Review: Looking back at a series highlight: Pokemon White Version 2

_{By Matthew L.}

Nintendo isn’t holding back. They’re not just celebrating the 25th anniversary of Pokemon on one day or during one week or a whole month. They’ve decided that all of 2021 is a celebration of this famous game series’s quarter century birthday. I’m looking back at some of the best games from this series, and today I will be reviewing Pokemon White Version 2. This game came out on June 23rd, 2012. This game is the 5th generation of Pokemon in the Pokemon franchise. It is the sequel to the first Pokemon White, which came out on September 18th, 2010. After almost 9 years, Pokemon’s generation 5 has finally gotten its praise & has been resurging these past couple of months. After much criticism during its release, the fifth generation begins to finally receive its praise after enduring much hate. Pokemon black and white & black and white 2 take place in the same timeline only two year apart from each other, and are now beloved by Pokemon fans.

Endgame Content

I will be reviewing the “endgame content,” which is the Pokemon World Tournament. This world tournament is where all the previous Pokemon gym leaders and champions come together in one great tournament to see who is the best out of all of them. This tournament is hosted in Driftveil City, which is known in the game as a city full of shops and the gateway to the Unova Region. To ensure fairness among the contesters, there are no healing items or items that would give the player an advantage. There are four different events that you can participate in, which are single battles, double battles, triple battles, and rotation battles. For winning the tournament, you are awarded the title of the Pokemon World Champion, and your trainer card will display a special star that signifies that you have overcome the challenges that you were faced with. I would give this tournament a 5 out of 5 because there have been many Pokemon fans that have been asking to be able to challenge previous Pokemon gym leaders and champions. When this game came out, it was such a great concept, and it was met with a positive reaction from almost all the fans.

Story

The Pokemon league is the most infamous part of the Pokemon Franchise, after acquiring all 8 gym badges from every gym leader around the region, you are now allowed to compete for the title Pokemon league champion. I would rate this a 4/5 because the Elite 4 (the Pokemon leagues 4 trainers you must beat before the final champion) weren’t the most iconic but extremely difficult which gave a difficulty boost. The main highlight has to be the music, it was the most iconic of any series and is still the best.

Graphics

This was the first time pokemon decided to use animated sprites for their pokemon and trainers which at the time people disliked but overtime has gained love for its new concept. The graphics, for its time, as a whole is much more refined from its previous generation, and since it is the last 2d style of pokemon, It is the best graphic and story wise. For its time, it would be a 4/5  since most people hated it.

Overall Thoughts

I overall completely recommend playing Pokemon White Version 2 if you are looking for a start in the Pokemon franchise, with completely new Pokemon, new region, and experience for old and new Pokemon fans to enjoy!