> Graphics
Lucas, Dawn, and Barry have different outfits designed for colder weather, as the entire Sinnoh region has changed in temperature.
The template for the level, HP, and the name of Pokémon in battle is a dark gray instead of white, and its shape has changed.
The Pokétch has been redesigned. Players can now move up and down between apps instead of having to go through all of them to return to a previous one.
Some of the moves have been redesigned, and have a different animation, such as Razor Leaf and Spacial Rend.
When Pokémon are sent out from their Poké Balls, their back sprites now animate much like their front sprites have since Emerald (i.e., multiple frames of animation in addition to the various distortions and filters already used).
Some back sprites, while mostly similar to those of Pokémon Diamond and Pearl, experience several minor stylistic changes, such as size changes, correction of graphical errors, pixel enhancement, and changes in color tones. A few Pokémon have very noticeable changes, such as Azumarill and Gligar, among others.
Front sprites for Generation IV Pokémon and other Pokémon in the Sinnoh Pokédex have also changed. Meowth, Muk, Oddish, Hitmonlee, Ninetales, and Primeape also receive new sprites despite not being in the expanded Sinnoh Pokédex, while Registeel uses its sprite from the German, Italian, Spanish, and French versions of Diamond and Pearl. The Diamond and Pearl sprites are still used when the player dresses up the Pokémon either in Super Contests or in the Jubilife TV station.
When battling certain Trainers such as Gym Leaders, Frontier Brains, and Barry, the Trainers' sprites are now animated to move in the same manner as Pokémon.
Some Trainers now use Seals when sending out some of their Pokémon.
The Eterna, Hearthome, and Veilstone Gyms have all had complete redesigns in the interior.
Closeups of Gym Leaders, just before a battle, have been changed from enlarged sprites to higher-quality drawings, and the term "VS" has been added; the Frontier Brains also have this feature. The Elite Four have this as well, but the animation includes the player on the left side of the "VS." and the Elite Four member on the right side.
The rooms where the player battle the Elite Four have been redesigned. Aaron's room now has logs and foliage; Bertha's now has rocks; Flint's now has lava pits; Lucian's now includes four large glowing orbs on the floor; Cynthia's room has changed its color scheme, and the lift leading up to the Hall of Fame is now partially contained. The Elite Four and Cynthia now all have unique battle backgrounds. The Pokémon Center at the Pokémon League has also been redesigned.
When entering new areas, the location "labels" on the top-left corner have been redesigned, much like they were between Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire and Pokémon Emerald.
Pikachu and Pachirisu are now featured when entering Wi-Fi.
The Pal Pad has been given a new design.
The game director at Hotel Grand Lake now has an overhead sprite of his own. The Diploma also was redesigned.
When the player starts the battle with the Giratina in the Distortion World, instead of displaying "A wild Giratina appeared!", it displays "The Distortion World's Giratina appeared!". It is referred to as "the wild Giratina" in other instances, such as attacking, however.
The trees in West Sinnoh have sharper angles and a point at the top, compared to rounded branches and a rounded top in Diamond and Pearl, and are also slightly darker. The trees in East Sinnoh are also slightly darker, but are now a completely different hue than the trees in West Sinnoh, and are more rounded than in Diamond and Pearl, while the Battle Zone has completely new trees altogether.
> Sound
Giratina's cry will be heard when "Start" or "A" are pressed at the title screen, unlike in Pokémon Diamond and Pearl, which just play a snippet of the title theme's melody. It shares this trait with some other games.
The Mystery Gift theme has changed to a more upbeat version of the theme used in Pokémon Diamond and Pearl.
The Battle Tower theme was changed slightly to have more guitar-sounding riffs and more dynamic transitions.
Pt to HGSS
> Gameplay
All 493 Pokémon are capable of following players similar to Pikachu in Pokémon Yellow. Shininess and form differences are retained when a Pokémon is following the player. The player can interact with their Pokémon by pressing 'A' while facing it, so they can see how their Pokémon is feeling at the moment. In battle, like Yellow's Pikachu, they are sent out from the side of the screen, rather than from a Poké Ball. The player's lead Pokémon will always follow them except in certain situations, such as while riding the bicycle, surfing, or going indoors with a large Pokémon.
Kurt and Apricorns make a return to the series along with the respective Poké Balls. Apricorns are now carried by the player in a new item, the Apricorn Box. As in Crystal, Kurt can be given multiples of the same color Apricorn at once in order to make multiple Poké Balls.
Similar to the event Shaymin and Regigigas in Platinum, two in-game events are unlocked through the use of event-exclusive Pokémon. The Pikachu-colored Pichu unlocks an event near the Ilex Forest shrine where the Spiky-eared Pichu can be obtained, and an event-exclusive Celebi unlocks an encounter with former Team Rocket boss and Viridian Gym Leader Giovanni. Giovanni was mentioned repeatedly in the original Generation II games but did not appear. These events effectively replace the GS Ball event formerly found in the Japanese version of Pokémon Crystal.
The Pokémon Storage System, Bag, party interface, and the screen that pops up when pressing the Start or X buttons in the previous games all use the Nintendo DS's touch screen.
Cynthia makes an appearance in an event involving Arceus. This takes place in an area accessed from the Ruins of Alph that is far to the north, named the Sinjoh Ruins. This event allows players to obtain either Dialga, Palkia, or Giratina at level 1. The only way to obtain the Griseous Orb and Origin Forme Giratina in this game is to choose Giratina during this event.
Apricorns are now the only items collected from plants on the field. Berries are instead collected from Jugglers in Violet City and Fuchsia City in exchange for shards, through the Pokéwalker's Dowsing function, hidden on the ground, or from the deliveryman in Poké Marts sent by the player's mom (if the player allows their mom to save money). A few Berries cannot be collected in these games and must be traded over from other versions, similar to in FireRed and LeafGreen. Though they cannot be grown on the ground like in Hoenn or Sinnoh, they can be grown portably using the Berry Pots, where the SquirtBottle is controlled via the touch screen to water four Berries at a time.
The Running Shoes are obtained in Cherrygrove City and can be permanently selected using the touchscreen menu. The selected item (from pressing Y or SELECT in previous games) is also on the touchscreen. Two items can be selected as opposed to just one.
When the player is choosing their first partner Pokémon (Chikorita, Cyndaquil, or Totodile), it is possible to check if any of them is Shiny before obtaining them.
Many Pokémon have acquired the ability to learn new moves and expand and improve their movesets; for example, Togepi can now learn Extrasensory through breeding.
An addition to the breeding system is introduced where one of the three random IVs inherited by the offspring can be guaranteed if one of the parents holds a Power item.
The player doesn't need to encounter the roaming legendaries before being able to track them on the map.
> Graphics
Much like Kanto's was for its remakes, Johto's Pokédex has been redesigned. Unlike Kanto's remakes, which contained the same regional Pokédex as the originals, the original regional Pokédex for Johto has been slightly altered, including five Generation IV Evolutions for Pokémon found in Johto.
If the player turns off the battle scene in the Options menu, the Pokémon will not be animated when they come into battle, whereas in Platinum they were.
When viewing the stats of a Pokémon outside of battle, one of the stat names will be very light blue, indicating which stat is decreased by the Pokémon's Nature, and one will be very light red, indicating which stat is increased. If the Pokémon has a neutral Nature, none of the stats will be colored.