Nintendo Pokemon White Version (DS)

Played the first two generations, and then, called it quits. I had a blast with both Poke'mon Red and Silver, plus, the several Poke'mon spin-off games that ended up on the Game Boy Color and N64. But then, I decided to take an extremely long break. The Poke'mon formula is addictive but it wasn't enough for me to go nab the next couple of generations.So fast-forward to a couple of days before the official N.A. release of B/W. I was looking at the different details, and thought, "why not?" So, had it pre-ordered and here I am right now. I'm taking my sweet time with the game so I'm far from finishing it with 32 hours clocking in.There are a lot of impressive things in the game and of course, some disappointments. But overall, I think B/W is a good generation to try on for someone who hasn't played Poke'mon in a long time. It definitely does give off a refreshing feel even if it uses a lot of familiar past Poke'mon game elements.Good stuff...+ Battles are much quicker now from what I remembered. Same with the speaking text. You can now change how fast you want the text to go.+ Two - three Poke'mon VS battles now.+ Game animation is more fluid.+ 3-dimensional buildings in a city. I'd have to give Game Freak a lot of credit for that, even though, graphics is really something I don't judge into that much.+ You have the change of seasons and weather per area.+ Different forms of climate regions are explored as well.+ Different shops/people will offer events that may be a daily thing or happens only on a particular day.+ Unlimited TM/HM usage is a huge relief!+ The scope of the Unova region is huge. There is a lot more to do now than I can recall, in terms of battling and backtracking areas. Also, finding secret items is a fun quest of its own.+ The prices for items have gone up for the better from experience. I find myself purchasing items with money worries, which is a plus, compared to the first two generations where it was easy to not spend much money. (And the duplication cheats pretty much annhilated the point of buying Poke'balls...) Maybe, this may be attributed to how much easier it is, in B/W, to be KOed by a lower leveled Poke'mon no matter how high you are. Back in the early days, it was easier to KO by your level number and not so much by your element power.+ The Battle Subway offers up a nice challenge.+ Enjoyed the brief interactions with several of the people you run into. Some of them may even be weird....+ You get the bicycle after the beginning of the game. Yaay...+ I like the use of the C-Gear shortcut options. Yet...(continued in the negative section)..+ What I liked the most among all these positives is: there's an improvement in plot. There is now a story that I can actually care about compared to the past. It's like combining the plot of a Poke'mon show/movie with the game. It's still a bit simple, but it's much better than: "I am going to be the best Poke'mon master in the whole world! Once I defeat the Elite Four and Team Rocket, I'll come back home and wave my ego in my (pre-determined) RIVAL's face!!"You still have the goal of filling up a Poke'dex and beating every single gym leader in the Unova Region. Yet, you now have story-interactive gym leaders, a ditzy best friend, and a best friend who has a determined dream. Above all, you now have enemies whose goals are not to obtain rare and powerful Poke'mon. We now have Team Plasma, who thinks on the same level as extreme activism (-- worse than that?). To say further would be spoiling it.What I wasn't crazy about:- The Poke'mon PC. There were some new features added to it from the last time I saw it, but, I was hoping there were more flexibilities in the system. I wish Game Freak could just combine DEPOSIT and WITHDRAWL together. Meaning, you could switch and move around Poke'mon without having to manually switch in and out all the time. It's 2011, and we're still manually going back and forth between DEPOSIT and WITHDRAWL. Also, the Battle Box. You can't just move Poke'mon from your party to it or withdrawl Poke'mon. You have to first move Battle Box Poke'mon into any of your boxes just to withdrawl a Poke'mon.- Edit update for the C-Gear: After further exploring, I finally understood about check-marking the box underneath all the other items. Yet, the check-mark pretty much saves the area in the item selection that you were last lingering on. I think this could still be implemented in a slightly better way, but it's better than opening up the C-Gear menu entirely. I think the boxes need to be moved to the top part of the screen rather than the bottom part.- I said there were more things to do/see, but within each town/city, other than item/Poke'mon related events, you just talk to some people and battle others. There is still this feeling of wasted potential. In the amusement park related city, for example, there could've been carnival-like mini-games here. You can't even access the ferris wheel (again). Sure, the Battle Subway is the main meat along with the gym, but there was just this feeling of "that's it?". This feeling echoed with me from the very first main town. I know there is a lot that was put into this game already, but, Game Freak has the chance to push the system even further to match Level-5's "Ni no Kuni".