A fantastic improvement to crown an already-impressive base game in Diamond. Although the changes it makes are nearly-ubiquitously positive, it does little to fundamentally change the core of generation 4. During the story, the gameplay diverts little from Diamond and Pearl, aside from the addition of more fire types, and the slight altering of plot points revolving around Team Galactic. Due to the extent (or lack thereof) of these changes, I would argue that Pokemon Platinum does little to entice previous owners of Diamond and Pearl to purchase the new version, perhaps brining into question the validity of the business practice of a 3rd versions that were so prevalent during such a time.

Yet what a 3rd version, in the context of Pokemon Platinum (and Pokemon Emerald for that matter) does achieve, is the creation of a game that is an improvement to an already-fantastic game, thus creating a product prized to be fantastic by default. This is why Pokemon Emerald and Platinum are seen as arguably the series' finest games by many.

Perhaps the most notable addition to Pokemon Platinum is Generation 4's version of the battle frontier, which consists of a myriad of different battle facilities. It provides a substantial amount of post-game content, and provides genuine difficulty to a game sorely lacking challenge otherwise. Whilst the facility is by no means perfect; the sluggish nature of Generation 4's battle speed can lead to battles involving bulkier Pokemon becoming genuinely tiresome experiences, it still serves as a fantastic addition.

Overall, whilst I believe Pokemon Platinum fails to add enough meaningful content to truly distinguish itself from Diamond/Pearl, it is still undoubtedly the definitive version of an already-fine game.