Pokemon Platinum

Author's Rating:

Pros: awesome gameplay, great grahpics, great music, cool pokemon

Cons: none really

The Bottom Line: 
It is a must have game for all Pokemon Fans and owners of a Nintendo DS.

Author's Review
After playing Pokemon Diamond for a long time I was so excited when I heard that they were coming out with Pokemon Platinum. I was so happy when I finally got Pokemon Platinum and loved it as soon as I started to play the game. It didn't take me long after starting to play Pokemon Platinum that I decided that it was now my favorite pokemon game. To find out why Pokemon Platinum is such a great game read the rest of my review.
 
Story
 
Just like in Pokemon Diamond and Pearl the story is mostly the same but there are a few changes. You still start in Twinleaf town which is where you and your friend live. In Pokemon Platinum the story starts with your friend suggesting that you and him try and travel to Sandgem Town which where Professor Rowan the Pokemon Professor lives, so you can meet him and mabye get a pokemon of your own. As soon as your friend goes to dash across some tall grass Proffesor Rowan shows up and appears to be shocked that some kids are trying to run into tall grass without pokemon. He eventually decides to give you and your friend a pokemon. You get to choose from one of the  three starters which are Piplup, Chimchar and Turtwig and depending on which one you choose your friend will pick the pokemon of the opposite type of yours. The starter you choose here will permanently become yours after you go visit Professor Rowan in his lab in Sandgem Town. Before you and your friend go to Sandgem Town your friend suggests that you and him try to catch the rare pokemon at lake Verity. Unlike in Pokemon Diamond and Pearl you end up running into Cyrus who is the head of Team Galatic which you don't know yet. After Cyrus leaves and your friend remembered that you guys don't have any pokeballs you guys decide to head of to Sandgem Town.There are other new changes that come up in the story like the new characters International Police Officer: Looker and Team Galactic Professor - Charon. Just like in all other pokemon games the main goal is to travel the region catching and training pokemon and defeating trainers and gymleaders along the way to become the Pokemon Master.
 
Gameplay
 
 
Pokemon Platinum has the same features as Pokemon Diamond and Pearl have but there are few more features added into Pokemon Platinum and I will explain them along with talking about the other features. The Pokedex is the still the same as it was in Pokemon Diamond and Pearl with the dial on the bottom screen which allows you to rotate the dial with the stylus and move the list on the top screen back and forth. The bag in Pokemon Platinum is the same as Pokemon Diamond and Pearl also, which is where you store all your items. The items are grouped within your bag into different categories which include: Items, Medicine, Poke Balls, TM's & HM's, Berries, Battle Items, Mail and Key Items. The Pokedex and Bag can be accessed from the menu which includes: Pokedex, Pokemon, Bag, Trainer Card, Save and Options. The Trainer Card which is actually listed as your in game name on the menu is the same as it is on Pokemon Diamond and Pearl where you can view the badges you have and you can slide the stylus over them to clean them and make the shiny again.
 
The Pokemon Watch (Poketech) which was introduced in Pokemon Diamond and Pearl is still the exact same in Pokemon Platinum. The Poketech takes up the whole touch screen when you aren't in battles or in the menu screen. The Poketech has many useful functions which are called Poketech apps, which obtain from different people during your adventure. Some of the Poketech apps that you will obtain are: Digital Watch, Friendship Checker and Daycare Checker. There are actually a total of 25 Poketech Apps you can get including the three I just mentioned.
 
Just like in all other Pokemon games in Pokemon Platinum there are two types of battles, battles against wild pokemon and battles against pokemon trainers or gymleaders. The first pokemon which is the one the top left appears first when you start a fight. Each pokemon that participates in the fight and didn't faint will gain some exp when the fight is over. When going up against a wild pokemon you have a chance to catch the pokemon if you want to with a pokeball but if you are in a trainer battle you can't since the pokemon already has a trainer. In order to engage in a battle with a trainer you have to make eye contact with the trainer by walking right in front of them or by going up and talking to them. Just like in Pokemon Diamond and Pearl all you have to do is tap the battle options on the touch screen to select them with the stylus, which means no more having to press buttons all the time in battles. In battles you have 4 options to choose from on the battle menu which include: Fight, Pokemon, Bag and Run. You can't run from a trainer or gymleader battle like you can from a wild pokemon.
 
Battling wild pokemon and trainers aren't that hard unless your pokemon are not high enough for the area you are in. As you travel to farther places on your adventure the pokemon and trainers will gradually get harder, but as long as you continuely level your pokemon they shouldn't be too hard. Gymleaders are a bit harder than the trainers you face before you get to the gymleader. Gymleaders are place in gyms which are located in certain towns in the region of shinnoh.
 