- The mail feature is very limiting. You can't type out your own words. You're forced to use the system's custom made mail.- In 2011, you still can't skip cutscenes or chats with NPCs. Oh Game Freak...Neutrals:o Feels a bit odd to be going through a region that mirrors the NYC tri-state area. It's like combining NYC with Japan elements. In the past Poke'mon games, we had stores with multi-leveled floors and I didn't understand that until I had a trip to Japan. Now, back with a Poke'mon game that focuses on my region, it took a bit of a time to get use to this.o I actually tried not to remember too many Poke'mon names after Red. I just couldn't keep up even when I was playing Silver. :D So with White, I'm just taking it easy with some names. In the long run though, I'm not even going to bother with them too much (and just their custom made nicknames).o I remain neutral on graphics. Graphics are the least of my concern for any game.o The Poke' balls seem to have irregularities in the type of Poke'mon they can contain? Sometimes, the basic Poke'ball can capture a powerful Poke'mon and the higher level balls don't seem to work at all.o Game Freak should make the next generation have a more interactive wi-fi community than just limiting a wi-fi city to Black. Also, GF should also be thinking of letting us customize our characters in the future, too. (Although, I'm not sure if I'll be playing a Poke'mon game after this one. I stopped being die-hard during Silver/Gold's time after all.)o Is there a duplication method for items/Poke' balls in B/W? I have to wonder...Overall, my experience has been 9/10 so far. The game is definitely not Famitsu perfect, of course, but it's fun and that's what counts the most. Even if it uses the same ol' battle formula with some improvements.

Quick Personal StatementI was in elementary school when the "pokemon craze" hit the US and everyone brought games and cards to school. I still have funny memories of getting my cards or gameboy confiscated because I was battling friends or trading during school. (It was much harder to be sneaky when you had to use a cable to connect your systems.) That being said, I only have fond and happy memories of Pokemon. However, as I started getting older, my interest in the series kept declining, but I still bought each new game. Honestly, I was a bit disappointed with Heart Gold / Soul Silver and still have not beaten it yet. I didn't have very high hopes for this game, however, I can tell you this game surpassed anything that I could have hoped for and is by far one of the best Pokemon games that I have ever played. My interest in the series has been reinvigorated. The core battle mechanics remain the same tested and true old formula, but the presentation has improved leaps and bounds! The graphics and environments are some of the best that I have seen on the DS. There are full 3D environments that look astonishingly good. Furthermore, Black and White will have seasonal cycles, as well as night/day cycles. Another added feature is triple battles where each trainer sends out 3 pokemon. I have only had a few hours to play the game, so I cannot speak for the plot as a whole or the post-story activities, but my brief experience with the game has been nothing but pure nostalgic fun.Anyways, I'll leave the detailed reviewing of the game itself to someone else. I'll move on to what I really want to talk about: the differences between Black version and White version.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Differences -- Pokemon - White Version vs Pokemon - Black Version~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Normally, it really doesn't matter which Pokemon version you get, because both are essentially the same thing, except for minor pokemon differences. However, surprisingly, for the first time in a Pokemon game, there are actually significant differences between the games. This time, there are unique regions to each game and the visual theme of each game is quite different.~~~ Visual Theme ~~~So, what do I mean by the visual theme? Well, Pokemon Black has more urbanized, industrial locations, whereas Pokemon White shows a more natural world. This can be seen throughout the game. You will see small differences such as a gardening patch in Mistralton city in Pokemon White compared to a building in the same spot in Pokemon Black. Most of the cities give off a natural atmosphere in White. In White, the cities have more grass, plants, and trees, and in Black the cities have more concrete, asphalt, and buildings. The cities in Black are more developed, and in some cases slightly futuristic-looking. Opelucid (Souryuu) City is the most notable; the city look almost entirely different between the two versions.