Good graphics doesnt change the fact that Pokemon Ranger is repetitive and boring.
The gameplay is boring not to mention making your wrist hurt with the constant circles you have to do to capture them. That is really all you do in this game: make circles on you touch screen. You will be assigned a mission at the Ranger HQ and head out to complete it. Once you get out in the wilderness you have to "capture" pokemon temporarily to get to your goal.
Once you get to your goal you will meet a bunch of idiots...I mean the villians of the game. They happen to have pokemon under their control. You cant use the pokemon you have "captured" to battle with the bad guys pokemon. Nope the pokemon you have to battle just wander around your touch screen attacking at nothing. The way you "defeat" them is to...you guessed it...make more circles on the screen. Only a few Pokemon are even remotely difficult to capture which makes this game easier than any of the other Pokemon games.
The only thing going for this game is the graphics which are great compared to many of the current Pokemon games released in the US. For a first time player of Pokemon, I would suggest Emerald, FireRed, or Diamond/Pearl. Those games are the traditional style of Pokemon and in my opinion are better games. Pokemon Ranger is an below average game that lacks everything that makes a game great: entertaining story and fun gameplay.