When dealing with Pokémon, the remake is never new. Pokémon Shining Diamond and Pokémon Shining Pearl are a reinterpretation of the original games released in 2007 for the Nintendo Ds. You return to the Sinnoh region without leaps and bounds forward. But after more than 380 million copies sold and estimated revenues exceeding 100 billion dollars, the fighting monsters cannot be asked to be too different from what they are. Video games have evolved over time but for fans it is only important to return to being coaches.
The remake at a glance
The original story has been faithfully reproduced and the scale of the cities and paths preserved: those who have played Pokémon Diamond and Pokémon Pearl will be able to return to visit familiar places and relive classic scenes once again. The original story has been faithfully reproduced, while some features return in a whole new guise, including colorful and modernized graphics.
What we liked
If you have a boy or girl who is passionate about Pokémon you want to convince him that all in all the game is not so different from the one it was fifteen years ago and that they could add something more to modernize the gameplay. He will just want to train, cuddle and choose his pocket puppy, make him evolve and launch him into battle. Pokémon are like Coca-Cola, a decipherable but inimitable success. The ingredients are what you can guess: puppies, collecting, battles and care. What makes them a unique phenomenon in the world is the formula, the algorithm that moves all these elements generating an intergenerational magic.
25 years of Pokémon
Let’s say right away that as a videogame franchise it is second only to the timeless Super Mario. The best-selling chapters ever were those dedicated to the first generation of monsters, Pokémon Red, Blue and Green (Japanese version never arrived in the West), with over 31 million copies, followed by Pokémon Gold and Silver, with more than 23 million copies, and the titles that marked the debut of the saga on Nintendo Switch, Pokémon Sword and Shield, which sold more than 22 million units, breaking the record of 6 million sales in the week of launch. From the initial 151, the Pokémon have now passed to the incredible figure of 898, gradually introduced in 8 generations of games that have come, over time, to speak as many as 9 languages.
Italy and Pokémon
Few people know that in battles with Pokémon Italy is among the strongest countries in the world: just think that the 26-year-old Leonardo Bonanomi currently holds a world title. Without forgetting that at the last World Championships in 2019, 45% of the European guests and 37% of the top 16 automatically qualified for the second day of tournaments were Italians. Furthermore, in 2020, during the first global competition dedicated to Pokémon Sword and Shield video games, the Pokémon Players Cup, half of the European qualifiers were Italians and, out of the 16 places available for the final, as many as 3 were occupied by players from from the Bel Paese. To give an idea of the extent of the tournament phenomenon, the prize pools of world competitions can go as far as guaranteeing the winner up to 10 thousand dollars for the video game and 25 thousand dollars for the Trading Card Game.