Pokédex 3D Pro vs. Pokédex for iOS
/I’ll start off saying I am not a writer. Never was. I can’t even get 140 characters right on Twitter without having a typo. So hopefully my attempt at putting words together won’t turn you away from this read.
Before I dive into comparing the Pokédex iOS app and the Pokédex 3D Pro app, I want to thank a friend on Twitter named Omen. Omen and I got into a friendly argument about the differences of these two apps. I LOVE friendly arguments because it really shows both sides strongly. Life would be boring if everyone just agreed. I’ve always wanted that spark of argument on “It’s Super Effective” from time to time too. Maybe the next 100 episodes will be wildly controversial. Anyways Omen, you are the main inspiration of this article, so thank you!
So I want to point out a very important thing before we begin. Both of these apps are designed for premium users. They are designed for fans that not only love Pokémon, but for people who like connivence. At any point can you say “this is dumb, I’ll just go to Bulbapedia” and you are absolutely right. These apps provide no extra information that Bulbapedia cannot provide to you. In terms, these apps provide sparkles and noises that would humor any fan of Pokémon, plus some other stuff we will get to.
“This all seems what you expect out of an Pokédex app, right?”
So let’s talk about the Pokédex 3D Pro first.
This app only works on the Nintendo 3DS and you can download it in the Nintendo eShop for $14.99. This app debuted in Japan on July 14th, 2012, and it was made available to pretty much everyone else on November 8th, 2012. Of course being on the 3DS, this app features Pokémon in 3D on the top screen. When you select a Pokémon, you have a really cool voice shout out that Pokémon’s name. When a Pokémon is selected, the bottom screen holds stats, represented by bars, no numbers here (so you’ll have to use Bulbapedia if your crunching base stat totals). What else is on that bottom screen you ask? Well you can control the Pokémon cry and make them move a bit with some animation. Followed by all this, you have the Egg Group, Abilities (descriptions of the abilities too), and what level said Pokémon evolves, which comes with an easy tap to take you to that evolution. Now if you keep scrolling down on the bottom screen, you’ll get you match up for type, then the move-pool that includes levels learned, type of attack, kind of attack, power, accuracy, and PP. This all seems what you expect out of an Pokédex app, right? Outside the actual Dex, you see a Records page on the top. This keeps track off all the Pokémon entries you have read, found, or remembered. It also keeps track of you challenge scores. There is a rainbow bar at the bottom of this app. It’s used as a clumsy way to quickly switch to another Pokémon horizontally with your finger and the d-pad. Honestly you’re better off going list and scrolling up and down.
“You too can own the entire app for $26”
Move onto the Pokédeex iOS App now.
Let’s dive into the actual interface of this app. First off, the iOS app has 7 different language that can be changed on the HM02 (Fly). This app covers English, French, Spanish, German, Italian, and two kinds of Japanese. This is a huge feature, and someone can correct me if I’m wrong, but there was no way to change the language in the Pokédex 3D Pro app. Another feature is that you can export and import memos and icons. What does this mean? This app can work with any .txt (Text File) back and forth. If you jot up a bunch of memos, you can transfer it to your computer, edit it, and transfer it right back to your iOS app. Let’s go further, shall we? The Move Dex app can sort by all the same ways the 3DS Pokédex Pro app can, except with extra search option. The iOS app can search by icons (which is identified by one of five different stars). Let’s say you are working on a double’s team, mark the moves and Pokémon you might considering using with a purple star. Singles Team? You can identify your moves and Pokémon with a different color star like green. This makes is extremely handy to quickly start putting a team together in your pocket. Unlike the Pokédex 3D Pro app, the Move Dex in the iOS app will also show you how much damage that specific move will do to a type of Pokémon. The Pokédex app itself included a fully-rendered Pokémon that you can spin, animate, and cry. One of the coolest things about this app is that you can compare the height of any Pokémon to Pikachu. Since the entire world knows Pikachu’s height of... umm... 1’4”... anyways.. this app is also missing base stat total too. If you want an average bar of blue, both apps match on that. The Pokédex for iOS also has tab of “Where to Find” which covers Diamond/Pearl games up to Black 2/White 2 and all the games in between those.
The biggest complaint I see about the iOS app is that it is $9 more then the 3DS app. For a universal and Retina enabled app, on top of not only the Pokémon Company’s, but Nintendo’s first iOS app ever, it’s hard for me to say that it should be a duty to buy this game to show that Pokémon is alive and stronger then ever - we need more content like this to keep coming.
So let’s talk about what both these apps are missing. Both apps do not having breeding groups, there are no shiny sprites at all, and no base stat totals. Both apps don’t touch on EVs or IVs. Finally, both apps don’t have any item support. I also want to point out that both of these apps work WITHOUT an internet connection, which may be a huge deal if you don’t have a computer with internet next to you (like in a car ride to a Pokémon tournament). Being digital of course, keep in mind that these apps can be updated. Personally, I see the iOS app being updated more so then the 3DS app.
If you’re reason for not buying one of these apps over the other is the price, then you are a consumer that doesn’t see value in connivence or features. Again, Bulbapedia is a free resource and will always be there for you, so if you want to use that, fine, then don’t complain about the price of these apps, they weren’t made for freeloaders. Free is free.
A final comparison. The only thing the Pokédex 3DS Pro has over the iOS app is the “Pokémon Challenge” (the trivia games), the Records/Albums data, the cool voice, and points out the different in tutored/learned/egg moves. The iOS app has the size comparison to Pikachu, can sync to .txt files to your computer back and forth, has direct move matchup data, a location guide, icon (star) organization, and the fact is a universal app. On top of that, the app groups Pokémon together during your search. If you tap of Abra for example, it will queue up Gothita, Solosis, and Ralts at the bottom for you. This is super convenient feature! While both apps are far from prefect, to compare the two completely puts me in a situation where I would use Pokédex for iOS as my primary Dex. The biggest reason is that I can access this app across all my iOS devices, and I cannot use Pokédex 3D Pro while I play my copy of Black 2. I will use Pokédex 3D Pro for the awesome trivia, but I bought both apps for the Pokédex features, and after playing with both of them, it’s clear that Pokédex for iOS has more then a couple features that the 3D Pro app doesn’t offer.
Did I miss anything? Wrong or right? I would love to hear your opinions in the comments below. Anyone who comments will automatically be entered to win the full version of the Pokédex for iOS that I will gift to you. Don’t have an iOS device? Then I will gift you the Pokédex 3D Pro app for your 3DS. Don’t have a 3DS? Well... Bulbapedia says “hi”.