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Reviews (3)
25 May 2009
Gotta Catch Em All... Again
9 of 10 found this helpful Pokemon Red was my first Game Boy game, and as such holds a special place in my heart. Years later, they have remade the 2 games that started the pokemon craze: Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen.
Before I begin, let me recommend that you all only get either FireRed or LeafGreen. There is no sense in having them both. I once owned Pokemon Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald, FireRed, and LeafGreen, and I ended up selling 3 of those. The reason I say this is because FireRed and LeafGreen are the same game, just with a handful of Pokemon being unique to each version.
Back in the day, it MIGHT have made sense to have 2 versions if you didn't have friends to trade with. Nowadays, however, there are so many pokemon that catching every last one is an endeavor only to be attempted by obsessive-compulsives; I guarantee that you will have no desire to see the task of catching ever last darn critter all the way through. If you do, I doubt it will be a very rewarding experience.
Beyond this caveat, this game is very good because it is virtually a carbon copy of the original games, which were also very good. That's both the game's greatest strength and its greatest weakness: while the original game was darn near perfect, nostalgia only goes so far, and the magic will not repeat itself. If this is your first pokemon game, however, then you are in for a treat, assuming that you are either very young or young at heart.
This game is a very simple RPG with a basic plot. You are a young boy or girl, and are tasked with catching a variety of pocket monsters, or pokemon, and training a team of them to battle other trainers, which include the "Gym Leader" bosses, your childhood rival, a villainous cartel known as Team Rocket, and eventually the unparalleled Elite Four. The game is very easy; the learning curve is very low, and there is even a hint system for when the player gets stuck. However, there is a fairly deep battle system here, so competitive players.
The graphics are decent, and the sound is nothing to write home about. But regardless of the lack of originality or aging sound design, the fact remains that it is still pokemon. It sells like illegal drugs and still oozes with charm, and as such the developers have no real incentive to change the formula.
One more thing that I would like to point out: if you have a Nintendo DS, and you have never played pokemon before, then I would highly recommend the new Pokemon Platinum version. Platinum is the director's cut of the DS iterations of the game, and as such has more pokemon and gameplay than you can shake a stick at. Plus, it has online battling and trading, which is a huge addition to the series. If you still want another adventure, or just wish to play a remake of the original game, then pick up FireRed. You really can't go wrong, unless you hate pokemon.
17 March 2010
Pokemon Platinum: The Definitive Title
9 of 11 found this helpful Before I begin this review, I would like to mention that I have played almost every main series pokemon game since Red and Blue. The main series is the only part of the franchise that I like; I ignore all TV shows, merchandise, or spin-off titles.
With that said, let's get rolling.
Pokemon Platinum is the 14th game in the main Pokemon series (15th in Japan). Like the other 13 games that came before it, you play as a young child from a small town. A professor gives you one of 3 starting pokemon. For those of you who do not know what a pokemon is, it is simply a creature that can be summoned from balls that fit in one's pocket. There hundreds of these things, and each has specific abilities, strengths, and weaknesses.
Pokemon is a turn-based role playing game. You wander around, randomly encountering pokemon as you walk through tall grass, caves, etc. You catch new pokemon, have them fight by taking turns smacking each other with a variety of attacks, raise them by using them in battle, and so on and so forth.
Once you find some pokemon and raise them, you then proceed to travel across the land, fighting fellow trainers and finding new pokemon and items. Your goal: fight 8 elite gym leaders to get 8 gym badges, allowing you to fight 4 elite trainers in a row to earn the title of Greatest Pokemon Trainer Ever.
You will also help random people, fight an evil gang, and save the world from some vague, slow-moving disaster. The story is probably the weakest aspect of the game, as it only serves to give the player a goal other than catching and raising pokemon.
The reason I don't rate this game perfectly is that it is virtually identical to the other 13 titles. The story? Names have changed, but it is still the same idea. Battle system? There are new attacks and a variety of tweaks, but it is nearly unchanged from the series' game boy days.
On the plus side, the gameplay remains as addictive and fun as ever. Children can learn the basics very quickly, yet there is a lot of depth in customizing and raising a powerful team of pokemon.
If you are new to the series, I would actually start with Pokemon Platinum. It has the largest variety of pokemon to catch, and the initial difficulty curve is forgiving without being too easy. This game has been refined to its peak, and the ability to trade and battle other people across wi-fi only sweetens the deal.
If you have played other pokemon games recently, be warned: it is the same ole song and dance.
19 May 2009
Good... if you can get it at a discount
Rock Band is an amazing game, made more so by the wonderful assortment of downloadable songs available for the XBox 360 and Playstation 3 versions of the game. AC/DC is, simply put, legendary. So combining the two would seem to be a perfect match, right? Well... sorta.
See, the AC/DC track pack is a stripped down version of Rock Band 1 featuring live versions of some of AC/DC's signature songs. The audio quality is great, especially considering that it is a live version. My one gripe with the tracks themselves is that when I just want to play any given song, I find that I have to battle through an intro and an outtro on the guitar that are either really hard to nail or completely boring for the rest of the band. However, this is a small complaint.
My main complaint is with the rest of the game... in that there isn't a "rest of the game." It's just those 18 songs. No bonus content or anything along those lines. This game is simply glorified downloadable content. There is actually a code in the manual that let's you download these 18 songs to the real game, bypassing the need for a disk itself.
This game is ultimately weighted down by a completely unnecessary walmart exclusivity and a full game engine. There aren't even trophies to justify getting anything but the download code.
I would recommend getting this game, but for no more than 30 dollars, which is about what the DLC would be worth if it were on the Playstation Network. I got it for $10 less than that, so go around ebay, and MAKE SURE that you get a copy with an unused download code. Unless you don't care about swapping disks or don't own Rock Band 1 or 2.