The pokemon franchise has come a long way* since it's introduction way back in 1995 (in Japan). For those who are either new to the series or have just never played, Pokemon is a turn-based RPG in which you typically start off as a young boy or girl who manages to get a free pokemon (out of a choice of 3; a water type, a fire type, and a grass type) from a random professor in town and starts a journey to see all the pokemon the world has to offer while filling information in your pokedex that the professor gives you, and perhaps become a champion in the process. Pokemon Diamond and Pearl are no different**. You start of as a young boy or girl and come across a professor at the lake near your house. After they leave you and your friend notice that they left a briefcase behind in the tall grass. (for those who don't know, you encounter pokemon in tall grass) You and your friend take the risk going into the grass to see what's in the case. When you get there you open it and there are 3 pokemon inside**. The choices are Chimchar, a little monkey who is fire type**, Piplip, a little penguin who is water type**, and Turtwig, a little turtle who is grass type**. Then pokemon attack you and you have no choice but to use one of the 3 pokemon as your defense. After the battle the professor comes back to see what has happened, gets angry and leaves. You and your friend track him down to say sorry and he lets you keep the pokemon if you take his pokedex and fill it with data. And that's how the game begins.
The DS brings a few new elements to pokemon and most of them are great. The second screen takes the clutter out of the first screen, especially during battles. The DS's power over previous handhelds allow for a 2.25D (not quite 2D, not nearly 3D) overworld but to my severe disappointment, the battles were left with non-moving sprites (well, they bounce around a bit when the pokemon is first released) and simple attack animations. This is frustrating to me because this is the fourth major installment of the series and the battles are (other than being more clearly drawn) exactly the same** (below picture is from pokemon red viewed on super gameboy).
In the previous pokemon titles leading to diamond and pearl, there have been a total of 386 pokemon which means that there are 107 all new pokemon to enjoy in this installment... if you can find a way to get them. The reason I say this is because once again, Nintendo thought it would be fun to have more "special event pokemon"**. These pokemon are only attainable by going to special pokemon events where you would receive special items that would unlock a sequence of in game events. These steps will eventually lead you to extremely rare pokemon in the game (Arceus, Shaymin, and Darkrai). In America, these pokemon are near impossible to get without cheats. There are so few pokemon events held in America, and some of them don't even release the "special event pokemon" at them, so I personally am not to fond of the idea if special event pokemon (though it does add a nice rarity factor, it also adds significantly to the hacked pokemon population).
If if you think that getting all of the new pokemon in diamond and pearl because of things like special event pokemon; just wait and see what you have to go through for all 493. First, you need to have all of the Pokemon Ruby and/or Sapphire, Pokemon FireRed and/or LeafGreen, Pokemon Colosseum, Pokemon XD, Pokemon Ranger, and a link cable from your gameboy advance to your gamecube (or wii). Then you have to get all the pokemon into those versions, and oh yes, they have special event pokemon too. Once you somehow manage that, you have to beat diamond or pearl to open the pal park and have them transferred onto your diamond or pearl file. Good luck! Shiny pokemon have also returned to the fray and are just as rare as they have been since they were introduced in the gold and silver versions except, they don't give you one in the plot like they did in gold and silver either. With the Diamond and Pearl versions alone, I'm not sure of the exact number but I think somewhere around 150 pokemon are available.
Of course with new pokemon come new legendary pokemon and once again, this is no exception. Nintendo did a great job in coming up with some kickass new legendary pokemon for diamond and pearl. Dialga and Palkia are both awesome.
So, what's so great about diamond and pearl then? Well, obvious reasons like the new pokemon, the gameplay (though almost exactly the same as it has always been) is rock solid, new moves and pokemon competitions spice it up a little, giving you so much more to do than just stroll your way through the game. Also, for the in depth pokemaniac EV points were added for those who want to breed and raise their pokemon to be absolutely perfect. The game's difficultly level, especially towards the end with the elite 4, is a good amount higher than previous versions; but they keep it bearable. The addition of online battling and trading are an incredible add on as well. Not only can you just trade with people you know but you can go to the global trading center and trade pokemon with people around the world. (My Palkia in my diamond version is from Japan) With a clear and easy to use interface throughout the game, no one that is over 5 years old should have a problem playing this game.
In the end, I give Pokemon Diamond/Pearl 8 out of 10. While the new innovative features definitely get the games score up, it is the lack of innovation in other areas that brings it down. I put a * in the beginning of the review where I said the franchise has come a long way and ** next to several things that are due for a makeover in the game. I referenced them together because the franchise when you think about it, hasn't come that far at all. But don't let that discourage you from the game. My note to Nintendo would be, if you keep stuff in the game from old versions, take something awesome like how after you beat the elite 4 in gold/silver you could travel to the region from the red/blue versions and not only catch a lot more pokemon, but also battle more gym leaders and everything. I still think that the gold/silver/crystal versions are the best in the series having had 251 pokemon available in game (only 2 were event pokemon: Mew and Celebi). So all that bad and still 8/10? Yes! Pokemon is a great and and always has been, it's all of the elements of the game are good; they're just starting to get old. And to those who think it's just for kids, you're wrong. The game is great and people of all ages will love it. The show is for kids (though the movies are tolerable).
8/10
-CA
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