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Posted: 6 weeks ago, last updated 5 weeks ago.
Author: Ben Kendall and @GeekDadGamer.
Overview
The aim is to collect Pokémon gym badges and eventually become the region's Pokémon champion. You can level up your team of Pokémon by winning battles, and evolving them into different species. You can also trade Pokémon with friends and other players.
Most Pokémon games come in two variants (ie. Sword and Shield). Each version, although similar, is slightly different in what Pokémon it offers. If a friend has one version, you might consider getting the other so you can trade with each other and get all the Pokémon available over both versions. To trade with nearby friends, you do not need to be online, but for trades with other people across the world, you will need an internet connection and a Switch Online subscription.
The game gets gradually more difficult, and you need to learn which Pokémon do well against which kinds of enemies, and, at a high level, you'll need to know exactly what moves to use in battle and when. There is significant strategy and memorisation involved in playing, and the series has a prominent competitive scene. There are almost 900 different species of Pokémon to collect, and each set of games adds more, keeping the gameplay fresh.
The original Pokémon games, Red and Green, launched back in 1996 on the Game Boy console, and since there have been 31 more main series games:
- Pokémon Red and Pokémon Green (Feb 1996) Game Boy
- Pokémon Blue (Oct 1996) Game Boy
- Pokémon Yellow (Sept 1998) Game Boy
- Pokémon Gold and Pokémon Silver (Nov 1999) Game Boy Color
- Pokémon Crystal (Dec 2000) Game Boy Color
- Pokémon Ruby and Pokémon Sapphire (Nov 2002) Game Boy Advance
- Pokémon Fire Red and Pokémon Leaf Green (Jan 2004) Game Boy Advance
- Pokémon Emerald (Sept 2004) Game Boy Advance
- Pokémon Diamond and Pokémon Pearl (Sept 2006) DS
- Pokémon Platinum (Sept 2008) DS
- Pokémon Heart Gold and Pokémon Soul Silver (Sept 2009) DS
- Pokémon Black and Pokémon White (Sept 2010) DS
- Pokémon Black 2 and Pokémon White 2 (June 2012) DS
- Pokémon X and Pokémon Y (Oct 2013) 3DS
- Pokémon Omega Ruby and Pokémon Alpha Sapphire (Nov 2014) 3DS
- Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon (Nov 2016) 3DS
- Pokémon Ultra Sun and Pokémon Ultra Moon (Nov 2017) 3DS
- Pokémon Let's Go, Pikachu! and Pokémon Let's Go, Eevee! (Nov 2018) Switch
- Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield (Nov 2019) Switch
Game Details
Rating: PEGI 7+, ESRB EVERYONE
Release Date: 27/02/1996, updated in 2019
Platforms: Nintendo 2DS|3DS, Nintendo DS and Nintendo Switch
Genres: Role-Playing, Strategy and Turn-Based
Developer: @NintendoAmerica
Tips
View our choice of games like Pokémon Sword and Pokemon Shield. This game is good if you want to:
Commitment
Players: This is a single player game. You can play with up to 4 players online. While the main game is a single-player experience, you can take on competitive 1v1 or 2v2 battles and join with up to four friends to complete some battles in the main game.
Costs
You will need Nintendo Online (must be 18 to purchase, but can be any age to use) to play online with Nintendo Switch.
Age Ratings
Rated PEGI 7 for Violence. There is mild violence towards fantasy characters that lacks any apparent harm or injury. Battles see two Pokémon exchanging attacks, which results in the loss of health points but no visible injuries.
Rated ESRB EVERYONE for Comic Mischief, Mild Cartoon Violence. Players engage in turn-based combat with other trainers. Players select various attacks (e.g. fire, lightning/electricity) from a menu to defeat Pokémon Melee-style attacks (e.g. rolling, scratching, bouncing) are also used, as impact sounds, light effects and diminishing health bars indicate damage. One creature is seen with a large drop of mucous hanging from its nose.
Users Interact: The game enables players to interact and communicate with each other, so may expose players to language usually associated with older rated games.
Accessibility
System Settings
Nintendo Switch has some built-in features, including a lockable zoom, that can be used on all games... read more about system accessibility settings.
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