Although it’s no longer the cultural phenomenon it once was, Pokemon is still part of, and really never left, the video game world. What was once the crown jewel of the Game Boy is now the highest selling Nintendo DS franchise of all time. The cartoons are still airing every Saturday (albeit the new seasons are not nearly as good as they used to be when we were kids), and Pikachu is a character recognized by the entire world on par with Mario himself. There have been four generations of Pokemon games since Red and Blue Version divided playgrounds nationwide, with a few remakes and spinoffs here and there, and now it’s time for a new one.
Pokemon Black & White, the fifth generation of the franchise, has the most changes out of any proper Pokemon game thus far. Some of the changes are cosmetic and a bit unnecessary, but most of them are for the better.
The most noticeable change as you progress on your journey to become Pokemon champion is that there are no older Pokemon around, just the newest batch of 156 Pokemon waiting to be captured. The older generations become available after you beat the main story, but it can get boring catching Pokemon after Pokemon just to complete the full Pokedex if you’re starting from scratch. If you’ve followed each generation, then you can simply import them from past games. If you manage to collect all 649 Pokemon, you’re a braver man than I.
That being said, it will probably take you less time to catch ‘em all, as battles have been expedited by a significant amount. While the need to grind is still there — especially when you get to a certain gym leader who uses mean electric-type flying squirrels — the time sink is not as bad as it used to be.
Developers have also added to the game new types of Pokemon battles. Triple Battles are a three-on-three match that limit attacking based on position, and Rotation Battles are fast-paced round-robin matches. These types are few and far between, but they require the use of tactics and quick thinking that is refreshing.
Aside from a few cheap bosses, the game is pretty easy, so Poketots won’t get discouraged. However, Nintendo tries to inject some maturity into the franchise through Team Plasma, Unova’s resident bad guys. Instead of following in Team Rocket’s footsteps of stealing Pokemon to take over the world, Team Plasma wants to free Pokemon from what they see as servitude from their trainers.
All in all, this is probably the most modern Pokemon game recently. The graphics have been overhauled since the franchise came to the DS, new dynamic camera movements have been added and the Pokemon sprites have been made animated during battles. This iteration of Pokemon almost feels like a new franchise — one that’s becoming more in tune with its RPG qualities as its fan base continues to age. If you’ve been away from the series for a while, I suggest you give Black & White a try. If you’ve already caught them all again and again, there’s still plenty more to catch.
