Pokemon SoulSilver

Pokemon Silver meets the DS

Posted 3 years ago By - Trevor Applebaum

As an old school fan of the Pokémon franchise, it’s a pleasure to see it alive and well after all these years. Playing HeartGold and SoulSilver brought back memories of yesteryear, sitting there with Gold and Silver on the Gameboy Color. Yep, I may be an adult, but I still love these cute little monsters that battle it out to become legends and ultimately bring the player to the Promised Land of the Pokémon League Champion title.

Gameplay

The story in these versions, are the same as the games before them. As a novice trainer, the player must make a choice, picking one of three starter Pokémon given to them from the local Pokémon Professor. Set in the Johto Region, there are eight Pokémon Gym Leaders spread across the land you need to defeat, all-the-while racing your rival to the Elite Four and the Region Champion himself. The controls are simple: The player can either use the Directional Pad to move around the game world and use the stylus to dictate the actions of the Pokémon in battle. The style of gameplay utilizes a heavy RPG element, making it so the player will battle and gain experience, leveling their Pokémon up in the process in order to take on the bigger challenges ahead. With every Pokémon type in the game, they all have advantages and disadvantages versus other types in battle, so the player must choose wisely when fighting or face defeat.

In this release, Nintendo takes the players back 10 years with a remake of Pokémon Gold and Silver originally found on the Gameboy Color. Of course, as with any remake, there’s a lot of tweaks, add-ons and new Pokémon to be found, making for an interesting and a fun trip down memory lane. Like previous Pokémon games, Nintendo kept the format simple and didn’t change anything when it came to the battle systems, it’s still a straight forward and easy to learn style with the only new addition to it being able to have two versus two during some battles.
 

In this release, Nintendo takes the players back 10 years with a remake of Pokémon Gold and Silver originally found on the Gameboy Color. Of course, as with any remake, there’s a lot of tweaks, add-ons and new Pokémon to be found, making for an interesting and a fun trip down memory lane. Like previous Pokémon games, Nintendo kept the format simple and didn’t change anything when it came to the battle systems, it’s still a straight forward and easy to learn style with the only new addition to it being able to have two versus two during some battles.

Each Pokémon falls into one of several different “types”, such as water, fire or grass. The maximum number of Pokémon a player can hold at any given time is six; and any additional ones they’ve caught can be stored on a PC Box at the local Pokémon Center (found in the various towns within the Johto Region). Any time you’re near one, you can swap your Pokémon out to better equip yourself for the challenges ahead.

Evolution is a big factor in the Pokémon series and Nintendo changed it around for HeartGold and SoulSilver. No longer do you have a rigid schedule of when to expect your little critters to grow up. They now happen at random levels; different for all the Pokémon in the game. Some evolve every six levels while others will advance every nine levels. It may be a small change, but it adds another layer of depth to the game.

Among the several items the player get’s to use throughout the game is the Pokédex. It enables you to track and keep information on any Pokémon you catch or encounter while on your adventure. Think of it as a digital encyclopedia for Pokémon. A Pokécyclepedia if you will. Filling up your Pokédex sits as a secondary objective in the game.

The smartest addition to the game is the new Poké Walker (a pedometer packed in with the game). It enables the player to transfer any Pokémon they have to the small device (which resembles a Tamagotchi) via a built in IR receiver on the gamecard. Upon doing so, the player’s Pokémon will walk when the player has the device on them, and in the process finding items to bring back to the game when it’s transferred back. But, with that said, it’s not without its issues. It can be hard for your Pokémon to get watts in the mini games in order to boost its stats and increase the chances of finding an item.
 

Another of Nintendo’s changes is the VS Battle Video Recorder, which enables a player to record a battle and upload it via Wi Fi for players across the world to watch and add as a friend online using the Poke Buddy Pad. You could tell Nintendo focused heavily on the Wi Fi Connection, due to the high fan base across the globe. They made it simple to have a friends list to play against or trade with.

Graphics and Sound

Visually, Pokémon games have not changed very much over the years. Until now. With Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver Nintendo kept the classic style of the previous games and upgraded the graphics within to match the Nintendo DS hardware capabilities. One change in particular I enjoyed were with the battle effects. They look more believable and actually make you see the attacks for what they are.

As for the soundtrack, Nintendo has never changed the music in any of the previous Pokémon games. They kept it uniformed throughout the franchise, including these remakes, which should make Pokémon fans both new and old feel right at home and enjoy the tempo as much as I did. Each town, gym and area within Johto has a sound of its own to keep the feel of the game alive.

Value

For any fan of the Pokémon franchise, either one of these titles will make a perfect addition to their collection. They maintain the spirit of the original versions, yet adding in a little spit and polish that any 10-year old remake would require. The only knock I have against it is there’s only one save spot. In this day and age, memory shouldn’t be an issue. A single save spot is an archaic design choice. But, with the addition of the Pokewalker, fixed Wi Fi internet battles and the ability to finally watch VS battle’s online on your DS, it’s still well worth the $40 price tag, as long as you don’t need to have multiple games going at the same time.

Conclusion

Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver do the series justice, and proves to the gaming community that the franchise will never die out in popularity, no matter how many variations are released. I can’t wait to see what Nintendo and Game Freak have in store for the next installments (the recently announced Black & White) and anticipate what new features will come from them. For those new to the series, it’s an easy game to pick up and play while Poké Veterans will feel right at home with the game. Even at $40, the game offers a lot of replay value and will keep fans busy until the next iteration hits the market. Let’s just hope Nintendo can evolve like their Pokémon and bring us some more modern save options.