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Extremely Disappointed

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 2 / 32
Date: July 13, 2007
Author: Amazon User

THis product never arrived. It has been disputed on my credit card. Nice service you provide that you don't even know this.

Game placed in misleading location

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 0 / 12
Date: January 10, 2008
Author: Amazon User

This game is for Nintendo DS. However, in the Amazon site I searched for Pokeman Pearl for Gameboy Advanced and that is what came up. Assuming that since I search for a gameboy game I purchased the game. Come Christmas morning my children quickly informed me that Santa had gotten the wrong game. I will now try to return it for a refund.

never got it and haven't heard from them

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 0 / 7
Date: February 01, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I never received this and can't seem to get an email reply from the vendor.

zz

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 0 / 3
Date: June 04, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Please be careful with this seller. My credit account was charged the day I put the order in. Now it has already been a month and my game have never come.

its good, but the worst of the series imo

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 5 / 9
Date: October 13, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I'm sorry to say, but this has got to be the least fun pokemon game i've ever played. After I get through the bad stuff tho, I will list some good stuff. So don't skip this review.

The game is fun, but, personally I think the online aspect ruins it. You can get all sorts of stuff through trading that you usually won't be able to get too easily, and I find that a tad annoying. Plus, The dialogue is terrible. It's gotten extremely cheesy and at points i was shocked at how bad it is. The bad guy team in this game was also really annoying, and the fact that half the members of it didn't seem to have a clue what was going on didn't help. Theres also many new terrain types which are no fun at all, such as snow, fog, and swamps. Fog you can't see a darn thing when you're walking around, and the only way to clear it is to use an HM move. I don't like to have to remove my good attacks to put really weak HM attacks on my pokemon just to get further in the game, and this game seems to really emphasize HM's.

The pokemon gyms have also turned into giant puzzles which take quite some time to figure out at times. While this is probably welcome for most people as it adds a new level of gameplay, I personally prefer the walk in the room and beat up the leader approach of older games gyms.

But what really killed it for me is the lack of stuff to do after you beat the game. I love being able to continue playing a game after I beat it, and most pokemon games (especially gold and silver) have stuff to do afterwards. Pokemon Diamond and Pearl do have stuff, but it is incredibly boring. I continued playing for about 3 days after I beat it, and got bored and stopped. I managed to get over 100 hours of gameplay out of pokemon ruby after i beat the elite 4. (i had about 180 hours of gameplay before I started over, and it probably took 50 or less to beat the story mode)

If you don't mind this lack of fun after you beat the game, then by all means get it. And if the ability to get almost anything in the game online appeals to you, then, you should probably already have this game. But I found those parts to be annoying, so, It is my least favorite in the series.

I don't know what everyone here sees in this franchise still.

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 2 / 5
Date: July 09, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I guess many people enjoy these battles over and over again, and I must admit that for a while, I was hooked on leveling up my Pokemon. But now that my team is just under level 30, I got really bored. The only thing truly exciting in this game is the gym battles.

Positives:
*Gym battles are fun
*Very colorful graphics, the town's 2D/3D effect was very nice and the Pokemon sprites are good as they were in Ruby/Sapphire and Leaf Green/Fire Red
*Cute Pokemon (I was really happy about this - many of Ruby's/Sapphire's Pokemon looked a bit weird and deformed, but they changed that for Pearl/Diamond)

Negatives
*Battles are fun in the beginning, but tedious after about 20 hours of playing this game
*Even though there are new places and towns, it still feels like the same formulaic stuff that you've been seeing since Blue/Red versions

This game is definitely overrated on this site. But at least I got my say in it!

3.75 stars.

Same old game-play, different pokemon

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: September 24, 2007
Author: Amazon User

When I'm commuting, I like to play my Nintendo DS, and I bought this game hoping it brought back memories from playing on my old Gameboy Color. Well, it did..and almost the same exact ones.

It's just as fun to play as the old games, but really...and seriously... NOTHING has changed except the pokemon. No new graphics, no new technology, no new sound. I thought the Yellow version with the talking Pikachu was a breakthrough in technology, but this version went back a step...it doesn't even have talking in the game.

It's the same old fun, and nothing new. Buy the game if you liked the old stuff. If you haven't tried the old games, buy it because it's addictive and fun.

A teen's review: for shame pokemon, surely we can do better...

