Nintendo 2DS

Pros Inexpensive. Can do everything the 3DS does, except display 3D images. Hinge-free design is more friendly for small hands.

Cons A bit clunky compared with either version of the 3DS or the Sony PlayStation Vita. Bottom Line Nintendo's $130 2DS might not be your ideal do-it-all gaming handheld, but if you have a young kid or a tight budget, it's your best choice.

By Will Greenwald

The Nintendo 3DS is an excellent handheld gaming system, but the 3D feature isn't integral. The third dimension can look very convincing, but you need to keep your head and the 3DS very still when using it, and many gamers turn off the 3D after playing for a while. The 3DS XL has the same problem, and at $200, it costs the same as a Sony PlayStation Vita now. You probably wouldn't want to give any of these devices to a small kid for fear of damage from abuse, and the 3D screens come with a warning for children ages six and under. Nintendo tackles these issues with the 2DS, a less expensive handheld ($129.99 list) with a flat (rather than clamshell) design, no 3D support, but compatibility with every feature and game available on the 3DS. The 3DS XL or the PS Vita might be more appealing to you, but the 2DS earns our Editors' Choice for being an affordable, accessible, and feature-filled game system you can safely give to your kids.

Design
Shaped like a thin wedge of cheese, the 2DS sports a slightly rounded top that's wider than the curved bottom. The face and back panel are mostly black, with a red or blue band around the edge (the red version looks particularly gouda-like). The wider top edge holds the game card slot, the power port, and shoulder buttons. The thin bottom edge houses the headphone jack and a Sleep switch that puts the 2DS in a power-saving standby mode, just like closing the clamshell Nintendo handhelds does. On the triangular right edge, there's a place for the included stylus, an SD card slot, and a lanyard hole. On the left are the volume slider and another lanyard hole.

The face of the 2DS contains the displays and all of the controls of the 3DS XL, placed similarly to where they would be with the clamshell handheld unfolded. The 3.5-inch upper and 3-inch lower screens (both of which are actually parts of the same LCD panel, covered by a plastic bezel) sit in the center of the handheld. The display is flanked by a circular analog pad and digital direction pad on the left, and four face buttons (A, B, X, and Y), Start, and Select buttons, and the Power button with power and charging indicators on the right. A front-facing camera sits above the top screen, matched by a pair of cameras around back that let the 2DS capture 3D video despite not being able to display it. (The 3D video feature is more useful for augmented reality features in certain games, which are fully functional on the 2DS.) A large Home button lives below the bottom screen.

Since it doesn't fold like the 3DS or 3DS XL, the 2DS dwarfs the other two handhelds in their closed positions. The unfolded 3DS XL is larger, and the 2DS is less pocketable. For a device with 3.5-inch and 3-inch screens, it feels downright clunky, when compared with the 3DS and its identical screen sizes, and even the 3DS XL with its big 4.9-inch top screen, and the PS Vita with 5-inch OLED touch screen. It's a tradeoff that comes with the nice price; the 3DS XL and Vita each cost $70 more, and the original 3DS costs $40 more and offers a much sleeker, smaller body. The lack of a hinge makes the 2DS seem sturdier than the 3DS, though, at least in the sense that the most vulnerable spot on the clamshell design is now gone. The handheld feels more plasticky and less solid than the 3DS and 3DS XL.

The controls are fortunately untouched from the 3DS and 3DS XL, and the face buttons and analog pad are as large as they are on the 3DS XL. The shoulder buttons are slightly larger, and are concave to feel much more comfortable under the fingers while you play. Depending on your tastes, the controls might sit too high on the front of the 2DS and too close to the shoulder buttons to feel comfortable. This is mostly an issue for adult users with larger hands. Kids should find the 2DS much easier hold and play with.

Features
You can do anything on the 2DS you could do on the 3DS, except see images in 3D. 3DS games will render in 2D, and with the exception of a few minor puzzles in some games that rely on the 3D effect, like Super Mario 3D Land, this won't affect game play. You can still play original DS games either in card form or downloaded to an SD card. A respectable number of downloaded games fit on the included 4GB card, but you can expand to up to a 32GB card to get a massive library of 3DS, DS, and Virtual Console titles onto the system. The StreetPass and all Mii Plaza features and optional games that go with them work here. You can still use the 3D camera (the camera app defaults to 2D, but you can switch to 3D mode to take photos and videos to view on a 3DS), and the front-facing camera, the Web browser, and even Netflix and Hulu Plus are all the same. Basically, the 2DS is a 3DS that doesn't display 3D.

The 2DS is clearly Nintendo's attempt to make a more accessible handheld for kids. It succeeds in putting parents at ease with its lower price and hinge-free design (and 2D screen, if the effects of 3D are a concern). The 3DS and 3DS XL are still far superior handhelds for adult gamers who want to play Nintendo handheld games, but at just $130 the 2DS gives little hands a sturdy, inexpensive game system with loads of games. It easily earns our Editors' Choice for its price, features, and appeal.

