In nearly 30 individual games spanning some two-and-a-half decades, Nintendo’s “Pokémon” franchise have taken gamers from childhood to adulthood, across eight colorful regions of a fantastic world filled with the titular pocket monsters to catch, befriend and battle with. It is understandable that some fan nostalgia for earlier days happen, such that the first Gameboy games (1996) set in the Kanto Region were remade for the Gameboy Advance in 2004. The latest to get the remake treatment is the 2006 Nintendo DS titles “Pokémon Diamond” and “Pokémon Pearl,” announced earlier this year for a November release. This past Wednesday, the first full teaser of features for the remake was shown.

IGN tells us that Nintendo released on August 18 a goodly-length trailer for “Pokémon Brilliant Diamond” and “Pokémon Shining Pearl,” the next-gen remakes of the original “Pokémon Diamond/Pearl” games on the Nintendo DS, coming this time for the Nintendo Switch. The preview showed off the revamped visuals of the games as seen on Nintendo’s hybrid portable/console gaming system, not to mention some gameplay mechanics and perks, both old and new. It also highlights the style differences between these games and previous Switch “Pokémon” releases, namely “Let’s Go Pikachu/Evee!” and “Sword/Shield.”

For one thing, “Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl” takes on more throwback aesthetics in showing the game overworld of Sinnoh Region with super-deformed character designs. Only when characters get into battle with their Pokémon do life-scaled versions of themselves appear. Familiar mini-games such as putting stickers on a Pokeball, Pokémon Contests and the Underground multiplayer are back and better than ever. They are also joined by new features such as the Style Shops to customize the trainer character similar to “Pokémon GO.”

“Pokémon Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl” takes players back to Sinnoh, aesthetically inspired by Hokkaido in Japan, where they choose between male character Lucas and female Dawn (Ash’s companion in the anime season adaptation) as their trainer avatar, to challenge the Gyms and the Sinnoh League as well as foil the sinister plans of Team Galactic. These games will also get special Nintendo Switch Lite editions patterned after their signature legendary Pokémon Dialga or Palkia. These custom-color Switch Lites will be released on November 5, before the “Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl” games themselves come out on November 19.

Image courtesy of Nintendo Soup