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: February 21, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I've played Pokemon since the games first appeared in America starting out with the old school, but still awesome, red version. And since then I have played most games, or at least one version of that generation of Pokemon. I've loved every single one, and have never gotten bored with them.
And naive as I was I thought, perhaps, this game would be just as enjoyable as the others. I was mistaken.
Though it did bring back memories of the older games, it lacked in many areas. I was most vexed when it came to the Pokemon themselves. They were either horribly grotesque, new models of the older species or one's that appeared as though a three year old had conceived them. There were a few cute or interesting one's spread through out, but they were very few in number.
But there's more. It almost seemed like the game was more focused on all the new things you can do and the spiffy new gadgets. Trading with people across the world, Pokemon contests (which I will note has been altered since the last game, and now features dancing as part of the rotuine. Why yes, yes I did say dancing as absurd as it sounds.), you can now go underground where you can not only build a secret base, but also dig for evolutions stones, jewels and fossils (it's rather annoying if you ask me, having to find the evolution stones. There's no other way to do it unless you've beat the game and can get them from your other game boy advanced games.)
I'm sorry, but what happened to the old game where all you worried about was raising you Pokemon and beating both the gym leaders and elite four?
However, I will admit that the game did have some pluses. The gyms were more than just running in a beating the gym leader and some of his lackeys. They were puzzles that in some cases you had to think about. I've seen some reviewers stating that they disliked the new feature. However I did not. Also, I like the fact that you're not limited to which Pokemon you can get because you chose one game over another. Being able to trade worldwide is quite handy. As is being able to battle people around the globe once you defeat the elite four.
And so I give this game a solid three. It was o.k. But seriously, the creators of Pokemon could have done so much better.

Beautiful Pearls

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 84 / 87
Date: April 23, 2007
Author: Amazon User

After countless spin offs the real deal is here: Pokemon Diamond and Pearl. The Pokemon craze has been around for years. Ever since the Red and Blue versions hit way back, Pokemon has been huge. It's tried and true formula has worked for over ten years, and it's pretty apparent that the formula isn't going to die now. Pokemon Diamond and Pearl are a lot like the Pokemon games that preceded it, but they've really thrown in some good touches here. Still, most players who've been playing since the Gameboy days, or even as recent as the GBA days will still get a "been there, done that," feeling. Still, the game is good, addictive and it will keep you busy for hours on end.

As I said, Pokemon Diamond and Pearl have a "been there, done that" kind of feel. You begin as a rookie trainer in a village, and under some circumstances, you are asked by a professor to go and collect Pokemon data using a Pokedex. On your journey your goal is to collect as many Pokemon as you can and train them to take on other trainers, and to get all the badges from the games various gym leaders, while you've got a rival who is out doing to same thing to prove he's better than you. In addition, there's an evil organization called Team Galactic that has plans for a new world order and to do that they need all the Pokemon they can get. If all this sounds familiar, that's because it is! It's the exact same formula that worked for the original Pokemon games on the Gameboy, the games on the Gameboy Color and Gameboy Advance. The story, of course, is simple and charming, but where Pokemon has always managed to shine most is it's fantastic and addictive gameplay.

Pokemon is actually really strategic and in-depth. That is to say, it requires a lot of thought, and believe me, some of these battles (especially against the new Pokemon that are introduced in this version) require a lot of your skill. Battles are turn based, where you select a command and then watch a round of combat. There's a paper/rock/scissors effect here, however. Each and every Pokemon has a type, and some of the attacks they use reflect its type. This makes up what deals massive damage, what deals no damage and what deals just normal damage. Grass may be strong against water, for example but grass is also weak against fire, but in turn, fire is weak versus water. This effect plays through with seventeen and different types, and there is no best type because every type has a weakness. It's because of this element that Pokemon is so much fun to play. Just trying to construct the perfect team will take you more than a day, and with over 100 new creatures to collect, you can form endless amounts of teams. Just catching all the Pokemon alone will keep you busy for well over 50 hours. To add to the effect you'll face several other trainers as well, and you never know what they'll throw at you. Your strongest Pokemon may very well become your weakest in certain battles just because of its type.

The battle system itself is made even simplar by the touch screen. Where as before you were scrolling through menus, battling can simply be done by touching the different options on screen. It makes battling a lot faster, especially because the icons are pretty big. Luckily, there's never really a point where you have to use the touch screen if you don't want to, and battling can still be done the old fashioned way if you so choose.