~~~~ White City / Black Forest ~~~~Pokemon Black has Black City and white has the White Forest. These are the version exclusive regions I mentioned earlier. They fit the visual themes set forth by each game: Black City is a heavily urbanized area with several trainers to battle with Pokemon from lvl 40 to the mid 60s. There are also many item shops with items that can you help you in game. White City, on the other hand, is a natural forest with low leveled, unevolved Pokemon that you can catch. Black City will definitely help you more in terms of raising your own Pokemon's levels and getting supplies for future battles. However, White City will cater more to people who plan to collect Pokemon and try to complete their pokedex.~~~~~ Special Battles - Triple and Rotational ~~~~In both Pokemon White and Black, there are 5 special battles. Pokemon White has 4 Triple Battles and 1 Rotational Battle. Pokemon Black has 4 Rotational Battles and 1 Triple Battle. In both of these special battles, both trainers send out 3 pokemon. These special battles are a bit hard to explain without visuals. The mechanics the battles will be better explained in a simple way during game.Triple Battle:It is a 3 on 3 battle, however, the order you place your pokemon matters. The pokemon in the middle is can attack the enemy's middle, left, or right pokemon, but your pokemon on the left can only attack the enemy's pokemon on the left and the middle. Similarly, your pokemon on the right can only attack the enemy's pokemon on the right and the middle. So, your pokemon on the left cannot attack the opponent's pokemon on the right, and your pokemon on the right cannot attack the opponent's pokemon to the left. To further complicate things, attacks that damage all pokemon such as explosion or earthquake cause more damage when done by the pokemon in the middle, but also inflicts more damage to the pokemon in the middle.** When I say left or right, I am saying it from the perspective of behind your trainer.Rotational Battle:Like the triple battle, both trainers send out three pokemon. However, this time, the pokemon are not fighting against each other all at the same time. Even though all three are sent out, the battle appears like a 1 vs 1 match. Each trainer sends one pokemon forward to battle as one would in a normal battle. But here's the twist: at the start of your turn, you can rotate between any of the three to send forward. You can think of this as basically a pokemon switch without wasting a turn. This adds to the battle strategy when considering types. For example, if your opponent has a grass type forward and you have a water type forward, you would rotate your water type to put a fire type in front.Hopefully, my explanations made sense. If not, don't worry, they are far less complicated when the game explains it to you. If you like the Rotational Battles better, then you might want to gt Pokemon Black since it has 4 of those and only 1 Triple Battle. Maybe rotational battles aren't your thing and you want to do Triple Battles. Then, you should consider Pokemon White.~~~~ Trainer Differences ~~~~There are sometimes minute differences in the pokemon line up of different trainers. I don't really feel that this is significant to talk about. However, one somewhat large change is the gym leader in the 8th gym. Pokemon Black features a stern old man, whereas Pokemon White shows a young girl. These gym leaders have the same pokemon, the only thing different is their appearances/avatar.~~~~~~~~Legendaries~~~~~~~Pokemon Black has the white Legendary Pokemon, Reshiram, which is a Dragon/Fire type.Pokemon White has the black Legendary Pokemon, Zekrom, which is a Dragon/Electric Type.Strategic Note: The sum of the base stats for both legendaries is 680, however, the spread is slightly different. Both have base 100 hp and 90 speed. Reshiram has 120 attack, 100 defense, 150 special attack, 120 special defense. Zekrom has 150 attack, 120 defense, 120 special attack, 100 special defense. This means that Reshiram is better suited to deal and take special attacks, while Zekrom is more suited to deal and take physical attacks.In my honest opinion, I think the Dragon/Electric legendary will be far more useful for competitive battling. One of the best electric type pokemon is Zapdos. However, Zapdos is stunted by its flying type, leaving it vulnerable to devastating attacks such as a 50% health loss from Stealth Rock. This new legendary should easily be able to replace that spot. Plus, the versatility of a dragon type may put it ahead of other notable electric types such as Electivire.~~~~~~~~Version Exclusives~~~~~~~~~~~And of course, like all previous pokemon games. Each version has a few pokemon exclusive to only that version. I wouldn't stress out at the loss these pokemon though. You can get all of them through online trades later, if you really want to complete your pokedex and catch 'em all. Check the bottom of the review for a list.