25 Days of Pokémon - Top 5 Ghost Pokémon

I’ve made mention in many of my previous Pokémon-related postings (especially my playthrough journals) that Ghost is my favorite Pokémon typing. It only makes sense, then, in my writing about some of my favorite elements of the franchise, that my five favorite Ghost Pokémon should be a topic of one of this month’s lists. While I do love a great number of Ghost Pokémon, I will adhere to my rule of five and five only, but will accordingly give honorable mention to the company of Golurk and Rotom.

#5) Sableye – While technically Ghost is its secondary typing and Dark its primary, I consider any Pokémon with a Ghost typing eligible for this list (and hey, it’s my list, so I can make the rules). Sableye was, surprisingly enough, one of my favorite Pokémon from my Sapphire playthrough. Its dual-typing gives it extra defense against both Dark and Ghost-type attacks, giving it no natural weaknesses save for the generation VI addition of Fairy-type attacks. Sableye can takes hits like a champ and dish out some decent attacks in return, despite what its tiny frame might let on.

#4) Drifblim – I didn’t think much of Drifblim prior to my catching one during my post-game adventures in the generation V titles, but what ultimately piqued my curiosity in this balloon Pokémon were the sinister implications described in the Pokedex entries for both it and its pre-evolved form, Drifloon. Drifloon’s Pokedex entry states that children who grab hold of them sometimes go missing, with other interpretations going so far as to say Drifloon takes children away to a land of the dead. Drifblim’s Ghost/Flying dual-typing and its ability to learn Thunderbolt led it to be a solid competitor in Unova’s Pokémon World Tournament matchups.

#3) Mismagius – Generation II introduced but one new Ghost Pokémon in the form of Misdreavus. While it was nice to see Game Freak add to the company of Gastly, Haunter, and Gengar, Misdreavus was not the most practical team member in those days, and did not receive a proper evolution until generation IV came around. Mismagius’s design is simple, yet effective, with its magician’s hat-shaped head and flowing robe-like body distinguishing it from other phantom Pokémon. Mismagius has a wide variety of typing pools it can draw its moves from, including the new Fairy moves in generation VI, making it a wonderfully useful Pokémon for taking down many a foe.

#2) Gourgeist – An unsung hero of the Ghost Pokémon, Gourgeist was my oddball pick in my playthrough of Y. I came across its pre-evolved form of Pumpkaboo late in the story, but when I learned of this Ghost/Grass Pokémon’s ability to learn Flame Charge, that secured its spot in my party. My Gourgeist was a Large size, and thus was able to both deal and take greater amounts of damage than his smaller kin, but was not nearly as slow as the Super Size variant. Taking to Super Training, I boosted Gourgeist’s speed, attack, and special attack, which – coupled with the speed increase earned from successive uses of Flame Charge – meant it could easily sweep many opposing Pokémon in a blitzkrieg offense.

#1) Chandelure – One of the first generation V designs I came across when I was getting back into the Pokémon franchise, Chandelure stood out to me as a wonderfully bizarre design – so much so, that I made it my mission to incorporate this Pokémon into my team as soon as I came across its pre-evolved form of Litwick. Chandelure is a perfect representation of what the Ghost Pokémon aesthetic is all about, as far as I’m concerned – the Victorian-style chandelier body combined with the purple flames and empty yellow eyes offers a creepy, yet somehow refined creature that fits right in with the limited company of its Ghost Pokémon kin. This lone Fire/Ghost dual typing offers many strong offensive options, and the abilities of Flame Body and Flash Fire can provide a unique edge over the competition in battle.

Pokémon: Omega Ruby journal - entry four

The showdown with Primal Groudon was certainly a visually impressive moment for the game, though the fact that each of my party member’s levels was in the mid-fifties made the battle and capture process more frustrating than need be. Some of my Pokémon were all too likely to one-hit-K.O. Groudon, while the legendary Pokémon’s moveset was still powerful enough to knock out anyone in my party within two or three moves. And the fact that Groudon kept using rest only drew the process out further, resulting in about seven attempts before I actually had a decent shot at catching the beast.

