Pokemon’s legacy reflected in ‘Black’ and ‘White’

With the recent U.S. release of “Pokemon Black” and “Pokemon White,” and their… With the recent U.S. release of “Pokemon Black” and “Pokemon White,” and their refreshingly back-to-basics color schemes, a question emerges: Is the classic game forever changed — are the differences between the past games and present edition as stark as the contrast of black and white?

In short, no. Not surprisingly, the new Nintendo DS edition falls short of the rumored complete overhaul. After all, Nintendo has a pretty sweet setup that has been raking in cash since 1996. Although we fans complain that the game is the same each time, I don’t think we would really be comfortable knowing that our beloved childhood fantasy world of “Pokemon” had been drastically altered.

What has changed is fairly predictable. As expected, graphics have improved, the third-person viewpoint has angled more, and perspective is visually stimulating — the ground moves more realistically as the avatar responds to commands. Battles and Pokemon, as well, are far more detailed in appearance and movement.

The characters, whereas their ages are never specifically mentioned, have more of a teen-angsty feel, perhaps to cater to those of us who grew up with the game and are now budding into adulthood. The avatars and game-controlled characters look physically older as well — although still very age-ambiguous, so as not to alienate an age group.

In fact, one of the player’s two rivals starts off her journey by arguing with her father, an experience many of us college students have encountered. The same rival later expresses her anxiety about what she’s going to do in life — another concern of older players.

There is also the requisite evil “Team” that the player encounters, as in the previous games. This time, Team Plasma is concerned with the capturing and enslaving of Pokemon, a value that is at the very core of the “Pokemon” universe. Unfortunately, Team Plasma seems virtually indistinguishable from the “Teams” found in the other games, such as Team Rocket or Team Galactic.

In past generations, certain Pokemon would only be available in one version. In “Black” and “White,” however, this is taken a step further, as each version has a completely separate area that is not in the corresponding game: “Black” has “Black City,” a city where extremely strong trainers reside, and White includes “White Forest,” a place where exotic Pokemon can be encountered.

Although these are distinct deviations from the previous games, overall there isn’t a stark contrast. The basics are still intact — the player’s avatar starts off in a small town, fights eight gym leaders in eight towns, has at least one rival and encounters an evil “Team” along the way.

Fortunately, “Pokemon” has always been singularly intriguing. Whereas the plots are facile, the gamespace is astonishingly complex for the technology it’s created for. The “map” of any given “Pokemon” game is very large, with cities having their own personalities, which are suggested by color and music. There are eight main cities, to be precise, with eight badges to collect from the gym leaders. This structure has been the same throughout all generations of the game, making anyone who is familiar with one game familiar with all of them.

So far, this has worked out, as the familiarity of “Black” and “White” has not precluded large sales. In fact, the two versions were, when combined, the best-selling game in Japan last year, and sold 5 million units in record times for DS games, according to the Official Nintendo Magazine.

There are several other indications that Pokemon is alive and well. A massive online community has evolved — pun intended — to provide information and to enhance the experience. Bulbapedia, the “community-driven Pokemon encyclopedia,” is an extremely detailed compilation of all things Pokemon, from anime to extremely detailed lists of Pokemon throughout different incarnations of the game. The recently closed Pokemon Global Trading Station website assisted in trading online with other “trainers” around the world in a way that was reminiscent of the stock market.

Over the years, the existence of live battling competitions for money, websites detailing the process of breeding “shiny” Pokemon and generations with perfect stats have bloomed into existence. Battle communities in which strategies hyperactively fluctuate in and out of fashion exist in the far corners of the Internet, to be discovered by only the most hardcore “Pokemon” fanboys and fangirls. These hidden aspects of the game are, although enjoyable, entirely superfluous to the actual narrative. Players don’t need to know what a “sprite” or “shiny” is, what good stats are or even how to catch the “legendaries” to love the game.

Drastically different or not, the “Pokemon” series, including the most recent installments, will retain a special place in gamers’ hearts worldwide.