Parents' Guide to

Pokémon Platinum

By Erin Bell, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 8+

Classic format with new Pokémon and online features.

Game Nintendo DS 2009
Pokémon Platinum Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this game.

Community Reviews

age 7+

Based on 8 parent reviews

age 7+

To Quote Emoji Movie "Meh"

It improved the Diamond and Pearl games but you couldn't really make the others worse anyway. I'm a fan and have been since I was a kid back in the late 90's. I didn't notice really care for it at all. I suppose they were attempting to tell too complicated a story by adding "creation" lore and making things overly detailed as far as legends and lore. I understood it but it really ruined the game because it was very convoluted and stupid. The main villain believed that emotions ruined the world and that it made people weak and claimed he "abandoned all emotions" and that it's "illogical and irrational" yet the whole time he let his negative emotions control him. I get that he is a "bad guy" so he's going to be a hypocrite but he goes against his own idea of perfection and what should exist versus what should be erased. It wouldn't have been so bad if it wasn't what he was against that caused hypocritical actions (like if he was like the Voldemort thing from Harry Potter and wanting to destroy non pures despite being a non pure himself). Anyway this turned into a rant but at least they made the game a little better. Also the game takes too long and too many cave areas.
age 12+

An improvement on Diamond and Pearl.

The story is engaging and kid-friendly, save for one scene at an exciting point in the story which happens to be intentionally scary. The graphics aren't bad, but they're still rather pixelated. This does give it a retro feel, which is good. Gameplay-wise it is easier to play than Diamond or Pearl. Transitions are sped up, making things seem far less tedious than before. The Distortion World is fun to play through with its different camera angles and complex puzzles, though it's a shame that you can't revisit the puzzles later on. There is little to no violence, all of it is just little animations happening over a Pokémon image. Spoilers: -A lady tells the player that a man is threatening to 'blow up' a town, and when spoken to, the man confirms this and attacks you with his Pokémon. -A lake is actually destroyed through a bomb, and when visited there are writhing fish everywhere and burning craters. -At the top of a mountain a man summons the embodiments of time and space to destroy the world and recreate a new one. He is stopped by an oddly well-animated demonic creature who opens a portal in front of him and uses burning claws to snatch away the man. This scene uses a jumpscare in which it jumps startlingly at the screen with a loud sound effect, and it may frighten the player if they are young. -A person plans to control a volcano's eruptions to terrorize everyone into giving them money, but they are arrested and taken into custody. In short, it's a good game, just a little scary for children at times.

This title has:

Great messages
Great role models
Easy to play/use
Too much violence

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (8 ):
Kids say (29 ):

The game's basic format will be familiar if you're played previous Pokemon games, but Platinum adds some new twists of its own, such as the Distortion World (a new place to find ultra-rare Pokemon), the WiFi Plaza where you can play multiplayer mini-games wirelessly, and the ability to record videos of your battles and share them. All of the cool features from Diamond/Pearl, such as touch-sensitive menu buttons, the Poketech device, and the fact that different Pokemon can be caught depending on what time of day it is, have been carried over as well.

Sure, the core concept hasn't changed much from previous iterations, but the gameplay is deep and challenging enough that it really doesn't need to. With 210 Pokemon to collect, a huge world to explore, plenty of side quests and secrets to discover, and a rich multiplayer component for trading and battling with friends, Pokemon Platinum is simply jam-packed with things to do, making it a good bet for role-playing game fans of all ages.

Game Details

  • Platform: Nintendo DS
  • Available online?: Available online
  • Publisher: Nintendo
  • Release date: March 22, 2009
  • Genre: Role-Playing
  • ESRB rating: E for (No Descriptors)
  • Last updated: December 1, 2016

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