Once upon a time, Japanese children would capture bugs and then battle them against another child's bugs as a fun little hobby. Satoshi Tajiri never forgot the great times he had as a kid doing this, and so when he became an adult and a video game programmer, he decided to make this premise into a game. That game was Pokemon, and was released in Japan in 1995.

Over a decade since Game Freak's original Pokemon, Pokemon Diamond/Pearl carry on the series with no major changes. In fact, all 4 of the main Pokemon series games for the Nintendo handhelds are pretty much the same, just with different monsters that are slight variations. Once again you are [small boy] out in search of Pokemon to become the most lovingest PokeMaster of all time. So while the premise and game stay the same, there's just something undeniably fun about it, and hey, if it ain't broken, don't fix it.

The thing that will stand out most in these newest iterations is the use of the DS's touch screen. All of the battle animations, and Pokemon stats will appear on the top screen, while all of your commands are accesses by touch on the bottom screen. You can also use the directional pad, and regular buttons to choose your actions, but I found the touch screen to be the easiest and funnest way to play. No need for the stylus, as all of the choices on the touch screen are large and easy to distinguish. When not in battle, the bottom screen will display all sorts of information using the Pokewatch, which for some bizarre reason they call the Poketch in the game. Touch a button on the screen to flip between functions, with everything from the time of day, your berry locations, party status, captured pokemon, a type advantage chart, and even a calculator on Poketch. Poketch will come in handy many times in the game, and was a nice addition.

The game still uses an overhead fixed perspective, but is actually 3D now. Visually it looks a bit better than the GBA games, with larger characters; but the game essentially looks the same as previous versions. I was at least hoping that the monsters would be fully animated the way they are in the home console Pokemon games, but they're still left with only 2 frames of animation, which seems rather lame considering the power of the DS. Sound was another let down, they're still using the same music and crys that they've used since the first Game Boy game. Although the quality is a bit better, most of the themes are the same; while catchy, they just grow old, and it's easy to play the game with the sound turned off.

But nobody plays Pokemon for the audio/visual splendor. Pokemon is all about the gameplay, which still delivers, as nothing was really changed. Travel the world battling other trainers and collecting Pokemon to build a powerful team. Collect badges from gyms found in different cities, then battle the Elite 4 to become a Pokemon Champion. The game is a traditional RPG at its' heart, but instead of collecting swords and armor, you collect different types of monsters with different abilities and power. There are no new types, but over 100 new Pokemon were added, including new evolutions of Pokemon from the previous games, which can only be accessed by trading monsters up from the GBA games. Trading is has always made this series stand out, and now they have taken it global. Players can search for, offer, or trade any Pokemon with anyone in the world using the Nintendo Wifi; or just trade and battle with a friend wirelessly if they have a copy of Diamond/Pearl. Good luck finding a Mew.

There is a lot to do in the game. The main quest is 50+ hours with many side quests, and mini games. You can plant berries, gamble, go on an archaeological dig, or put your Pokemon in a beauty pageant. The game seems a bit easier overall than previous titles, I played through the game only dying once. Perhaps Nintendo wanted the game to be accessible to all audiences, but the game really didn't need to be made any easier. Beyond the main game, these titles are made with legs. You'll be able to upload Pokemon from the GBA series into the DS games, as well as connect with the Wii and use the monsters in Pokemon Battle Revolution while using the DS as a controller. With 493 total monsters in the game to try and collect to build the best team, the game really never ends.

Pokemon is Nintendo's flagship handheld series, and once again doesn't disappoint; although it does leave you wondering if they need to push the series more. Millions of these things will be sold, but if Nintendo doesn't evolve the series soon, Pokemania may fade away. If you've never played Pokemon, you're missing out on a great game, so give it a shot. But if you weren't into the the old titles, there's nothing new here to pull you in.

Developer:

Game Freak

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Publisher:

Nintendo

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Genre:

Traditional RPG

Release Date:

04/07