The Sinnoh region lies in wait for a hero as Team Galactic set their dark plans in motion. In Pokémon Platinum Version for Nintendo DS, only you possess the power to set things right.

Never before have Pokémon players witnessed the unusual Distortion World! This mysterious realm is home to the Legendary Giratina and is central to the new storyline in the game. The Distortion World is a strange place where the normal rules of time and space no longer apply. With new discoveries and new challenges in Pokémon Platinum Version, the options for online play have also been expanded.

As always, you take on the role of a budding Pokémon trainer, who, alongside an eternal rival, takes a starting Pokémon from the local professor and sets off into the world to become a Pokémon master. This usually entails defeating a sinister organisation along the way, defeating Gym Leaders to earn badges and eventually facing off against the Elite Four. Each time you defeat a Gym Leader you’ll earn a badge, which will entitle you to use a new ability. These abilities, which are taught to Pokémon and can also be used in battle, allow you do to things like cross water, smash boulders, cut down trees or scale cliffs in order to reach new areas. It’s straightforward and linear, and to many this part of the game will seem like a formality compared to the greater quest of putting together strong teams and catching the more elusive Pokémon.

The Pokémon game formula is a very good one, and relies on two primary sources of appeal. The first is the sheer joyful addiction of catching and collecting the Pokémon, and the second is the distinct pleasure of making them beat the daylights out of one another until they fall down. Platinum delivers wholeheartedly on both counts, thats the real blokey part.