The core structure is never likely to change drastically, and fans will find themselves in familiar territory here, but there are plenty of new features along the way. That’s the biggest departure for a story mode that otherwise hits most of the traditional points: you travel from town to town, defeating gym leaders and grabbing badges and abilities to let you explore the world more freely. As you’d expect, the new monsters vary from the excellent to the mundane, but there are enough good ones to pick a squad of six favourites.

You can still encounter classic monsters after finishing the story and trade with other DS versions of the game, but while on your journey to become the Pokémon Master you’ll only see fresh designs. It’s welcome and refreshing for the series, and will reignite the sense of wonder many felt playing their first Pokémon title – after years of encountering the same monsters in the same areas, the decision to start from scratch is a brave one that pays off. That’s right: no Zubat, no Geodude, no Magikarp. Set in the brand-new Unova region, populated by equally brand-new Pokémon, you won’t see any familiar monsters as you progress through the lengthy story mode. Now the latest iterations in the series are here to eat up DS gamers’ spare time once again with a stack of new monsters and features. Last year’s Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver were just stopgap games to tide eager trainers over until the launch of Generation Five: Pokémon Black and White.

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