Pokémon Black and White
and are 2010 role-playing video games developed by Game Freak and published by The Pokémon Company and Nintendo for the Nintendo DS. They are the first installments in the fifth generation of the Pokémon video game series. First released in Japan on 18 September 2010, they were later released in Europe, North America and Australia in 2011. Sequels to Black and White, Pokémon Black 2 and Pokémon White 2, were released for the Nintendo DS in 2012.
Similar to previous installments of the series, the two games follow the journey of a young trainer through the region of Unova, as they train Pokémon used to compete against other trainers while thwarting the schemes of the criminal organization Team Plasma. Black and White introduced 156 new Pokémon to the franchise, 5 more than the previous record holder Pokémon Red and Blue, as well as many new features, including a seasonal cycle, rotation battles, triple battles, hidden abilities, and fully animated Pokémon sprites. Both titles are independent of each other but feature largely the same plot, and while both can be played separately, trading Pokémon between both of the games is necessary in order to complete the games' Pokédex.
Upon their release, Black and White received positive reviews, with praise for the advancements in gameplay. Reviewers, however, were divided on some of the Pokémon designs, and some critics felt that the games did not innovate as much as expected. Nevertheless, the games were commercial successes; prior to the games' Japanese release, Black and White sold 1 million consumer pre-orders and became the fastest Nintendo DS titles to sell 5 million copies. As of September 2017, the games' combined sales have reached 15.64 million, putting them amongst the best-selling games for the Nintendo DS, just behind their predecessors, Pokémon Diamond and Pearl.
Gameplay
Pokémon Black and White are role-playing video games with adventure elements, presented in a third-person, overhead perspective. There are three basic screens: an overworld, in which the player navigates the main character; a battle screen; and the menu, in which the player configures their party, items, or gameplay settings. The player controls a Pokémon Trainer who begins the game with a single Pokémon and is able to capture more using Poké Balls. Like all other Trainers, the player can carry up to six Pokémon at one time. However, the game also includes a network of PCs to store hundreds of Pokémon. PCs are found in certain buildings called Pokémon Centers, where the player can heal their Pokémon when they have low health or have fainted.Pokémon can learn up to four moves, including attacking moves, healing moves, and moves that inflict status conditions on the opponent. They have six stats that affect battle performance: maximum hit points, Attack, Defense, Special Attack, Special Defense, and Speed. Attack and Special Attack are distinguished from Defense and Special Defense by the types of moves being considered: generally, moves involving physical exertion are physical, while moves involving supernatural or elemental powers are special. Moves are classed as one of seventeen types: Normal, Water, Grass, Fire, Electric, Ghost, Bug, Fighting, Ice, Steel, Rock, Poison, Psychic, Dark, Dragon, Ground, and Flying; Pokémon can have one or two types. Generally, most of a Pokémon's moves correspond to its typing. A Pokémon's type makes it vulnerable or resistant to others; for example, Fire-type Pokémon are weak to Water-type moves, while Grass-type moves do little damage to them and Electric-type moves do normal damage.
When the player encounters a wild Pokémon or is challenged by another Trainer to a battle, the screen switches to a turn-based battle screen where the Pokémon fight. During the battle, the player may use a move, use an item, switch the active Pokémon, or flee. However, the player cannot flee a battle against another Trainer or against certain wild Pokémon that are stronger than the player's. When a Pokémon's HP is reduced to zero, it faints until it is revived. If an opposing Pokémon faints, all of the player's Pokémon who participated in defeating it receive experience points. After accumulating enough experience points, a Pokémon may level up, increasing its stats. Many Pokémon evolve into other forms after certain conditions are met, usually after reaching a certain level threshold or by having a certain item used on them. At the "Day Care" location, the player can breed two of their Pokémon—usually, a male and a female—to create Eggs that hatch into baby Pokémon at level 1.
Pokémon Black and White takes place in the Unova region, based on New York City. As with all regions, Unova consists of a number of cities and towns connected by "Routes". Random encounters may take place in tall grass along routes or in bodies of water. The player occasionally battles Trainers in cities and towns, as well as along routes. In addition, eight of the game's cities and towns are homes to "Gym Leaders", powerful Trainers specializing in certain types of Pokémon; beating a Gym Leader gives the player a "Badge". All eight Badges are needed to unlock the Pokémon League, where the player faces off against the "Elite Four" and, finally, the Champion. Across Unova, items can be found on the ground or purchased from "Poké Marts". For example, Hyper Potions restore HP, Antidotes cure poisoning, and Revives revitalize fainted Pokémon. TMs teach moves to Pokémon, and HMs are a special class of TMs for important moves that allow the player to traverse the environment. The "Surf" HM move, for example, is used to cross bodies of water.
