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Note: I will not be going over the basic mechanics of the Pokemon games in this review, as I have covered these mechanics extensively in my Pokemon Blue/Red review. Instead, all subsequent reviews will instead focus on the changes made to the formula in any particular iteration. 

The Long


So its been almost thirteen years since Pokemon Red/Blue came out in the US. Weve gone from the original Game Boy to the Game Boy color to the Game Boy Advance, and now Nintendos latest handheld is kicking up a storm: The Nintendo DS. After a somewhat weak start the system picked up some serious steam, and before you knew it people were talking: what would the DS Pokemon game be like? Would it follow the same formula, or mix it up? Will the starters finally be swapped to a Dark/Psychic/Fighting trio, rather than the traditional Fire/Water/Grass? We hadnt seen any really radical changes to the series mechanics or overall game structure since Pokemon Gold/Silver (though Ruby/Sapphire did add a little bit), so when Pokemon Diamand/Pearl finally showed up in 2007 we were all pumped. I actually pre-ordered this game, believe it or not, making it the only game in the history of games that Ive actually pre-ordered from a physical outlet (I usually just pre-order games from Amazon now).

Well, I got my limited edition massive and ugly Pokemon stylus for my DS for pre-ordering, and then I busted this bad-boy out. Id actually been off the Pokemon scene for a while; remember I completely skipped the Ruby/Sapphire generation until long after the fact. So truth be told, Diamond/Pearl was my first Pokemon games since freaking Crystal, so it had a lot to live up to.

And I can safely say it did not even come close to meeting my expectations.

Despite the DS having been out for a while, the touch screen gets little use

Pokemon Diamond/Pearl is the first in the main series I actually felt like they were just cashing it in. Yeah, sure, theyd been cashing it in with the brand constantly - the card game, awful spinoffs like Hey You, Pikachu!, enough toys to populate a small city - but Id always felt they were at least trying with the games. Pokemon Diamond/Pearl isnt a bad Pokemon game. After all, the formula is still solid, there are a bunch of new Pokemon to catch, and all the same addictive systems are still in play. Its just a completely uninspired game. 

This is most clearly seen when you realize the only thing they really "added" in this game was the Pokemon Super Contest, which is like the stupid pageant from Ruby/Sapphire except mandatory. Yes, that is literally the only real new thing. A bunch of crappy minigames, some of which use the touchscreen poorly. Joy. 

They did slightly tweak how special attacks and regular attacks work, but that is so insignificant a casual Pokemon player wont even notice. 

That is the only actual gameplay change in the entirety of this generation (minus the usual balancing and new pokemon). So...what other things are new? This game is on a more powerful piece of hardware, and has two screens (one of them being a touchscreen). What did they use that for?

Well, lets start with the touch screen, since that is the DSs most unique feature. When it comes to this, Im split: it does battles very well, and it does the rest of the game poorly. In battles (as you can see above), the bottom screen is now your command screen, with large, easy to touch buttons down there for you to navigate. Since youll be using the d-pad and face buttons to play the game normally, I didnt actually use the touch screen much, but Im glad its there. The attacks are also now colored to their respective element (making it easier to know which to use against who), which is also very handy. The entire thing has been made to work with fingers rather than the stylus, which is also appreciated, because getting the stylus back out every two seconds is a pain.

But then they dont use it for anything after that. You get a sort of "Pokegear" thing on the bottom, which consists of that one huge red button on the side. You can swap between a clock, your current team (which shows health, but touching them does nothing but make their noise), and a few other useless features. You still have to hit a button to get to the menu, and when you do it starts on the top screen. Why? Why cant I just touch to get to the menu on bottom, and cycle through my pokemon there? Granted, after you pick a menu item it goes all touch screen, replacing it with unintuitive buttons with no text. This is bad UI design, guys.

I can only imagine that, for a newcomer, this would be completely overwhelming

Ok, so the touchscreen controls are implemented poorly, but so what? The old games didnt have the touchscreen, and they were fine? And here is where I have to sullenly give a hint of a nod, because I actually sort of agree. It doesnt really hurt the game to have crappy touchscreen use, it just doesnt help it any, either. This is a new generation of games. Why couldnt you have made it work better?

The graphics also have that polarizing effect for me, though my reactions are opposite. Out in the field, the graphics look really good. It has a sort of combination of a 3D rendered world with 2D sprites set on it, but fresh and crisp. It actually looks really good and, while not a powerhouse, fits the art style of the previous games very well.

And then you get into a battle. 

The music is mediocre. I cant think of any track that stands out, except one. But man...that song...is so good. So (tangent) the champion of this game (aka the final boss) is actually a girl this time, which is great because this world seems to be predominantly male when it comes to good trainers, and all the girls catch "cute" crap like Marills or Togapis and get crushed in battle. Cynthia (the champion) is one of the hardest in the series, and her final boss song is incredible. Seriously, its probably my favorite battle song (maybe even my favorite song) in the entire series. Really good stuff.