Pokémon: 10 Reasons Diamond, Pearl & Platinum Are Under-Appreciated
The fourth generation in the Pokemon franchise offers way more things than people remember.
As of this writing, there are currently seven Pokémon generations comprising of a massive 806 Pokémon across twenty-nine (thirty if you count the Japan exclusive Pokémon Green) different core games.
Whenever you ask people what their favorite Pokémon Generation is, you will rarely hear Gen IV. Honestly though, that's rather unfair, considering all of the things it has added to the wider Pokémon universe.
There have been constant rumors that a remake of Diamond and Pearl could come to the Switch, and now might be the perfect time to look back at everything great about these games. It's been more than eleven years since Diamond and Pearl debuted in North America, and just saying that alone makes me feel old; longing for a remake with all of the technological advances Nintendo have made since.
There are many reasons why Diamond, Pearl and Platinum are underappreciated, and now it's time to take a look back to understand why.
10. Best Use Of The Touch Screen
Diamond and Pearl were the first of four games to be able to use a second screen. They were also the first generation to fully utelize it with the Poketch's many unique and helpful apps. Some of these apps include a "Friendship Checker" a "Pedometer" and a "Day Care Tracker."
The friendship checker was incredibly useful to track how close a Pokémon was to evolving if it required maximum friendship such as Riolu into Lucario and Golbat into Crobat. The pedometer was rather useful because it showed you how many steps you had taken. This made it much easier to tell how close you were to hatching eggs without having to take the time to open your menu and look at the egg.
The most important feature had to have come from the day care tracker. This app allowed you to check on the levels of your Pokémon at the Day Care and to see if they had produced an egg. This was useful because in the past you would have to take the time and effort out of your journey to either run back to, or fly to, the day care. With this app all you would have to do is look at the bottom screen of your DS.