Pokémon HeartGold/SoulSilver

I have the memory of a gold fish. When I was eight, I could tell you maybe five things that I remembered, if that. But one of those things I can guarantee is my memory of playing Gold version every single day for almost a year.  I indeed had collected them all, and had the "ultimate" team. I could beat all of my friends, I was the man at that game. Many other versions and updates have come since those Gameboy Color days, to the hardware and the franchise, but I will always have Gold version stuck in the back of my mind, most likely because I indeed had spent so much time with it. 
 
Now this review might be a tad bit biased, based on the fact that HeartGold is a remake of one of my all-time favorite games, but I do have to look at every aspect of the game. As far as popping the game in, nothing brings waves of nostalgia like the beautiful cinematic that is shown. Seeing the legendary bird flying over the sky is almost magical again, as it was many years ago. However, the game is blatantly stuck in the past. DS storage on the tiny memory cards isn't much, but the ability to create only one save is kind of mind blowing. What about the games where four or five are allowed? What if you're sharing the game? Luckily, the game makes it extremely hard to delete your save even if you want to, but still the option for multiple slots would greatly be appreciated by many fans. The wireless and Wi-FI abilities of this game could still also be tweaked (for example not having the mystery gift at the title screen but instead moving it into the actual game itself). All things aside, the title screen is still beautiful.  
                
Once you get into the game, you begin to realize the slight updates made to the ten year old game. The menu is presented on the touch screen, making it considerable easier to access your items and save. Besides that, though, the touch screen is barely utilized except as a menu screen and for the Pokethlon (a rather stupid way to earn items and to appeal to kids). The Pokethlon can be ignored completely if you choose, or you could let your three year old play the mini-games so you can earn a few items.  Other than that, the top screen provides the place where all the action happens; the series staple of a top-down perspective still remaining, with a more crisp view of the surroundings. 
 
The real meat of the game, battling and capturing, remain the same. The formula is simple, collect as many Pokemon as you can while along the way training a few to have superior moves. The evolution still feels fresh; every single evolution I always had a smile seeing the new creature being formed. The touch screen in battle is used to select attacks and items and the way it's presented provides an easy way for anyone to battle. However, the further you get into the game, the more you wonder why they couldn't have placed all of the buttons on one screen instead of having to hit "Fight" every time you wanted to attack. The formula still works out to be killer however, and battles only became stale at the very end of the game when your Pokemon team's levels were off balance from those of wild Pokemon and other trainers. 
 
As for content, this game has it all. Two full continents to explore, 16 gym leaders to challenge and rechallenge, an elite four, the addition of the Battle Frontier, extra trainer battle and an evil organization to boot. And with about 300 of the 500 Pokemon known to exist in the game itself (not to mention the ones you can trade from other versions), you have a pretty hefty game. For anally retentive people, they'll crap themselves when they see all the content. However, the gyms seem to become more stale as you rechallenge the leaders. Team Rocket, the evil organization, have got to be the stupidest bunch of punks you will ever meet, and after the fiftieth Zubat you kill you will want to kill your self and spare the bat the pain. Other than that, these two games will keep even the most skilled trainer engrossed for 35-40+ hours. That's a lot for a DS game. 
  
The audio provides series staples and some of the melodies of previous games is really good. The retuned songs from the original Gold and Silver also bring back memories. One down side is the lack of real Pokemon cries. While fainting and in the Pokedex, Pokemon just sound like pixelated messes instead of powerful monsters. Nevertheless, this is one game I can actually bare to have the sound on for, at least until the songs loop for about the sixteenth time. 
 
One last aspect to look at would be the multiplayer components. The feverous "catch em' all" slogan works a lot better when you have other people to trade with.  These two remakes borrow from the Diamond and Pearl way of trading, the Global Trading Terminal. Here, you can set Pokemon up for trade with pacific requirements. This is a great way for collecting that Diglett that you just have to have. Also, it provides anyone with a way to get version-specefic Pokemon. Besides strangers you can also interact with your friends as well. Don't get your hopes too high, however, because the nightmare called friend codes are still here and you must exchange these little beauties with your friend in order to battle or trade with them. However, when you get that set up, battles over Wi-Fi are surprisingly smooth. 
 
Overall, HeartGold and SoulSilver are games that far surpass their predecessor. When you purchase the game, you receive the Pokewalker (think Pocket Pikachu version 2). This neat little gadget is a cool thing to have, it's a pedometer, but it's nothing to right home about. Many updates provide fans with enough content to keep them occupied until the next generation of games is released. Some repetition in battles and music make this a grind some times, but the accomplishment of beating the elite four five times over is still there. Definitely pick this up if you're a long time fan or even a Poken00b. They're not going to catch themselves.