Pokemon Craze

Ok, recently Nick and Seng Wai have started to play Pokemon Platinum. Since I had nothing to do, I thought I might as well try and see the newest version of the Pokemon game series. Starting with Red, Blue, Green and Yellow, moving on to Silver, Gold and Crystal, advancing to Ruby, Sapphire and Emerald. Now, we have Diamond, Pearl and Platinum (These latest 3 run on Nintendo DS instead of GBA). Hence, the normal Gameboy Advance emulator cannot run the Pokemon Diamond/Pearl/Platinum games, as they are in Nintendo DS format. There are Nintendo DS emulators, but not so well modified yet. I've downloaded one of the more frequently used emulators, called no$GBA, but it does not come with a speed up function (probably not implemented yet), so it took me 2 days to finish the game (instead of the usual few hours with speed up).


Pokemon Platinum Cover.


The main Legendary Pokemons - Palkia, Giratina and Dialga (left to right)

At first glance, Pokemon Platinum may seem different to the normal Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald players, due to the new Nintendo DS formats. But the opening events are just about the same, with a slight change in the storyline.


Main screen.


Your home in Twinleaf Town.


And, just like any other Pokemon game, everybody will have the headache of choosing one of the 3 available starter Pokemon given to you. The 3 Pokemon are of different types, one fire, one water and one grass. Since Nick chose Chimchar (Fire), and Seng Wai chose Turtwig (Grass), I went with Piplup (Water) just to 配合情况.


The Fire type Pokemon, chosen by Nick. Chimchar->Monferno->Infernape


The Grass type Pokemon, chosen by Seng Wai. Turtwig->Grotle->Torterra


The Water type Pokemon that I chose. Piplup->Prinplup->Empoleon

Pokemon Diamond/Pearl/Platinum is based on the 4th Generation for Pokemon, meaning there is a whole new bunch of Pokemon that I have never seen before, which makes me quite inexperienced to the new species. There are now a total of 493 Pokemon (from Generations 1 to 4) that you can record in your National Pokedex for Platinum. That's a very very big number. But I'm playing just for the storyline, not for the collection reason.

The main difference you can see when comparing Pokemon Platinum to the earlier versions is the change in interfaces. And now with the new touch screen function for the Nintendo DS, you can too click certain things in the game with your mouse for the PC version.


My favourite Pokemon - Salamence.


The new Garchomp.


One of the main Legendary Pokemon, Palkia.


My HM Buddy, Bibarel.

And as you can see, we even have a new HM - Rock Climb. This move allows the user to climb up slopes with rock paths. And as for some other HM changes, Flash is now a TM instead of a HM, Dive is no longer a HM and Defog is a new HM added. Here's a screenshot of how Rock Climb works.



See that clock under the main screen? That's another new addition to Pokemon Diamond/Pearl/Platinum. Its the thing you see on the 2nd screen for the Nintendo DS, so it comes as shown in the picture. That's a new application called Poketch, and as you progress in the game it not only shows the time, you will get more functions such as Calculator, Memo Pad, Step Counter, Happiness Checker, Item Finder... etc etc. These will help you in game and make your life easier.

The next noticable change are battle-related. Whenever a battle starts, the characters and Pokemon are all animated and will move for a while. And that's not all, there are some new moves never seen before and also changing of the skill's animation from previous games. The Pokemon's stance and back view are also different.
Compare the differences in the main stance of Salamence below.


Salamence in Platinum.


Salamence in Sapphire.

Notice the difference in interface as well. And as for the moves...


Salamence's back view and the Flamethrower technique in Sapphire.


Salamence's back view and the Flamethrower technique in Platinum.






Dragon Claw


Hydro Pump


Special Rend - A new move exclusive to Diamond/Pearl/Platinum. Only Palkia can use it.

Another new feature exclusive to Platinum is a different storyline when compared with Diamond and Pearl. This time, you get to capture the Legendary Pokemon Giratina before the Pokemon League, in a new map known as the Distorted Dimension, or dubbed as the Reverse World in the movie. This Distorted Dimension fully makes use of the Nintendo DS's 3D capabilities, and makes it one of the more complicated maps to navigate through. Here are some examples:


Welcome to the Distorted Dimension.


See how the screen turns?


I hate walking on walls. You can even surf up (or down.. whatever) waterfalls in here =.="

Soon, you'll reach Giratina.



Another feature exclusive to Giratina is its ability to change forms. In the Distorted Dimension, Giratina retains its Origin Form (the worm like shape). But once you exit the Distorted Dimension and back to your normal world, Giratina will alter its form.



The Origin Form and Altered Form have different stats build, and obviously the Origin Form looks cooler :P So many people will go "Oh man why do I have to put up with this uglier version >:(".

There is a way for Giratina to retain its Origin Form outside of the Distortion World. But first, you need to defeat the Pokemon League, completing the game once. After that, you may return to the place where you exit after catching Giratina. Instead of entering the distortion world immediately, you will be in a cave called Turnback Cave. From here, you must click 3 pillars within 30 rooms and the next map will have a portal in it.



From here, you will re-enter the Distortion World, and after a while, you will find an item called "Griseous Orb", or previously known as Platinum Orb. This item boosts the power of Dragon and Ghost type moves, and when given to Giratina, it will change to its Origin Form and retain in that state wherever you are. To change Giratina, just simply take or give it the Griseous Orb to switch it between its Altered and Origin forms respectively.


Giratina's Altered Form, without the Griseous Orb.


Giratina's Origin Form, with the Griseous Orb.

My Giratina is differently coloured because it is a shiny one, jealous? :X It's real rare to get a shiny pokemon. 1/8192 is the precise probability of getting one, so I'm considered extremely lucky for finding a Shiny LEGENDARY.

Right now I've run out of things to do in Pokemon Platinum. I've completed the game and have a few of my Pokemon to Lv9x. One thing I like about Pokemon Platinum is the new Elite 4. It is very much challenging and more difficult than the previous Pokemon games. The main reason is probably due to the diversity of Pokemon types that each Elite 4 trainer has, instead of having 1 single type that you can easily KO with just 1 pokemon that can exploit their weaknesses. The trainers in Elite 4, especially Champion Cynthia, have Pokemon of a main type, but with additional types and moves to counter their weaknesses. For example, Elite 4 Flint uses Fire type Pokemon, and has a Pokemon called Magmortar. Normally, at first thought, people will use Water type Pokemon against it. However, Flint's Magmortar knows the move Thunderbolt, a Lightning type move that can severely damage Water types. This is especially true in Champion Cynthia's case, as she has not only one type, since each Pokemon she has is of a different type.

For those of you who have nothing to do, I do suggest you try playing this game for the fun of it :)