Diary of a Pokemaniac
March 6th, 2011 was a good day. It marked the beginning of 2011’s National Glaucoma Week, Junior Anna Ozment was crowned 2011 Laurens County Junior Miss at the Dublin-Laurens County Junior Miss Contest, and finally, Nintendo ushered in the next generation of Pokemon! Black and White, the two newest additions to the Pocket Monster franchise, are the fifth installment into Nintendo’s flagship portable series. This time around however, Nintendo wasn’t content to let the classic formula of “add more monsters, a few new moves and make some new towns”; rather they reworked the series from the ground up, completely reshaping nearly every aspect of the game.
While some of these new features were watched warily when first announced, I’m here to assure one and all that the only thing these features do to this game is improve it. In fact, they make the entire game feel new, as in brand new. As a total experience, Black and White took me back to that awe and excitement of playing my red version for the first time. From the moment I was asked to enter my name to well after completing the games well-crafted story, I felt that “just bought a sweet new game with birthday money” feeling I recall twelve year-old me feeling way back when.
The game goes a long way in accomplishing this sensation by including nothing but new pokemon, new cities, and new gyms. New beginning to end. This time around (and for the first time ever in the series outside of red and blue), there are no returning characters from previous games. And I must say, not seeing a constant stream of Zubat, Tentacool, and Geodude was not only a refreshing change of pace, but allowed for a greater sense of exploration and discovery.
As for the new roster itself. it took a bit of time, but I’ve officially finally warmed up to all of the new recruits. In the beginning, it was easy to like the new starters, I mean, come on:
As I played on however, some of the characters just got weird or otherwise felt outta place.
However, after completing the game, and seeing some of the older pokemon join the mix, these characters have since grown on me and serve to continue the trend of “can’t make ‘em all winners” that have given us such greats as Dunsparce and Spinda.
And of course, there are the new features that help launch this entry into an entirely new era of Pocket Monsters. The first being the improved communication features. Random ranked matchups over wi-fi, an online trainer database and four-way video chat? All present and accounted for, making very cool additions to the series. There’s also the ability to explore a friend’s game via wireless and complete MMO-style quests. Even regular wireless functions like trades and battles are streamlined and made available on the road or in one of the game’s many centers. Finally, the triple and rotation battles (while severely limited in the main game) are also cool features, if simply only underemployed.
But probably the biggest reason that I love Black and White is the feeling that it was the perfect installment for the time it was released. The story line is more mature, characters are more mature. Real issues start to take form. The ethics and morality of being a trainer are explored and, following the previous example of Cyrus in Diamond and Pearl, the main villain is real bad guy, not a cartoony villain as in earlier games. This kind of real antagonist lends much of the games events a bit more gravity and makes the plot as a whole all the more compelling.
As a whole, the game is polished, accessible and above all, fun. The basic formula of turn based, rock, paper, scissors battles return feeling reinvented and exciting. Nintendo and Game Freak have returned a sense of wonder to the series and the result is a game for any fans of the series, old or new, and even offering a ground floor for those new to the series. And that is truly where the magic lies: this game is not just for the kids who started a few versions ago, or even those starting it now; it’s for the kids who started in Kanto almost 15 years ago and have gone wandering ever since.
-MHJ
