Pokémon Platinum dated for May

Nintendo has announced a 22nd May release date for Pokémon Platinum.

This is a remake-cum-enhancement of Pokémon Diamond/Pearl, and so features lots of extra bits and bobs.

Our favourite is a special winter wardrobe for hero characters that will keep them warm and trendy while exploring the wintry lands of Sinnoh, where the new adventure takes place. There's a fancy Distortion World to run around where time and space are irrelevant, too.

Various well-known Pokémon will spring-up along the way to fight and capture, plus Diamond/Pearl owners can transfer the Shaymin monster into Platinum and unlock its Sky form. This unleashes new attributes and special powers.

And then, once the boss of the main campaign has been bested, players can nip over to the Battle Frontiers for all sorts of extra challenges and tournaments.

Wi-Fi battles return, as does a revamped Global Trade Station: now known as the Global Terminal. Here, players can swap videos of them doing battle as well as trade creatures and play mini-games together. Just like one big animal-cruelty family.

All of which will probably turn out to be quite brilliant, as Pokémon Diamond and Pearl proved in 2007.

Head over to our Pokémon Diamond/Pearl review to find out why.