If you, like me, find it very hard to let go of your childhood, then you’ll have been elated to hear there was a new addition to the Pokémon franchise. The brand-new Unova region brings over 150 new additions to that already jam-packed Pokédex, adding new flavour and variety to the complex battle system.

Following the normal Pokémon formula: run, grass, catch, battle, train, train, train – the game is an all too familiar sequence of eight gym battles then the inevitable Pokémon league; obviously with the addition of the resident ‘baddies,’ this time in the form of Team Plasma, trying to capture those misunderstood legendaries.

If you’re brand new to Pokémon then this an excellent starter game for you, as it involves a whole new line-up of pocket monsters. However, veteran players may find the new version a little disappointing as it feels a lot of the advancements introduced in previous games have been omitted - dropping a lot of content to enhance graphics. Battle scenes have a lot more movement with Pokémon now being animated but the sloppiness of leaving the trainer-view pixelated makes the whole battle scene seem unfinished and primitive.

I hate to admit it, but Pokémon Black and White has definitely been created as the more child-friendly version. Back in the day in previous generations, you could have spent hours searching for that allusive rare item to progress your journey. Now everything in this game feels a little bit too convenient. There are too many encounters with NPC’s, who just happen to give you evolution stones and potions just before important gym battles; everything feels toned down and a little too easy.

There are moments when you get the impression that Game Freak had run out of ideas. There are ridiculous new Pokémon introductions such as the eerie ghost Pokémon, Cofagrigus, who just doesn’t feel like a correct fit. And when it came to naming, there was a sever lack of effort – I mean, where’s the originality with a name like Pidove, come on, that’s not even trying to be creative.

But if you power through the first 2 hours of game play where there’s an unnecessary amount of talking and a complete lack of Pokémon variety – then the game becomes that familiar addiction. And with an ever increasing amount of Pokémon, it’s becoming more and more challenging to ‘Catch ‘em all.’