~~~~ Conclusion ~~~~Pokemon Black/White is definitely one of the best pokemon games to come out. I definitely recommend it to anyone of any age. Don't waste time deciding whether or not to get the game: get it. Now, the only decision you have is whether to get Black or White. I decided to go with Pokemon White. White version just appealed more to me and seemed more "open". Black version looked cluttered, in my opinion. Also, I feel that the Black Legendary (found in white version) would be more useful in battle. Try checking out a few screenshots online to help you decide which visual style you like better, then get whichever version you like better!Pokemon - Black Version- urbanized theme- Black City (battle trainers and buy items)- Dragon/Fire Legendary- minor trainer differences (Old guy as 8th gym leader)- more Rotational BattlesPokemon - White Version- natural theme- White City (catch low level pokemon)- Dragon Electric Legendary- minor trainer differences (young girl as 8th gym leader)- more Triple BattlesList of version exclusives:Pokémon Black#13. Weedle#14. Kakuna#15. Beedrill#198. Murkrow#228. Houndour#229. Houndoom#285. Shroomish#286. Breloom#311. Plusle#313. Volbeat#430. Honchkrow#546. Mommen#547. Whimsicott#574. Gothita#575. Gothorita#576. Gothitelle#629. Vullaby#630. Mandibuzz#641. Tornadus (legendary flying)#643. Reshiram (legendary dragon/fire)Pokémon White#10. Caterpie#11. Metapod#12. Butterfree#46. Paras#47. Parasect#200. Misdreavus#261. Poochyena#262. Mightyena#312. Minun#314. Illumise#429. Mismagius#548. Petilil#549. Lilligant#577. Solosis#578. Duosion#579. Reuniclus#627. Rufflet#628. Braviary#642. Thundurus (legendary electric/flying)#644. Zekrom (legendary dragon/electric)+ Several Unevolved Pokemon you can catch in the White Forest:- Pidgey- Nidoran- Abra- Machop- Bellsprout- Gastly- Rhyhorn- Porygon- Togepi- Hoppip- Magby- Wurmple- Seedot- Ralts- Slakoths- Aron- Trapinch- Shinux- Happiny- SurskitUpdate: I just beat the game. It was a fun RPG and I think I am going to now start prepping for competitive battling. I think what drew me into this game the most was that all the characters are brand new until you beat the elite 4. The base plot style is still the same: beat 8 gyms, collect pokemon, navigate through a few caves, solve some little puzzles, defeat enemies from an evil group in a big building, defeat that evil group at their hideout again, fight rivals, elite 4, etc. This style has become standard for Pokemon and the sales data shows it works remarkably well. This game brought back the feeling of the original red / blue as you had to guess what type each Pokemon was, learn new movesets, get legitimately surprised during evolutions, etc. This game really brought back the mysteriousness of Pokemon and their mystic allure that originally piqued your curiosity a decade ago when you first played. Since the game had all new Pokemon, the game inherently took more steps to lead you in and actually is far more beginner friendly than other games.Looking toward the future: (purely speculation and personal opinion)This little section isn't really part of the review; it's just a place for me to dump my stream-of-consciousness about how I feel about the inevitable sequel. With 649 Pokemon, I'm not sure if Nintendo will decide to make a whole new fresh set of Pokemon in their next game as they did in this one (then again, people on forums said that were doubtful of a follow up to 2nd gen ages ago when we hit 251). I think Nintendo may just add a few (around 100) new Pokemon and include many of the current 649 in the next game. Now that we have a 3DS, it's only a matter of time before Nintendo starts dropping hints and teasers for the next 3D Pokemon RPG. Even though I love Pokemon games, the thing that keeps me coming back for more isn't the story, but rather the battle mechanics and strategy involved. In my opinion, it seems like each new Pokemon game just applies the same plot template and changes a few things. It's clear from the sales data that these games are raking in money and are hugely successful, but I actually would like to see some variation in the next game. The general plot idea seems a bit overused and trite now after being adapted for 5 generations of Pokemon games. I actually really enjoyed the gamecube Pokemon RPGs Colosseum and XD. Maybe Pokemon could incorporate more RPG elements in terms of exploration and interacting with the world, perhaps a Collosseum-like RPG game modeling styles of other Nintendo RPG series like Zelda. Actually, now that I think about it, I realize that I don't know what exactly I would change; I just want to see something a little new. A new Pokemon game with the same plot line will sell millions, so I don't think GameFreak and Nintendo will gamble on something new when they found something that sells. Well, that's just my opinion; I'm sure many people would disagree with me. Regardless of plot, the battle mechanics have me hooked and I will definitely be buying the next Pokemon game. If you have some time to spare, drop a comment about what you want to changed/added/removed in the next game.

