.

Here’s the first surprise: it looks brilliant. Evidently Game Freak has finally hired some new graphic designers. Pokemon’s monster design has always been exceptional, but otherwise the graphics were rarely better than tolerable.

The new Pokemon designs however uninspired particularly compared to the original 151, do grow on you, I for example have developed some new favourites, in Hydreigon, Tepig, Chandelure, Sandile, Tepig etc. Some of the Pokédex descriptions are wonderfully weird.

Now the battles come alive with entertaining monster animations, the cities are constructed of distinctive 3D buildings, and towns are connected by towering bridges that stretch over sparkling water and reveal distant skyline vistas. The sprites are bright and crisp, long grass sways in the wind, and the world’s weather changes along with the seasons once every real-time month. Fittingly for what might be the DS’ last heavyweight titles, they’re among the best-looking on the platform.

And the second surprise: you don’t always know what’s next. Yes, you know that you’ll make the familiar pilgrimage from town to town, collecting gym badges and eventually facing the Elite Four, but it’s all about those new Pokemon.

Wander into the grass in a new area and you genuinely have no idea what you’re about to meet. When a Pokemon evolves, you’re excited about what it might become. New moves make you raise an eyebrow and read the description. It all feels new again, and it makes such a difference. There’s not a Pidgey or Rattata in sight.

This sense of reinvigoration extends across the whole of Black and White. Game Freak is as willing to re-evaluate and throw out its out-dated traditions as its bloated cast. The biggest change is the distribution of experience points: monsters now get a far bigger share of EXP when they defeat foes stronger than themselves. This not only evens out the process of building a strong, balanced team, it makes over-levelling impossible. Grinding – what little there was of it – has been completely eliminated.
Continue reading “Pokemon Black Review”

Tags: Nintendo DS, Pokemon Black & White

By Jack Snell

Every journey has a beginning. A point of reference one can use when measuring how far the hero has come during the course of their adventure. For Sir Arthur, his beginning was pulling a sword from a stone. For Link it was heeding the call for help of a young princess Zelda. For Ash … it was choosing a Poke Ball

Decisions, Decisions…

Everyone Remembers Their First Love

For me it was choosing Charmander in Pokemon Red <3 Still my favourite starter of all time. To the untrained eye, Bulbasaur, Squirtle and Charmander from the original games were just blobs of pixels accompanied by an indecipherable MIDI screech. But to me, and countless others, they were so much more.3

To me, this little, orange/red lizard was my very first (but definitely not last) Pokemon friend. The first monster I would ever train, travel with, bond with, and watch evolve before my eyes. He was my constant companion during my introduction to the world of Pokemon and, more importantly, during my perilous and probably-best-forgotten middle school days. While I would go on to have new starters that I also cared for in future installments, nothing would ever quite measure up to my first Pokemon love.

Charizard, I choose you!

The Ties That Bind

For myself and any other gamer who set out from Mom’s house to become the Pokemon League Champion, our starter was an integral part of the experience. This is because, in Pokemon, your starter is your constant companion. It’s the only monster in your party who is with you from the moment you first leave your small town and step out into the wild grass where untold mystery and adventure awaits. It’s the one who you watch grow from barely being able to take down a Pidgey or Bidoof to completely destroying anyone foolish enough to stand in your way.

The only way to punish a pesky Bidoof is by making it your HM slave

Also, in the beginning of the games, you literally rely on your starter of choice for survival, at least until you catch more Pokemon. But even after more Pokemon are available and a starter can theoretically be put out to pasture, your starter is the one you’ve learned to count on and trust, so most trainers choose to keep it as the most powerful member of their team throughout the course of the game, even when other Pokemon with better stats become available.

A starter is also significant in that it’s the one who you chose. The one you looked at and decided was the best pick for you, whether it was because it was cute or badass looking, or you just adore fire types, like myself. Whatever the reason, you chose that one, and that alone makes it special. And whether one of the original trio was your first or one of the newer ones was, the bond between a serious Pokemon trainer and their first starter is an indelible one.
Continue reading “Pokemon Starters”

Tags: Nintendo DS, Pokemon Black & White