Pokemon Platinum (Review)

Okay, 2 and half weeks after it's launch and I've finally completed Pokemon Platinum, the special edition of 2007's Diamond and Pearl. The game really isn't that different from D & P, which is the only negative thing I can really say about the game. Nintendo often gets a lot of criticism with their franchises for not changing the formula enough between games. While Mario and Zelda add just enough new concepts to warrant another game, Pokemon is probably the most guilty of the "never change" complaint. If you want to include all the different versions of a single pokemon game, then you could say that Nintendo has released the same game 15 times in about 10 years.

That's not to say I didn't enjoy Platinum, it's just as enjoyable now as was when started. The game adds a new area: The Distortion World, a Battle Frontier, and rearranges the order of some of the gym leaders. They also changed a lot of the opponents pokemon line-ups and their move sets. This actually makes the game a tad harder than before. Most of the pokemon fought in the game now use moves that seem to cover their weaknesses (The weak to electric type Gyarados regularly uses the move earthquake, which electric types are weak against).

Pokemon Platinum is easily the best DS Pokemon game. It doesn't have enough new material to warrant a purchase for people who played through Diamond and Pearl, but newcomers and hardcore fans will eat it up.