It’s time for another Retro Ad Replay post! This is the series where we head backwards in time to reminisce and celebrate the anniversary of some of the most significant moments in gaming. If you find yourself wanting more content like this, be sure to visit Mandatory.com.
In this April 22 edition of Retro Ad Replay, we’re heading back 13 years to when Pokemon Diamond and Pearl first launched on the Nintendo DS. April 22, 2007 was the day when players got to experience the Sinnoh region, which was populated with over 100 new Pokemon to capture and train.
ALSO: Pokemon Sword and Shield Review | Not a Gigantamax leap forward
After choosing their starter Pokemon out of Chimchar, Piplup, or Turtwig, the player traveled throughout Sinnoh defeating gym leaders and filling their Pokedex with captured Pokemon. As you veterans PokeFans would expect, there was also a dastardly team plotting evil. Team Galactic sought to control either the legendary Pokemon Palkia (Pearl) or Dialga (Diamond). As you might imagine, things don’t go to plan, and it’s up to the player to save the world. It was standard Pokemon stuff that stuck to the tried-and-tested formula of the original games.
The GameRevolution Pokemon Diamond and Pearl review gave the game a 3/5, listing the “150 new Pokemon,” “WiFi access,” and it being “just like the classic original.” However, being “just like the classic original” was also seen as a bad thing, with “minimal improvements.”
Here’s a snippet from the GR review:
Copies of POKEMON DIAMOND or PEARL are already flying off the shelves, and for good reason. It’s got solid, addictive gameplay and more content than the next two or three DS titles combined. Oh, and a couple of decades worth of fans eager to check it out. Even though it doesn’t take the franchise to a new level, it still delivers plenty of bang for your hard-earned buck.
Thanks to GoNintendoRMC, we can look back at one of the Pokemon Diamond and Pearl commercials, which includes gameplay of the starting Pokemon:
