Pokémon has often been a series trading on nostalgia. That warm, fuzzy and sort of sickening feeling some of us are prone to when thinking back to simpler times of link cables, your dad's Game Boy, and maybe the occasional semi-exploitative playground trade. Pokémon's relied on the stirring up of wistful reflection for so long that even pointing it out feels like a tired and unimaginative observation itself.
Yet with Pokémon Sun and Moon, things have changed. Junichi Masuda, a founding member of Pokémon developer Game Freak, legendary creator of the 'Masuda method' and long-term game director and composer, has dutifully watched over some of my favourite childhood memories from the days of the original Ruby and Sapphire right up to the latest generation of Pokémon X and Y. The guard changed, however, with the recent Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire remakes and, for the first time in more than a decade, a main series Pokémon game has a new director.
That man is Shigeru Ohmori, and the result is one of the most characterful, exciting, and fun Pokémon games of them all. It feels curated, crafted, with a cohesive vision in mind that informs everything throughout - from the way your Ride Sharpedo skips over waves like a jet ski to the comical 'whappah' sound effect of a challenging Blackbelt. Without willing to set too many Pokéfan pulses a-racing, that overflowing sense of style and character means that Pokémon Sun and Moon are genuine rivals to Gold and Silver as some of the very best games in the series.
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