Pokémon Black and White (DS)

Overview

Pokémon Black and Pokémon White are expected to be the last Pokémon games released on DS. While they are Nintendo DS games, they can be played on a 3DS and are included on 3DS Buzz due to rumours of 3DS exclusive features and since they are of interest to many 3DS Buzz readers.

Despite the 30+ Pokémon games that have been released since 1998, Black and White are only the 5th generation of games in the core series. They introduce 156 new Pokémon to the series, bringing the total to 649. They are also the first not to include Pokémon from other games. It is also known that Victini is the first Pokémon in the Unova (Isshu) Pokédex, No. 494, carrying on from Arceus (No. 493).

Although Black and White will essentially be the same, they will continue the legacy of the previous games by having Pokémon unique to each game, including the legendary Pokémon. This way, trading is necessary to obtain all Pokémon. Another difference between the two will be two exclusive areas, one in each game. Black will have Black City which, as the name suggests, is a big city that is rather dark in colour. White will have the White Forest which, as the name also suggests, will be a bright forest. The idea is that city dwellers will have the chance to see a more pastoral scene and those who hail from the countryside will be able to explore a city.

Gameplay

In Pokémon Black And White, and all core generational Pokémon games, the player travels different regions collecting and training pokemon. The player as usual starts out with one of three starter pokemon Tepig, Snivvy, or Oshawott, which are fire, grass, and water types, respectively. The player then goes on to catch new pokémon and defeat others to help the player's pokémon to gain experience to level up.

There are many different areas to explore and missions to follow and this excludes the original to the game story-line in Pokémon, which range from collecting all pokemon, which requires an extensive amount of breeding and trading, to defeating the Elite Four and all Gym Leaders, which takes many battles and many experience points to achieve. Along the way, other aspiring trainers will need to be fought for extra experience and money to spend on items for the player and the pokemon being trained, either on or off the battlefield.

Wireless Features

Pokemon Black And White features many wireless features. Players can trade pokemon with other trainers over Wifi, they can battle other trainers, and they can video chat with friends while battling or trading together. Unfortunately, since the game was released for the Nintendo DS, no 3DS features, such as StreetPass and SpotPass, are included in Pokemon Black And White

Characters

The main characters in Pokémon Black and White are: Hilbert and Hilda (The playable Boy and Girl characters respectively) , N, Team Plasma (the villainous team), Belle, Cheren, and Professor Juniper.

Other Characters:

Mom - Hilbert/Hilda's Mom

Cedric - Professor Juniper's Father

Fennel - A Dream Researcher

Amanita - The Creator of Unova's Pokémon Storage system

Plot

This game is about a villainous team called Team Plasma and a man called N. They try to separate humans and Pokémon. Team Plasma is not determined to catch legendary Pokemon, N is. N is setting his goal to become a Pokemon King, and take over. Most likely, as usual in the series, the player character will have to stop Team Plasma from achieving these goals.

As in previous Pokemon games, the player will catch Pokemon and use them in battles, earning badges and trying to become a Pokemon Master. As well, stopping Team Plasma will be a secondary goal, as they're always causing trouble and trying to harm others.

Reception

Pokemon Black And White has continued the longstanding tradition of general praise when releasing a core generational game. One of the most negative reviews, Gamespot has given the game a score of 7.5/10, praising the wealth of content in the game while knocking it for using the same format over and over again. One of the most positive reviews has come from the Escapist magazine. The magazine gave the game a 10/10, praising the game for the content and flow of the game. Metacritic has given the game an aggregate score of 87, with almost all reviews being "positive" or "great".