As someone who has followed the Pokemon series with a nerdy loyalty over the span of its life, I have been concerned for some time that the franchise has been resting on its laurels. It is always a gamble to tamper with a winning formula, but after 13 years and 16 handheld games, their cookie-cutter layout had grown stale. Racing your rival to beat eight gym leaders and become the league champion, fighting off a greedy gang of poke-thieves along the way, and running into Zubats in every last cave was getting old. It needed more than a few new species thrown on the heap to breathe new life into it.

Enter Black & White. The names refer not only to the franchise overhaul they represent, but also the questions of moral ambiguity that permeate the game. For the first time ever the entire concept of forcing Pokemon to fight for our amusement is called into question. Is the main character a friend and ally of his poke-partners, or simply an elemental-themed Michael Vick?

This question lies at the heart of the game. It shifts the focus away from fighting gym leaders and puts it on Team Plasma, a morally questionable group who seek to free these creatures from the clutches of self-serving humans. The NPCs feel more like co-habitants of the world than set pieces standing in your way, and the characters who could be described as “rivals” have their own problems to deal with besides one-upping you.

Shortly after breathing a sigh of relief for not having to come up with an insulting, vulgar name for yet another rival, I got a visit from the hometown professor, there to present me with my first Pokemon. No, they haven’t come up with a better Pokemon delivery system, but hey, this time it’s a woman! It’s always good to have more active female characters, and this one has daddy issues, making things even more interesting.

Once the plot elements have fallen into place, it’s time to get down to the real meat of the game: combat. As Nick already mentioned, until you beat the main story you cannot encounter any Pokemon from previous games, and this new 150 and change are a definite new breed. Not only are many of the type combinations and abilities new, but the statistics layout of the Pokemon have changed as well.

To start, there is now a clearer gap between the fast and the slow. Whereas a high speed used to be a given among powerful Pokemon (unless they were rock or steel-type), that is no longer the case. Brawlers such as the psychic Pokemon Reuniclus have speeds so low that in order to use them in their lineup a player has to take speed into account. Low speed can be used as a strategic advantage, but only by players who are paying attention. This and other trends in stats seem to be aimed at people who enjoy the strategy aspect of the games and want more options.

Trying to get off of the beaten path, the designers have come up with some seriously creative creatures. Examples include Eelektross, an electric eel with no weaknesses, and Darmanitan, a fire-type beast that transforms into a psychic statue at low levels of heath. You can also find Pokemon based on anteaters, chandeliers, kami spirits and even ice cream cones.

There is of course the occasional throwaway, such as useless rodent Pokemon in the fields and rock Pokemon haunting the caves, but as a whole the level of inventiveness is high.

As for the version-specific features, the main selling point for White Version is the White Forest, a heavily wooded area accessible only after defeating the Pokemon league. Black has Black City, a comparable area with buildings and trainers, but no wild Pokemon.

The layout and population of the forest will change depending on how many days it takes the player to reach the forest, so those who are tempted to mess with the DS’s internal calendar should be wary. Doing so could leave your forest barren of life. Playing the game normally, however, and connecting to other games using the wireless feature, results in a forest that is plush with tall grass and water features. These are home to an unprecedented 30 version-exclusive Pokemon species, all from previous generation.

Other White-only species include the bald eagle Pokemon Braviary, the mitosis-based Solosis family and the storm god Thundurus.

When improved layout and interface are taken into account, Pokemon Black & White represent a fresh start for the series. Taking everything that fans love about turn-based cockfighting and changing up most of the stale elements, the franchise that took the 90s by storm feels new and interesting. Nintendo has succeeded where George Lucas and Coca Cola failed; they took a classic, and made it new.

Andrew Sheridan can be reached at [email protected].