Pokémon Platinum on the GBA is basically the definitive version of Diamond and Pearl, but with way more polish (no pun intended). You start in Sinnoh like usual—pick your starter, battle your rival, all that—but the pacing feels smoother, and the Pokédex actually has some decent fire-types this time around.

What I love is how they tweaked little things, like making the gym leaders tougher and adding the Distortion World section, which is this weird, gravity-defying area that actually makes the story more interesting. And yeah, you still grind for hours to evolve your Gible, but at least the underground mining minigame gives you something to do when you need a break from battles.

If you’ve only played Diamond or Pearl, this one’s worth the upgrade. The sprite work still holds up, too.