Pokemon HeartGold/SoulSilver

Pokemon SoulSilver/HeartGold Version

Note: I will not be going over the basic mechanics of the Pokemon games in this review, as I have covered these mechanics extensively in my Pokemon Blue/Red review. Instead, all subsequent reviews will instead focus on the changes made to the formula in any particular iteration. 

The Short

Pros

- Remake of the best Pokemon generation

- First pokemon will follow you around like in Pokemon Yellow

- Has all the pokemon from the previous games

- Complete experience is retained, including the whole second region (Kanto) you can return to after beating Johto, as well as more bonus areas.

- Lets you import your GBA pokemon, just like in Pokemon Diamond/Pearl

- "Pokewalker" pedometer included for free, lets you walk your pokemon around and level them

- Modernized with better uses of the touch screen

- Most graphics (menues, effects, walkaround, etc.) have seen a minor upgrade since Diamond/Pearl

- Insane amounts of content, customizability, and with the improvements the game is more accessible and fun than ever

Cons

- Battle graphics still look like something off the GBA

- Doesn't add anything particularly substantial 

- Does add another minigame collection, which thankfully you can completely ignore

- Pokewalker only works with this generation; doesn't work for older ones or Black/White

Time to replay the best Pokemon game

The Long

I'm really trying to not bias this review with my nostalgia goggles. After getting annoyed at Pokemon Diamond/Pearl, when I heard the next DS release would be a remake of Gold/Silver (much like FireRed/LeafGreen on the GBA) I freaked out. They were remaking my favorite Pokemon generation? With better graphics, controls, and updated with all the new pokemon? Sign me up!

So there is obviously a bit of bias here. I make no qualms in saying that Gold/Silver is the best Pokemon generation, in terms of improvement, controls, gameplay, and the pokemon themselves. So I'll try my best to not just gush like crazy over this game, but it'll be hard.

Because this game is really good. 

The return of Totodile!

Ok, let's just get the first bit over with: this is a very faithful remake of Gold/Silver. Like FireRed/LeafGreen, Nintendo has taken great reverence in making sure this version is faithful to the original formula (and considering they haven't changed the Pokemon formula much since then, it isn't that hard). So if you go read my Gold/Silver review, you can get the general gist of why that game is so fantastic.

So what is different, or better? Well, quite a few things, actually.

First off, the touch screen controls are finally excellent. While you still have to hit a button to get to the menu, it's all on the bottom screen now, be it pokemon selection, items, or whatever. It all has touchscreen controls now (finally) which works really well. It streamlines the interface (an opportunity that Diamond/Pearl completely neglected) and makes the often tedious menu-interactions of the Pokemon games a lot better. 

The bottom screen is much more useful. Except when its in Japanese. 

This game also employs the same great art style of Diamond/Pearl with it's overworld map, though I think it's been tweaked a little. Colors are much more vibrant in this version, and new additions to the world (like windmills outside Route 14 and New Bark Town) make it really feel like you are off on a great adventure, seeing new things and having new experiences. Unlike many remakes of games, everything changed in this one aesthetically is for the better, with one small exception.

Battle graphics still look like the GBA

The pokemon animate a bit in battle again (like they did in Crystal and the updated Platinum) which is nice, and the art design seems better this time around than in Pearl/Diamond, but the game still looks dated. I get that it's easier to just make sprites than 3D models, and I actually prefer pixelated sprites over bad 3D (which is why I never got too into the N64). But you could at least make the backdrops interesting! Gradients are all you could use? Really? And you could probably also shrink down the "WHAT WILL MEGANIUM DO" up there and put it on the bottom screen, so that the battle screen doesn't look so freaking cluttered. I mean, all the menu options are on the bottom, why not have the top just be an aesthetic representation of the fight with all the words, hpts, etc. on the bottom? Would be nice.

Making the Pokedex touchscreen was a huge boost. 

