Pokémon Platinum

Enhanced version of Diamond and Pearl with new story elements.

Pokémon Platinum, a 2008 Nintendo DS role-playing game from Game Freak and The Pokémon Company, is an upgraded version of Diamond and Pearl. Players start as Lucas or Dawn, picking a starter from Professor Rowan. The legendary Giratina serves as the mascot, gaining a new Origin Form and starring in the Distortion World, an area with altered physics. The game earned positive reviews for its refinements, sold 7.06 million copies by March 2010, and was Japan’s fastest-selling title at launch.

Quick Facts

Developer

Game Freak

Publisher

The Pokémon Company (JP); Nintendo (WW)

Director

Takeshi Kawachimaru

Producer

Junichi Masuda
Shusaku Egami
Hitoshi Yamagami
Hiroaki Tsuru

Artist

Ken Sugimori

Writer

Toshinobu Matsumiya
Hitomi Sato
Suguru Nakatsui
Akihito Tomisawa

Composer

Hitomi Sato
Satoshi Nohara
Junichi Masuda
Go Ichinose

Series

Pokémon

Facts from the source article.

Did You Know?

As a pre-order bonus in the United States, Nintendo gave away Giratina figurines.
Toys "R" Us expanded Pokémon merchandise for Platinum, including a Trading Card Game card set based on the name.

Setting and story

Set in the fictional region of Sinnoh, Platinum features slightly different environments, including snow on the ground in locations where it was absent in Diamond and Pearl, with player characters and the rival dressed for colder weather. Players revisit familiar locations such as Twinleaf Town, Pastoria City, and the Resort Area, which have design improvements, and encounter returning characters including Sinnoh League Champion Cynthia, the Elite Four, and Gym Leaders.

The plot introduces two new characters: Charon, a scientist and fourth commander of Team Galactic, and a detective codenamed Looker. Giratina is the focus of the story, while Dialga and Palkia can be obtained after completing the game. New scenes include the player sneaking into Team Galactic's headquarters with Looker to witness Cyrus's speech about creating a new world without spirit. The starter Pokémon are Turtwig, Chimchar, and Piplup, evolving into Torterra, Infernape, and Empoleon respectively.

Development

Game designer Takeshi Kawachimaru focused on changing only the most important elements to keep the game from being too different from Diamond and Pearl, while director Junichi Masuda aimed to make Platinum even stronger than the original titles. Giratina's design change was revealed in February 2008, with the designer redrawing it several times to achieve an antimatter Pokémon look. Masuda explained antimatter and mass-energy equivalence to the developers, and the Distortion World was based on these ideas as the core concept.

The developers added Wi-Fi Plaza and Battle Frontier modes to improve player information sharing, and chose the name Platinum because diamond and pearl represent love and happiness, and they wanted something beautiful that shines. They expanded the Sinnoh Pokédex so Gym Leaders' Pokémon matched their type, and gave players earlier access to evolutions of older Pokémon previously only obtainable after beating the Champion.

Reception

Pokémon Platinum received generally positive reception, with aggregate scores of 84/100 on Metacritic and 83.14% on GameRankings, ranking 56th among Nintendo DS games on Game Rankings. GamePro's McKinley Noble called it a great game, deeming other third versions lightweight in comparison. Famitsu reviewers praised the value and improved gameplay, though one noted that filling the Pokédex from zero is rough due to the Diamond and Pearl core. Official Nintendo Magazine's Chris Scullion called it the ultimate Pokémon game as an updated version. Nintendo Power described it as everything a Pokémon experience should be and more. Media scholar Seth Giddings cited Platinum as an example of how children integrate virtual game worlds into imaginative play. Later entries like Pokémon Black further developed gameplay elements refined in Platinum.