Pokemon Black and White are the fifth generation of Pokemon, but combine that with earlier games' in-between definitive releases (like Pokemon Emerald), and that's a lot of Pokemon games, and a whole lot of creatures to catch. You can never truly get tired of Pokemon, but Black and White shrugged off any fatigue by acting as a sort of soft reboot.
While Pokemon Black and White's 156 new additional Pokemon (the most added in any generation) brought the total up to a hefty 649 – a dedication to having your initial playthrough revolve purely around this new Pokedex makes it feel fresh. The story, too, feels a bit more built out than previous entries, and it's still one of the best Pokemon games for its narrative as far as I'm concerned. When I'm itching for classic Pokemon, Pokemon Black and White and Black and White 2 are ones I often return to because the Unova region feels so self-contained. Join me below as I count down some of the biggest features and changes that ensured Pokemon Black and White continued to innovate this monster catching series for its final Nintendo DS entries.