Wallace’s gym battle offered a much appreciated variety in Pokémon that was absent in nearly every gym that preceded it, but my Trevenant was still able to sweep his entire team while taking hardly any damage. The sea routes that are so frequent late in the game do not bother me much, but the game’s archaic design for the overworld and excessive reliance on HMs is borderline-infuriating. I had hoped that with this reimagining of Ruby and Sapphire, Game Freak would incorporate as much from the generation VI titles as possible into streamlining the experience and making the whole package more user-friendly, but as I’ve seen time and time again during my playthrough, Omega Ruby is a classic case of ‘one step forward, two steps back’.

The brief glimpse of Zinnia did not go unnoticed by my eyes, and I’m very much hoping that the bonus content in the post-game Delta Episode makes up for some of Omega Ruby’s fumbles. I clocked in a couple more hours today, and I intend to try my best to burn through the remainder of Omega Ruby’s main story within the next week. Hopefully the Elite Four at least offer something of a challenge – right now, I fear they may be as much a cakewalk as their Kalos counterparts. Going into Victory Road, I’m already having flashbacks to Platinum's nauseating reliance on HM moves to mindlessly zigzag through a labyrinth of tunnels, bridges, and waterways.

2014 Video Game Soundtrack Sampler

As we near the end of 2014 and my subsequent ‘best games of the year’ list, I thought I would do something a little bit different than in years past. Below is a collection of tunes from many (though not all) of the games that I played this year. I tried my best to select a variety of musical stylings, as well as some of the tunes that stood out to me as being especially catchy, memorable, or simply well-orchestrated. With some games, this was a real challenge to narrow the field down to just one selection, as the full soundtracks for many of these titles are superb. If you find you really enjoy some of these tunes, consider purchasing the official soundtracks through Amazon, iTunes, Bandcamp, or one of the many other digital music distributors on the web and supporting the hard work of the talented composers and musicians behind each.

Grand Theft Auto V – ‘Welcome to Los Santos’



Super Mario 3D World – ‘Hisstocrat’



DmC: Devil May Cry – ‘Lilith’s Club’



Killer7 – ‘Sweet Blue Flag’



Kirby: Triple Deluxe – ‘Moonstruck Blossom’



Mario Kart 8 – ‘Title Theme’



Shovel Knight – ‘An Underlying Problem (The Lost City)’



The Wolf Among Us – ‘Main Theme’



Skullgirls – ‘Pick of the Litter’



Sin and Punishment: Star Successor – ‘Setouchi (Stage 2)’



Kid Icarus: Uprising – ‘Pandora’s Labyrinth of Deceit’



Persona 4 – ‘Pursuing My True Self’



Bayonetta 2 – ‘Let’s Dance, Boys! (Tomorrow is Mine Remix)’



Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U – ‘Master Core’



Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire – ‘Zinnia Battle Theme’

Anime review: Pokémon the Movie: White – Victini and Zekrom

Continuing their adventures through the Unova region, Ash, Iris, and Cilan find themselves headed to a small secluded town, nestled in a mountainous area of the country. They plan to participate in a small, one-on-one and single-elimination tournament, but Ash decides to take a quick detour along the way in order to help a couple of Deerling that are dangerously close to the edge of a narrow cliff. Unfortunately this noble deed similarly puts him in danger, though he is able to jump to safety thanks to the psychic powers of the legendary Pokémon Victini. While Ash is wholly unaware of Victini’s influence over his finding his route back to his friends, word of Victini residing in the area is common folklore among the local people.

In actuality, Victini is restricted to that town and the immediately surrounding area due to powerful pillars of energy that were put in place long ago by a king who led his people away from a desert land. The king put the pillars and a giant tower fortress at the top of the mountain so as to seal the Dragon Force, a powerful energy stream that saps the life of plants and Pokémon in turn, as it winds its way across the countryside. While Victini shared a special bond with the king, utilizing the legendary Pokémon’s psychic powers in moving his people to a better homeland and stopping the destructive flow of the Dragon Force took all the energy the king had, and thus he passed away before he could set Victini free from this unintentional prison.

As Ash trumps his competition, one girl finds his winning streak suspicious, and inquires if his Pokémon had some help from Victini. Wholly unaware of the fact that this was true, Ash denies even seeing Victini, but Cilan’s home-baked treats are just the ticket for luring the psychic Pokémon out from hiding. As Ash and friends talk to the girl and her mother, they reveal that they are the same people that the king once led to safety, and that a young man named Damon wants to attempt a return to their home country.

