5th Gen Did Black and White deserve their perfect score?

Pokémon Black and White received a perfect score of 40/40 from Famitsu, which is considered to be the most widely read and respected video game news magazine in Japan. Pokémon Black and White are so far the only Pokémon games to receive a perfect score from the magazine and are one of nineteen games to receive it. Other magazines such as Nintendo Power and The Official Nintendo magazine gave it 9/10 and 90% respectively.

Did Black and White really deserve to receive such high scores? With all the features the games lacked (eg Safari Zone, move tutors, Battle Frontier), were they really perfect, or did the new features such as the C-Gear and Dream World make up for it? What score do you think they deserved?

I definitely do not think they deserved 40/40. 30/40 maybe, 35/40 is stretching it.

Simply said, I'm shocked as to how these games were so widely praised. I didn't find them that enjoyable. Good games? Sure. Perfect games? Nowhere near.

HG/SS should have gotten 40/40, not B/W.

Most features that B/W added were trivial at best, while taking out great additions that previous generations were praised for (Such as the toggle running shoes of HG/SS, Battle Frontier, etc.)

Just my opinion though.

I believe it was the actual good story (all previous ones were pretty basic, Platinum being the only one to stretch craziness), the amount of gameplay changes / moves / hold items, and the amount of new Pokemon all were great additions. Safari Zone is outdated, and the Frontier isn't exactly needed because many just fight online now, but it would've been nice too. B2/W2 definitely deserved a 40/40, and B/W probably 38-39/40, only because the Subway was kind of weaksauce.

HG/SS was Platinum with Crystal's story. I don't think remakes ever deserve full scores only because it's...nothing really new.

I wouldn't say that B/W should get a perfect score. The only Pokemon game I can give that merit to is Emerald that that was only how good the Battle Frontier was and the speed of the battle system.

B/W had a rather aimless post-game and the Battle Subway was rather lacking, plus some of the better tm moves like stealth rock got replaced by gimmicky and, at times, useless moves such as struggle bug.

I'd say B/W gets a 38/40 from me, although the sequels could get a 39 or a 40.

I don't think so. I honestly didn't find them very enjoyable and the new features not very useful. The story was sort-of interesting but everything was very linear and I hated that I had no freedom to wander around without advancing the storyline. I have to admit, I got bored and stopped playing before the E4. I've never ever failed to finish a Pokémon game on my first run before and I just... was not interested enough. Levelling up was hard too, that may have been part of the boredom factor.

I just don't think they were anywhere near perfect. I don't know what I would give them, being that I don't know the scoring system, but certainly not over 35.

I would have given them a 37. NOT based on their creativity or originality (STUNFISK), but on their new graphics. I found Castelia City beautiful. Somewhat annoying at times, yet the views of it (in the city and on Skyarrow) awesome. It also felt less like a genuine Pokemon game. Maybe it was the new map and Entralink, or maybe it was the new older age of the protagonist.
I also liked the pureness of the criminal team leader (N), while Ghetsis is going around being a meanie and yelling at everyone.
All in all, from the humor (the "legs" girl...... :|) to the graphics, it was an awesome game.

Realize that no game can be perfect, and just because it got a perfect score does not mean that the judges think the game is perfect.
Also understand how those scores come about: four people rate the game out of 10, and their scores all get added together. No one person rates it out of 40.

Taking that into consideration, I would actually say yes.
It introduced new Pokemon, which already cements it as a major addition to the Pokemon universe as a whole (and whether or not you like the majority of them is irrelevant, because each Pokemon is liked by someone), had an acceptable amount of post-game content, and it really pushed the envelope in terms of narrative and story-telling.

At the time the games were released, I think B/W deserved the perfect score because of the new Pokemon introduced as well as the storyline, which was mentioned above. IMO, that really made up for the lack of Safari Zone and Game Corner. But with B2/W2 coming soon, I think they should've been 36-39/40; there wasn't much to do post-game.

I think Black & White deserved their perfect score for these reasons: The new Pokemon were kinda interesting but most of them were pretty strong and useful, the storyline and characters were captured perfectly, the protagonists being older than the usual 10-year-old Trainer, the concept with Team Plasma, the big improvement in graphics (particularly the Ferris Wheel and Castelia City), the massive gameplay/move/item changes, the introduction of new gimmicky abilities, the concept of two rivals and the acceptable amount of post-game content.

While the Battle Subway and lack of a Safari Zone were a disappointment, the rest of the game was great.

If I rated this out of 40, I'd give it 37 (especially because B2/W2 is coming soon). I mean, the 5th Generation is one generation of Pokemon done right and B2/W2 will be even better on top of that.

Coming from a 5th Generation fan like myself, some of my fave Pokemon were even introduced including my beloved Oshawott!

