Pokémon Sun and Moon brightens the Nintendo platform

          Traversing beautiful forests, immaculate beaches, robust volcanos and tranquil meadows, “Pokemon Sun and Moon” amazes fans in the newest rendition that released on November 18 on the Nintendo 3DS. Based off Hawaii, it breaks the status quo of a regular Pokemon game by introducing brand new features, mechanics, graphics and changes to how the player progresses through the game.

          Instead of battling against all eight gym leaders like in previous iterations, Pokemon trainers now compete in the “island challenge,” a competition where battlers advance through the four islands, completing different tasks to ultimately face the kahuna, the main trainer on each island. As trainers travel to each island, they discover that not only are there new Pokemon exclusive to the land, but also past Pokemon who have different appearances and “typings,” which are elemental categories for each Pokemon. With these new additions, there are now a total of 802 Pokemon. That number is absurd considering the original game only had 151 in total.

          Pokemon Sun and Moon’s unique aspect help fans entrance themselves in the “Alola,” the region where the game takes place. “Poke Pelago” is a resort-esque harbor where your extra pokemon can play, grow berries and explore caves to find rare items. “Festival Plaza” lets pokemon connoisseurs interact with one another by completing challenges, trading and battling. “Pokemon Refresh” is a updated version of an old feature that lets trainer grow a stronger connection with their “mons” by petting and feeding them. Now, Pokemon can be cleaned and treated for damage after a battle as well.

          With this being the seventh generation of Pokemon, Nintendo really did a phenomenal job making this game stand out above the rest. Many fans are calling this game the best in the series.

          “This game is incredible. The new features and more fluid mechanics make the game feel like it’s on a completely different level,”  senior Tyler Kalinowski said.

          The fans’ outstanding review of the game is supported by the game’s sales. In the first two weeks since of release, Pokemon Sun and Moon sold a whopping 3.7 million copies. Nintendo officially named it the fastest selling game in company history, as well as being the most pre-ordered game in their history. According to Forbes, this is an 85 percent increase from the last record holder which was Pokemon X and Y.

          “This game is going to revolutionize the Pokemon and Nintendo brand completely,” senior Noah Hampton said.

          Now all that’s left is for everyone to go out and “be[come] the very best, like no one ever was.”