When times were tough for the Big N, Pokémon was the publisher’s saving grace. It sold millions worldwide, raked in billions in game, toy and merchandise revenue, and gave Nintendo another franchise to leverage with each new handheld system.

Pokémon Pearl and Diamond were the joint sequels that arrived on the DS two years ago. While not a groundbreaking continuation by any means, the RPG duo was easy to fall in love with again. The battles were tougher, the monsters were cooler, and the simple, turn-based gameplay was still insanely addictive. Looking at other franchises, you wouldn’t think that Pokémon could get away with only minor improvements in each sequel. But it has – year after year.

In between each Pokémon sequel, Nintendo has released at least one upgraded version of the current game. This dates back all the way to the original Blue and Red editions. Thus, Pokémon Platinum – the upgrade of Pearl and Diamond – was inevitable. The “upgrades” include a brand-new level called the Distortion World, monster location changes, new story additions, new multiplayer capabilities, and many more trainer and Team Galactic battles.

The concept behind the Distortion World – Platinum’s primary gameplay addition – revolves around a lot of space and time mumbo-jumbo. Surprisingly, it is not a place you’ll visit to uncover new battles. Platinum throws so many of them at you ahead of time that the developers must have thought that was unnecessary. With no one to fight for the first 10 or 20 minutes, the world’s purpose centers on the solution of a very basic puzzle. You’ll need to push three boulders into three specific holes to locate the exit, which leads to this level’s only battle. Pokémon do not run freely in the Distortion World so you won’t have the opportunity to catch random monsters. However, you might want to save your Master Ball – acquired not too long before the Distortion World becomes available – for the final battle, because there is one Pokémon worth catching.

The time and space element is exemplified with numerous floating platforms. Your main character (named by the player as always) must ride these platforms, many of which rise and fall through the depth of the environment. Some of the platforms are suspended sideways – when jumping toward them, your feet will latch on and your body will adjust as if gravity was not an issue. (Something tells me Mario Galaxy inspired this stage.) The same is true when walking upside down, an effect that is somewhat tricky to maneuver since the game is not good at adapting the controls when gravity changes. Consequently, pressing Up on the D-pad may cause your character to move in a direction other than forward.

As an added bonus, the Distortion World is kind of cool. It isn’t the most exciting land in a Pokémon game, nor is it the most challenging. But the perspective change is interesting. And if you care about the characters and the story, it expands on that as well.

On the other hand, if you’ve played through Pearl or Diamond and were planning to buy Platinum just for the new world, you will be supremely disappointed. First of all, let’s go back seven or eight years. Remember the Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater upgrade released for the original Xbox? It featured brand-new levels that were exclusive to Microsoft’s console. However, you couldn’t access them up front. To experience the new content, you had to play through the game all over again. Pokémon Platinum was designed the same way. That means investing $35 and nearly three dozen hours in an RPG most DS owners played through a couple years ago.

Pearl and Diamond were so much fun that Platinum, despite being almost entirely a rehash, is still fun most of the time. But for me, Pokémon games have never been about the replay value. The single-player content far outweighs the one-on-one multiplayer battles, so my experience with each sequel typically ended when the quest was over. When it came time to play through Pearl/Diamond all over again (via Platinum), enough time had passed that some elements of the game felt fresh again. The battles were much easier than I remembered – most could be finished with just one sturdy Pokémon – but the act of going to gyms, earning badges and uncovering new monsters is top-notch role-playing entertainment.

Of course, it was also top-notch 10 years ago and will likely be top-notch 10 years from now. In other words, Pokémon hasn’t evolved much since its inception, which is kind of ironic considering the franchise’s emphasis on evolving monsters. This is expected – and perhaps a little too accepted – with each sequel. Platinum, however, gave the developers a chance to right every wrong in the series. If not a big step forward, why not at least clean up some of the flaws that have plagued the series from day one?

Things that you may have never thought of as being flaws – repetitive animations that can’t be skipped or an overabundance of random encounters – are a major irritant when playing through the game a second time whether it’s an upgraded version or not. The sluggish animations are particularly problematic now that Advance Wars and Fire Emblem have had sequels that allow players to bypass nearly everything they don’t want to see. Pokémon Platinum, however, doesn’t even allow you to skip a story segment.

It’s these glaring issues that make it all but impossible to recommend Pokémon Platinum to anyone that has already played Pearl or Diamond. If you’re one of the few who hasn’t, hesitate no further. Add Platinum to your collection at once. But don’t buy it as the diehard Pokémon fan looking for a fresh experience – doing so will lead to great disappointment.

Gameplay: 7.8
Pokémon Pearl and Diamond all over again.

Graphics: 5
Not much better-looking than Pearl and Diamond, which were barely an upgrade from the Game Boy Advance edition. Compared to most other DS titles, the 3D backdrops are very dated.

Sound: 9
This might be Pokémon's best soundtrack yet. Such depth and diversity are rarely found within RPGs, especially those targeting all ages.

Difficulty: Easy
Maybe I've gotten too used to the Pokémon mantra. Or maybe this game really is too easy.

Concept: 6
Pokémon Pearl and Diamond all over again. Wait, didn't I just say that?

Multiplayer: 7
The Wi-Fi Plaza allows 20 players to connect simultaneously. However, the battles have not changed and the new multiplayer gameplay does not go beyond a few simple mini-games.

Overall: 7.6
A great game...two years ago in the form of Pearl and Diamond. Today, Platinum is a good game. A must-own if you've yet to play Pokémon on the DS, but not a good buy for anyone else.