(NDS)Pokemon Soul Silver & Heart Gold - klaimore. Note: First review. 6 years ago, using Ruby and Sapphire's engine, they remade Red and Green. Likewise, they used Platinum's engine to make Pokemon Heartgold and Soulsilver. If you haven't played a Pokemon game before, rest assured, it is one of the simplest but epic games around. The first thing you may notice when you initially pick the game from the rack at your local game store is that the packaging is a lot bigger than the previous Pokemon Games, which leads me to my next point; the Pokewalker Accessory. The Pokewalker is an accessory bundled into the Pokemon Heartgold and Soulsilver, and is, well, basically a pedometer. It lets you transfer one Pokemon from your game and lets you train it and raise its happiness in your daily life by taking steps or running around. This amazing device has other unique features, one being that you can catch Pokemon unobtainable in the game itself, acquire items and play minigames during school or work. On the down side, the Pokewalker accessory uses batteries, which is easily resolved by rechargable ones. Pokemon Heartgold and Soulsilver have a much different feel from Pokemon Platinum when you first play, including the new Menu System accessible using the Touch Screen. One of the most successful features Pokemon HeartGold and SoulSilver have is the ability to enable your Pokemon to walk with you, all 493 Pokemon. Pokemon Heartgold and Soulsilver still have the old turn-based design gameplay from the first Pokemon generations, and feature the same storyline as Gold and Silver, with the Suicuine story from Crystal. Everything involving catching, trading, battling is still the same, with the exception of Kurts Balls. Pokemon games are never completed without a team bent on world domination. Team Rocket finally make a comeback after Firered and Leafgreen. Battle Frontier also return, Pokemon Heartgold and SoulSilver being the third games to acquire this special addition. Pokemon Heartgold and Soulsilver also has an extra addition, being the Pokeathlon Dome,which replaces Pokemon Contests from the third and fourth generation. In this new installment your Pokemon can compete in a range of sport event minigames. Replacing beauty, cool,smart, tough and cute would be Skill, Jump, Stamina, Power and Speed. Instead of Poffins and Pokeblocks, an item called Apricorn Juice will increase certain conditions by using Apricorns instead of Berries. The first ever Safari Zone in Johto has also made an appearance, as the old team abandoned the idea when making Gold and Silver. This time, you can easily customise where you want to go before entering, instead of wasting steps getting to a certain environment. To sum it all up, Pokemon HeartGold and SoulSilver have a lot of improvements and will keep you entertained for a very long time, it's a shame they didn't think of all of these improvements during the development of Pokemon Platinum, as it would really sell. Gameplay: 9.5/10 - Smooth gameplay, great sprites, you can feel the effort put into this game when you first start. Sound: 9/10 - The original Gold and Silver tunes have a remix, and are modernised. Graphics: 8.5/10 - Still the old Platinum engine, the world has become a bit more 3D than normal though. Presentation: 10/10 - Style upgrades, better text quality, polished battling design, Pokemon following you, Pokemon is sweet! Lasting Appeal: 9.5/10 - Like most Pokemon games, after you finish completing the main storyline, Battle Frontier or Pokeathlon is the way for you. But HeartGold and SoulSilver mantains the longest Pokemon storyline title. Total: 47/50 - Pokemon HeartGold has a massive storyline, it would take about 30-40hours to complete. It has a whole different feel to Pokemon Platinum, despite it being made by the same engine. This game is a must-by for all Pokemon fans.
LOL. Sorry, I couldn't help it. Not a bad review, but meh, I feel like I've heard it all a thousand times before... There are many hidden features within this game that not a single reviewer of these games has mentioned, not even a certain double battle in the Dragon's Den, or Blue's sister...There just so much you can do in this game that you previously couldn't in the originals, and because this is a remake, pointing out these small details, besides the real obvious ones would've added a little spice to it.