The story then cuts to the tale that served as the origin for N’s ideals and the introduction for Reshiram and Zekrom in the video games – that being the tale of the two sons of yet another king of the Unova region. One son was known as the hero of ideals, and the other known as the hero of truth. Each partnered with one of the legendary dragon Pokémon, and were well-loved by their subjects, but eventually their rivalry turned to animosity, and in their attempts to overpower one another, Reshiram and Zekrom’s power whittled away so greatly that they were forced to slumber as white and black orbs respectively. In the present day, it is revealed that Damon has discovered Reshiram’s white orb and reawakened the legendary Pokémon to aid in his plans to return to the old homeland.

Pokémon: White – Victini and Zekrom does well in handling some of its smaller details. There are deliberate ties to the video game lore, in order to make the story of the film feel less alienated. The Pokémon typings also seem to play somewhat more of an important role this time around, as Pokémon display weaknesses to Pokémon they would logically have a disadvantage against in combat. However, in terms of the stand-alone story, the film does not make many solid connections. The backstory of the king details how Victini was used as a conduit to power the floating fortress, and so Damon’s desire to recreate this scenario makes sense given the legendary Pokémon’s immense power. However, there is no real justification given for why Damon feels it is necessary to make a return pilgrimage to the desert from which they arrived. Life in the mountain town seems quite pleasant, and Damon never explains why he feels a return is necessary – not even such a shallow explanation as ‘it’s where we started, and it’s where we belong’.

The floating fortress evokes distinct memories of the airship designed to capture the legendary birds and lure out Lugia in the second theatrical Pokémon movie. Except, in this film, Damon already has Reshiram at his side. There is no real reason for any of Damon’s grand scheme, nor is there much explored about his character. He appears to be something of a history buff, and is apparently quite well-liked by the locals, but it is unclear if he is following some delusional interpretation of the texts he is so engrossed in, or if he is simply attempting this journey home just for the heck of it.

The Pokémon battles are spaced out quite a bit, as there is some extra time needed to explain the multiple (though loosely connected) historical tales. While Ash and Pikachu playing with Victini is cute and fun for a brief while, each bout of downtime this film settles into is obnoxiously longer than need be. The last twenty-five minutes or so of the film certainly display more exciting sessions of Pokémon battles and the eventual appearance of Zekrom clashing with Reshiram, but it’s a matter of the film playing its best hand after a consistently mundane presentation. Young viewers may ignore the significant plot holes, but anyone who appreciated the extra storytelling depth presented in the generation V video game counterparts will find no such complexity here.

My rating: 5 (out of 10)

Pokémon: Omega Ruby journal - entry three

Adding Emolga to my team has paid off wonderfully, as its Electric and Flying dual-typing and moveset have given me a consistent counter to the company of other Flying-type Pokémon, as well as the Grass/Fighting combo presented by Breloom. My reliance on Phantump is a bit more sporadic, but I still appreciate the Grass, Ghost, and Dark-type moves he’s learned, especially considering how offensively powerful they are. Coupled with his immunity to Normal and Fighting-type moves, I still consider Phantump to be a valuable asset to my team, if not something of a wild card in the grand scheme of this playthrough.

Metagross has become more frequently useful as of late, as has Toxicroak, something that I thoroughly appreciate, as I was never particularly keen on swapping either of those two out. Infernape has also proven a solid pick, while Crawdaunt keeps on trucking along, being the team member I have arguably gotten the consistent and reliable results from. Omega Ruby is, however, considerably lesser in its degree of challenge than most other Pokémon titles, as it utilizes the same experience share system from X and Y, rendering many of the trainer encounters and gym leader battles during the game’s second half laughably easy.

Another oddity that provides players with a distinct advantage over in-game opponents is the fact that Steven Stone takes you on a brief sidequest which ends with Latias or Latios in your company, depending on which version you are playing (in the case of Omega Ruby, Latios was added to my party for a short while). For anyone who might pick up Omega Ruby or Alpha Sapphire after the shiny Beldum event has ended, these legendaries might be a tad more appealing. Given how much lower a level than the rest of my part members were, as well as the fact that I’d have been double-dipping into the pool of Psychic-type Pokémon, I did not feel that I needed to make use of Latios. It would only have made the game that much more of a cakewalk, though I don’t deny that from the standpoint of trying to collect all the Mega Stones for completion’s sake, it’s an appreciated gift.

Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire sprinkle in little bits of extra dialogue and cutscenes every so often to try and better flesh out the stories of Team Magma and Team Aqua. While the team admins are wacky, even mildly amusing, the ultimate ends for these two villainous element-obsessed factions still stand among the least compelling plotlines in the Pokémon franchise. This, tied with the fact that the Hoenn region offers very little in the way of distinctly memorable locales or events compared to nigh on every other entry in the series, leaves me somewhat disappointed over the fact that these games could have been so much better with all their new menu inclusions and user-friendly design points, were it not for the simple fact that they are remakes of the generation III titles.

Wii U review: Super Smash Bros. for Wii U

Boasting the same roster as its 3DS counterpart, the latest Super Smash Bros. has arrived on the Wii U, and sports the same frantic action coupled with a solid blend of the play styles of the previous two entries in Nintendo’s all-star fighting series. Plenty of familiar faces return, while a few have been cut from Brawl’s offerings, and a couple have been split into multiple characters – such is the case with Sheik, Zelda, Samus, and Zero Suit Samus, each of whom now have an extra move or two. The newcomers are some of the most bold and varied additions to the roster in the series’ history, with the Animal Crossing Villager, Wii Fit Trainer, Pac-Man, Mega Man, Palutena, and Little Mac, joining the fray, among plenty more interesting additions.

While Smash played well on a handheld – better than most would have anticipated – it feels more at home on the Wii U. The Pro and Gamecube controllers evoke tight, smooth responses from each fighter, while the Gamepad and Wiimotes, despite having slightly less orthodox spacing and button layouts, fill their roles in similarly solid fashion. Stages and characters are generally easier to keep in focus in all their high-definition glory, though this can change drastically in some of utterly massive stages designed for the new 8-player Smash mode.

While the 3DS Smash Bros. offered up a solid variety of stages, the Wii U’s brand new arenas are better, by and large. The Kalos Pokémon League sets players on a medium area of ground with small variable platforms, and throws a few environmental hazards like fire, water, giant swords, and the occasional legendary Pokémon into the mix to keep players on their toes. The winding courses and mobile platform representing Mario Kart 8 are effectively a stand-in for F-Zero, whose only stage in this Wii U version is the tried-and-true Port Town Aero Dive from Brawl. Skyloft builds off the basics of Brawl’s Delfino Isle, albeit with many larger areas to set down in, while both Pilot Wings and Donkey Kong’s Jungle Hijinks offer simple yet refined design points.

While nearly every newcomer to this Smash Bros. has a stage to call their own, it is unfortunate that some of the series veterans get left out in the cold, so to speak. There is no new F-Zero stage beyond the 16-bit one exclusive to the 3DS version of Smash, and Kirby’s only two Wii U stages are the massive Great Cave Offensive, suitable only for frantic bouts of trying to keep sight of your own fighter in 8-player Smash, and the Halberd, which was easily one of the best stages to come of this game’s Wii predecessor. Each of the new stages does hold up solid with the quality and variety fans have come to expect from the Smash Bros. series, though.

The returning stages, on the other hand, are a bit of a mixed bag. Smashville, Kongo Jungle 64, and Port Town Aero Dive all play as wonderfully as they did during their respective debuts, while Donkey Kong’s 75m is obnoxious and poor in design. The claustrophobic setup of Luigi’s Mansion and bland emptiness of the Bridge of Eldin both make for strange choices as well, though Melee’s Hyrule Temple, which has long been an unnecessarily large stage, finally sees some more practical use, thanks to the inclusion of 8-player Smash matches.

With regards to 8-player Smash, certain stages were designed with this larger number of players in mind, like Sonic’s Windy Hill and an even larger version of the classic Battlefield stage, appropriately named Big Battlefield. Other stages are reserved for smaller numbers of players, and cannot be accessed for 8-player Smash. Online play proves generally more solid and connections more consistent than in the 3DS version, a welcome improvement that will hopefully only get better as time goes on.

