Fans can’t help but wonder as the fifth generation Pokémon games’ turn comes up to be remade next what approach the Pokémon Company will take with them, but the best course of action would be for them to be ported rather than remade. Pokémon Black and White were released in 2010 in Japan and 2011 internationally, followed by a pair of sequels, Black 2 and White 2, in June 2012 in Japan and October that same year internationally. Although these games comprised their own “generation,” featuring new Pokémon in a new region, they were released on the same console as the previous generation of games, joining the Sinnoh titles Pokémon Diamond and Pearl on the Nintendo DS.
Just as releasing a new generation of Pokémon games on the same console twice in a row was unprecedented back then, there are some new unprecedented factors now that Black and White are the next games to be remade. There are usually large gaps of time between remakes because games from newer consoles don’t need to be remade as quickly. But with Black and White originally on the same console as Diamond and Pearl, it’s uncertain if Gen 5 remakes will be released sooner rather than later.
But it would be for the best if the Gen 5 Pokémon games weren’t remade at all. Their status as incredibly unique titles in the mainline Pokémon series, featuring character-driven storytelling and direct sequels, makes them more challenging to remake. There isn’t much that can be added to them - while changing too much risks altering the originals’ charm and unique attributes. The best approach for Black, White, Black 2, and White 2 is for them to be ported in a collection to Nintendo Switch, rather than fully remade. Ports come with all the benefits of bringing these now-classic games onto a current-generation console with none of the drawbacks that come with the alterations a remake naturally comes with.
The Gen 5 Pokémon Games Won’t Need To Be Rebalanced If They’re Ported
When Pokémon games get remade, the original games get updated to the current mechanics as well as quality-of-life features. This can cause some hiccups in balancing, such as Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire giving players access to Mega Evolutions that could make some battles too easy. Pokémon Black and White are already very well-balanced games for the series standard of their time. Not only would ports not need to worry about the addition of the Fairy-type and how that would affect the games’ battles, but quality-of-life features would also be kept the same, which are actually used as part of Black and White’s storytelling.
Although HM use in recent Pokémon games has been dwindling away, the use of HMs is a minor plot point in Black and White. Bianca gives Cheren and the player the HM for Fly but doesn’t have a Pokémon of her own that can use it. This becomes relevant near the end of the game when she needs to visit each city in a short timeframe, but can’t. If anyone could use HMs such as Fly at any time, this plot point would no longer make sense. Black and White are very carefully balanced around not only the basic series mechanics but the quality-of-life standards of their contemporaries, to the point where such features managed to make their way into the games’ plot. Gen 5 Pokémon games don’t need to be “updated” to be enjoyable, so ports would avoid messing with both the games’ balance and their writing.
Mythical Pokémon Would Always Be Available In Pokémon Gen 5 Ports
Pokémon Black and White are well-known for including in-game scenarios for their collection of Mythical Pokémon. Zorua and Zoroark also have special events associated with them in Black and White despite not being Mythical Pokémon. A port of these games would be able to include all the events without worrying about distributing the Pokémon.
There’s precedent for Mythical Pokémon being permanently included in ports: the Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console release of Crystal Version includes the GS Ball and Celebi event, which was never released outside of Japan. Instead of making the event distribution-based like it was originally, anyone can receive the GS Ball and Pokémon Celebi in the Virtual Console release of Crystal after becoming the Champion. Ports of Black, White, Black 2, and White 2 could take a similar approach to their own Mythical Pokémon “distributions.”
The events of Black and White are designed to be experienced throughout the game rather than after completing it, as evidenced by the relatively low levels of the Trainers players can battle during the scenarios. There’s an easy way to work around this: in the gen 5 ports, NPCs who normally speak about the Dream World can instead give players the items or Pokémon needed to activate these events. The Dream World was a browser game that players could use if they sent one of their Pokémon from Gen 5 through Wi-Fi “into” the Dream World. The Dream World service closed in 2014, and it would be big undertaking to have to re-develop it alongside the rest of the Gen 5 Pokémon games.
Ports of the Gen 5 Pokémon games could knock out two Pidove with one Rock Slide by swapping out Dream World dialogue with opportunities to get the necessary Pokémon and items for these events. For example, instead of Fennel explaining the Dream World to players, she could give them the ticket needed to visit Liberty Garden to participate in the story event for the Mythical Pokémon Victini. Players would have access to all of Black, White, Black 2, and White 2’s content save for the Dream World, which is truthfully the least likely feature to make it back even if the games were fully remade, simply due to its sheer scale.