View the original article here

Pokemon X (for Nintendo 3DS)

Pros Great graphics look like the anime. Large region with plenty of Pokemon. Lots of activities. Strong post-game and online features.

Cons Follows the same formula as every other main Pokemon game. Bottom Line Pokemon X/Y doesn't change how it plays over Black/White, Diamond/Pearl, and so on, but it looks great and is still a fun, satisfying time-sink for your 3DS.

By Will Greenwald

Pokemon's back. Of course it's back—it's one of Nintendo's biggest cash cows. Every few years we see a new Pokemon generation that includes over a hundred new Pokemon, a handful of older ones, and the exact same formula of the previous games. This time the generation is Pokemon X and Y for the Nintendo 3DS. Yes, it's formulaic. Yes, it hits all the same notes as previous Pokemon games. Yes, it's barely changed mechanically. But you know what? A great series doesn't have to change much, and Pokemon X/Y are must-buy titles (well, title; you don't need both) for $39.99 (direct). This is the best-looking Pokemon game yet; it makes your Pokemon battles actually look like the anime. So what if not much else has changed?

Editors' Note: This review is based on a playthrough of Pokemon X. Pokemon Y is effectively identical, except for some of the Pokemon available.

3D Makeover
Pokemon were barely animated sprites in the main titles for over a decade, and now they're cel-shaded, 3D characters that come to life on the screen. The Pokemon look and move like they're from the anime, a far cry from the sprites of previous games, and while attack animations and effects are still limited and often just appear as waves of particle effects, there there's enough variety in animation and action to make Pokemon battles actually seem like battles from the anime and not just two pictures of Pokemon shaking at each other. This is a massive upgrade over earlier Pokemon games, and a welcome change.

The overworld is rendered in 3D (though strangely not displayed in 3D on the 3DS screen) like in Pokemon Black/White and Black/White 2, and it generally looks very good as well except for a few frustrating camera issues. The 3D camera tends to get cinematic in certain caves and in Luminoise City, the large hub city in the Kalos region, and it can make navigation much more disorienting than if it was the more conventional top-down view used in other towns and open areas. If you want to navigate Luminoise City, it's easier to spend the 1,000-odd Pokebucks and hire a cab to take you where you want to go.

Sound didn't get nearly as much of an upgrade as the graphics, but it did see a notable change with the series' mascot. Nearly every Pokemon has the same type of synthesized growl, scream, or shout as every Pokemon in every previous game has, but Pikachu (which you can now catch easily and early on Route 3) is now voiced with the same cute "Pika!" sounds it makes in the American dub of the anime. It's small, but adorable. Like Pikachu.

Mechanics
Combat is nearly the same as every other Pokemon game. Your Pokemon has four moves of different types based on its own type (Normal, Fighting, Psychic, Fire, and others) and a handful of other characteristics and abilities that determine how it fights. You take turns with other trainers or wild Pokemon to make the opponent faint or weaken a wild Pokemon enough to catch it. If you've played a Pokemon game before, you know what to expect.

Two significant changes to the mechanics can shift how you play, and a few other tweaks give the game more variety. There's now an additional Pokemon type, Fairy, which further complicates the elemental rock-paper-scissors strategy at the core of the game. You can also temporarily evolve some of your Pokemon with Mega Evolutions that give them Super Saiyajin (or, if you prefer, Digivolved) forms that enhance their stats for a fight. These forms require special Mega Evolution stones you have to hunt for, and not all Pokemon can Mega Evolve. There are also Horde battles with wild Pokemon, where one of your Pokemon is surrounded by five weaker wild Pokemon and has to attack them one at a time or use certain skills that affect all other Pokemon to hit them.

Pokemon X/Y gets started faster and makes things easier than in previous Pokemon games. To start, you get your starter Pokemon, Pokeballs, and Roller Skates (the equivalent to Running Shoes) almost immediately and before you even meet Professor Sycamore, the Pokemon Professor of the Kalos region. There are fewer and faster tutorials, which means experienced Pokemon players can jump in much quicker. You also get the Exp. Share item early, and it's much easier and simpler to use than in earlier games. Instead of a held item that splits the experience you win between the active Pokemon and the Pokemon holding the item, it's a key item you can toggle on and off that splits experience between the active Pokemon and all other Pokemon in your party. This means you can level up other Pokemon besides your main ones much faster and you don't have to juggle items between them.