The core experience of this latest Super Smash Bros. is a majorly impressive achievement for Sakurai and the rest of the creative team behind it, as it contains the most balanced roster of fighters since the original N64 version. Final Smashes, one of the most polarizing additions to Brawl, make a return, and have largely been retooled for the better. Characters with previously over-powered Final Smashes, like Pit and Ness, have been granted significantly toned-down replacements, while others have been swapped for more practical options, like Luigi’s vacuum cleaner and Zero Suit Samus firing upon foes from a safe distance inside her gunship. Others still have seen previously perfectly reasonable Final Smashes ditched in favor of still-plenty-effective and well-balanced moves that align more closely with some of their latest outings, such as Kirby’s giant sword he wielded in Return to Dreamland and Lucario’s Mega Evolution, parallel to Charizard’s own. It’s a far more intelligent showing for this mechanic that was previously able to tip the scales in matches so drastically that it almost certainly spelled one-hit K.O.s from particular characters.

Classic and All-Star modes both see a return, the latter being almost entirely unchanged from every Smash Bros. prior, a gauntlet run of matches against every other fighter on the roster, this time in reverse chronological order of their debut in the video game industry. Classic mode, meanwhile, sets the players’ chosen character trophy on a base that they can freely move about, and tackle different sets of opponents based on which fighters they will be up against, how many, which stage they will be duking it out on, and what sorts of rewards will be granted upon winning the fight. On top of these match-specific rewards, players can stop a roulette to earn further rewards, though losing two lives and being taken to the ‘continue’ screen will result in one or more of these rewards being taken away. The higher the difficulty setting, the better the rewards typically are, but also the more that will be taken away should players fail.

When selecting fights, players need to be mindful of their designated rival character, who is randomly selected at the start of each classic mode run. This rival will generally put up more of a fight than its CPU counterparts. Facing it early on can grant a sort of safety net, but yields less in the way of rewards, while waiting until the last possible minute to face off with it means a more challenging battle for a better haul. Occasionally, one of the CPUs will be kicked off the base by a more challenging foe who will take on either giant or metal form, which again, yields greater returns for players who best them in battle. Classic mode will, however, always cap off with a multi-man battle against a team of Mii fighters, and Master Hand/Crazy Hand/Master Core thereafter.

The Miis are the new representatives for all forms of Multi-Man Smash found in the additional Stadium content, including time-sensitive matches, 10 and 100-man matches, and two other modes that pit players against highly aggressive Mii fighters and throw a rival CPU into the mix respectively. Home Run Derby makes its return, largely unchanged from the last time around, while the new Target Blast mode combines the basic idea of launching an object ala Home Run Derby with the old Break the Targets mode. The object of Target Blast is to chain as many targets as possible from the bomb’s explosion radius and the environment objects that are launched as a result of it for a high score.

Event matches also make a comeback, some being locked early on due to their requiring use of bonus unlockable fighters. These matches play out in a manner not unfamiliar to veterans of Melee and Brawl, with silly scenarios made up for the sake of adding interesting rules into the mix. On the whole, these latest event matches are easier than in previous installments, with a few sprinkled throughout that will prove a test of patience through trial-and-error runs. Some event matches do lack clear instructions, however.

Filling in a similar spot as the 3DS version’s Smash Run, the board game setup of Smash Tour provides lightning-fast matches with rules that range from relatively normal to borderline-ludicrous. Players will move around the board, collecting extra fighters and power-ups as they go, and using trophy powers to set traps and shuffle their opponents around the board, or even grant themselves an edge in a fight, such as starting off with a particular weapon or shrinking one of their fellow players with a poison mushroom. The fighter players will use in each match is predetermined, so there is no real way to gain an edge with relying on a particular fighter, and losing a match may see one of your fighters fall into the hands of another player. Smash Tour is entertaining for a brief run, and more conceptually interesting than its Smash Run counterpart on the 3DS, but it’s not the sort of game mode most players will devote a great deal of time to.

