Pokémon Platinum: The Franchise Continues

There’s not a kid or teenager living today who hasn’t heard of Pokémon. The now super successful franchise started with a cartoon show that morphed into a video game giant that kids still enjoy. The latest installment, Pokémon Platinum, is a fan favorite just like the others.

It all began with Ash Ketchum and his little Pokémon, Pikachu. He is an electric rodent and one of the most notable of the cute little creatures. Pokémon is Japanese for “pocket monsters.” Since 1995 Pokémon has grown from the original television series featuring a young boy on a quest to become a Pokémon master to video and card games known and loved world-wide.

Pokémon has made big money for Nintendo who introduced the little creatures to the video game world.  Pokémon is an RPG, role-playing game for the Nintendo DS. Nintendo has released previous versions with Ash and his friends traveling to new locations and acquiring new Pokémon, the latest for the DS being Pokémon Diamond and Pokémon Pearl. The Pokémon video game series is rated E for everyone.

Previous versions of the Pokémon series have been released on Nintendo Game Boy and Game Boy Advance. The Nintendo DS provides two screens for play as well as beautiful graphics of the new location for the latest installment, Distortion World. Since it is an RPG, you are battling with your Pokémon against other masters. In the game, there is only one player but you can play wirelessly with up to 20 other Pokémon players.

Some of the scenes are reminiscent of the previous versions but there is still the addictive property of trying to capture all of the Pokémon that you can get your hands on. That is what we all love best about Pokémon: Gotta catch ‘em all! It became the motto in the beginning and is still the way all Pokémon lovers see the game. Pokémon Platinum features a great story that continues the saga as well as interactive dialogue for the players.

They started out with 151 (including the genetically engineered MewToo) and now have almost 400 different Pokémon species. Some are evolved forms of original and second generation Pokémon but all have their own unique features that make them great in battle. Yes, we said battling. That’s what Pokémon training is all about – winning battles. Pokémon owners battle each other in tournaments for the chance to be crowned champion and win the top prize. There are also opportunities to trade Pokémon and gain new ones through challenges.

The popularity of Pokémon and the Nintendo DS has kept people buying the handheld games even with so many other consoles on the market. How many more precious metals and gems are not parts of Pokémon versions? We don’t know but they’ll need to find more to keep up with this franchise.

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