Spring Break
Old series truly reanimated on DS with 'Diamond' and 'Pearl'
Dave Goncalves
Issue date: 4/27/07 Section: Arts & Entertainment
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February 27, 1995 marked the day we got our first glimpse of a phenomenon that would sweep the globe; Pokémon had arrived. With the release of the first Pokémon games, children of the world wanted nothing more than to catch and play with their favorite pocket-monsters. Over ten years later, a long-running animé series accompanied by nine movies and a wealth of games spread across Nintendo's various platforms. Pokémon once again sets out to release another of its tried and true formula games, marking the first appearance of a Pokémon RPG on the DS with Pokémon Diamond and Pearl.
The first thing people will note is that the world has graphically improved since the series began, and the backgrounds have taken a dramatic change since the last installment. With the introduction of stronger handheld hardware, the series was capable of introducing 3D backgrounds. It looks a little weird sometimes when you're playing, though, because it's a 2D sprite placed on top of a 3D model world. It's fairly well done with pools of water creating reflections of the character as he walks past lakes and puddles of water. This also allows for the animation of the monster sprites.
When the player enters battle, he will see a brief animation of his monster and the opposing monster, each one with its own unique poses and movements. What's more is that there are visible differences between female and male monsters in Diamond and Pearl.
In respects of sound, the games' music and new monster cries have drastically improved since the garbled MIDI screeching from earlier versions. Though the original 150 monsters all have their original cries, new monsters have sounds that would be somewhat relevant to their creature type. For instance, a cricket like monster makes what is audibly recognizable as a cricket's chirp as opposed to the sound of chewing tin foil.
As far as the story goes, it's your run-of-the-mill Pokémon story: the player wants to be the world's best trainer so he sets out to do it, and on the way he runs into a group trying to steal Pokémon to conquer the world. It's not all too exciting or new, but it makes for interesting dialogue as all the opponents talk the player down, only to make excuses after the player's victory. Though that's not necessarily a bad thing, the creators decided to go above and beyond with everything. Every road of the game has been made longer. There are many more cities and many more trainers and monsters, along with many new games and bonuses within the game itself.
The first thing people will note is that the world has graphically improved since the series began, and the backgrounds have taken a dramatic change since the last installment. With the introduction of stronger handheld hardware, the series was capable of introducing 3D backgrounds. It looks a little weird sometimes when you're playing, though, because it's a 2D sprite placed on top of a 3D model world. It's fairly well done with pools of water creating reflections of the character as he walks past lakes and puddles of water. This also allows for the animation of the monster sprites.
When the player enters battle, he will see a brief animation of his monster and the opposing monster, each one with its own unique poses and movements. What's more is that there are visible differences between female and male monsters in Diamond and Pearl.
In respects of sound, the games' music and new monster cries have drastically improved since the garbled MIDI screeching from earlier versions. Though the original 150 monsters all have their original cries, new monsters have sounds that would be somewhat relevant to their creature type. For instance, a cricket like monster makes what is audibly recognizable as a cricket's chirp as opposed to the sound of chewing tin foil.
As far as the story goes, it's your run-of-the-mill Pokémon story: the player wants to be the world's best trainer so he sets out to do it, and on the way he runs into a group trying to steal Pokémon to conquer the world. It's not all too exciting or new, but it makes for interesting dialogue as all the opponents talk the player down, only to make excuses after the player's victory. Though that's not necessarily a bad thing, the creators decided to go above and beyond with everything. Every road of the game has been made longer. There are many more cities and many more trainers and monsters, along with many new games and bonuses within the game itself.
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