Waiting for Pokémon Shining Diamond and Shining Pearl to bring Generation IV features back to life, let’s rediscover the best ones!
After a very personal parenthesis on Pokémon Sword and Shield like the one we saw last week, we thought about composing an ode to the best features of each generation. The writer has already addressed this issue a long time ago, but in this specific location we at TechGameWorld.com would prefer something more concise and substantial. In other words, therefore, we will quickly review the various generations and the most significant functions of each of them. And, why not, those who want to take their fancy flights are free to imagine a game in which they all return.
We speak of “pindaric flights” because, by deliberate choice of game design, Junichi Masuda of the historic development team Game Freak has considered the features more of “experiments” for their own sake than of the cornerstones introduced to stay. And this is a shame, because some of the ideas proposed are really valid and deserve to persist even outside the remakes. Nonetheless, let’s not forget that for the first time a game from the main series (re-release or not) the development team of Shining Diamond and Shining Pearl and another (ILCA, the same minds as Pokémon HOME).
Like inKanto
What could be the best features of the first generation of Pokémon? Here we are talking about three versions: Rossa, Blu e Yellow. If we were to think of a standard to keep for good in each generation, we would talk about the companion Pokémon; however, the Sinnoh region is the very one that reintroduced them, and Shining Diamond and Shining Pearl intend to keep the function once they visit Concordia Park for the first time (sorry for calling this a limitation; it’s a typo from part of this editor). Therefore, we can discard this feature from Pokémon Yellow Version from the wish list.
On the other hand, we prefer instead to be enticed by thinking of a lack of Pokémon Sword and Shield that has undoubtedly penalized the two chapters, or the lack of National Pokédex. We are not referring to this as a feature (although, in the first generation, the creatures were all there), but as a concept of fauna. And although the seventh generation (to which we will arrive) has decided to start removing only the cataloging of Pokémon on a national basis, with the Galar region we have learned not to take even pillars like Bidoof for granted. Which, fortunately, in one screenshot of the upcoming remakes missed the national numbering!
“RPM, get in gear” – The best features of Pokémon
How to limit the best features of the second generation of Pokémon ?! The versions Oro, Silver e Crystal they shaped the series as we know it today. There is so much to say that we wouldn’t really know what to give priority to. We have an (in-game) mother who helps us save money, Time Capsule intergenerational exchanges, wandering Pokémon and, in the case of the Crystal Version, even charismatic rivals like Eugenius. We think of the double region (or “the nostalgia for Kanto done well”), but hoping for it is a real utopia.
Rather, if we really want to let ourselves go to the sins of gluttony, our choice falls on the first main multifunctional tool of the saga: the PokéGear. Also known by the unused name of Pokémon Gear, this hybrid between mobile phone and watch (it was 2000, which makes it an ante litteram smartwatch) allowed useful functions such as radio (especially on Nintendo DS with implementations useful for catching interregional Pokémon. ), a more accessible version of the city map and, above all, a phone with which to forge a bond with the coaches in order to challenge them again. Wouldn’t that be nice?
From the north we travel a bit Kyushu – The best features of Pokémon
With the third generation of Pokémon, or the games on the Game Boy Advance, we will have to accelerate the pace: it is here in fact that the best features will have to include remakes. Let’s start with the versions Rubino, Sapphire e Smeraldo. What do we miss most? The Emerald Pokénav was nice, with the addition of sprites (and artwork, on 3DS) of registered trainers, underwater worlds, and imaginative ecosystems. For the sake of longevity, however, the Secret Bases with which you can challenge your friends at will once a day (especially on 3DS with the Streetpass) take the podium: we hope that the underworld of Shining Diamond and Shining Pearl has taken notes!
Moving on to the first remakes, the “new” Kanto showed us many good news: the most obvious of all is the Seeker, with which you can re-face the coaches in the vicinity. A function castrated by its use only in interiors, and that being present in Diamante and Perla we hope to see its best on Switch in a few weeks. PokéTivù is also one of the best uses of the tutorial concept ever seen in a game, with a Youtube-like approach to educating the player. The Pokévip, then, allowed us to catalog information on NPCs, bringing the saga closer to the same lore from which it constantly tries to get away. The timeline of our actions upon loading the game also deserves applause.
And Here We Are – The best features of Pokémon
We will hardly have to dwell on the Hokkaido of the Pokémon world, that is Sinnoh, just a month after the release of the remakes. But we could talk about the functions of the versions Diamond and Pearl that are still hiding in promotional material. We first ask ourselves what will happen to the GTS (the debut of online exchanges!) Of Jubilife City, now that the function is exclusive to Pokémon HOME. Similarly, the Battle Zone will likely be present, but we don’t know if the post-game will focus on the Battle Tower or if we’ll see the return of the Battle Tower. Battle Park of the Platino re-edition.
