"Bill Cosby would only eat the best type of pudding while playing this game."

I have been watching the Pokemon anime since I was just ten years old (now eighteen, soon to be nineteen on the nineteenth of October). When my mom, sister, and I were evicted from our apartments after four-and-a-half years, we moved in with my grandmother (who, unfortunately, died to cancer just a few years later) in her house. I remember watching the anime after moving out of her house into an apartment and seeing the episode "The School of Hard Knocks" which brought back memories of my best friend in the fifth grade. Continuing on, I bought Pokemon Blue for my Game Boy. After that, I bought Pokemon Silver (loved the Unown ruins), and so on. Finally, after a long absence of buying Pokemon games, I imported Pokemon Diamond from Japan. Not knowing Japanese has never been so fun.

Story: 10/10

In all the games of Pokemon, the story seems to remain constant. You start out in a town, move your way through gyms and the like, and train your Pokemon up to a high level in order to beat the Pokemon League. After that, you spend time after that raising your Pokemon and completing the many side quests the game had to offer. The plot of this game also appears to be (in my perspective) linear as well, but still exciting.

Game Play: 10/10

Omigosh, the amount of things you can do in this game is insane. The main part of the game is to train your Pokemon up to high levels and defeat trainers using superior strategy--sounds easy, right? Well, when you include EVs, IVs, stats, HP, attack, special attack, defense, special defense, speed, accuracy, PP, type of the move, effect of the move, physical or special move, speed of the move, conditions of the move, aftereffects of the move, location of the move (in the sky, air, underwater, etc.), items that a Pokemon holds, special ability of a Pokemon, nature of a Pokemon, gender of a Pokemon, and other various factors, you can understand that all of this can get quite intense and confusing. For example, the move "Rain Dance" powers up water-based attacks for five turns (unless you have a certain held item that can extend those five turns). Of course, "Rain Dance" also allows the electric move "Thunder" to never miss (essentially meaning that it has perfect accuracy). "Rain Dance" also lowers the power of fire-based attacks. To add to the strategy, "Rain Dance" can also heal the HP of certain Pokemon with a certain special ability. So many effects for one move!

Other parts of this game include the seemingly infinite side quests. One side quest is making bread for your Pokemon to raise certain stats that help Pokemon win contests. Another side quest is the battle tower. Here, you can battle trainers for fun. In one of the areas, you fight in 3v3 battles at level 50. You are able to see many Pokemon here that cannot be caught in the wild. After the Pokemon League, a new area opens up that adds even more battling fun. You can even catch Pokemon that are over level 50! Continuing on, the way the game flows is pretty sweet. You are still restricted to a "up, down, left, right" motion for your character, but also are allowed to run and ride a bike with two settings. The bike's settings are slower (faster than running) but easier to control and fast but harder to control. Also, surrounding affect how fast you move. In tall grass, you are unable to ride your bike. Even worse (or better, depending on your viewing perspective), snow does not just prevent bike riding, but it also prevents you from running AND makes you walk slower. This game can be really cold at times.

The bag in the game has much more room for items than before. In the first pocket is the items that Pokemon usually hold. The hold items allow a Pokemon to get certain effects during battle. For example, Leftovers restores a Pokemon's HP during battle. The second pocket is generally for your potions, repels, revives, and vitamins. The third pocket is for your Pokeballs. There are so many different types of Pokeballs now, and you can even customize their look and animation! The fourth slot holds TMs and HMs, and the fifth slot is for your berries. The sixth slot is used for mail, but I rarely use that, so I do not find it all that useful (although some disagree with me). The seventh slot is used for "in-battle" items like X-Attack (Interestingly enough, in my first seventy hours of playing this game, I do not recall using this pocket even once). Finally, the eight pocket is used for your key items, such as your map, your bike, etc. You will be using the eighth pocket frequently.

A new feature of this game that I really like that affects game play in many ways is the Poketch. Some of the features included are the walking meter and the Pokemon party screen. The walking meter shows you how many steps you have made while in the game. This can be useful when you are trying to see how many steps are left when you are hatching an egg. The Pokemon party screen (which has sprites that look like they are from Pokemon Red, Green, and Blue era) shows the status of your Pokemon, their HP, and whether or not it is holding an item. You can also touch the screen with your stylus and hear the Pokemon's cry! Nice little feature added in there. The Poketch can also be handy for every day uses, such as checking the time or using the calculator as an excuse to play the game during math class.

Overall, I would have to say that the game play in Pokemon Diamond is excellent. Smooth transitions and nearly infinite possibilities make the game play incredible. Of course, what good is superior game play without the graphics to match?