The games definitely didn't deserve the extremely high scores. The stories weren't nearly as good as the magazines hyped them up to be, the lack of old Pokemon was unfortunate, there was effectively no postgame, and there were many of the new Pokemon that were extremely disappointing in either design, stats, or both. Plus, the game featured too many pointless legendaries, and many Pokemon that were covered in spikes and armor just so the kids would like them.

Plus, the games were a major step back from the last games, the brilliantly great Heart Gold and Soul Silver.

I think they deserved what scores they received. They had plenty of new and exciting Pokémon to catch, amazing graphics for a DS game, worked with WPA internet, had great multiplayer functions and had so much more. It didn't matter that there was no Safari Zone or underground, etc, because it had plenty of new and better things to replace them.

I think they deserved a 39, because they weren't perfect, but they were really good. The graphics were cool, the evil team had a slightly new twist, they added a few new features, but there were some things that were lacking- like Musicals, which I personally think is the worst fail GAME FREAK made with BW. But I think a 39 would have been good.

No - I've played BW and went back to HG... why did they get rid of all the good things from HG/SS?! >.<

I honestly think that they did deserve it. Or as close to perfect as can be, anyway. Sure, they lacked some classic features (I would've liked a Safari Zone), but imo the Dream World and C-Gear made up for it, as the original post says. That and I found the storyline for DPPt mind-numbingly boring, and I'm not such a fan of the RSE storyline either, so it was refreshing to have a storyline that gripped me & I enjoyed playing through.

It seems to me that, for Famitsu, simplicity goes a long way. For them, it was simple, nothing complex. It was a new region to explore (not a revisit to Kanto through a southern exit of an area that previously wasn't there). There was no growing Berries, no Pokéblocks, a limited number of Berries to get in-game and once a day in some cases, and so on. The map, once you reach Nimbasa City, is circular; you don't do a lot of backtracking (except once to Desert Resort and then to Nacrene, though by now you have Fly), and it's a generic path you follow without having to go back to other areas. In other words, simple. And that might be their rating system: simplicity.

I personally think a game like Crystal, if it were made in today's mapmaking format instead of the way it was at its time, would be a 40/40 game easily. However, keep in mind that after beating the Elite 4, you have to tackle another eight Gyms, another batch of new challenges, another 30 routes or whatever, more complex backtracking perhaps (I didn't play the ROM past the path to Victory Road for some reason, likely due to changing systems), and so on - things that complex what to that point has been a more simple game. Therefore, it would get a 35 from Famitsu instead of the 40 it deserves (what DID it get, NEway?). I think Black/White, given they introduce a new generation and some new combination types (Rock/Fighting for instance), might be able to get a 35; the sequels probably won't because you end up revisiting areas, and some people will say you shouldn't get Black or White now, you're already visiting the same areas you did then, or don't bother with the new ones if you have the originals because it's mostly the same game, blah blah. Of course, we know better. What I've seen of the sequels uses the old areas in hew ways (meteors in one route and Route 4 construction completed, for example). It makes for a similar experience, like revisiting Kanto from Johto, but still encompasses the same area making it a new experience in some ways. Also, the entire path to the Pokémon League is changed; what exactly is in the north part of Opelucid City now? Route 2 is changed to force you through the wild grass by making the old cliff jumps unwalkable. Things like that. It's a fresh experience in a familiar area. And Black 2 / White 2 should get a 45 if B/W gets a 40.

Cyclone

Too short and 'empty' to warrant such a score.
Now, if it was on the 3DS and took full advantage of the new hardware... ... ... but it wasn't.

I've played all the games of the pokemon main series, and I find BW a big improvement compared to it's predecessors. All that graphics and the rich storyline just blew me away.

Don't get me wrong, I was really marveled by the cut scenes in D/P/Pt which weren't available in previous generations, and HG/SS was a big improvement with the menu on the touch screen and all, but BW is really in a league of it's own. Better graphics, new pokemon, GTS trading, Dream World. Initially I bought the game just for the sake of buying a pokemon game (because I heard my friend telling me how ridiculous the new pokemons were), but in the end it was totally awesome!

One drawback is that I find it hard to get evolution stones, and also berries (but hey, I don't use berries anyway. Can still remember breaking the 400 mark with Sitrus berries in my Sapphire game). It doesn't really lack post-game material because of the Dream World and online battles and GTS. The auto activation of the running shoes doesn't quite bother me since after years of pokemon gaming, I've sorta gotten used to pressing on the B button to make my character run. Running without pressing the B button seems a bit... How do I describe it... Empty?

But one thing that I really don't like about the game is Black City. I read that the number of citizens in Black City will depend on how many days it takes you to reach Black City. I had 10 battleable citizens in Black City initially. But then someone borrowed my DS for a year (in exchange she lent me her PSP) and I when I continued playing it after getting back my DS, There are only 3 battleable citizens left :(

Overall, I would say that BW really deserves the 40/40. It's graphics are definitely nothing if you compare them to RPG games on other consoles, like Final Fantasy on the PS3 or something like that. But for a DS game, it's hard to find anything better than BW.