It’s a pair of games we’ve known about since late February this year, but at the opening of its Media Summit in San Francisco today, Nintendo has provided us with a few more snippets of information about the sequel(s) to Pokemon Mystery Dungeon on the Nintendo DS, as well a selection of debut screenshots.

[Screenshots courtesy of Nintendo Official Magazine]

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time and Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Darkness. As in the original title, it allows players to actually become a Pokemon, inhabiting a character and exploring the series’ universe. Players are seen to wake up with no recollection of how they became Pokemon creature… just that they are. Which critter you become depends on a short personality questionnaire, with questions such as “Will you dance if you feel happy?” and “Do you get bothered by noise and ruckus?” determining the size, shape and personality of your being.

In the game dungeons are randomly generated, meaning that no two players’ experiences will be the same. Gamers’ own Pokemon learns new abilities and levels up as it progresses, while defeating other monsters allows the opportunity to ask them to join your party, and therein use their abilities to help you out along the way.

IGN reports that, visually, the game isn’t much of a step up from the original Pokemon Mystery Dungeon title, with 2D visuals on the lower screen, and a map and inventory on the upper display. Also worth of note is that the game will employ the same Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection mode as in Shiren the Wanderer: allowing players to contact one another via e-mail or mobile text message when a friend is in need of rescue.

Both Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time and Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Darkness (complete with a total of – count em’, catch em’ all 490 monsters) are released in North America on April 20.