Pokemon Diamond Version (Nintendo DS, 2007)

As the sun rises over the Sinnoh Region, children are leaving their homes by the hundreds. They aren't attending school, nor are they running away from tough family situations and domestic abuse. In fact, their parents are waving goodbye from their doorsteps, secretly wiping tears from their eyes and hiding their emotions. They know that they may never see their sons or daughters for months, years, or ever again. Yet they allow the children roam free across the land, exploring every dank cave, wandering through the bustling streets of distant cities, and hopefully learning about life. These kids, many of whom have yet to reach their teens, are starting a coming-of-age journey of a lifetime. They are ambitious, naive, and idealistic. As these eager children sprint merrily out of the humble villages and venture into world, they never suspect the hardships they will face as they fulfill their quest to become Pokemon Masters.

Wait a minute. Why are a bunch of ten-year-olds allowed to ditch their families and put their put their futures on hold? After reaching a certain age, adolescents are obligated to undertake a journey that will supposedly define their place in the world. Forget about an education and getting a summer job; for these kids, their only goal is to become the greatest champions the world has ever known. In order to meet that goal, the kids will have to capture a bunch of animals called Pokemon. Using a bit of high-tech devices and a little bit of luck, they'll be able to snag one of the critters, train them into fighting beasts, then sic them on any other trainers stupid enough to challenge them. Rinse and repeat a few hundred times, and your character will amass an army of these fearsome pocket monsters, wield enough power to smite even the strongest trainers in the land, and become the champion of Sinnoh.

That's assuming, of course, that you can even catch one of the little monsters to add to your team. After obtaining your first Pokemon as a freebie, you'll have to venture forth into the untamed wilds, searching for a prospective target. After a brief flash of light and an onslaught of pulse-pounding music, a feral Pokemon will let out a guttural snarl and attack you. Instead of running away like a little wimp, you summon your loyal pet and command it to attack. After your Pokemon ravages its prey with a flurry of turn-based attacks and whittles its health to the breaking point, you can snatch a PokeBall out of your backpack and fling it toward the enemy. Should the target be weakened enough, it'll succumb to the ball's powers and get crammed within it. Congrats, you've just snagged one of the 480+ Pokemon species in the game! With a new monster enslaved and ready to do your bidding, your six-member team will eventually grow into an empire more formidable than anything ever seen. Indeed, those pathetic Pokemon Gym Leaders (aka wannabe bosses in disguise) won't know what hit them.

Oh, if only it were so easy. While much of this will sound familiar to the veterans of the original Pokemon Red and Blue games, things have changed since the series' humble beginnings. Upon receiving experience points and leveling up enough, your Pokemon will be granted access to a slew of different elementally based moves. See that little monkey with a flames flickering off its ass? It'll eventually evolve into a super-powered primate that can roast his enemies in a hail of firebombs or pound it into submission with a bunch of fighting maneuve

The first DS chapter of the continuing saga of Nintendo's "collect 'em all" RPG series. Pokemon Diamond and Pokemon Pearl offer a number of exciting new features to please both experienced and new Pokemon fans alike. Set in an entirely new region called "Sinnoh," players can choose to begin their adventure as either a boy or girl Pokemon trainer on a path to becoming Pokemon League Champion. The adventure continues as players can bring Pokemon from their Game Boy Advance Pokemon games to Pokemon Diamond and Pokemon Pearl using the GBA game slot on their Nintendo DS. As players trade and collect Pokemon to complete their Pokedex in this new challenge, for the first time they'll have the chance to catch new Pokemon, Munchlax and Weavile. They also can play via local wireless with up to eight other trainers while new moves and abilities deepen strategy.

Pokemon on the DS is nothing new -- we've already received Pokemon Dash, Pokemon Trozei, and Pokemon Ranger in the system's two years of life. But it's the RPG design the public's clamoring for, not the spin-offs -- those games were just biding the time while Game Freaks cranked out the enormous, ambitious, real deal Pokemon project. It doesn't matter what's going to be said in the next thousand or so words: Pokemon Diamond and Pokemon Pearl will, without a doubt, be the top-selling game released to date on the Nintendo DS. There's absolutely no debate here. Millions of gamers are going to buy this game no matter what the critical word will be, but that won't stop us from calling it like it is: Pokemon Diamond and Pokemon Pearl are still the "gotta have" portable games, but don't expect to be overwhelmed with a fresh take on the series. The team stuck to its guns and kept the DS game in line with the Game Boy Advance designs, which were, honestly, a modest upgrade to the Game Boy Color game, which, in turn, wasn't a huge step over the game that started it all in black-and-white a decade ago.

For a game that's literally sold countless millions of copies over the past ten years, it's pretty amazing to discover gamers who have yet to experience what Pokemon is all about. Under its kid-friendly, thick sugary coating lies a deceptively deep and addictive design that encourages players to create collections of highly marketable creatures of various species. The core mechanic is an adventure with role-playing game battle mechanics -- these creatures will fight for their owner using their abilities in a turn-based interface, where players choose the best mode of attack or defense that'll get them through the brawl. Winning battles will earn these creatures experience which will, in turn, advance their levels and increase their capabilities...as well as earn their owners some coin for purchases at the shops.

Diamond and Pearl deliver a fresh online Wi-Fi experience that will make even the most burnt-out fans want to "catch 'em all" again. Every time a Pokémon game went to a new hand held, the graphics have always gotten better. The graphics of Diamond and Pearl make other Pokémon games look flat(YOU CAN SEE SIDES OF A BUILDINGS NOW)! Explore the new Sinnoh region for 151 new Pokémon to fill the Sinnoh Pokedex. Battles play out similar to all of the other Pokémon games, but now people can test their skills against other players by using the Nintendo Wi-Fi connection. Diamond and Pearl manages to deliver a well-polished Pokémon adventure.

I bought this game originally for my 4-year daughter. She wanted to battle like my 9-year old son, but does not have the experience, nor the maturity to play the game the way he does. I do not use the game myself, since I have no interest to. So this review is my compilation of what they tell me.

Pokemon games that are already loaded with the pokemon and accessories, are great for young kids or players with moderate experience. They get the chance to battle with pokemon that they either have never seen or will never find (in order to catch them by themselves).

My son, the more experienced player, also uses the game. Sometimes, he just wants to get the feel of invincibility, with having one of each available pokemon, who are all at the top level (level 100) and with the top battle skills available to each of them. However, he does not play it much, because some of the challenge in the battling is gone and when your storage boxes are filled, you have no room to catch and store any wild pokemon.

I would like to reiterate that loaded games are great for young kids and non-experts. The loads have not failed after the 1st month and the game appears to operate the way a factory one otherwise would.

Players new to Pokemon and expert Pokemon players would probably prefer an unaltered game, in order to experience the excitement of the adventure without any help and the sense of accomplishment when they find and achieve everything on their own.