Whether you think the Pokemon series needs it or not, Pokemon Black & White is set to be a re-boot of the franchise, hitting stores (and the DS) in Europe on the 4th of March. Featuring revamped battle scenes and video chat between friends, as well as expanded Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection features - an added Random Matchup mode where you can battle another trainer from around the world, Pokemon Black and White is the first step in a slightly new direction for the series.
Set in the Unova region, located many, many miles away from the regions in the previous games, the environments seem to be a step away from the forests and beaches of the other games, and look much more built up - such as the bustling urban environment of Castelia City. And, whilst pokemon fans are used to having to trade exclusive pokemon between the games in order to truly 'catch 'em all' (which you'll still need to do), each version of the game will also feature exclusive areas to explore for the first time in the series.
Castelia City, in it's urban-y glory.
Another major addition is the introduction of seasons - which means some pokemon will appear more frequently in certain seasons, or they might change colour or form as the seasons come and go. The changing of seasons won't always be good though - some areas of the game will become inaccessible in certain seasons, so you'll need to plan your expeditions wisely.
As with a lot of pokemon players, I normally find myself relying on a team of pretty much the same pokemon in every version (I always have a Marill, for example) - this time though, I'll have to try to come up with a whole new team, as the only pokemon you can find in this region are brand new. There should be plenty of choice though, as there's 150 of the critters, so there's bound to be six cute ones in there somewhere. As always, each version has their own 'legendary pokemon' - a single, mega powerful pokemon that has been responsible for something key to the earth's existence since time began (or something like that, anyway), and Pokemon Black & White is no exception. Pokemon Black has Reshiram (the white one, somewhat illogically), a pokemon capable of engulfing it's surroundings in flames, whose heat can cause the very atmosphere to move (or at least that's how the story goes), while Pokemon White has Zekrom (the black one), who is able to produce electricity as well as fly and disappear inside thunder clouds.
Why are the legendary pokemon never cute? *sigh*
The classic pokemon formula people have come to know and love won't be changing though. Playing as a (older) boy or girl, you have two tasks to complete - first is to fill the Unova Pokedex, an electronic encyclopedia of every pokemon you've seen and caught, with details on each, and second is to become the Pokemon League Champion by battling trainers on your way to the Elite Four and the Unova Champion. You'll begin by choosing your starter pokemon - a pokemon that will accompany you all through your travels, and, as always, there's a choice of three - Snivy the grass-type, the fire pokemon Tepig, and Oshawott, the watery one.
The starter pokemon: the sad-looking Oshawott, the smug Snivy and the chuffing happy fire-pig Tepig.
So get your DSs ready for Pokemon Black and White on the 4th of March, and prepare to set out on a completely new adventure - in fact, speaking of which, we'll probably need to invest in a new DS, seeing as we may have worn our other one out with the 300+ hours we put into Pokemon Pearl...