I played the original red/blue games and loved it. For a while, I picked up each new generation game - yellow, gold/silver, crystal, etc... until I found myself getting too disappointed in the fact it was the same graphics & same Pokemon over and over again to keep going on. I hadn't bothered buying the "new" offerings in recent years because I was waiting for something really original to make it worth purchasing and playing again - well, less than an hour into playing, I knew this is what I was waiting for! There is not one Pokemon you'll be familiar with (at least not until after you beat the Elite Four) so it's like playing Pokemon for the first time having to learn what the different Pokemon are - for me, that's what made Pokemon so exciting to play to begin with. Not only that, the updated graphics are something finally worth noticing. There are some nice animation sequences, the buildings are 3D, and the towns are (mostly) more than four buildings - they actually look like cities. Some views as you cross a (very long) bridge are outstanding. The game feels new, not just a remake. I believe this version of Pokemon blows all past versions away.I plan on giving this to my sister to play to introduce her to the Pokemon world. She has recently expressed interest when she sees me playing. This is perfect since if she starts playing this game now, she's not "behind" the rest of the Pokemon community in knowledge of what Pokemon are out there since it's new for everyone. But I also love you can catch some of the old school Pokemon after beating the Elite Four around the White Forest so she can familiarize herself with some of the classics without having to trade.The 3-on-3 battle feature is new, but there is sadly only a handful of times you get offered that kind of battle against your in-game opponents. Basically your first three Pokemon go out and can attack/be attacked by the Pokemon directly across from them and one space over. This way, the Pokemon in the middle can attack any Pokemon, while the two on the end can only reach to the middle of the opponent's side. I didn't personally think there was anything extraordinarily fun about battling this way - it just makes for a giant melee with some Pokemon left turn after turn with nothing to do but twiddle their thumbs. It's something new though, so I appreciated it. The 3-on-3 is a battle form you'll be challenged with in White version - in Black, you get opponents challenging you to rotation battles. I find rotation battles more fun, actually - Three Pokemon go out on a rotating platform so you can choose your attacking Pokemon (only one is attacking/being attacked) from any of the options making type weaknesses harder to take advantage of since your opponent will likely rotate weaker Pokemon away while you rotate stronger Pokemon in. You do get to try one rotation battle in White, all the other special battles will be 3-on-3. Wild Pokemon also attack you sometimes in pairs, which can be fun/annoying. If you want to catch a wild Pokemon that's part of a team, you have to make the other one faint first. Rarer (not legendaries) wild Pokemon are easier to spot/catch because grass will visibly move in the spot they are located at (or whirlpools will form in water) and they won't run so you can be sure to reach them. Just use a repel to keep regular wild Pokemon away if you have to travel through a bit of grass/water to get to the spot (the repel does not keep you from engaging in battle with the rarer Pokemon & you want to use repel since if you're caught in a regular wild Pokemon battle before you get to the rarer Pokemon spot, the rarer Pokemon will disappear). This sure beats running back and forth blindly in grass just hoping to run into the rarer wild Pokemon you had to deal with before!

