Attention All PokeManiacs a new pokemon game has just been released...Hey no pushing!
The question is: Why did they go an pre-order it, I mean aside from being geeks? Well even if your not a pokemaniac you still will get hooked almost instantly. There have been so many spin-offs to this classic game that have given pokemon an outdated look but pearl/diamond was able to enstill all of this back into our hearts. XD
Now onto the real review. You start out just as you have done every pokemon game (with the exception of the numerous spin-offs) as some dude who goes from zero to hero which can happen in a matter of hours. You go around collection these cute or ugly little monsters that you can use to help you in battle with other wild or tamed monsters a.k.a pokemon. When you get deeper into the story you realize that you have to stop team galactic( the new gang in town) from destroying everything you once loved.
In addition to saving the world you go around beating the trainers who are the best of the best of that town to earn badges a.k.a gym leaders. Some of them can be quite challenging considering the team that you assemble as well as some can be downright ownage considering the team you have made up. After beating the gym leaders and team galactic you go on to the elite four who are the most elite trainers in all of Sinnoh( the country you are in ). When you beat them basically the sky is the limit as you have officially beat the main questline but oodles of goodies await you if you plan to catch em' all or duke it out with the best online. Major changes to the game are not very notable as none have been made instead minor ones have been made that contribute to the overall gameplay. Aside from being a small 100 new pokemon to capture you are now given a pokeketch which is like a mini PDA. It can do a number of things depending on the programs you have stored on it. Although it is not essential it can be useful for catching certain pokemon.
New moves have been added to the already numerous pokemon abilities and show of the new graphic abilities of the nintendo ds system. It shines in some of the most basic things for instance the windmills in the game, as well as the colorful lights displayed at the spear pillar. The numerous new key items make the game have even more explorable options to it. Of course since the gameplay stays mostly the same way as its predecessors it cant get a high score gameplay wise. The new Wi-Fi features make for an interesting way to play as you can go underground, bury and dig up treasure making a few extra hours of gameplay.
This game has probably the highest replayability of any game ever made as you never truly complete the game until you catch all the polemon which now are more than ever but with these new pokemon you are given a lot more options to explore. One thing an earlier version did to make the main storyline longer was to bring back one the older regions which is notably gone from the sequel.
Not that this is a big setback but it makes the game easy to beat as I beat it in less than 8 hours. Also the storyline lacked the finess of the other games and it does seem that the villian storyline is fading from amazing to good. Of course for the most part it was o.k. If your a true pokefan then you'll realize the problem but if you havent picked up a pokemon game before (I HIGHLY doubt that you havent) then you will find it adequate.
The sound at times can be very good besides having different tunes for each town even your bike has a nice tune. The only place where the sound suffers is when you use moves like sunny day and hail then the sounds start to agitate you more than pump you but the effort put into it makes it more than solid.
It if definetly worth the money, in fact I bought my nintendo ds lite just to buy this game along with it so as you can already tell i sympathize with this game a.k.a I tilt fully towards it. Believe it or not people playing it for the first time are going to have a harder time understanding all the concepts but enjoy it probably even more than the veterans will.
I grew up with pokemon so although this game is designed for the younger group even after 10 years it still makes me feel like a kid. Even once you finish this game in its entirety you might find yourself willing to do it again and again.