GAMING
POKEMON X AND Y
NINTENDO 3DS
WELCOME back my nostalgic favourite – how I’ve missed you.
Nearly 15 years to the day of the first Pokémon games earning their Australian release, Game Freak whips out its best reinvention of the mega-franchise yet.
If the previous five generations have taught us anything, it’s that we want more Pokémon, more features and the long overdue addition of 3-D graphics.
X and Y have everything you could want.
The 3-D is a nice touch. While it takes the flattened protagonists off the 2-D field, completely overhauling the classic graphics of the old games, it still feels like a Pokémon game.
The cutesy Japanese bobble-head-esque characters in the game pop out from the screen as the 3-D is subtle yet evocative and the long backgrounds and colourful fields of the new world take hold.
Wandering in the grass, getting attacked by various miniature monsters, it’s the same feel with a new spin of the visuals.
There’s a bit for the old fans – classic critters including Pikachu, Squirtle, Charmander and Bulbasaur added to your team early in the game – while it’s not the repetitive to the point of tedium – a trap a number of current sequels often fall into.
The disappointing things about X and Y come from its additional features – you can’t transfer Pokémon from your old games without paying for the Pokémon Bank feature, an annual charge to store your team mates online.
The storyline is a little flat as well – sure it’s a children’s game, but it’s not pushing the boundaries for the younger players and it comes across as a bit formulaic.
With Nintendo’s cut-price handheld console – the 2DS – will ensure Pokémon X and Y are reasonably affordable in context of the hardware price – but this will probably be one of those games where you buy the console just to play this game.
That said, if there ever was a game that sold whatever it is attached to, it is Pokémon.
– Jarrod Potter