New features
The graphics have been improved from Diamond and Pearl. The dialog boxes of previous games have been changed to speech balloons that appear over other characters' heads, allowing more than one character to speak at once. Japanese players can have kanji appear on screen, rather than only hiragana and katakana. During battles, the sprites of the Pokémon are fully animated and the camera changes position to highlight specific parts of the battle. In addition to continuing the day and night cycle introduced in Gold and Silver, Black and White introduces a seasonal cycle, with the seasons advancing every month rather than being linked to the calendar. Outside areas appear differently depending on the season, such as changing of leaves in autumn or snow on the ground in winter. Certain areas are only accessible during certain seasons, and different Pokémon can be found in the wild in winter where others are encountered in the other seasons. The Pokémon Deerling and Sawsbuck change their physical appearance to match the seasons.There are two new battle mechanics: Triple Battles and Rotation Battles. In Triple Battles, both teams must send out three Pokémon in a row at once; Some moves only allow Pokémon on the left or right side to attack the opponent's Pokémon on the same side or in the center. Changing position takes up one turn. In Rotation Battles, each side sends out three Pokémon at once, but they are arranged in a circle that can be rotated at will. Black has more Rotation Battles than Triple Battles, and the opposite is true in White. Another introduction is Combination Moves: a starter Pokémon can be taught one of three moves, and using them together in Double or Triple battles produces more powerful attacks. In the wild, walking through darker-colored tall grass can trigger Double Battles against wild Pokémon rather than only Single Battles with lighter-colored grass.
Occasionally, the player can find rustling patches of grass and rippling water, where they can encounter either a rare Pokémon, a Pokémon more common in the opposite game version, or the highest evolutionary form of a Pokémon whose lower forms can normally be found in the area. This is the only way to capture Pokémon such as Audino, Emolga, and Alomomola. Also, dust clouds in caves and the shadows of flying Pokémon on certain bridges can be entered to either find a rare item or encounter Drilbur, Excadrill, Ducklett, or Swanna, none of which can be found in the wild otherwise. Occasionally, when throwing a Poké Ball, the capture rate is highly increased, triggered by a random event. There are also new side-games and sidequests: the player can compete in Pokémon Musicals, a side-game similar to the Pokémon Contests of previous games; the Battle Subway, similar to the Battle Towers and Battle Frontiers of previous games; and on the Royal Unova, a cruise ship that the player can ride and fight Trainers aboard to win otherwise rare items.
Connectivity to other devices
The C-Gear replaces the Pokétech from Diamond and Pearl on the Nintendo DS's bottom screen. It controls the game's wireless capabilities, including infrared communication for battling and trading, wireless communications in the Xtranceiver video chat access to the Entralink to transfer content from the Pokémon Dream World, using the Wi-Fi to sync with the Pokémon Global Link servers, and the new "Pass By mode" which allows the game to communicate with other copies through infrared while the DS is asleep. The Feeling Check function tests the compatibility between two players and awards them items accordingly. In the "Pass By" feature, the player answers various survey questions and receives one of several items depending on how many other players they have connected with. In the "Random Matchup" feature, the player can battle others randomly. When playing against others online or in IR battles, a new mechanic called the Wonder Launcher allows healing items to be used in battle.Two features were added to transfer Pokémon from older DS Pokémon games to Black and White. For normal transfer, the Poké Transfer feature is available after completion of the main storyline. Unlike the "Pal Park" feature from previous games, the Poké Transfer is a mini-game in which after six Pokémon are transferred, the player uses the touch screen to launch Poké Balls at the transferred Pokémon to catch them within a time limit. Another feature called the Relocator is used to transfer the Pokémon given away in promotions for the film Pokémon: Zoroark: Master of Illusions so the player can obtain the rare Pokémon Zorua and Zoroark. Unlike the Poké Transfer, this is available before the main game is completed.
Unique to Black and White is the Pokémon Dream World, which is dependent on the official Pokémon Global Link website. Here, the player can befriend Pokémon that are not normally obtainable in-game and that have unique abilities. This occurs after syncing the game back with the Dream World, similarly to the Pokéwalker from HeartGold and SoulSilver. The player can maintain a house in the Dream World that other players can visit as well as grow berries. In addition to allowing access to Pokémon acquired in the Dream World, the Entralink also enables players to interact with each other and play side games. These side-games award points that can be traded for temporary powers such as increasing experience, improving capture rate, or lowering prices of items in Poké Marts.