What could we want, however, from the versions Oro HeartGold e Argento SoulSilver? Or rather, what could we NOT want? We have the best berry grow ever (the portable berry planter), the choice of soundtrack to listen to, an external peripheral like the Pokéwalker (still the most accurate pedometer in the world) and, finally, the Pokéathlon that showed us a different way of making our creatures compete. If we had to choose only one feature to save in this generation, we would probably find ourselves finally opting for the Battle Frontier.
Divisive designs for glorified games – The best features of Pokémon
Okay, James Turner’s entry into the character designers may partly motivate their divisive aspect, but the fact remains that the plot of Pokémon White Version and Black Version (the latest generation to talk about “versions”) has made these adventures one of the most loved ever. The pro-New York region of Unova has brought many innovations, including the waves of wild Pokémon with which to obtain rare ones, the alternating seasons, the triple battles, those in rotation, the infinite technical machines (which Spada and Scudo have limited by introducing the “Dischi Tecnica”) and a selectable difficulty.
And then, carrying on the plot in a more hinted way but pushing the accelerator on the gameplay, we have the sequels White 2 and Black 2 version. Sure, Toni is still the best rival in the series, but he’s not the one who wins hands down in this section. And neither is the musical variety of the gyms, the tangible evolution of the game world (a true sequel!), The best regional Pokédex of the series or the ambitious Pokéwood. And what’s better than a Pokémon game to experience our movie? How about the Pokémon World Tournament? With its ability to challenge all fifty gym leaders (plus champions) introduced until then, it is this mode that we would like to review everywhere.
Now in 3D – The best features of Pokémon
With X and Y, the Pokémon series has seen some of the best features ever introduced in the saga. Only with the region of Kalos, inspired by France, we have seen it all: aerial battles for only flying Pokémon, reverse battles with reversed effectiveness, groups of wild creatures, the Virtual Super Training for competitive players, the Register to re-challenge the coaches of any replay and the most ambitious “biggest city” of the saga, Lumiose City (Paris). However, now that the Mega Evolutions and Z-Moves (of the next generation) have been merged into Dynamax, what we would like to review is a neat and immediate online interface like the Player Search System.
The Hoenn retelling with Alpha Sapphire and Omega Ruby showed an ambition to expand the content that we would like to see again in Diamond Shining and Pearl Shining. The supporting actors are now more involved, such as Rocco (paving the way for more “active” champions than usual, like Dandel in Galar). Likewise, Episode Delta has taken the ridiculous post-game of the original Sapphire and Ruby and blown it up properly, but it’s theHypervole the best feature: riding a winged Pokémon to explore the map as we always wanted to do, even stumbling upon all the Legendary Pokémon in a single generation.
The seventh time is the good one – The best features of Pokémon
We glaze over the best features of Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! e Let’s Go, Eevee!, which consist almost only of the rideable creatures, switching instead to swan song on 3DS. Sun and moon they took us to the Hawaiian Islands (the Alola region), introducing the aforementioned Z-Moves and eliminating the Hidden Machines for good. Among other novelties we have a different approach to fanservice (showing the Red and Blue trainers as adults), the four-player fights with the Battle Royale, as well as the fight with reinforcements for the chains, the creepy Ultra Beasts and the Poké Relax (forerunner of the camping seen in Galar).
The concept of Ultra Beasts has been appropriately expanded in Ultrasole e Ultraluna. Straddling the White 2 / Black 2 and third version sequels, these games introduced the Ultra Worms, the original dimensions of the aforementioned “alien” Pokémon. Before the concept of the multiverse left the comic book lover’s ghetto (as we saw in What If…?), The game explored it with the Ultra Wraiths. In addition to the mature attitude of some of them, such as the Ultra agglomeration, the epilogue of the game is also the most ambitious of the saga: theRR episode, in which Giovanni from Team Rocket recruits the other evil bosses of the series from timelines they have won.
Come on, even Galar
Let’s close this roundup of features by seeing which are the best introduced by Pokémon Sword and Shield. We talked in our last special about how little is enough to re-evaluate them: we have judged them for what they are not and not for what they are. The open world of Wild Lands is something that will remain in the series, as we gladly discovered in Pokémon Arceus Legends. We don’t know if the same goes for Dynamax, but there is more that we would like to see again in the future. We allude to …