Pokémon Pearl/Diamond

Platform: Nintendo DS.
Verdict: Repetition at its finest.
Rating: 4/5
After reducing my eyes to shrivelled raisins playing the original Pokémon for the length of a 12 hour coach journey to Prague (note to self – fly) and too many hours spent post-college in front of the cartoon theorising about them (self-replicating organic robots anyone?), Nintendo's phenomenally successful and surreal series has always had a special place in my heart.
After the disappointing diversions of Ranger and Dungeon, the series has finally gone back to its roots and Pokéfans will know exactly what to expect – a sweet and colourful adventure through Pokémon infested lands, filling your Pokédex with data and while attempting to become the best trainer in the land.
The region of Sinnoh is a new yet familiar land that feels like home despite its clever and subtle move to 3D. With over 100 new Pokémon to seek out there's plenty for the Pokéfan to do yet Diamond/Pearl doesn't just rest on this statistic to offer reason for its existence.
The latest in the series puts the DS' dual screens to good use with the lower one used for touch screen battle controls and the Pokétech – a handy gadget that runs different applications with a retro LCD screen and Gameboy style graphics.
Alongside the Pokétech, there are plenty of other nods back to its roots with 8-bit sound effects and the timeless adherence to the series' gameplay and presentation, despite its technological advancements.
As a natural extension of Pokémon's favoured and heavily strategic Vs battles, the DS' WiFi capabilities naturally mean battling and trading with your friends is a whole lot easier and also allows you to play with friends around the world online.
Unfortunately online battling is restricted to just between friends which means you can't compete on a global scale, yet – thankfully Pokémon Battle Revolution on the Wii is going to introduce world ranking matches.
Pearl/Diamond treads familiar ground, for good and bad, yet it does it with such charm and a self-referential wink that it'll keep the Pokéfans happy for hours to come, which is all you could really ask for - thank goodness for the DS' backlit screen.