Anyway all this is a moot point because not updating the battle graphics is really my only complaint about Pokemon HeartGold/SoulSilver (well, and the fact they didn't remake Crystal). Yeah, all they added (minus all the improvements since Gold/Silver originally came out) was a stupid minigame collection, but I'm actually fine with that. "But Nathan," you'll say, "you dissed Diamond/Pearl because they only added a minigame collection and had GBA sprites, but you clearly are infatuated with this stupid remake! What gives?" To which I say, "Shut up, you silly sod. Yeah, if you looked at HeartGold/SoulSilver with that same critical eye you'd notice similar flaws, but the point is you don't notice the flaws if the game underneath is good enough." That's always been Pokemon's thing: they refine the system a little, but if they can keep the whole "I'm going on an adventure!" aspect and make it work, a player will overlook the GBA graphics and lack of innovation. Gold/Silver is the best adventure the series has to offer, and I don't mean in terms of story, I mean in terms of immersion and just straight up content. These games have tons of stuff to do. You have two entire worlds to burn through (Johto and then Kanto from the first generation) and bonus stuff beyond that. And since this bonus content isn't just minigame garbage (like in Diamond/Pearl) I'm willing to forgive it.

I think I put 140 hours into this game, and I never did a single minigame. I beat the gym leaders of Johto, crushed the Elite Four and the Champion Drake, went to Kanto and smashed everybody there, too (including Blue, Red's original rival from the very first game), went back and fought the improved Elite Four, hunted down legendary dogs, caught the lv. 80 Ho-Oh (you can catch both legendaries in this game, just one is a lot easier than the other), and entered the hardest dungeon in an attempt to beat Red, the baddest mother-effer in the Pokemon universe. Except maybe Cynthia in Black. But we aren't going there yet. 

Oh man, that song is awesome.

This is after hours and hours, all of which I never got bored. I get bored in Pearl/Diamond after like three or four hours. Yeah, maybe it's my rose-tinted goggles, or maybe it's because HeartGold/SoulSilver is really good. 

There are a few other cool additions. One of my favorites, having your pokemon follow you around, has returned. Unlike Yellow, though, you aren't limited to just Pikachu; whomever you have first in your party lineup tags along. And you can talk to them and get some interesting...feedback. It's cool and again does what it did in Yellow: immerses you in the adventure.

Let's go kick some butt!

Another new thing is the Pokewalker, a pedometer with infrared capabilities. On the back of these DS carts (and these carts only; the Pokewalker doesn't work with any other set of games) there's an infrared transmitter, which you can then send any pokemon in the game (and every generation before this one, since all are available) to the walker to...walk around with you, I guess. On the Pokewalker it has some games that you can play in exchange for spending your "steps" you've earned for walking around with it. It sounds dumb, but you can actually get some really rare pokemon really early if you get off your couch (where you are presumably playing Pokemon) and walk around for a bit. 

I wore this thing around college for the month or so I was playing this game, with no shame. Maybe I'm just a lunatic, but I certainly spotted a few other people with them, so I'm not the only one. It has an item finding minigame on it, as well as a pokemon catching game. I just wish it had more of a Tamugachi thing as well; it would make it more interactive and fun. But whatever. 

The fact this actually works is kind of nuts. 

The music (as evidenced by the song above) is all remakes of the original tunes, but unlike FireRed/LeafGreen where I felt the remakes were "just ok," I found these remade songs in HeartGold/SoulSilver to actually be better than the originals. Yeah, I just punched nostalgia in the face and said remade music was better. Mark it down, because this'll probably be the only time I'll ever say that about any game ever. 

And yes, the day/night cycle is back. And the horde of Hoothoots to accompany it. 

As I've stated multiple times throughout this review, you could probably just shrug this off as me remembering Gold/Silver/Crystal fondly and applying it to this game, but it's worth noting that I'm a lot older now. Older and jaded and angry at the world (and JRPGs in general, but that's a whole other can of worms). I'm not going to give a Pokemon game a pass just because it reminds me of one I really liked, especially since it had been almost a decade since I'd last played Crystal, so I had no idea if it was good or just me being a child. 

Pokemon HeartGold/SoulSilver is my favorite DS iteration of Pokemon, and by a very long shot. Yeah, Black/White is great (and expect a review shortly), but something about HeartGold/SoulSilver stuck with me. I've never wanted to replay a Pokemon game shortly after considering it "finished" (I usually just play until I'm so sick of pocket monsters I don't want to even look at another one for a year, which is conveniently when the next game tends to come out), but with HeartGold/SoulSilver I really want to replay it (and can't, because it still only has one save file. Lame!) and have wanted too ever since I beat the upgraded Champion. 

This is Pokemon at its finest: loaded with content, tons of pokemon, a fun story, great graphics, amazing music, and just an overall grand adventure. If you have a DS I really recommend picking this up, even if you aren't a Pokemon fan. It might just make a believer out of you.

Five out of five stars.