We just posted our reviews of Pokemon Black and White. Guess what? Now we’re giving away a copy of Pokemon Black, and there are two ways to enter!
The rules are as always:
We’ll draw a random winner from all the entries on the 18th and post it here. Good luck!
The basic formula and gameplay of Pokemon have remained intact ever since Blue and Red first graced our shores. You play as a boy, or girl, from a small town who is given a Pokemon to raise and train on your way to becoming the champion of the Pokemon League in your region. In your way are 8 Pokemon gyms, the Elite Four, a rival trainer, and a gang of mostly inept ruffians. For the most part, Pokemon White doesn’t mess with the formula; after all, why change something that has sold more than 200 million copies in 15 years? It does, however, tweak the formula just enough to make it a new and refreshing take on the series.
Instead of having a childhood rival, you have two of them, and they’ll play integral parts in the journey you take part in. The story focuses on the more mature theme of freedom and slavery, with the gang, Team Plasma, a fierce animal rights group, taking a more active, and dangerous, role in the story.
As for the gameplay changes, the biggest additions are triple battles and rotation battles, which require more strategy than you’d think. In triple battles, each Pokemon can only attack the foes directly facing them. They can’t attack across the field of combat, so placement and what moves are used are a big factor in your success in these battles. In rotation battles, any of three creatures could attack you in a given turn, so simple type-matching won’t always work. (Black has more rotation battles than White, while White has more triple battles.) The gyms have been reworked as well, with many of them being more puzzle oriented than in the past, and with a beginning gym that is set up to always have a type advantage over your starting Pokemon. Finally, a change that was a long time coming is the ability to reuse TMs as many times as you want.
In each iteration of the Pokemon series, new creatures have been added, to the point where there are now 649 different ones to collect, train, and evolve. However, unlike past games, you only have access to the newly-introduced Pokemon for the main story. This is, I think, one of the best features of Pokemon White, as it makes the game feel entirely new when you can’t rely on your old favorites to get you through the game. You won’t see many of the more familiar monsters until after you’ve become the Pokemon League Champion.
Finally, the difference between each version is also more pronounced this time. In addition to each version having a set of creatures that are exclusive to it, each game also has a post-game area that is specific to that version as well. In White, you’ll have access to the White Forest, an area with over 30 exclusive monsters to catch.
Graphically, Pokemon White is crisper and places more emphasis on 3D environments than past games have. Additionally, the battles are more cinematic, with the Pokemon moving around during battle instead of standing like statues.
The audio also experienced a number of improvements. The soundtrack is higher quality and the annoying beeping that accompanies dangerously low health for your pokemon has been replaced with a much appreciated, fast-paced remix of the battle song.
The online capabilities have also been revamped, with connectivity being improved and new features being added. The GTS is back, improved with the ability to battle random people with it, and a new device, the C-Gear adding online and infrared connectivity to your game even when not visiting a Pokemon Center.
This is the perfect title to get back into the Pokemon series with if you’ve taken a break, or even if you’ve never played it before. As for longtime fans, while the core game is the same that you’ve enjoyed many times before, the story, the Pokemon, and all the trappings that go along with trying to catch them all, beg to be rediscovered once more.
Pros: Lots of great new creatures that you are ‘forced’ to use, crisp graphics, more mature themes
Cons: HMs still exist
The basic formula and gameplay of Pokemon have remained intact ever since Blue and Red first graced our shores. You play as a boy, or girl, from a small town who is given a Pokemon to raise and train on your way to becoming the champion of the Pokemon League in your region. In your way are 8 Pokemon gyms, the Elite Four, a rival trainer, and a gang of mostly inept ruffians. For the most part, Pokemon Black doesn’t mess with the formula; after all, why change something that has sold more than 200 million copies in 15 years? It does, however, tweak the formula just enough to make it a new and refreshing take on the series.
Instead of having a childhood rival, you have two of them, and they’ll play integral parts in the journey you take part in. The story focuses on the more mature theme of freedom and slavery, with the gang, Team Plasma, a fierce animal rights group, taking a more active, and dangerous, role in the story.
As for the gameplay changes, the biggest additions are triple battles and rotation battles, which require more strategy than you’d think. In triple battles, each Pokemon can only attack the foes directly facing them. They can’t attack across the field of combat, so placement and what moves are used are a big factor in your success in these battles. In rotation battles, any of three creatures could attack you in a given turn, so simple type-matching won’t always work. (Black has more rotation battles than White, while White has more triple battles.) The gyms have been reworked as well, with many of them being more puzzle oriented than in the past, and with a beginning gym that is set up to always have a type advantage over your starting Pokemon. Finally, a change that was a long time coming is the ability to reuse TMs as many times as you want.
In each iteration of the Pokemon series, new creatures have been added, to the point where there are now 649 different ones to collect, train, and evolve. However, unlike past games, you only have access to the newly-introduced Pokemon for the main story. This is, I think, one of the best features of Pokemon Black, as it makes the game feel entirely new when you can’t rely on your old favorites to get you through the game. You won’t see many of the more familiar monsters until after you’ve become the Pokemon League Champion.
Finally, the difference between each version is also more pronounced this time. In addition to each version having a set of creatures that are exclusive to it, each game also has a post-game area that is specific to that version as well. In Black, you’ll have access to the Black City, an area with a number of tough trainers and exclusive items you can’t access in White.
Graphically, Pokemon Black is crisper and places more emphasis on 3D environments than past games have. Additionally, the battles are more cinematic, with the Pokemon moving around during battle instead of standing like statues.
