Pokemon Platinum (DS)

Gamecow’s Price	RRP $69.95     Save $9.00 $60.95
Availability
Genre	Action Adventure
Platform	Nintendo DS
Release Date	14/05/2009
Rated

Pokemon Platinum (DS) Product Information

The Sinnoh region lies in wait for a hero as Team Galactic set their dark plans in motion. In Pokémon Platinum Version for Nintendo DS, only you possess the power to set things right.

Never before have Pokémon players witnessed the unusual Distortion World! This mysterious realm is home to the Legendary Giratina and is central to the new storyline in the game. The Distortion World is a strange place where the normal rules of time and space no longer apply. With new discoveries and new challenges in Pokémon Platinum Version, the options for online play have also been expanded.

The new Wi-Fi Plaza allows up to 20 players, with wireless broadband access, from anywhere in the world to connect and play mini-games, take part in parades and even see a fireworks show! Players who visit the Global Terminal can post their Pokémon and trade them with players from around the world like in Pokémon Diamond Version and Pokémon Pearl Version. This allows players to find more Pokémon, and also allows players to get Pokémon from other countries, which are often sought-after by many fans. The new Global Terminal also allows players to use a new item, the Vs. Recorder, to save and post "videos" of their best battles online for Pokémon fans to see.

Of course, building up a collection of rare Pokémon is fine, but success in Pokémon Platinum Version depends on how you direct them in Battle! The latest installment in the Pokémon series puts your skills as a Trainer to the test like never before, with challenges coming thick and fast. The Battle Frontier is an area that houses all kinds of rock hard challenges. Victory within five different facilities of the Battle Frontier is rewarded with Battle Points that can be exchanged for well-earned prizes.

Prepare for an exciting new Pokémon experience that throws you into the sprawling Pokémon universe like never before. In Pokémon Platinum Version, only the strongest of Pokémon Trainers will successfully save the Sinnoh region and prove their prowess on a global scale.

Features:
• Step back into the Sinnoh region and beyond as the mysterious Distortion World emerges.
• Engage in epic Battles in the game or against friends, using the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, sharing your greatest victories via the Global Terminal.
• Renegade Pokémon Giratina in its Origin Forme.
• See your heroes in winter wear as they brave the cold weather in the Sinnoh region

Pokemon Platinum (DS) Review

As always, you take on the role of a budding Pokémon trainer, who, alongside an eternal rival, takes a starting Pokémon from the local professor and sets off into the world to become a Pokémon master. This usually entails defeating a sinister organisation along the way, defeating Gym Leaders to earn badges and eventually facing off against the Elite Four. Each time you defeat a Gym Leader you'll earn a badge, which will entitle you to use a new ability. These abilities, which are taught to Pokémon and can also be used in battle, allow you do to things like cross water, smash boulders, cut down trees or scale cliffs in order to reach new areas. It's straightforward and linear, and to many this part of the game will seem like a formality compared to the greater quest of putting together strong teams and catching the more elusive Pokémon.

The Pokémon game formula is a very good one, and relies on two primary sources of appeal. The first is the sheer joyful addiction of catching and collecting the Pokémon, and the second is the distinct pleasure of making them beat the hell out of one another until the little dears fall down. Platinum delivers wholeheartedly on both counts.

The battles are pure strategic joy. On the surface the battle system is incredibly simple. Two teams of up to six Pokémon face off, one on one at any given time. Those Pokémon trade blows from a range of four different moves each until one of them falls. The next Pokémon steps in and the process continues until one side has been eliminated. But as simple as that concept is, Pokémon turns it into something resembling a science, where the numbers and statistics involved are as important as a sound strategy, taking into consideration the strengths and weaknesses of every Pokémon

The two biggest additions to Platinum are the Distortion World and the Battle Frontier. Distortion World is the domain of Giratina, the scary looking Pokémon on the front cover. It's an area you'll reach in the latter parts of the game in which you'll be running around upside down and across walls, noteworthy purely for the fact that it's a new addition to the game, and not because it's any kind of enthralling gameplay experience. The Battle Frontier is an advanced series of fights that can be accessed at the end of the game, putting you through endurance contests under different conditions, though you can only use 'rental' Pokémon, which will disappoint those looking to challenge their team of Level 100, EV-trained whatevers. You can play it cooperatively over Wi-Fi however, which is a considerate inclusion.

Speaking of Wi-Fi, Platinum expands the amount of things you can do online. In addition to battling people and trading (functions that are very solidly implemented, though Nintendo's Friend Codes are still a pain), you can now record your battles and upload the data for others to see. There's also a new Wi-Fi Plaza where you can participate in a few basic mini-games against other players, though the excitement derived from these is short-lived. All aspects of battling and trading cross over with Diamond and Pearl, meaning you'll already have a gargantuan online community to engage in. Platinum is compatible with the Wii's Pokémon Battle Revolution, but not with Wiiware title My Pokémon Ranch, which has received a compatibility update in Japan only thus far.

There's little doubt that Platinum is the definitive Pokémon title to date, the tweaks and improvements making it a decidedly better game overall than the other two in the trinity. If you haven't played Diamond or Pearl, this is the version to get. If you have played them, and especially if you're one of the players who put countless hours into them, you could understandably find the prospect of doing it all again an exhausting one. On the other hand, it's that section of the audience who would be most likely to embrace an improved version of the game. Perks like the Versus Recorder and the Battle Frontier might be enough to make it worthwhile for the hardcore fans, but for everyone else these are relatively superfluous features. Many of the alterations are purely aesthetic, and you aren't missing out on very much if you take a pass on this and settle with Diamond or Pearl. At its core it is essentially still the same game, but importantly for new players, it's also still very good.

Full review PALGN