Pokemon Diamond and Pearl (DP) are the 4th generation of Pokemon games, and their release marks the 10th anniversary of the series. I’ve always had a kind of connection with the series - it was the first game I owned - and this was the reason I went out and bought the Diamond and Pearl versions.

The game starts off, like all the others, with your character (a young boy or girl) choosing a new pokemon and going on an adventure with it. On the adventure you will catch new pokemon, battle other trainers, and try and become the best trainer in the land - its been done before, but it works. The main difference between the DP and the original games is that the storyline has become much more consequential, and its much more interesting because of this - but maintains the simplicity that made the first versions popular with kids.

The way you will have to raise your pokemon has also changed, so its much deeper than it was before. This has been done with the introduction of pokemon natures - essentially how it would act. This will affect their stats (eg. a pokemon has a “Hasty” nature, it will be faster than a pokemon with a “Lazy” nature), what kind of food they like, and how they will react with other pokemon in your team. This aspect can be completely overlooked though, so the battling aspect of the game can be as simple as you want it to be or as deep - it all depends on how the individual wants to play the game.

The battling itself hasn’t been altered much - its still the same 2d, turn based system from the originals. During the battles you’ll have to use various techniques and tactics to beat your opponents, and in DP its incredibly refined - you won’t find yourself feeling limited by what the game has to offer. You’ll also be playing 2 vs 2 battles - where 2 of your pokemon work together to take down another team of 2. This isn’t a new feature - it was introduced in the 3rd generation of games - but with the refined battling in DP, it adds a whole new dimension to the battling system.

With DP being on the new generation of handheld consoles, the series has received a graphical tune up - the world you walk around now has 3D features, every pokemon has its own animation when you look at it, and the moves are much more varied graphically. Its not revolutionary, and its not going to impress your average console gamer, but it definately looks better than the 3rd generation games. The sound is also been worked with, and you’ll find that there is a lot more variation than there has been before. The different types of trainers will have different intro music for the battles and the battle music for bosses will be noticeably different compared to each other and to the regular battles.

As well as the upgrades DP brings a new feature to the series - online trading and battling via WiFi. The online trading system is available early on in the game, and its well done - you put up a pokemon for auction, stating what you would like in return (being as fair or as unreasonable as you like), and then just leave the trade centre. The pokemon will stay in the trade centre until its traded away - at which point you can pick up your brand new beastie.

The online battling is limited to friends until you complete the bulk of the game.. Its not what you would expect - you download the stats of the other players pokemon, leaving you free to amble away from the WiFi, or just take a break in the middle of the battle. Because of the limited move-sets, and the way people raise their pokemon for online battling, you’ll still find yourself challenged as if you were playing a real person, and the game will know what attacks are effective/ineffective.

Nintendo are well known for taking successful games, and re-releasing them with a few gimmicks thrown in, Pokemon - as the best selling Nintendo series in the last 10 years - is no exception to this. DP has plenty of gimmicks, the most noticeable of them being the “Pokemon Contests”. When I played through the game I mostly ignored the contests, as they had no bearing on the storyline or your pokemons skills. The second gimmick is the new Poketch - which fills up the touch screen that you otherwise wouldn’t use - and apart from the default clock you get with it, you won’t find yourself using it much.

Overall Diamond and Pearl are very good additions to the series, and I’m quite happy I bought them. Nintendo, true to form, have re-released a game while thrown in a few more toys for us to play with. Unfortunately the games are still suffering with the association with the TV shows and films - so expect a few weird looks if you tell anyone that you have played the newest games in the pokemon series.

8/10 - this is a very good addition to the Pokemon game series. This game plays well, looks good (for the DS) and is very addictive - you could do a lot worse for Β£20. I’d recommend it more for kids but I’m sure some adults will have a good laugh with it. But you should take into account that I’ve had a pretty long history with these games so might take more from it than a lot of newcomers.