Now just had coming back from playing Black/White 2 I decided to play Black/White 1 to see what exactly was going on the story. I also went back to play it to see the differences between Old Unova and New Unova.WARNING, THIS REVIEW MAY HAVE SPOILERS.Story:It's much better than Black/White 2 as it feels more engrossing. Also, Team Plasma seems to be in bigger force here (more influential too). The story as a whole is more enjoyable than I first though. Also, this game sets some of the ground-work for some characters that appear in B2/W2 (which you probably would only see if you've already played B2/W2). Overall, I feel this story actually was the better story of the series. All the other generations' stories just seemed to be more about beating the elite 4 more so than making the Team group (i.e. Team Rocket, Team Magma/Aqua, Team Galactic for example) to be a bigger threat. Also, have several rivals in this game one being, obviously, badass compared to the other 2.Gameplay: it's a little step down from Black/White 2 (obviously), but overall it feel very familiar. It also seems that alot of the battles are very easy now (compared to Black and White 2). Though the core mechanics are still there, and the changes added since B/W are present. It seems that the battle interface (Pokemon name, HP Gauge, and EXP bar) are slightly different but this isn't really any kind of issue. Probably the biggest difference here between B/W and B2/W2 is the fact that you are having to use mainly Unova region pokemon. This really isn't a problem, and it forces you to make due with the resources you have. On a positive note, however, you can trade pokemon from Black/White to Black 2/White 2. So if you want to keep your rare pokemon but want to restart the game you can trade them to a buddy or twink them yourself (assuming you have 2 Nintendo DS/3DS devices.Replayability: it's not as high given that it doesn't have features that are mentioned in Black and White 2. Though there are things to do at the end (such as finding the Team Plasma "Sages" you ran into during the course of the game). If you have a buddy you can use him/her to get people to move from Black City (in Pokemon Black Version) to move into White forest. This would increase the amount of pokemon you can get from different regions. The problem is you don't know anyone without the opposite version, you're stuck with what you get from the beginning (with no way to expand it) which is determined at random.Overall, this game is very good. I enjoyed playthrough the Unova region and second time. As a matter of fact, I am restarting my Black 2 version just so I can see the changes again and get the references that were made to Black/White 1. If you were like me having bought Black/White 2, I would suggest getting this game only if you're interested in the changes/story of the Unova region (or if you felt the story from Black2/White2 was a bit disappointing).

I've been with the Pokemon game series since Red version, and though the TV show and card game and all have fallen through, I continue to purchase and play the handheld games. For newcomers, this is one of the best handheld series out there - the gameplay hasn't changed overall very much, but small tweaks have been made with every new game so it's almost a perfect game now in those terms.I was reluctant to buy this game because I thought I was growing out of them. I decided to try it and am glad I did. The major addition to note is the improved graphics - 3D (or almost 3D) areas allow you to (for example) circle around a spiral staircase or travel on a bridge with a camera angle from above. The battle sequences have more movement now so it seems more real than ever before. Different grasses, changing seasons, and triple battles are also great additions to the game.The game itself is really fun because you have some odd 150 new pokemon and don't interact with any old ones (any of the past generations) until much later in the game. Gameplay is again similar but with lots of new twists. This game is easier than Diamond/Pearl, which makes it more approachable overall. I haven't finished the game yet, I found the length of the game to be quite long so far so you will never feel like you paid too much $$$ for it. I thought I'd eventually be disappointed by a new handheld pokemon game but they keep coming out and continue to entertain. HIGHLY RECOMMEND

I skipped over several Pokémon games over the years. I was a Generation 2 guy playing Pokémon Gold in the days where 250 whopping Pokémon to collect. But when I purchased a 3DS in 2011 I decided it was time to get back into Pokémon. I purchased the Gold remake first and then played it intently. A few years later I pre-ordered and played Pokémon Y to completion. I had Pokémon from HeartGold I wanted to transfer but the new transfer system would not work with that game.So I set forth to purchase a copy of White and White 2.First of all, Pokémon White treats its audience like intelligent participants in a world that is unfriendly and wild. This is clearly an E +10 game and is in no way a hardcore title... but it presents a complex question to it's audience... Is fighting Pokémon, collecting Pokémon, and trading Pokémon ethical? And like any good question there is no straight answer. Even the best player of Pokémon has a Pokémon in their PC storage that they have not used in a very long time. Is that Pokémon lonely? Are they hungry? Are they claustrophobic? None of this is truly answered.But beyond that, this game plays smoothly as an individual title with small rewards if you play the