First Impression - Pokémon Black and Pokémon White

A franchise fourteen years in the making, there isn't a soul that can't honestly say they've never played at least one of the nineteen versions, and while its popularity has waned over the years (especially in its third generation), Pokémon holds the record for the second most successful franchise in the industry (just take a guess at the first).

I jumped on the bandwagon about the time the Gold and Silver came around. By that time, I already had my Yellow Version, but it was these two games that really pulled me into the fad. I can recall countless hours and days playing my Silver Version; early mornings and late nights of near ceaseless playing to get my team to Level 100...only to have lost it all when the games internal batteries died about two years ago. It stands as my favorite generation to date, introducing me to my favorite plot, region, and species.

Thanks to Facebook, I've had Pokémon on my mind quite a bit in recent days, but instead of playing through these treasured games one more time, I have done a bit of sleuthing in the future. Of course, I refer to the yet-to-be-released Pokémon Black and White Versions.
 
I know these games are already huge successes in Japan, but seeing as I'm a little Japanese impaired (as in I can't read or speak the language), I have no reason to import them. But thanks to the infinite possibilities the internet offers, I've resorted to the more illegal route of downloading an emulator, a ROM of the Black Version, and a patch that translates everything to English. Unfortunately, this causes everything to run at a reduced frame-rate most of the time. But despite my restricted experience, I can still honestly say these games have shaped up to be absolutely amazing additions.

Saving the world seems like a pretty common hobby for kids these days.

I guess I'll start off with the plot, and if you can't guess what that entails by now, then it's a sad day for you. You're a trainer starting your journey to become the very best (like no one ever was), trying to catch as many Pokémon along the way. Oh, and you also save the world from an evil organization bent on ruling it. Pretty basic stuff for a Pokémon game.

Gameplay is about as predicable as it
could possibly be for a Pokémon game;
strut around an overworld, engage in battles, one-up your rivals, and that's about it. Pokémon games were never really games that changed how they played at all, the key differences lying more in appearance and features.

Your new Pokémon Center, which are
now integrated with the PokéMarts.

Visually, the game looks fantastic. It takes full advantage of the DS' 3D rendering capabilities, giving a great new perspective on the series, improving greatly on what Diamond and Pearl established three years ago. The animations run as smooth as any other game I've played (that is when my emulator isn't lagging).

Did my Pokémon just blink? You bet your ass it did,
and just in time to ruin my screen shot.

But perhaps the improvement that impressed me the most is the new battle system, which just looks astounding. It isn't so much the new look, it's how exciting the new look makes it. The Pokémon idly move and sway around while you select your move; the camera zooms in to the foe as the attack impacts, and pans back to show the opponent attacking you. It's an extremely fast paced system, and it makes the battles that much more interesting than the static sprites we've seen for the past fourteen years.

The overworld camera is just as dynamic. No more are the days when everyone's front door faces the south. Enter a building from the side and the camera will pivot, showing a fully rendered side of the building that few Pokémon games had done before.

And this is only a taste of the dynamic
cameras introduced in these games.

 
The music isn't much to brag about. Yeah, it's original, but it's also difficult for me to honestly critique it since my laggy frame-rate distorts it on a consistent basis, but from the bits and pieces I have been able to make clear, it sounds like your usual Pokémon music; new tunes for the new cities and remixes of the classic tunes we've had since day one. But I suppose the meat of this game rests in the 156 new Pokémon introduced this time around.

That's more than any other generation, even the first one.

I'm not going to deny all originality; in fact, some of them are pretty cool additions. On the other hand, a large number of them just look downright uninspired (I mean seriously, a mushroom with a PokéBall on its head). Then again, I remember the internet saying the same thing about the fourth generation additions, but they've turned into some of the most accepted. We'll just have to wait and see how America reacts; I know I'll be there getting my version on March 6, 2011.