Think back to the time when you were eight years old, sitting on the couch playing Pokemon. As you were sitting there catching them all, you probably had one thought, shared with every other eight year old in the same situation: "Man, I wish Pokemon were real."

And now they are.

Thanks to video game giant Nintendo and mobile gaming mogul Niantic, everyone with an iPhone or Android can experience the world previously only dreamed of. Using technology known as "augmented reality," users can utilize the cameras and GPS functions on their phones to see the little tykes litter the world around them. Players experience everything in real time and in real world locations, which means if you see a Pidgey is one mile away, you'll need to get up and walk a mile to find it. There's a lot packed in to this little app, so we need to take a look at all the good things and the bad things to get a fair analysis of the game.

We'll start on a positive note. As stated earlier, this game plays on nostalgic dreams from the past of bringing Pokemon into the real world. People from all age groups have downloaded this game to play it. I even found adults in their 30s playing this game. There's no age limit on how old or young you have to be to enjoy this game, which brings me to my second point: the game is focused on exploration. Littered throughout the world recreated on your phone are these areas known as "PokeStops." These are real-world icons and landmarks that have a history or meaning tied to the location. Here in Montgomery, several churches are PokeStops, as are many structures at the Alabama Shakespeare Festival. While the game provides minor incentives for finding these places, the real reward is getting to learn more about your town, including a history of it you may have never known.

Pokemon Go also features a social aspect of the game in the form of Pokemon Gyms. Upon reaching level five in the game, players can join one of three teams in a fight to control Pokemon Gyms. If you find an opposing team controlling a gym, you can have your Pokemon battle the Pokemon in that gym to try to take it over. Likewise, if your team controls a gym, you can drop off one of your companions to defend the cause. This creates a sort of bonding experience with people you might not ever have known before because you're suddenly working together toward the same cause.

Finally, the game is free, which is very inviting for all people. Because of its hype, the game is being downloaded by people who were never really into Pokemon as kids because now there's nothing to lose if it's unliked. There's no risking $3.99 for an app you don't know much about. If you like it, great, if not, that's fine, too. Parents can also rest easy and treat the kids to a fun pastime at no cost as well.

An app like this is not without its faults, however. A lot has changed from the Pokemon world in this app, many of them unwelcome by several fans. For instance, in traditional Pokemon games, trainers can evolve their Pokemon by battling them against wild Pokemon. In Pokemon Go, evolution is caused after a certain number of a specific Pokemon is captured. A trainer might have to catch five Pidgeys just to get one of them to evolve.

There's also a lack of player versus player combat in the game, a feature hopefully coming in a future update. While there are gym battles, when a trainer drops a Pokemon off at a gym, his Pokemon becomes an AI, controlled by the game itself, not a player. This turns Player versus Player into Player versus Environment, contradicting the social aspects of the game and bringing a sense of isolation in its wake.

There's also a lack of trading Pokemon in the game, which was a fundamental point of the main games--that's why there were at least two versions of every generation of games released. Some Pokemon were specific to one version, and people had to trade with each other to get every Pokemon. This reason isn't too upsetting, however, as Niantic has already announced plans to implement it in future updates.

The biggest problem Pokemon Go has is keeping stable servers. There are few servers keeping the game running, and the more people logging on to the game, the harder it is to keep the game operating smoothly (or operating at all). Players who have already downloaded it have inevitably seen the all-annoying error message more times than they can count, and though the game has only been out for little more than 72 hours, one can only wonder how Nintendo and Niantic didn't see this coming. With Europeans only just now being able to download the game, we can expect thousands upon thousands more fighting for time on the servers.

So what's the verdict? As of right now I give this game a seven out of 10, with the score only improving as time goes on. In spite of server issues and otherwise minor problems, this app really does a good job recapturing the wonder of playing Pokemon for the first time. It's exciting finding even the smallest of Pokemon in your backyard or local Walmart, and it's both hilarious and amazing to see all the people that have come together and bonded over a simple app. It's fantastic learning things all about the towns and countrysides we grew up in. There's a whole world out there to discover, Trainer, and it's your world. Go catch 'em all.