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Parents' Guide to

Pokémon Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon

By Chad Sapieha, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 9+

Updated games have mild violence, mostly good messages.

Game Nintendo 3DS 2017
Pokémon Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

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

Community Reviews

age 8+

Based on 5 parent reviews

age 13+

Privacy concerns but the rest is fine

There is a lot of violence and it is in your Privacy but this game is awesome
age 5+

The Best Pokémon Games to Date! (This is Coming From A 90’s Kid, Too)

These are easily the best Pokémon games to date! They not on,y have the best story, but the best graphics and the best characters. There is not a single character in the whole game I dislike with one exception I’ll talk about later) almost every new Pokémon is just downright fantastic, and I love basically everything about it. It’s great for adults and kids, and gamers of all ages. There are a few issues with the game, though. First, is you chose Rowlet as your starter... How do I put this nicely, as to not anger the children... You’re basically screwed. While Decidueye is a very cool Pokémon, he struggles even more than he did in the normal Sun and Moon, but he also is probably one of the worst starter spots gameplay-wise ever, just falling short to Chikorita and Pikachu from Pokémon Yellow. Second, the Rotom Dex. I’m sure a few of you are familiar with Navi from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. He’s basically Navi’s much more annoying cousin. If you’re not familiar with Navi, he’s basically a piece of absolute garbage that you must carry around with you for your entire journey, and by the time you finish the first island, you’ll just want to throw him to some wild Yungoos so they can throw him on the other side of a very large wall, so you’ll never have to listen to him call you Roto-(insert the first letter of your name here) EVER AGAIN. And, thrid, the Ultra Wormhole. Now, I’m not saying that the wormhole itself is bad, the bad thing about it is the messed up shiny odds. If you don’t know, basically a shiny Pokémon is an extremely rare color variation of a Pokémon that certain people, such as myself, look for. While normally, there is a %0.02 chance of finding a wild shiny Pokémon, in the wormholes there can be up to a whopping %36 chance of find a shiny, totally decreasing the value of shinies. Also, the games can get a bit difficult at times, especially if you either chose Rowlet or if you don’t have a good dark type such as Zoroark or a good fairy type such as Alolan Ninetales or Primarina to take down a certain spoilerific boss that I won’t talk about. Other than that, these games are absolutely perfect. In fact, I would have to say that Ultra Sun is my second favorite video game of all time, just barely losing to The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask. This is a must play for any gamer of any age, and I hope that all you skeptical parents out there will let your kid play these games or, heck, even pick up a copy of the games for yourself. In fact, I played Ultra Sun while my daughter played Ultra Moon, and we helped each other complete the Pokédex, we battled together, and we even both got super emotional together at some of the sad parts. Please, by all means, PLAY THESE GAMES.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (5 ):
Kids say (11 ):

Both of these games are undeniably fun -- better, even, than the two upon which they're based. Pokémon Ultra Sun and Pokémon Ultra Moon's tweaked story elements are engaging, helping players get into the thick of things a bit quicker while introducing some surprises that create a meaningfully different experience. And kids who love to collect Pokémon will undoubtedly have a blast trying to track down the new and powerful monsters lurking around Alola. There's also plenty of fresh busywork for players who enjoy the Animal Crossing-style elements of Pokémon games, plus new places to explore and new challenges to overcome. If you didn't play 2016's vanilla versions, you'll be in for an especially fun time. The big question, though, is whether or not these games are worth revisiting for those who played the originals. Is there enough new here to justify purchasing and playing what, underneath all the enhancements, is essentially the same core game a second time?

The answer to this question depends entirely on just how big of a Pokémon fan you are. Series acolytes will delight in all of the alterations and embellishments, lapping up the ample references to previous Pokémon games both subtle and overt while feverishly trying to fill up their expanded Pokédexes with all the new critters. More casual players, on the other hand, will likely experience a serious sense of déjà vu and find themselves wondering why they're doing stuff they did just months before. These kids are better off waiting for the next generation of Nintendo's pocket monster role-playing game series, which is set to debut on Nintendo Switch and will likely play host to a huge range of satisfying series-evolving enhancements.

Game Details

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