Pokémon Black 2 & White 2 Would Be Fully Included In Ports Of Gen 5
Although Pokémon Black 2 and White 2 are full sequels to Black and White, featuring new protagonists and an all-new story, they’re still considered “third versions” by series developer Game Freak. Black 2 and White 2 were among the examples shown in the initial announcement for Sword and Shield’s DLC, which was meant to end the Pokémon series’ tradition of releasing third versions. Because third versions have always served as “replacements” for the initial games of a generation, Pokémon remakes have been able to incorporate certain elements from the third version into the generation’s remakes, such as increasing Rayquaza’s importance in Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire compared to in the original Ruby and Sapphire.
Thus far, remakes have mostly moved “third version content” to their post-games, such as the aforementioned Rayquaza subplot, or HeartGold and SoulSilver’s Suicune and Eusine subplot resolving in Kanto rather than in Johto like it does in Crystal. This would be nearly impossible to do with Black 2 and White 2 because they’re entirely new games. The content would need to be heavily shortened, and what remains would still need to be changed to fit into this mold established by previous Pokémon remakes. It would be a huge disservice to Pokémon Black 2 and White 2 if they weren’t remade in their entirety, but at the same time, it’s a tall order to expect a total of four games to be remade when normally only two get remade at a time.
A port collection, on the other hand, should have no difficulty including Black and Black 2 or White and White 2 together. This would make it easy for the sequels to keep their original data transfer bonuses, and a special release could include all four games together for collectors. At the same time, fans both new and returning would get to experience all of gen 5, rather than just part of it.
Porting The Gen 5 Pokémon Games Keeps The Graphics The Same
Pokémon Black and White’s graphics are hit or miss for fans. Some love the lively sprite animations of each Pokémon, while others feel the method used to animate them results in unappealing visuals. What aren’t as polarizing, though, are the games’ overworld sprites for the player character and NPCs. Part of what makes Black and White’s storytelling effective are these very sprites and their abstract nature.
It’s not that the sprites are completely abstract, but because they’re 2D and chibi-styled, players’ suspension of disbelief is naturally more accommodating. Players don’t expect chibi sprites to fully emote, so they fill in the “blanks” on their own when characters are talking to each other. In Pokémon Black and White, players have no choice but to imagine the emotions and actions occurring when characters are confronting each other, which gives the games leeway that newer Pokémon titles visually don’t have.
3D visuals naturally convey more information than 2D visuals: there’s an entire extra dimension, even if the 3D graphics remain chibi-styled, like in Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl. When a character in 3D should be upset but all they do is furrow their eyebrows, it comes across as an animation fault because when people convey emotion, their entire body reacts, not just their face. But players aren’t as ready to “fill in” those “blanks” by themselves when the game uses 3D graphics because 3D graphics are less abstract by nature compared to 2D. Players are expecting more detail from more detailed graphics, even if those graphics are heavily stylized.
Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl graphics could, to some extent, make use of chibi 3D graphics because the original Diamond and Pearl didn’t feature the same level of character-driven writing as Black and White. But chibi-styled 3D graphics would not have the same effectiveness in a Black and White remake, while more proportional 3D graphics, such as those used in Sword and Shield, would require a larger number of animations to make sure the characters convey the nuanced emotions the story has them feel. By porting Black, White, Black 2, and White 2, this entire conundrum can be avoided.
A Gen 5 Pokémon Collection Port Could Offer Fans Bonus Content
Most fans of Gen 5 love it for its story and characters. A port collection of the games would be a perfect opportunity to provide them with more information about how the games they love came to be. Things such as Capcom’s numerous Mega Man collections feature a concept art viewer and music player, while The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles takes things a step further by including developer commentary on the character designs and even unused music tracks. This kind of approach would be highly beneficial to a Pokémon Gen 5 port collection.
What little pre-production art fans have seen of Gen 5 shows that the games may have undergone numerous major changes before the story was finalized. Fans love learning about unused concepts and insight into the process that went into making their favorite titles. For games like Pokémon Black, White, Black 2, and White 2, bonus features such as developer commentary, concept art, and music drafts would give fans more of what they love, rather than a remake trying to make something new out of games that don’t need anything changed.