Nintendo must not want the fifth generation of Pocket Monsters to sell. Why else would it neglect to mention the most winning new features of Pokémon Black and White on the back of their respective boxes? Anyone interested in triple battles or sending their monsters to the dream world probably preordered a copy a year ago. Meanwhile, others who gave up after the original Red and Blue just rolled their eyes because the last 15 years of catching 'em all has been a series of formulaic rehashes.
They shouldn't have been so skeptical, though, as Pokémon Black and White make a number of subtle yet significant changes to the classic recipe. The result is a much smoother experience that goes down easier for fanatics and critics alike.
Every Pokémon game plays out the same. The local biologist sends you, the mute protagonist, on a journey to catalog the titular critters. Along the way, you challenge the country's eight gym leaders, take on the world champ, foil the plans of some sinister criminal organization, and capture an ancient beast of legend. When the last trio of games allowed me to tame the god of the Pokémon universe, I knew Black and White had to make a change. Luckily, I was sort of right.
Black and White is no different at a glance. It isn't until you encounter the latest gang of villains, Team Plasma, that you'll notice a unique twist. The antagonists of previous games had some pretty silly goals; Team Magma and Aqua, for example, wanted to dry out the oceans and flood the Earth, respectively. Plasma, on the other hand, falls into a gray area. It wants to liberate Pokémon from their subservient lives as our personal attack dogs. The team's methods are a bit extreme (stealing monsters from defeated trainers), but I can't help noticing they present a valid argument.
The result is the series' first plot that doesn't exist just to act as a roadblock between gym battles. Rather than sighing in frustration every time Team Plasma enters the scene with a new plan of attack, I eagerly press on because their fate isn't a foregone conclusion like the Team Rocket knock-offs before them. I genuinely want to see how they'll come around, or better yet, how the hero and his friends will come to learn that cockfighting might not be the moral cornerstone to build society upon.
Other small changes to the traditional format make working your way to the rewarding post-game content much more tolerable. You'll find people willing to heal your squad of fighters around every corner. If you stumble across a family living in a lone cabin along the trail or if you defeat a traveling doctor in competition, chances are they will offer to revive your team to full health at no cost. Whether you're progressing from one town to the next or just grinding against the local wildlife to reach that next evolution, Black and White eliminates the frustration of having to travel to and from town when your health gets low.
The journey in general is much easier, too, now that you don't need Hidden Moves like Surf and Cut to complete the game. In previous adventures, many players dedicated a spot on their teams to an "HM Slave," a monster they used to push heavy boulders and escape from dungeons but never to battle. You can still learn the techniques in Black and White, but they're only used to reach small areas off the beaten path that promise interesting items. Furthermore, Technical Machines are no longer single-use: You can finally teach those hard-earned abilities without fear of wasting them early on. These changes let players fill their entire team with the monsters and moves they want to use, not the ones they have to.
Even the game's introduction, a notoriously long-winded affair in the rest of series, sees a change. Previous entries drew out the story of how you acquire your first Pokémon and beat you over the head with tutorials of how to collect more. Black and White gives you a starter and tosses you into battle before you even leave your bedroom. Before you know it you're at the first gym, which specializes in the type your starter is weak against. Fortunately, a man on the outskirts of town gives you an elemental monkey that happens to counter the gym leader's theme. The simian also specializes in the new triple battles, making it a worthy cohort for the rest of the trip.
These small changes work together to streamline the traditional formula and trim the frustrating fat that clung to the series for years, making for a more enjoyable experience. Maybe now people who left the series nearly 15 years ago will finally see what the fuss is all about. If there's one Pokémon game to start with, Black or White is it…unless Nintendo continues its trend of releasing a third, comprehensive version of the latest Pokémon a year from now.