An incredible remake of an incredible classic. That's,,, well,, incredible!
(-) graphics and audio are seriously underwhelming, even with the update / Voltorb Flip will make you want to Falcon punch somebody
It's really hard to go about reviewing a game like Poke'mon HeartGold and SoulSilver, when all they are are newly updated remakes to some of the games in this longstanding series that have been arguable herald as the best. It's easy to assume they're just the same old games with some new sheen that comes with being on vastly superior hardware. But whether you're in a much younger generation and just about to begin your journey, or you have an aging heart and are hoping to embark in the same joy of catching and raising cute creatures that flamed through your childhood, there's no better place to start with Poke'mon HeartGold and SoulSilver.
Hopefully you at least have an idea on what Poke'mon is should you consider partaking in the whole escapade, but in case your childhood was somehow absent of all the trading cards and Gameboy colors that ran rampart through Elementary school, I'll explain it in a nutshell. You're a young man (or young girl, if that's your thing) who decides they want to work for Professor Oak to discover all the various species of Pocket Monsters that inhabit the planet, and bringing their data to him through your Poke'dex. It's the same stagnant, unchanging concept that Poke'mon has exhibited for years, but it stays out of the way most of the time. On your way there you'll defeat gym leaders, thwart the evils plans of Team Rocket, and catch as many different creatures and possible and watch your collection fill up.
The battle system is simple, but this progression of the generations have given rise to brand new strategies in the turn based combat. Choosing your moves wisely still depends largely on typing, dealing super effective moves to do more damage, getting critical hits, blah blah blah. But each Poke'mon has a unique ability that plays a role in the battles. Some are small, like Drapion will gain a x-3 boost to critical hits instead of the usual 2, others are huge, like Groundon causing a scorching sunlight to enter the arena until another move cancels out the weather effect. In addition to abilities, Pokemon also have different natures which make a slight difference in their stats, which while largely trivial will cause many people to flock the Day Care Center to hatch the perfect stated Poke'mon for competitive play.
Poke'mon has the potential to steal over a hundreds ours of your life, sucking you in to the devious world like few games can, and be forewarned that it probably will. There's so much to see and do, raising particular Poke'mon you like, DS specific mini-games using the touch screen to net some hard to obtain items, catching some hard as hell Legendary Poke'mon from the iconic Lugia to the fan-favorite Mewtwo, loathing around in the Safari Zone hoping to catch some of the alluding types of Poke'mon you can't find anywhere else, and the excellent Battle Frontier which takes the focus off of experience and accumulating spendable points for rare items and technical machines, and even being able to play cooperatively with a friend via Wi-Fi. Not to mention, the very unlikely but always lingering possibility of finding a differently colored "shiny" Poke'mon. It's even completely compatible with the Wii game Poke'mon Battle Revolution which was released four years before it, in case you and your friends get tired of the 2D sprites and want to watch your creatures battle in glorious 3D.
There are enough memories to make and stories to tell to ignite even a little Poke'mon enthusiasm from your heart until it makes you jump ten feet. And as for that infamous "gotta catch em' all" attitude, there's still some little guys alluding us (like everybody's favorite little bugger Mew, or Arceus, supposedly the Lord and creator of them all), but that's made easier than ever thanks to the Global Trade Station. Any Pokemon that you've seen in the wild you can request to trade of seek another offer. While some people are requesting impossibly stupid offers for rare Legendary Pokemon like Darkrai for something as incomprehensible as a Chikorita, it's still a technological marvel that greatly impacts the Poke'mon universe.
On that trade station, you'll likely see a lot of people asking for Porygon, a man-made Poke'mon that looks like a lot of colorful blocks. And for good reason too. Not everything offered for you to do in Pokemon goes so well. The originally intended method to get Porygon, and the only method on doing it in the game other than by trading, is to accumulate 9,999 Game Corner coins. Surely that doesn't sound so hard, until you realize the inane, insufferable way you'll have to do it. Gone from Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum is the ability to buy coins. Instead, you're forced to play this stupid, stupid, stupid mini game called Voltorb Flip. A cross between Sudoku and Minesweeper, but maintaining the quality of neither of those classic, this irritating hunk of a mini-game offers you no strategy, no common sense, and no fairness. You're supposed to fish behind empty blocks for point multipliers, looking for numbers like 2 and 3, when all the rest of the numbers are 1's, or 0's (Voltorbs) which effectively end your gain and toss any coins you might have earned out the window. The only clues you get are numbers in each column, which rarely help because even if you're some sort of mathematically intelligent behemoth you'll still find yourself at the mercy of random chance. Even Voltorb Flip "helpers" found on the internet are of little use. It'll make the simple task of getting technical machines to gives your Poke'mon well needed, sought after attacks like Thunderbolt and Ice Beam feel a lot like fighting a Cold War. Luckily, some of these moves can be bred across Poke'mon, which, sort of, alleviates the issue.
People who purchase Poke'mon HeartGold or SoulSilver new will find that it comes with a nifty accessory, a pedometer called the Poke'Walker. This little gadget fits right in your pocket, and communicates with your DS game by sending one of your Poke'mon into it so you can essential walk with them, it records each of your steps and you gain levels (one per walk) and happiness with every step you take. There's even a chance at using the Poke'Walker's built-in assets to find new Poke'mon, some which can only be found here, as well as getting new items. It's a neat device because between astronomical hours spent playing your game, it gives you a worthy excuse to go out and get some exercise. While the use of it is in no way essential to the game, anybody who gets the device will be doing themselves a disservice not at least trying it out.
While at the surface Poke'mon HeartGold and SoulSilver seem like a thin coat of paint over the same old thing, with horribly outdated graphics and sound design that seems almost downright ugly at times, there's no denying the fact that the classic soul of Poke'mon is kept perfectly in tact. It's a wonderful game that gives to the player as much as the time they're willing to invest into it, meanwhile making it an essential staple in anyone's Nintendo DS library. It's hard to imagine the Poke'mon franchise getting any better than this.