The biggest leap forward the pokemon series has taken for a long time, and It was definitely worth the wait!
As with every pokemon game, everything is always second priority when it comes to Gameplay, its the core mechanics that make pokemon the addictive, creature fighting game that it is. There's not really any game changing alterations made in pokemon black and white, the main pokemon battle formula is still there and as great as ever. But there are numerous small changes, tweaks and subtle twists that easily make this the most enjoyable pokemon to date!
First things first, the unova region is great. It has a bunch of different routes and cities, but each route and cave isn't so big so you won't be asking yourself 'when does this end' or 'how long left' like many people did in Sinnoh's large areas. There are dozens of different hidden roads, paths and routes to take, many of which lead to Legendary Pokémon (There is around 9 altogether in unova). Searching and exploring for pokémon has never been as much of a pleasure and joy than it is in the Unova region, and the 5th gen game certainly sticks to its 'Gotta Catch 'Em all' phrase.
Another great addition to the 5th Gen is the new battle types. The first is triple battling, this is very similar to double battling where you send out 2 pokemon against another 2, except in triple battling, yes you guessed it, you send out 3 on 3. Surprisingly this is a great mode to play, and working it which 3 of your pokémon can take your opponents down, using the right move types and type match ups, can be very fun. The other new game mode, which personally is my favourite is rotation battling. This is where you have multiple pokemon on a rotation wheel that randomly spins around between some moves. This can help you use pokémon you never use before and get a sense of adventure, and also adds an element of strategy to the fights. Sadly though, these modes are very underused in the main story, but you can play them as much as you want against friends and over wi-fi.
Another thing they've got rid of in pokemon white is the older generation pokemon showing up in the main story adventure. This isn't a bad thing, but this encourages you to explore with the new generations pokemon and discover new friends. The new pokemon are easily some of the better of every single pokemon of all the generations, so you should have lots to do and experiment with using this. However after completing the main story, 2 or 3 new towns are unlocked at your disposal which all contain some older generation pokemon, normally at really low levels though, like lvl5 caterpies and pidgeys. And by this time you have level 65 Serperior's or Samurrot's, so its pretty pointless.
One of the greatest features related to trading is the new infrared connection. You can now trade pokemon with your friends regardless of were you are in the Unova world, simply stick your DS's together and start the infrared. Some people may say its no easier than getting your unefezant to use fly to go to the nearest pokemon centre, but in the long run this is a really clever addition to the game. You can now also register more than one item to your Y button, which will then open a list of your most used items that you register to the button, which is really helpful for your bicycle, fishing rod and town map. And small things that you might not even notice that make the game a more enjoyable experience. Remember the annoying weather effects that were animated after every single move? It now just shows a little icon on the touch screen to show you what the weather is in the battle you are currently in. And my favourite addition, well more like subtraction, to the game is they've lowered the amount of areas were HM's are required and even taken away some such as rock smash which is now a TM. Speaking of TM's, you can now use them as many times as you want, which is great because I hated piling TM's up in my bag that I was never going to use, and when I wanted to teach a specific move to 2 different pokemon but only had one TM.
There's only one or two downsides to the changes they made with this game. One is that your pokemon no longer walk behind you like they did in pokemon heart gold and soul silver, this was a great addition and I don't think anyone hated it so why they took it out I'm not sure. The other is removing Pal Park. For those that don't know Pal Park was a place where you could take your pokemon from your GBA pokemon games and migrate them over to your DS games. the most obvious reason why they would take it out is because the majority of DS's people own now is either DSi, DSi XL or the new 3DS, neither of which have GBA slots. Still, it wouldn't have hurt to include it for those who own DS Lites such as myself.
How Game Freak and Nintendo pulled off the graphics for this game I don't know. they are a great improvement from the previous DS pokemon games and among the best graphic DS games I have ever seen. The camera angles they use in different places really add atmosphere, and the new 'large scale' cities they've added are great. The first time I saw the bridge that connects Nacrene and Castelia, I had a great big grin on my face and was basically whispering 'Wow'. They really did an impressive job, I can't begin to describe how surprised I was at the cut scenes! As for the new pokemon, they finally animate during battle! Some are just mediocre swaying about, but some like 'Timburr' toss logs in the air, Conkelldurr smashes his pillars violently on the floor, you get the idea.
By far, this game has some of the best music the pokemon series has ever seen. Ranging from remixes of old songs from previous games such as Cynthia's Theme, and new ones like N's theme and Team Plasma's theme which are amazing. There are plenty of tracks that are amazing and fit the game perfectly like the new elite four theme, the new rival theme, new legendary theme, although the champions theme was a little disappointing. No marks down for that though, overall the library of music in the game is great, and all the pokemon sounds are as cute, evil, and vicious as ever!
The story in every pokemon game is very formulaic and pretty much always the same with a slightly different twist depending on the legendary pokemon or the different enemy team. But this one seemed to focus alot more on its story and goes into much more detail. Once again your a trainer who's about to receive his first pokemon, but this time your not getting it from a professor, protecting the professor from a wild poochyena, or finding it in a briefcase. This time your receiving a present for your birthday from the professor containing all 3 pokemon. And another twist is you have 2 rivals, Bianca and Cheren, who take the 2 pokemon you don't pick. Bianca takes the one your strongest against, and Cheren takes the one your weakest against. And what makes pokemon black and white more interesting, is they each have there own personality and you encounter them more often than in previous games. Bianca wants to be a pokemon trainer but is having a tough time training, and Cheren is setting off to find out why trainers battle in the first place. Then as always your goal is to train, beat all 8 gyms and set off to become the pokemon league champion of Unova. Another interesting twist to black and white is the enemy, Team Plasma. they are not actually as evil as you think, more like a religious group. They are fighting for what they believe in which is the liberation of pokemon and people. This raises some rather interesting moral conflicts throughout the game, and there leader N, who you meet numerous amounts of time is always interested in 'hearing your pokemons cries'.
The story is much more immersive than previous generations, and the big reason for this is that Team Plasma doesn't just vanish part way through the game, they are there throughout constantly standing up for their beliefs. There are many 'on the edge of your seat' moments and big climaxes' and twists, I don't want to spoil it for you but its a very engaging, enjoyable rollercoaster ride.
Replay Value. you can't get enough of this in Pokemon! there's 649 pokemon to catch overall, that's plenty of playtime right there if you want to get stuck in. Of course, alot of people play for the story, or just want to stick to the Unova pokedex and only catch 150. Besides that theres the global link that went live a few days ago with the dream world. The multiple amount of special events they will do throughout the year to catch legendary pokemon, and many more. You simply can't go wrong with pokemon!
Gameplay: 9.5
Graphics: 10
Music: 10
Story: 10
Replay: 10
Final Score: 10 / 10