Every time you win a battle your pokemon will gain some exp and not just the pokemon that faints the wild pokemon or the trainers last pokemon the other pokemon that participated in the battle will get exp too. The more pokemon that participated in the battle the less exp each pokemon gets since its split. Once a pokemon gains enough experience it will level up and it will learn new moves at certain lvls. Most pokemon will evovle once they hit a certain lvl, but there are some pokemon that don't evolve. Some pokemon will only evolve if you trade them to or from another game and others need a specific item to evolve, like eevee needs a thunderstone to evovle into Jolteon. There are two main ways to lvl up your pokemon and they are to battle wild pokemon and pokemon trainers and the other one is to take them to the day care center. If you leave a female and male pokemon that are in the same egg group in the day care center at the same time they can make a pokemon egg. The pokemon egg will hatch after you take a certain amount of steps in the game. The pokemon that hatches from the egg will be a lvl 1 and will be the first stage of the female pokemon if it can evolve if not it will be the same pokemon as the female. The baby pokemon might inherit certain moves from its parents depending on what moves its parent have and if can actually inherit the move. Some pokemon can't breed like Dialga and Palkia.
 
Pokemon Platinum still has Pokemon Contests and it is exactly the same as it is in Pokemon Diamond and Pearl. The Pokemon Contest is located in Hearthome City and it is one big building not multiple building located in different cities like in Pokemon Ruby, Sapphire and Emerald. There are five competition categories to choose from just like in Pokemon Diamond, Pear, Ruby, Sapphire and Emerald and they are: Cool, Cute, Tough, Smart and Beauty. In each contest the pokemon entered in one of the five categories listed above will participate in three different competitions which include: the Visual Competition, Dance Competition and Acting Competition. In the Visual Competition you need to dress up your pokemon with accessories that fit with the theme of the backdrop given and your pokemon is judged not only by how they look with the accessories but also how good their condition is. In the Dance Competition you are either the main dancer or a backup dancer, when you are the main dancer you can dance as you please but its best to make a complicated dance so the other pokemon don't get as good points. As a backup dance you have to copy every move the main dancer makes to get the most possible points. In the acting competition you have to have your pokemon appeal with attacks of the specific type of competition entered. Each attack has to be aimed at one the judges and each judge has a voltage meter, which will increase every time a pokemon appeals to them with an attack of the correct type. There are a total of four rounds in the acting competition and at the end of each round the judges will award each of the pokemon up to three points depending on how well the pokemon appealed to the judges. Just like in Diamond and Pearl you use Poffins instead of Pokeblocks to increase your pokemons condition for contests.
 
In Pokemon Platinum they have added a completely new place to explore which is the Distortion World. You end up entering the Distortion world to futher complete the game and it follows the legend of Giratina who lives in a different dimension. You end up going into the Distortion World after you reach Spear Pillar and defeat team Galactic who are trying to awaken Diagla and Palkia. It is at the end of the area in the Distortion World that you will meet and have the chance to capture Giratina. In the Distortion World there are no pokemon encounters but it is full of puzzles to complete and sometimes you end up going upside down as you are travel along the many platform in the stranger world. Another place that was not in Pokemon Diamond and Pearl is the Battle Frontier which makes a return from Pokemon Emerald. In Pokemon Platinum it is located in the Fight Area and instead of having 7 facilities it only has five in Pokemon Platinum. The five facilities in the Battle Frontier include: Battle Tower, Battle Hall, Battle Factory, Battle Castle and Battle Arcade and then of course there are battle shops. Just like in Diamond and Pearl, Platinum has the Pal Park too, which is place where you can catch six pokemon a day that you migrate over from the gameboy advance pokemon games, but you can only migrate over 6 pokemon from a certain game a day. You can't access PalPark or migrate pokemon over until after you beat the Elite Four though.
 
The Wi-fi features which were implemented in Pokemon Diamond and Pearl have been fully expanded in Pokemon Platinum. In Pokemon Platinum when you go down stairs in the Pokemon Center you will find a new door and counter where you can enter the Wi-fi plaza. There is also the Wi-fi club which is a place you can go with up 19 other players and you can interact with them and battle them or trade pokemon with them. Also you can make poffins with other players instead of just by yourself. In the Global Trade Center there now several global terminals dotted around the GTS. The global terminals give you access to a variety of Vs. Recorder functions. The Vs. Recorder is a new item that you receive in Pokemon Platinum which allows you to record your battles.
 
Controls
 
The controls are all the same as they were in Pokemon Diamond and Pearl. You use the touch screen with the stylus when in battles and navigating your bag. The control pad moves the charcter around and moves down the menu and lists. The controls are simple to learn and are easy to get use to. If only they could let you use the touch screen when navgating the menu and for continuing conversations with people instead of pressing the A button all the time.
 
Graphics

The graphics in Pokemon Platinum are the same as they are in Pokemon Diamond and Pearl. Just like in Diamond and Pearl female and male pokemon can have little differences to there appearance like the female pikachu has a groove in its tail while the male pikachu does not.
 
Sounds
 
The sound effects and music not any different than it is in Diamond and Pearl. Like I said in my Pokemon Diamond review the music is a little better than the gameboy advance pokemon games but not too much different. I love the music of the Pokemon games even though they don't change much from game to game.
 
Overall Pokemon Platinum is an awesome game and the best Pokemon game I have played. I recommend this game to all Pokemon fans and people who own a Nintendo DS.