associated Pokémon Black title. Unfortunately for collectors, you cannot trade Pokémon between White and it's older peers Pokémon Diamond, Pearl, Platinum, HeartGold, SoulSilver. There is an annoying minigame to transfer these Pokémon six at a time from one cart to another, but it requires patience. It irked me that I could not simply trade between them. Speaking of trading, Pokémon White 2 has full trading capability to the best of my knowledge.The Pokémon in this title are some of the best I have seen. I am still favoring the Gen 1-2 style but the Gen 5 Pokémon really set the environment well. From lumbering stone ghost golems to brilliant blustering eagles, this set of Pokémon is worthy to collect.As a whole, I would recommend this title to anyone from ten years old to thirty five. It asks good questions about the game played and sets a standard for Pokémon games in the future. While not perfect, it really seems to be the definitive DS incarnation of Pokémon so far. And White 2 improves upon the shortcomings of White with more activities, seasonal changes, competitions, mini-games, and good ol' fashioned Pokémon battles. If you are planning to get Pokémon White's PokeBank then I would certainly suggest getting this game to round out your collection.

So it's time for another pokemon game. Truth be told, I'm not a huge pokemon fan. I played red/blue when I was in high school and had very enthusiastic friends, but after that I meandered through the series, I've played most of them up to this point but mostly just trying them out without really dedicating myself to finishing/collecting everything.So Black/White is pretty much your standard pokemon game. You start out with friends/rivals getting starters from the local professor, you quickly meet the 'evil team' and are turned loose on the world to go find the 8 gym badges so you can become the pokemon league champion. Standard cut and paste from every other pokemon game, though I did appreciate that they cut out a lot of the exposition and got you started on your way pretty fast.And there's a whole new cast of pokemon to catch and battle. Honestly, I'm a little disappointed how thoroughly new everything is, not that it's a bad thing, but I kind of liked the older generations for introducing new versions of older pokemon by means of 'young' versions, or new evolutions. There are more than a handful of new parallels to match older generations, a new 'pidgey', a new 'caterpie', and others. The designs run the gammut from cute and charming to big and badass, to uh, well, things like Trubbish, whose name really speaks for itself ;9 But that's pretty typical of any pokemon generation, there's good designs and... not so good. You pick your favorite starter, and then fill in the rest of your team with whatever you like or whatever you need for the next gym/story event. As always, what you can catch/evolve/etc is balanced (somewhat) around what you need.The story is very linear, in that there's actually more of a story instead of a string of random events as you progress along. Unlike some earlier games, you *have* to complete the gyms at the time you encounter them, your progress will be impeded in some way until you've beaten the gym. To balance this somewhat, you no longer need gym badges to do anything except keep control of your pokemon, any HM you receive such as strength/cut/fly/etc can be used immediately. Not that it means much since most of them only lead to extra items rather than new areas like way back in Red/Blue.I will say that it brings probably the creepiest pokemon villain ever to the table. N is basically a pokemon fanboy that has a legion of minions to do his bidding. From the get go he gives you these long winded speeches about friendship and destiny and changing the world and how all the pokemon are his friends. It's downright creepy, so he's quickly a villain you hate to run into.So far (and by that I mean I'm only about halfway through the game) my only major complaints are that I'm just not seeing a lot of the new mechanics that were introduced in the older games. Some of these are in the online component (berry farming is only accessible via gamesync, which is not working until Nintendo of Japan can get it's servers up after the earthquake crisis) but one has to question the reasoning behind developing parts of a game to *require* connecting to a specific domain when some of those parts would function perfectly fine offline. Dunno I haven't gotten to try the gamesync function yet so it's hard to say. Just seems silly to release a game then not have part of its functionality available for another 2 months after release (and longer now, with the delay). Or other features, like being able to add beaten trainers to a list and be able to re-challenge them later on, that seem to be just missing from the game. Perhaps it's just me, or maybe I'm missing something, but usually the idea of a sequel is to build on what you've brought before. At it's core pokemon is the same game its been for 15 some years plus, but its the periphery that's changed considerably and it seems like Nintendo isn't running with some of their good ideas from the past.Anyway, if you're completely new to pokemon it's an excellent game to get started on. If you're an old fan of the series that is content with what's come before, it's also an excellent game. If you're someone that is expecting a complete revamp of the series however, looking for a new model that shies away from series conventions, this really isn't for you and expect to be disappointed.All in all, I find it pretty fun.

