Pokemon Pearl Version (DS)

Reviewed by

Ryan Davis

on 04/23/2007

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Page 2

The bulk of the activities in Pokémon Diamond and Pearl aren't new to the series, so what separates these two from the Pokémon games that appeared on the Game Boy Advance? For starters, the presentation has been improved to take advantage of the superior DS hardware. Though the game is mostly still presented in 2D, there's improved detail to the 2D and you'll notice lots of nice polygonal touches. For example, buildings and windmills are rendered in 3D, and it's enough to give the 2D world a little depth. The game also has a bright, highly saturated color palette that makes it a pleasure to look at. When in battle, the Pokémon are still static 2D sprites?much of which appears to have been recycled from the Pokémon games on the GBA?but in general, the 2D art still looks sharp. The dynamic battle transitions look great, as do the numerous attack effects. Diamond and Pearl also feature some catchy music, and there's a whole lot of it, with a special theme for virtually every location or activity. As clean and upbeat as the music is, though, some of the sound effects from the Pokémon themselves sound screechy and lo-fi. It's out of place, considering how great the rest of the game looks and sounds.

There's also a little touch-screen support in Diamond and Pearl, letting you use the stylus to select menus during battle and play a few simple, rather forgettable minigames that crop up. During most of your travels, the lower screen on the DS is occupied by your Pokémon watch (Pokétch for short). In addition to telling the time, you can install a number of applications, some more useful than others, on your Pokétch. There's a calculator, a pedometer, a status screen for your Pokémon, a metal detector of sorts, and more.

Online play means it's that much easier to find others to battle and trade with.

What's probably the most significant new feature in Diamond and Pearl is online play, which lets you battle, trade, and chat with other players over the Internet. The trading system is surprisingly robust, letting you put any of your Pokémon up for trade on a global market, while specifying which Pokémon you'll trade it for. Once you define the terms of the trade, the Pokémon is transferred to a server, and you can set it and forget it. Your DS doesn't even need to be turned on for someone to agree to your terms and complete the transaction. The online battle options aren't as immediately accessible. Early on, you'll need the game-specific friend code for anyone that you want to battle online, and it will take dozens of hours of single-player action before you'll be able to battle with random strangers. The game also supports voice chat using the newly released DS headset, but you can only use it with other players whose friend codes you've already registered. Of course, you can also still battle and trade with other people through a local Wi-Fi connection. Diamond and Pearl also promise connectivity to the upcoming Pokémon Battle Revolution for the Nintendo Wii, purportedly letting you use your DS as a controller and take the Pokémon you've collected on the DS into battle on your TV.

Between the 100-plus new Pokémon, the improved presentation, and the online play, this is a must-have game for established fans. The new features also make this the most well-rounded Pokémon game to date, and if you've never dabbled in the world of Pokémon before, there's no better game to start with.