Pokémon Pearl

"As with most of the other Pokemon games in this series, you start off by meeting Professor Nanakamado before you are sent into a world inhabited by creatures known as “Pocket Monsters (Pokemon)” who live alongside humans. In this world, people known as “Pokemon Trainers” work to tame wild Pokemon by capturing and keeping them inside devices known as “Pokeballs”. They then use them to battle one another or help with some other kinds of tasks. It’s also what is needed to understand these creatures more. After choosing your gender, your rival’s name and being offered a little explanation about the game, you find yourself in a house and the story begins."

"Although the single-player quests might invoke a sense of deja vu, Pokemon enthusiasts will love the brand new story and other small tweaks added to the game. The new online battles, however, make this a Pokemon essential for anyone's -- fanboy or not -- DS collection."

"The additions and alterations aren't game changing, and Diamond and Pearl do what the Pokémon franchise has always done best--deliver an accessible and highly addictive role-playing game experience."

"The developers more capitalize on the system's capabilities in function and interface rather than visual and audio presentation. Sure, there are elements going on here that couldn't be done on the Game Boy Advance, but it's hard to argue that the game looks and sounds a heck of a lot like the past portable versions. 8-bit limitations drove the game's original style, but now that the limits are no longer there it's a little bit of a letdown that Game Freaks played the whole Pokemon production conservatively instead of pushing something more epic. The gameplay holds up incredibly well a decade later, but we're still looking like a ten year old portable game here."

"It might be more of the same, but it's still a blast to play. Nintendo established a working formula from the get-go and always managed to expand upon it."