Pokemon Sun and Moon for the Nintendo 3DS

Disclosure: In any review for a product or service, products or compensation may have been provided to me to help facilitate my review. All opinions are my own and honest. I am disclosing this in accordance with FTC Guidelines. Please see “Disclose” and "Terms of Use" tabs for more information.

If you have been under a rock for the last few months, Pokemon is back and in a big way.  With the recent release of Pokemon Go and the most recent release of Pokemon Sun and Moon, all your gaming needs can be met trying to catch them all.

In Pokemon Sun/Moon, you follow along a young trainer as he or she moves to a new region the Alola region, which looks like a tropical Pacific Island.  Upon moving here, you quickly start your adventure to become a Pokemon trainer, and one of the best ones there is at that.  You first pick out your starter Pokemon, choosing from Rowlet (Grass-Flying), Litten (Fire), and Popplio (Water). Each of these are cute little critters who pack a mean punch.  Whichever you pick, you are in for a good time, so no need to stress over this first choice.  As you progress through the game, you learn some new moves called “Z Moves”, which are a way for trainer and Pokemon to act in unison and perfect harmony to release devastating attacks on your opponents (which there are many of).  Your opponents range from the evil Team Skull, to wild Pokemon hidden in the tall grass and waters of the area, to other trainers- there are more then enough chances to try out your new moves.

This game is fun for gamers of all ages, although reading is needed in order to progress and make heads or tails of the story, so be aware those very young will not be able to get too far without some help from mom or dad.  Early readers should be ok with the game, however, the reading is not overly advanced.  Game play is also easy to pick up and understand, as the main mechanics are catch Pokemon, battle Pokemon, and continue on with your quest.

There are many side quests available along the main character’s journey, such as finding specific Pokemon in certain areas, to helping find special items or people in one place.  In regard to which game you should pick up (Sun or Moon) the real decision is which legendary do you like more- the sun based Solgaleo or moon based Lunala?  Other then that, the games are identical in story line and players from either version can trade with one another.

Pokemon Sun and Pokemon Moon retail for $39.99 each and certainly should not be missed.