POKEMON BLACK 2

 

This article is about the handheld video games. For the season of the anime based on these games, see List of Pokémon: Black & White episodes. For the manga, see List of Pokémon Black and White chapters.

Pokémon Black and White
Box art for Pokémon Black, depicting the legendary Pokémon Reshiram
Developer(s)	Game Freak
Publisher(s)	Nintendo, The Pokémon Company
Distributor(s)	Nintendo
Director(s)	Junichi Masuda
Composer(s)	Junichi Masuda Go Ichinose Shota Kageyama Hitomi Sato Morikazu Aoki Minako Adachi Satoshi Nohara
Series	Pokémon
Platform(s)	Nintendo DS
Release date(s)	JP September 18, 2010[1] EU March 4, 2011[2] NA March 6, 2011[3][4] AUS March 10, 2011[5]
Genre(s)	Role-playing video game

Pokémon Black Version and White Version (ポケットモンスターブラック・ホワイト, Poketto Monsutā Burakku Howaito^?, "Pocket Monsters: Black & White") are role-playing games developed by Game Freak and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS. They are the first installments in the fifth generation of the pokemonseries of role-playing games.^[6] First released in Japan on September 18, 2010, they were later released in Europe on March 4, 2011, in North America on March 6, 2011 and Australia on March 10, 2011.
Similar to previous installments of the series, the two games follow the journey of a young Pokémon trainer through the region of Unova, as they train Pokémon used to compete against other trainers, while thwarting the schemes of the criminal organization Team Plasma. Black and White introduce over 150 brand-new Pokémon to the franchise, as well as many new features, including a seasonal cycle, fully animated Pokémon sprites and triple battles. Both titles are independent of each other, but feature largely the same plot, and while both can be played separately, trading Pokémon between both of the games is necessary in order to complete the games' Pokédex.
Upon their release, Black and White received positive reviews; critics praised the advancements in gameplay, as well as several of the new Pokémon introduced. Reviews, however, were divided on some of the character designs, and some critics felt that the games did not innovate as much as expected. Nevertheless, the games were commercial successes; prior to the games' Japanese release, Black and White sold one million consumer pre-orders and sold five million copies as of January 2011, making it one of the best selling DS games to date. As of March 2012, the games' combined sales have reached 14.71 million, putting the titles amongst the best selling games for the Nintendo DS.^[7] Sequels to Pokémon Black and White, named Pokémon Black 2 and White 2, were released in Japan for the Nintendo DS in June 2012, with October releases in North America, Europe, and Australia.