The audio also experienced a number of improvements. The soundtrack is higher quality and the annoying beeping that accompanies dangerously low health for your pokemon has been replaced with a much appreciated, fast-paced remix of the battle song.
The online capabilities have also been revamped, with connectivity being improved and new features being added. The GTS is back, improved with the ability to battle random people with it, and a new device, the C-Gear adding online and infrared connectivity to your game even when not visiting a Pokemon Center.
This is the perfect title to get back into the Pokemon series with if you’ve taken a break, or even if you’ve never played it before. As for longtime fans, while the core game is the same that you’ve enjoyed many times before, the story, the Pokemon, and all the trappings that go along with trying to catch them all, beg to be rediscovered once more.
Pros: Lots of great new creatures that you are ‘forced’ to use, crisp graphics, more mature themes
Cons: HMs still exist
This week we show you our moves with a couple of dance games and a fighting title.
Gerry Pagan: +40
Andrew Passafiume: +395
Graham Russell: +384
Eric Schabel: +35
Shawn Vermette: +375
Games coming to Apple TV
At GDC this past week, Apple revealed that games are indeed coming to Apple TV. However, not in any form that will compete with the home consoles, as it will mainly be in the form of iPad ports and the type of game currently available on the iOS App Store.
Gerry 60% = +10
Andrew 50% = +0
Graham 50% = +0
Shawn 90% = +40
BlazBlue: Continuum Shift 2 has been confirmed as being ported to the PSP and 3DS already, though a timeline for these ports has not been established, or even announced for a US release. Zen United, European publisher for the BlazBlue games, has announced that they’ll be out in Europe later this year. Will Aksys Games follow suit in the US?
Gerry: If Continuum Shift 2 is going to be out Europe this year, I can safely say it’ll be out in the US as well. Unless Europe gets an earlier BlazBlue release than the US for the first time, anyway. 75%
Andrew: People in the U.S. seem to generally enjoy BlazBlue, and Aksys games has released the previous portable title in the States before. I don’t see why they wouldn’t continue to bring us games in the franchise. 90%
Graham: Aksys is clearly trying to tiptoe around the mammoth launch window releases of Super Street Fighter IV and Dead or Alive. It’s a smart move, since BlazBlue is a smaller-market title, and it could use the breathing room in the release schedule. They’ll announce soon and release around the July or August. You know, probably. 95%
Shawn: I believe Aksys Games will announce BlazBlue: CS2 for the US shortly, though whether it will come out in 2011 or not is something I’m not so sure about. Given the usual time period for ports though, I suspect it will indeed come out in 2011. 75%
Dance Central was the runaway hit title for the Kinect when it launched last November. After sending out a survey to fans asking what features they would like in a sequel, rumor now has it that the aforementioned sequel will be released later this year, once again as a Kinect exclusive.
Gerry: As successful as Dance Central was, I’d like to think that Harmonix has enough sense to not follow the example of the -Hero franchises and actually develop a proper sequel. Kinect and Dance Central haven’t been out for even a year, they should let the audience who wants a Dance Central 2 actually get tired of the first game.30%
Andrew: Dance Central is easily Harmonix’ biggest property right now, and Microsoft needs another big hit for the Kinect. Despite the strong sales of the hardware, the attachment rate is incredibly low, so with a price drop and a sequel to their biggest Kinect title to date would easily help keep the device selling this holiday season. 85%
Graham: If Dance Central 2 is going to release at all, it needs to strike while the iron is hot. That is, while the Kinect is still a viable platform. As successful as it’s been, there will likely be a new Microsoft system in the next two years, and this is the kind of release you can annualize. It’ll be out for the holidays. 90%
Shawn: Again, I don’t think this is a matter of if it will happen, but when. Unless Harmonix decides to build a new graphics engine for Dance Central 2 though, I doubt it takes long to release. 75%
Despite the death of the Guitar and DJ Hero franchises, Activision seems intent on making its way in the rhythm game genre anyway. The success of Dance Central for Kinect seems to have spurred Activision to go ahead and begin production on a game they trademarked 3 years ago, Dance Hero, as rumor has it that they’ll be announcing it at E3.
Gerry: Sure, why not. I don’t really agree with a lot of Activision’s business policies, but if they think a Dance Hero is gonna be profitable, more power to them. 50%
Andrew: Activision does love trends that make money, despite how badly Guitar Hero backfired on them recently. I’m not sure how well this would sell over Just Dance or Dance Central, but the dance craze seems to be just as big as the plastic instruments craze was just a few years ago. And the best part? No additional hardware is required, aside from a Kinect. At the same time, they might not want to risk creating another franchise only to have it die off a year later. 65%
Graham: Well they probably won’t announce it at E3. They may announce it adjacent to E3, with big piles of Blizzard cash and half-pipes lowered down from the rafters. Anyway, back to Dance Hero. Without a Hero franchise to play off, why would they tie that in? I could see this happening, but really as an original IP. 50%
Shawn: I’ll just put it this way…what else does Activision even have to work on? Movie games and Call of Duty. They took the axe to everything else. I think they’ll try to cash in on the dance game phenomenon while they can. 90%
If Hollywood has made clear one thing in recent years, it is that anything involving monkeys or third dimension is guaranteed to sell. Combining the two should make Super Monkey Ball 3D a smash-hit, right? Well, for those of you who are still on the fence, SEGA has graciously released a brand new trailer showing off the 3D monkey madness.
Hit the jump to check it out. For more 3DS coverage, check out our Launch Center. READ MORE