Anyone familiar with this game has likely heard mixed reviews about it, but the consensus, I think, has been that this game is definitely different. And honestly, I'm not the sort of person to grade a game down on the sole basis of "but it's different from the original!" However, the difference is an important thing to note about this game, so I'll begin the review on that note (:Admittedly, I was a bit late to get into this game (due to a lack of funding at the time of the release), but I'm really glad I didn't put it off any later. I've had this game for about a week now and I can say with complete honesty that I'm thrilled with it. When initially faced with the plot during the first part of gameplay, I was a little indifferent, because it certainly had done a lot of branching out from the original games in a lot of ways. But in retrospect, I think it was really good to branch out from the older games. If the games had just continued to stay the same throughout 5 generations.. sure, it'd be a classic, but which ones would you really remember? Don't get me wrong, my Pokémon fanatic days date back to early 1998, but change can be positive.Anyway, I think after the initial jump, the newer aspects of the game comparatively to the old ones are pulled off quite nicely and fluidly, and aren't so radical as to lose the Pokémon fanbase (and title) entirely. I would be lying to say I wasn't a little annoyed with the hand-holding at the beginning of the game (e.g. being given a Pokémon at the beginning impromptu, following your two best friends around from town to town, etc.), but I think that each little annoying aspect at the beginning ultimately contributes to the plot in a very positive way and really lets the gameplay blossom into something else in a place it never dared to go before. I've noticed that this game really takes a different moral approach and invites the player to really consider themselves and their own goals and motives, rather than become swept up in a plot that consists of a mindless journey to "be the best". I think that the antagonists of the game are a very nice touch, especially with the addition of the high interaction factor with their leader (can you tell I'm trying REALLY hard not to give away any spoilers?), and really aren't as gaudy as they could have potentially been. And in addition to all this, the scenery truly is amazing, and I think all of us have been tempted at some point to change the settings on our DS to an alternate season just to see the changes in weather, foliage, and color of Deerling's fur.To conclude this ridiculous mess of spilled thoughts, I think the best advice I can offer to prospective delving into Pokémon Black or White is to have an open mind about it. I did, and I loved it. If that happens, no matter whether you've been a Pokémon nerd for 15 years or a few days, I'm sure you'll find a lot to love about this game, and a lot that professes the classics that Pokémon is so well-known and loved for.

Right price, good game, time well spent playing it.If you're a fan of the saga it's a must have, if you're not you should definitely try it.

excellent jeu.

My mum bought this for my son's 10 th birthday. He uses it on.DAB to listen to Fun kids and is really pleased with it. Had now for 6 weeks with no problems so far.

C'est un trés bon jeu comme tous les pokémon, ATTENTION!! Heureuxement j'ai acheté le jeu en considerant la photo, parce qu'il s'agit du Pokemon WHITE, même si c'est écrit Pokemon black dans la déscription!

Llego apenas un día luego de haberlo pedido y llego retractilado, como si no hubieran pasado los 7 años que pasaron desde su lanzamiento.Lo jugué desde mi 3DS y lo único que lamento es que el ratio de la pantalla es diferente, fuera de eso, funciona completamente bien (incluso el multijugador).