Graphics: 10/10

Rarely is a game made with both astonishing game play and impressive graphics. Either a game is all strategy and poor graphics or all flash and can be completed in ten minutes. Pokemon Diamond is one of those rare games that has both (then again, Game Freak and Nintendo did have tons of money to spend on the making of this game, but we will not count that ^_~). Many aspects in the field of graphics catch my eyes. To start off, the characters in this game have never looked better. Some appear to be updated versions from Pokemon Emerald, and others are completely new with their own style. They really did a good job of combining old designs (mountain trainers having the "Brock" look, bug-trainers looking the same, etc.) with new ideas (different hair styles, different color combinations, and so forth). The mini-sprites of the characters also look updated and have a more three-dimensional feel. Speaking of which, there are many three-dimension objects in this game, such as houses and windmills. They were made really well and look incredible on such a small screen. It really gives a person that next-gen feel when you seen such objects. There are also attacks that the Pokemon use that appear to be three-dimensional. One example is Dootakun's (#437) Luster Cannon. There are also some "Pokemon exclusive" moves that look pretty neat. Beequeen (#416) has the most exclusive moves out of them all. Only it can learn "Attack Command" (attacking), "Defense Command" (raising defense and special defense), and "Restore Command" (restoring HP). I love how the queen uses her minions to her advantage. The Pokemon in this game do not look too bad, either (you need the Pokemon who are using the moves to look good also, right?).

The scenery in this game, although looking similar, has really been stepped up a notch. Beautiful colors mixed in with well-shaped objects really make this game a work of art. For example (how many have I provided now? >_>), there is this one town in the game that has hundreds of flowers spread across the entire town. You have all these flowers moving, and yet, there is no lag anywhere. There is even a path through the flowers so you do not step on them...but really now, who is going to follow the path? Even the residents do not care. Another example of good scenery would have to be the snow route leading up to the seventh gym. When you first start out, you can only walk fast in certain areas, and the snowstorm is light. When you continue moving, though, the snowstorm will become intense and you are unable to run through the snow. Instead, you have to slowly walk. I must admit, at one point I did feel chilly--it was that well animated. I always loved the cold, though, so that could be why I found that part so awesome. The sound only added to the feeling, of course.

Sound: 10/10

Beep beep beep! Mixing old with the new can really create some interesting tracks. The music in the Pokemon Center, for example, is pretty much the same as it has always been, only slightly remixed. The saving sound right after it saves is still there, as is the Pokeball opening sound. The wild Pokemon theme still gets annoying after hearing it five bajillion times, but the Poketrainer battle, interestingly enough, does not (at least, for me). I love the gym battle music--it is an improvement from Pokemon Emerald for sure. The music while traveling is pretty good as well. Some of the music might remind you of other games (two examples are the bike music reminding me of Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars and Route 225 reminding me of Sonic the Hedgehog), but hey, that is all based on perspective.

Controls: 10/10

Very simple controls. You press up to move up, left to move left, right to move right, and down to move diagonally. When you ride a bike, the controls are the same. When you want to break a rock or climb a mountain (through the usage of HM moves), you just press A and confirm a command. When you want to see the menu, you press X, and you press Y to use your select item (which will probably be either the map or the bike depending on your preference). Of course, B is still used to cancel commands, but it has other uses as well (mainly for running, though). There is not much action that requires movements of celerity, but the game moves without a single glitch that I can think of, so that is why it gets a perfect score. Oh, and in case you did not know by now, I was kidding about that "diagonally" thing. :P

Challenge: 10/10

I do not really need to go in-depth in this section. All people who have played Pokemon games know just how challenging this game can be, especially when EVs and IVs are concerned.

Wi-Fi: 10/10

I was told that going about 10/10 on a score looks n00bish, so that is why I avoided it here. Otherwise, the section would probably look something like "720/10". The Wi-Fi capabilities of this game are so incredible. You can trade Pokemon and battle trainers AROUND THE WORLD. Say you live in America, but none of your friends currently have the game because it has only came out in Japan. No problem! With Wi-Fi (and, of course, a reliable message board such as GameFAQs), you can trade and battle with trainers all over the world. Of course, this feature has potential for abuse as well. If you are not careful, you may find yourself battling a team of six Mewtwos! If your team is strong enough, though, you can take them out easily--unless all their stats are maxed out to 999...then you might as well give up a victory. Nevertheless, I still enjoy Wi-Fi trading and battling very much.

The Bottom Line:

If you enjoyed Pokemon Blue, then buy this game.
If you enjoyed Pokemon Silver, then buy this game.
If you enjoyed Pokemon Sapphire, then buy this game.
If you enjoyed Pokemon Leaf Green, then buy this game.
If you enjoyed OH COME ON DO I REALLY NEED TO CONTINUE? If you do not mind Japanese, import this game NOW, but if want to want, DEFINITELY buy it when it comes out in English. I bought a DS solely for this game, and if you have the money and are interested in Pokemon in the slightest, you should too. Please, though, do not blame me if you miss a week of school.

FINAL SCORE: 10/10

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 10/17/06