Earlier this week, the fifth generation of the franchise featuring versions Black and White sent novice and veteran trainers alike traveling across new continents and meeting new species of Pokemon. We've grown up since that day in Professor Oak's Lab, but with the games still going strong, and new trainers being added everyday, it's fun to sit back and see how much a decade of change has done to a game that helped define a generation.
New Technology Means We Have to Use It!
With Nintendo's DS hand held system, the era of Game Boy is over. However, with new, more powerful tools means new graphic enhancement and glitz. Today we're seeing visual effects in our hand that the N64 or Playstation couldn't handle when they came out. Gone are the days of pixelated sprites of characters, black and white backdrops, and a third person perspective in a two dimensional environment.
DOUCHE Wants to Fight!
What used to be considered a staple in all the former games has a noticeable absence this time around. No longer is your
character constantly harassed by his childhood rival throughout your journey. There used to be a time where running into your former jerk-off of a friend (appropriately named DOUCHE, BUTTS, or other various slurs for comedic effect) was a horrible prospect. He would find you when you were at your weakest and proceed to tell you how much you suck despite the outcome of the fight. Stray too far from town with half your team unconscious at the wrong time? Oh man, I hope you saved!
But with Black and White, your former rival is MIA and been replaced with two actual friends (although I use the term loosely). You practically travel with your new buddies as they constantly push you to be your best and even fig
ht along side you during more trying periods. However the game refuses to let you name them? Sorry, I'll take good ol' BUTTLORD any day.
The Evil Organization is Just Trying to Make the World a Better Place?
Back in the original games, the concept was simple. Pokemon appears in wild, capture it. Train it. Win with it. However Black and White shocked
many when it brought up the ethical ramifications of capturing small creatures and forcing them into essentially glorified cockfights. Remember
when Team Rocket just wanted to steal Pokemon to sell and make lots and lots of money? This time around, Team Plasma (yea...) want to steal Pokemon from people so they stop being used as fighters. In just a few years the games evil
organization went from terrorism to PETA. Well, maybe there isn't that much of a difference after all.
Stalker Mode: Enabled.
My roommate startled me when were playing in the same room the other day. He called me out to heal my Tranquill after a particular nasty fight. Considering we were not talking, and it was impossible for him to see my screen, I was at a slight unease.
Turns out that the wireless ability of the Nintendo DS allows you to monitor nearby trainers and scrutinize whatever it is they may be doing in the game by a series of Facebookish status updates. I'm still not certain to what purpose this was put in, but it certainly is entertaining!
The wireless and infrared features also make the former link cable obsolete. There was a time when the kid with a link cable had all the friends out on the recess field. Back then you had to make a friend with a different version and shell out 15 bucks so you could trade and fight. Now with the Nintendo DS, a player can connect to a global network to trade and battle without ever making physical contact with another human. Sometimes I do wonder what we did before the internet...
The “Get Off My Lawn!” Syndrome
The past week I've heard much praise from the new generation of the game. However I have also heard just as much bitter resentment from former veterans. The most common complaint seems to be how “stupid” the new Pokemon look. Complaints that Nintendo is running out of ideas, or that they just blindfold artists and turn the squiggles drawn into the next generation.
I have referred to this mentality as the “Get Off My Lawn!” syndrome, taken from the elderly man who screams at small children enjoying themselves because he is so caught up in himself and out of touch with the changes and perspectives of others that he forgets exactly how stupid some of our cherished and sacred Pokemon actually looked.
It does not matter if you were a fan of the original 151 or not, you have to admit some of our beloved Pokemon looked really stupid.
As a player who experienced the original 151, I understand the feeling of commitment and satisfaction that “They'll never be this good again.” However, I also understand that so many others are picking these games up for the first time, and feeling the exhilarating rush of winning your first battle and capturing your first Pokemon I can feel at peace knowing the same experience I had thirteen years ago is repeating again tonight somewhere in the world. I can be happy knowing that I'll sit down with my ten year old cousin and discuss the finer points of strategy and hear in his voice the same excitement my friends and I shared all those years ago. If you shared these memories as well, and have the expendable income, I fully encourage you to pick up the new versions, or even your old ones, and take a trip down memory lane.
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