Pokemon Diamond Version (Nintendo DS, 2007)

As a long time gamer who has played games like Starcraft, Doom, Myth, Mist, even MMOs such as Star Wars Galaxies and World of Warcraft, I would have to say that I enjoyed hogging my daughters new X-mas gift and the game I got for it. I bought her a pink Nintendo DS and Pokemon Diamond. Imagine a fully grown parent playing pokemon on a pink DS. Yeah that was the funny picture my wife took of me.

What kept me so interested in playing Pokemon Diamond was the story line, the idea of finding and training my own pokemons and the sense of adventure. Yep, if you enjoy these things and don't mind looking odd playing a cartooney kids game then this game is for you the ADULT (I'm assuming the child would automatically love this game already).

Why do I like the storyline? Its evolving and has many sub stories to keep you moving from one location to the next. Just enough to make you want to say 10 more minutes and before you know it...its been 2 hours.

What is so kool about raising pokemons and training them? Well I first assumed that there was no depth in the pokemons in the game. Just some picture with stats. I found out that you can make food for them that alters their attitude, looks, and other things. You can do more with them than just battle (like beauty contest). Breed them. They have personalities (one pokemon did not like me and often did his own attack combos or just went to sleep). There is way more to how the game added depth to the pokemon. Feels like raising a pet. Imagine your pokemon as your pet dog, cat, turtle, snake, hamster....hmmm all my pokemons seems to resemble these (Luxio, Glameow, Turtwig, Steelix, Bedoof).

Adventure? Well let me just say there are a ton of adventure. There is of course the main adventure that takes you all over Sinnoh and then there are many sub adventures. Many in the cities and some with people you met. Its adventure galore. Also, many of the adventures end up with a nice reward like a new skill or item - which makes it well worth it.

I loved the game so much I went out to buy the strategy guide. Of course, I said I bought it for my little girl when confronted by my wife. If you're contemplating buying this game then my advice is....BUY IT!

NOTE: This game involves a lot of reading. It really helped my girl practice reading. My girl is in kindergarten and currently reads at 4th grade level.