The story is minimal and almost identical to every other main Pokemon series game. You wander around a region (in this case, the France-inspired Kalos region), battle through eight Gyms and defeat the Gym Leaders to get badges, fight the Elite Four and the Champion at the Pokemon League, and while you do it thwart the plans of a nefarious Team that wants to destroy the world and rebuild it. This time, your criminal organization of the generation is Team Flare, but you can feel free to call them Team Failure. They're silly at best and downright stupid at worst, and the pseudo-philosophy of their evil plan seems so tacked on and random that two criminals chasing a ten-year-old for years to get his fairly common Pokemon makes more sense. You don't play Pokemon for the story.

What to Do
It's easy to get distracted catching Pokemon, and there are plenty of non-story activities you can enjoy while playing the game. The new Super Training and Pokemon-Aime menus let you play minigames and respectively train your Pokemons' stats and happiness anywhere you are. You can't show off your Pokemon in contests anymore, but you can make promotional videos of yourself as a trainer, work in hotels, sit in cafes and see rare Pokemon, and perform battles, trades, and other activities to get items.

After you've beaten the Elite Four, there are still plenty of things to do in the Kalos region. You can find several legendary Pokemon in addition to the main game legendary Pokemon (Xerneas for X, Yvetrai for Y), and another town is unlocked where you can use the Battle Maison and Friend Safari. The Battle Maison is like the post-game battle settings in previous Pokemon games, where you can form teams of three non-Legendary Pokemon de-leveled to 50 for each match and have a purely strategic endurance run against other trainers. Friend Safari lets you collect rare Pokemon based on your Friend Codes. Each friend you register becomes a different safari where you walk around a small patch of grass and catch up to three Pokemon, depending on if they beat the game and have been online when you are online at least once (otherwise there are only two). The Friend Safari Pokemon include some highly sought after Pokemon, including the first and sixth generation starters, Ditto (useful for breeding), and several Ghost and Dragon-type Pokemon you wouldn't be able to catch otherwise.

Online options are of course plentiful. You can trade and duel with people online if you exchange Friend Codes or locally, and Friend Safari makes Friend Code collecting surprisingly addictive. You can send messages to each other and even give special O-Powers that give temporary boosts to yourself or other trainers. You can't trade Pokemon from the previous generation to this one, but that feature will be offered in December when Nintendo launches the Pokemon Bank and Poke Transport services.

Pokemon X/Y doesn't change much besides graphics because it really doesn't have to. The Pokemon formula still holds up as fun, accessible turn-based RPG that focuses on collecting more than story. The graphical updates in combat are great, finally giving Pokemon the action and animation they've needed for over a decade. There aren't many surprises in the game and the addition of the Fairy type doesn't change the mechanics in any noticeable way, but it's still one of the best games on the 3DS. It's simply enjoyable.

View the original article here

Pokemon Y (for Nintendo 3DS)

Pros Great graphics look like the anime. Large region with plenty of Pokemon. Lots of activities. Strong post-game and online features.

Cons Follows the same formula as every other main Pokemon game. Bottom Line Pokemon X/Y doesn't change how it plays over Black/White, Diamond/Pearl, and so on, but it looks great and is still a fun, satisfying time-sink for your 3DS.

By Will Greenwald

Pokemon's back. Of course it's back—it's one of Nintendo's biggest cash cows. Every few years we see a new Pokemon generation that includes over a hundred new Pokemon, a handful of older ones, and the exact same formula of the previous games. This time the generation is Pokemon X and Y for the Nintendo 3DS. Yes, it's formulaic. Yes, it hits all the same notes as previous Pokemon games. Yes, it's barely changed mechanically. But you know what? A great series doesn't have to change much, and Pokemon X/Y are must-buy titles (well, title; you don't need both) for $39.99 (direct). This is the best-looking Pokemon game yet; it makes your Pokemon battles actually look like the anime. So what if not much else has changed?

Editors' Note: This review is based on a playthrough of Pokemon X. Pokemon Y is effectively identical, except for some of the Pokemon available.

3D Makeover
Pokemon were barely animated sprites in the main titles for over a decade, and now they're cel-shaded, 3D characters that come to life on the screen. The Pokemon look and move like they're from the anime, a far cry from the sprites of previous games, and while attack animations and effects are still limited and often just appear as waves of particle effects, there there's enough variety in animation and action to make Pokemon battles actually seem like battles from the anime and not just two pictures of Pokemon shaking at each other. This is a massive upgrade over earlier Pokemon games, and a welcome change.

The overworld is rendered in 3D (though strangely not displayed in 3D on the 3DS screen) like in Pokemon Black/White and Black/White 2, and it generally looks very good as well except for a few frustrating camera issues. The 3D camera tends to get cinematic in certain caves and in Luminoise City, the large hub city in the Kalos region, and it can make navigation much more disorienting than if it was the more conventional top-down view used in other towns and open areas. If you want to navigate Luminoise City, it's easier to spend the 1,000-odd Pokebucks and hire a cab to take you where you want to go.