As with Ruby and Sapphire there are also moments of two on two battles. Usually they come with either two trainers taking you on at a time, and you'll send out the two Pokemon in your top roster, or you'll be with another trainer who will send out his or her Pokemon with yours. It adds to the strategic feel of the game, but the moments of two on two battles are pretty few and far between.

In your journey you'll also receive a nifty watch that works based off the time of your internal clock. This means that much like Gold and Silver, it'll switch between day and night. Some Pokemon come out only in the early morning, others come out late at night. Some Pokemon only come out on certain days. Either way, those itching to catch each and every Pokemon will enjoy this aspect of it.

As I said before, Pokemon Diamond and Pearl have added some new things. The most important new thing however, is how much easier it is to trade Pokemon and battle with your friends. Using Wi-fi on the DS is far better than the various link cables or having to go out and buy the wireless adapter for the GBA. You can battle with people all across the world, and do other things as well, such as trade with them. Of course, in order to enjoy the full benefits of this you'll need the friend code to do it, and sometimes. In order to get the full experience of the online gaming world in Pokemon, you'll need to register friend codes. If you don't you can't enjoy some of the better perks, like being able to talk to a friend using the microphone of your DS as you battle. Still, the combat is enhanced greatly when playing online. If you don't want to play online you can easily connect to another DS and battle it out that way with your friend simply sitting in the room.

Pokemon Diamond and Pearl are also full of little secret goodies. There are the legendary Pokemon, Pokemon contests, and of course, even after you've finished the main story there's more to be done. You can transfer Pokemon from your GBA versions by sticking it into the GBA slot of the DS. No matter how you slice it, Pokemon can easily keep you busy longer than several RPGs combined

I wish I could say the graphics and sound are absolutely amazing, but they're really not. For as much fun as this game is, it's certainly not the best as far as graphics go. The same goes for the sound as well. Pokemon has never really been a game you go after for eye-candy, though. There are some moments where some 3D effects come out, but not very many. The sprites are more or less the same sprites they've been using since the Red and Blue versions. Ideally, the game doesn't look all that much of a step up from Ruby and Sapphire, and they were not fantastic looking games either. It's really colorful, but the DS is capable of so much more than this. Likewise, in battle is still as horrible as ever. Fun to do it, but the Pokemon still only flinch to attack, and there aren't a lot of animations going on, and we're still looking over the Pokemon's shoulder. Essentially, the combat engine hasn't changed since the series first outing in 1998. There are some move animations that look really good, but aside from that it's hard to look passed the simple fact that the game's combat engine hasn't really evolved since the original games came out way back in 1998. This isn't the original Gameboy, this is the Nintendo DS.

The sound is also no exception. A lot of it sounds really tinny. There are some tunes that definitely sound Pokemon like, but again, it's using old technology on a system capable of a lot more. Most of the sound effects such as the Pokemon's cries are ripped straight from--you guessed it--the original Gameboy versions released in 1998. That's not to say all the tunes sound bad, it's just to say that a lot of what you're going to hear is recycled.

Despite the games graphics and sound, Pokemon Diamond and Pearl are still excellent games. There's a lot more depth here than people think, and a lot of stuff to keep you busy for a long time to come. Even those who are tired of the same simplistic plot and formula will find something great here.

Pros:

+Simple, yet addictive gameplay
+Deep, strategic combat system
+Touch screen controls make battling easier
+Wi-fi connection works well
+Over 100 new Pokemon join the roster
+Simple storyline that anyone can understand
+Being able to battle trainers all across the globe and being able to trade with them is fantastic
+Game can keep you busy for hours with all there is to do, easily over 80 hours worth of gameplay

Cons:

-You can still only save one file
-Graphics and sound are horribly outdated
-The formula works, but there are bound to be gamers out there who are sick of the same old storyline

like a comfortable old sweatshirt...

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 23 / 27
Date: April 23, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Like putting on a comfortable old sweatshirt on a cold day, the new Pokemon games for the DS are warm and welcoming. Sure, the formula is the same we've had since the games first game, but the nuances like the more 3-D towns, the additional Pokemon introduced in the game and other touches (like the improvements on contests) really build upon that formula and make it new again.

I look forward to getting to the point in the game where I can pull my Pokemon from my older GB Advance games. That will really help to have more to chose from.

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