The Pokémon Games have often been criticized for not changing and being stagnant. While this is true to some degree, there have been enough changes to the new pokemon games that they feel very different from the first games, especially for people who may have stopped playing the series. Heart Gold and Soul Silver are remakes of the Gameboy classic Pokémon Gold and Silver, which I reviewed a long time ago. You can find my review here: http://www.gametrailers.com/users/Pappasman/gamepad/?action=viewblog&id=100038 . Gold and Silver have always been known as the best games in the series and these remakes do not disappoint.
While the story in all Pokémon games is relatively weak they do give enough of an understanding of the world and characters to draw you in to this fictional world. The story is a bout a young boy or girl who must adventure across the country to obtain all eight gym badges and stop the evil Team Rocket. This is the most story heavy Pokémon game but it doesn’t bog you down with long dialogue. It keeps it quick and concise, even if it does come off as a bit shallow.
The gameplay here is the staple of the Pokémon series. You can have up to 6 pkmn in your party with 4 attacks each. This allows for some diverse gameplay and mix-up strategies. Setting up different buffs, debuffs, and environmental and elemental buffs is the key to victory. For the most part the battle system is identical to the rest of the series but retains Diamond and Pearls attack category change with the special attacks and physical attacks. the menu system has been completely redone mapping all your options to the bottom screen while traversing the overworld. this making saving, using items, and looking up pokemon in your pokedex much faster, and much more convienient task.
The world really is a loving recreation of the original with some new areas and cameos from some characters from the previous games. The music keeps its classic feel buthas an updated(and upbeat) feel. It also introduces my favorite item in the entire series, the GB player, an item that allows you to turn on the original gameboy music in any area in the game, including battles. These remakes have also kept up the tradition of Gold and Silver being the longest pokemon games. The original Gold and Silver allowed you to explore the entire country of Johto and after defeating the champion of the Elite 4 you gain access to a whole other country. Just like the Gold and Silver before it, the entire country from the first pokemon games(Red and Blue) is remade and updated with trainers and gym battles allowing you to go for the eight gyms there, which allows you to complete your collection of all 16 badges. The entire endgame in the second country is significatly stronger than anyone in the first so that you will have a continuous challenge all throughout your playtime. This essentially doubles the length of the game and technically gives you 2 games in one.
Pokemon Heart Gold and Soul Silver is not only a wonderful remake but a significant update to the series that shouldn’t be skipped out on. While it doesn't completely capture the nostalgia factor it manages to transcend its predeccesors in every way, it truly is the best Pokemon game ever released. It is set to release in North America on March 14th, 2010.