For completionists who want to unlock every trophy, soundtrack tune, and optional character ability, Master Orders and Crazy Orders set players up with very specific rules in order to reap these rewards. Tickets in Master Orders can only be purchased with coins, and range from straightforward time and stock matches against a handful of low-to-mid-level CPU fighters, all the way on up to high launch power, double speed Smash matches wherein each combatant has but one life. Crazy Orders, meanwhile, takes this concept one step further, combining it with the gauntlet run sensibilities of All-Star mode, as players race the clock to see just how many matches they can fit into a ten-minute span. Tickets for taking on Crazy Orders can be racked up quite quickly in Classic mode, and once a run of Crazy Orders starts, players can select one of three matches to attempt, which become increasingly more challenging as the rounds progress. However, damage taken is carried over from one match to the next, with slight heals occurring automatically between each bout. With all these factors in mind, carefully planning your next move in Crazy Orders is crucial, and playing to the strengths of whichever character you selected is typically advised, though not always a guarantee to victory. When the timer is nearly at zero, the damage counter high enough that another battle seems ill-advised, or the challenge factors being offered less-than-ideal for a fighter, Crazy Hand can be challenged in a match where both parties begin with a predetermined amount of HP, and attempt to whittle each other down from there. The more Crazy Order challenges completed before facing Crazy Hand, the more difficult the match will be, with extra CPU fighters taking to the Final Destination stage and even Master Hand joining in the fight.

There are an abundance of unlockables in the forms of soundtrack tunes, trophies, and stat boosts for the Miis and custom fighters. While the quickest ways to gather these is through Classic and All-Star Modes, some can only be acquired by clearing spaces on the Challenges board, accessible from the main menu. By and large, the challenges in this new Smash Bros. are far more reasonable than those included in Brawl.

Mii fighters are divided into three categories – Gunner, Swordfighter, and Brawler, who – as their names imply – focus on close-quarters punch and kick combos, mid-range swipes of the blade, and distanced shots respectively. Attributing defense, offense, and speed-boosting stats to these Mii fighters, as well as customized versions of the remaining roster members, can drastically alter the way they control in battle, as well as their strengths and weaknesses. Some of the stat boosts unlocked can even start players off with certain items at the beginning of a match, or grant slightly multiplied damage dealt to foes, though these sometimes include tradeoffs that mean a fighter may be slower in battle or start off with a predetermined amount of damage already taken to their HP counter. The movesets for Mario, Donkey Kong, Mega Man, Samus, Captain Falcon, Fox, and so on can be swapped for new abilities, typically offering one option that carries out a faster but less damaging attack, while the other is a slower but heavier hit. It’s a great addition that makes battles less predictable, and allows a greater level of depth in the way players can strategize, without breaking the already solid balance between fighters.

Launching alongside this Wii U Smash Bros. are Nintendo’s collectible Amiibo figures, physical counterparts to the in-game characters. While only twelve were made available at the time of the game’s launch, they all operate in the same basic manner – they can be scanned via a chip that is help over the Gamepad controller, and brought into the game as CPU fighters. The difference between these Amiibo fighters and the traditional CPU fighters is that the Amiibos can be fed different stat boosting abilities, and will gradually learn better strategies for countering human players over time. Amiibos can easily rack up a large amount of experience points early on, while the progression slows as they ascend to higher levels. A low-level Amiibo is a relatively easy opponent to overcome, while an Amiibo at the max level of fifty can put up a serious challenge.

Plenty of classic and remixed tunes accompany each stage, while the graphical presentation is solid, though not nearly as impressive as other recent Wii U releases. From a distance, the textures on stages like Yoshi’s Woolly World and Xenoblade Chronicles' Guar Plain look decent enough, though pausing the game and zooming in for a closer peek reveals textures not nearly as polished as what other console exclusives have offered up. On the other hand, the lighting effects and colors in the Pikmin Garden of Hope, Mario Kart 8’s Mario Circuit, and the Kalos Pokémon League look more in line with the quality players would expect of a current-gen HD console, and these minor visual inconsistencies may be the result of this Smash Bros. being built off the same engine used for 2008’s Brawl. Slight oversights aside, this Wii U version is the most fun Super Smash Bros. has been in years, sweeping gimmicky elements aside in favor of deeper fighting mechanics and a superb roster.