Sound didn't get nearly as much of an upgrade as the graphics, but it did see a notable change with the series' mascot. Nearly every Pokemon has the same type of synthesized growl, scream, or shout as every Pokemon in every previous game has, but Pikachu (which you can now catch easily and early on Route 3) is now voiced with the same cute "Pika!" sounds it makes in the American dub of the anime. It's small, but adorable. Like Pikachu.

Mechanics
Combat is nearly the same as every other Pokemon game. Your Pokemon has four moves of different types based on its own type (Normal, Fighting, Psychic, Fire, and others) and a handful of other characteristics and abilities that determine how it fights. You take turns with other trainers or wild Pokemon to make the opponent faint or weaken a wild Pokemon enough to catch it. If you've played a Pokemon game before, you know what to expect.

Two significant changes to the mechanics can shift how you play, and a few other tweaks give the game more variety. There's now an additional Pokemon type, Fairy, which further complicates the elemental rock-paper-scissors strategy at the core of the game. You can also temporarily evolve some of your Pokemon with Mega Evolutions that give them Super Saiyajin (or, if you prefer, Digivolved) forms that enhance their stats for a fight. These forms require special Mega Evolution stones you have to hunt for, and not all Pokemon can Mega Evolve. There are also Horde battles with wild Pokemon, where one of your Pokemon is surrounded by five weaker wild Pokemon and has to attack them one at a time or use certain skills that affect all other Pokemon to hit them.

Pokemon X/Y gets started faster and makes things easier than in previous Pokemon games. To start, you get your starter Pokemon, Pokeballs, and Roller Skates (the equivalent to Running Shoes) almost immediately and before you even meet Professor Sycamore, the Pokemon Professor of the Kalos region. There are fewer and faster tutorials, which means experienced Pokemon players can jump in much quicker. You also get the Exp. Share item early, and it's much easier and simpler to use than in earlier games. Instead of a held item that splits the experience you win between the active Pokemon and the Pokemon holding the item, it's a key item you can toggle on and off that splits experience between the active Pokemon and all other Pokemon in your party. This means you can level up other Pokemon besides your main ones much faster and you don't have to juggle items between them.

The story is minimal and almost identical to every other main Pokemon series game. You wander around a region (in this case, the France-inspired Kalos region), battle through eight Gyms and defeat the Gym Leaders to get badges, fight the Elite Four and the Champion at the Pokemon League, and while you do it thwart the plans of a nefarious Team that wants to destroy the world and rebuild it. This time, your criminal organization of the generation is Team Flare, but you can feel free to call them Team Failure. They're silly at best and downright stupid at worst, and the pseudo-philosophy of their evil plan seems so tacked on and random that two criminals chasing a ten-year-old for years to get his fairly common Pokemon makes more sense. You don't play Pokemon for the story.

What to Do
It's easy to get distracted catching Pokemon, and there are plenty of non-story activities you can enjoy while playing the game. The new Super Training and Pokemon-Aime menus let you play minigames and respectively train your Pokemons' stats and happiness anywhere you are. You can't show off your Pokemon in contests anymore, but you can make promotional videos of yourself as a trainer, work in hotels, sit in cafes and see rare Pokemon, and perform battles, trades, and other activities to get items.

After you've beaten the Elite Four, there are still plenty of things to do in the Kalos region. You can find several legendary Pokemon in addition to the main game legendary Pokemon (Xerneas for X, Yvetrai for Y), and another town is unlocked where you can use the Battle Maison and Friend Safari. The Battle Maison is like the post-game battle settings in previous Pokemon games, where you can form teams of three non-Legendary Pokemon de-leveled to 50 for each match and have a purely strategic endurance run against other trainers. Friend Safari lets you collect rare Pokemon based on your Friend Codes. Each friend you register becomes a different safari where you walk around a small patch of grass and catch up to three Pokemon, depending on if they beat the game and have been online when you are online at least once (otherwise there are only two). The Friend Safari Pokemon include some highly sought after Pokemon, including the first and sixth generation starters, Ditto (useful for breeding), and several Ghost and Dragon-type Pokemon you wouldn't be able to catch otherwise.

Online options are of course plentiful. You can trade and duel with people online if you exchange Friend Codes or locally, and Friend Safari makes Friend Code collecting surprisingly addictive. You can send messages to each other and even give special O-Powers that give temporary boosts to yourself or other trainers. You can't trade Pokemon from the previous generation to this one, but that feature will be offered in December when Nintendo launches the Pokemon Bank and Poke Transport services.

Pokemon X/Y doesn't change much besides graphics because it really doesn't have to. The Pokemon formula still holds up as fun, accessible turn-based RPG that focuses on collecting more than story. The graphical updates in combat are great, finally giving Pokemon the action and animation they've needed for over a decade. There aren't many surprises in the game and the addition of the Fairy type doesn't change the mechanics in any noticeable way, but it's still one of the best games on the 3DS. It's simply enjoyable.

View the original article here