The Nintendo giveth, and the Nintendo taketh away, however. Instead of simply including berries or mini-games or making pokeballs out of dried fruit, Nintendo decided to force a radically new limitation in the game. In the past, trading was available between old and new generations of Pokémon, allowing players to create any team they desired based on their previous games. Of course there were limitations in how far one could level them up between gym badges, but it still did not stop players from mixing and matching as they pleased. This time around, however, the trading is limited exclusively to other Black/White cartridges and that limitation is not lifted until after defeating the Pokémon League. In my opinion, this was a fantastic idea on Nintendo's part. Instead of just introducing a new region with new Pokémon, this restriction forced the player to actually use what was in this new area without resorting to older Pokémon and strategies they already understood. This situation is not unlike having to use a new rifle because of its scarce availability. What’s a Colonel to do when his trusted Lee-Enfield finally wears out while he’s taken up residence in Germany for a short while but learn to use and appreciate the Mauser? Push your comfort zones, chaps!

Though the game is quite fun and is overall enjoyable, it is not without flaws. The game’s graphics appear to be approximately 85% unchanged since the series’ inception. Cut-scenes have been added and a few areas such as a metropolitan city look graphically impressive on the DS, but otherwise the game still has the same over-head, simplistic interface. Most frustrating of all, places like the city in comparison to the graphical boondoggle of the rest of the game make it painfully apparent that Nintendo could be doing a better job, but simply is not. In fact, several of the newer Pokémon are just recycled versions of older Pokémon, such as Excadrill and Sandlash. Honestly, use the Googler Machine to find an image of those two and tell me they are not related in some way. Another minor detail of note—technical machines (TM's) that can teach Pokémon different attacks are now reusable. This subtle difference completely changes certain strategies from previous games in a negative way. In my opinion, it seems a bit of a mistake to allow powerful TM's to be used infinitely instead of forcing the decision to be upon only one Pokémon, but it is a factor that does not impact gameplay in a detrimentally large fashion. Honestly, I adapted to it just fine. What I certainly have not adapted to is that ice cream cone Pokémon! I apologize, but that incredibly ludicrous creature is just…it's an ice cream cone! AN ICE CREAM CONE, BY GOD!