My rating: 9.25 (out of 10)

25 Days of Pokémon - Top 5 Pokémon Games

For this year’s twenty-five days of Christmas special, I’ll be focusing on the Pokémon series, albeit in a different manner than in years past. Instead of making one giant list of my favorite Pokémon or what have you, I’ve opted to make five separate ‘top five’ lists, each highlighting a different aspect of the series. Each will be posted roughly a week apart from one another, between now and December 24th. Today marks the second list, which details my five very favorite titles in the Pokémon series.

#5) Platinum – Generation IV is heralded as many as one of the weaker offerings of the main series of Pokémon games, due to its lack of new Pokémon, few of which are generally considered worthwhile team members, while others are obtainable only through a convoluted process. Still, I certainly found Team Galactic’s intent to tamper with time and space to serve their own needs entertaining, trumped only by Cyrus’ detached and selfish vision for the world. Platinum offers a completed package, with a bit of extra content not included in the original release of Diamond and Pearl, and between its Distortion World puzzle segment and expansive gyms, is still a fun Pokémon title, even if its reliance on event-distributed items and battery-sapping online components means it does not live up to the quality of some of its brethren.

#4) X and Y – The sixth generation games offered up plenty of new and different features that made the connection between player and Pokémon more immersive. These titles also fell victim to considerably easier playthroughs, thanks to the new experience share system that distributed exp. to all team members, even when wild Pokémon were caught. Even if large portions of routes were bypassed here and there, it was not uncommon to find the endgame Elite Four and Champion battles to be a cakewalk. Mega Evolutions proved a tad underwhelming, save for their use in the competitive scene, though the new Pokémon native to the Kalos region offered wonderful typings and movesets, by and large. X and Y did a great deal to advance the Pokémon formula players had become so familiar with, while being perhaps lighter on post-game content than what series veterans were accustomed to.

#3) Black 2 and White 2 – Two years after Ghetsis’ defeat, Team Plasma is back at it in the Unova region, and the influx of Pokémon from other regions during wild encounters makes for a vastly different play experience, despite running on the same setup as its Black and White predecessors. While it would have been easy for Black 2 and White 2 to simply ride on the coattails of the previous monochromatic titles, the team behind these two sequels decided to up the ante, offering brand new areas to explore, even greater ease of access to newcomers and veterans alike with regards to acquiring TMs and training Pokémon for specialized roles, and did away with the need for HMs in the main storyline almost entirely. There’s a lot to do and see in B2 and W2, from NPC trades, to post-game quests, to the test-your-might tournament that allowed trainers to challenge gym leaders and champions from all five major regions of the Pokémon world.

#2) Heart Gold and Soul Silver – The games that properly reintroduced me to Pokémon, these remakes of the generation II titles carry all the sense of fun and adventure in the Johto region over to a significantly easier-to-navigate menu and faster-paced battles. What Red and Blue laid out in ground work, Gold and Silver nigh on perfected for their heyday, and HG and SS do a masterful job of paying tribute to the Gameboy classics, making routes more distinctly identifiable, updating the soundtrack and splashing plenty of color on the screen, and implementing the generation IV online and wireless trade and battle components in a manner even more so seamless than Diamond, Pearl, or Platinum did beforehand. Few regions will ever stand up to the intelligent layout of Johto, or the solid offering of Pokémon encountered therein, and there’s no more enjoyable way to embark on this journey again than through these DS remakes.

#1) Black and White – One of the few Pokémon games to actually present a decently compelling set of ideals for its villainous team to rally behind, the ‘free-Pokémon-from-their-masters’ cries of Team Plasma put you, the player, in a role that will be continuously questioned over the course of this bold new set of Pokémon titles. Generation V effectively barred players from using any non-Unova Pokémon until the postgame content, forcing creative team building strategies not unlike the days of Red and Blue on the Gameboy, but with overall better-balanced Pokémon to choose from, and highly creative and practical typing and moveset combinations to boot. What I found in Black and White was the most engrossing plot of the series, coupled with the most intelligent, creative, and strategic gameplay of any of the generations, bar none. Black 2 and White 2 did exceptionally well at building off of Black and White’s duality of getting back to the basics while simultaneously breaking into bold new territory, but at the end of the day, Black and White did it first, and did it best.