POKEMON Black
& White Version 2
3DS/DS
Single &
Multiplayer
Rated: G
Finally!!!
Guru has finally put in the hard yard, and hammered his way through the
glorious adventure that is Pokemon Black & White Version 2, and he’s gotta
say it’s freakin’ AWESOME!!! Hmmmm…no surprises there really! Pokemaniacs the
world over will have already raced out and grabbed the game, but for those of
you that haven’t, this really is the must have DS/3DS title of the year! So you
better start scribbling and put Black & White Version 2 at the top of all
those X-mas Wish Lists.
As
many of you would already know, Guru is an absolutely HUGE Pokemon fan, having
thoroughly played through every game in the series (right from Red and Blue) and
has even had his adventures published in a couple of Walkthroughs here in Australia.
In Guru’s opinion, the original Pokemon Black & White was one of the best
instalments in the series… ever!!! It offered tons of new content, heaps of Pokemon
to catch, and introduced the Unova region for fans to play around in. All in
all, it offered months of gameplay for completists, and delivered stacks more Poke-fun
than we’d ever seen before.
As
you’d expect, Version 2 continues this trend, topping up everything from new
activities, to beefing up the storyline, and for the 3DS crowd – adding a new
way to catch Pokemon (via Pokemon Dream Radar) and then importing them into the
game. The only disappointment that Guru could think of, was that he’d have
loved to have played the whole game in 3D using his 3DS (no doubt, many of you
fans out there would too!) – unfortunately, Version 2 is still a standard DS
cart, so we’ll all have to wait until the next Pokemon release, to experience
catching and battling Pokemon in 3D.
Don’t
get Guru wrong, not being in 3D doesn’t lessen the experience, it just would
have added a bit of extra sparkle for those Pokemaniacs that are 3DS and 3DS XL
owners out there. As always, the gameplay in Pokemon Black & White Version
2 is sublime. It’s the perfect mix of RPG (Role Playing Game) Elements,
Collection, Strategy, Turn Based Combat, Exploration, and Adventure. In the last
decade there have been few games (particularly sequels) that are still as
compelling to play as they were when they first came out.
For
Guru, returning to the Pokemon universe is like catching up with a dear old
friend you haven’t seen in ages. You know each other well, it’s been a long
time and some things may have changed, but in a few hours it’s like you’ve
never been apart. Version 2 takes place a couple of years after the events of
the original Black & White and as in real life, some things have changed,
while others have remained the same. You’ll recognise a few familiar faces –
Cheren is now a Gym Leader and Bianca is Prof. Juniper’s assistant – and a few
you’d rather not remember, with the return of Team Plasma!
So
what are some of the new goodies you’ll discover, while exploring more of Unova
than ever before? Well, you’ll notice that additions like Pokemon World Tourney
which allows you to show off your skills against iconic Champs and Gym Leaders from
past Pokemon titles and PokeStar Studios where players can star in their own
movies with their fave Pokemon.
If
that wasn’t enough, there are also wild Fun Fest Missions where up to 100
players can connect and play locally (totally awesome fun), and you’ll quickly
discover that Gym Battles are far more complex affairs than in previous titles
in the series. This is an absolutely HUGE game (which is the reason why Guru’s
taken so long to get this review online),
which offers tons and tons of replay value both in cool spin-off activities and
multiplayer battles. Once again, Nintendo have outdone themselves by creating
one of the best handheld gaming experiences around. Pokemon Black & White
Version 2 is a must play for anyone with a DS – it’s brilliant stuff!!!!
