Pokemon HeartGold and SoulSilver

Pokemon HeartGold and SouldSilver released today!  Yes, we’re Pokemon fans.  Every time a new Pokemon game comes out we always try and make the goal of catching them all.  Graev always comes close but I always fall short… way short.  I think I reached the Elite 4 in Pearl but wasn’t able to beat them.  After trying to raise a team and get back on my feet, I ultimately put the game down and moved on.  Not this time!  My goal isn’t to “catch’em all” but it is certainly to finish the game.

I’m not being held back by a fire Pokemon this time (I went with Chimchar in Pearl).  It feels like every time I choose fire it’s like playing hard mode.  This time I went with Chikorita.  Nauseatingly cute isn’t it?  Hopefully playing with a grass Pokemon will make it a bit easier for me.  Graev went with Totodile which is what I went with in Silver when we played Gold and Silver a decade ago.  At this point I’m working my way through Sprout tower and preparing to fight in the first Gym which won’t be easy since Flying Pokemon own Grass.  The goal is to find a second Pokemon to begin training alongside my Chikorita and not allow myself to just play with the one main Pokemon all the way to the end — terrible strategy.  I haven’t decided what the makeup for my team will be… I was considering a Pidgy but decided that it was just too generic.  Some type of flying pokemon is going to be mandatory.  Other than that, I’m going to try and build a ‘weird’ team of Pokemon that are all strong but not something the usual person would add to their team.  Pokemon like Bidoof need some love too.

HeartGold and SoulSilver received a nice graphics upgrade from even the Diamond/Pearl days.  It looks like the grass receives a face lift and the colors/textures all look nicer and there are lighting effects being used to add depth.  There also seems to be a performance boost.  The menus and loading all around are faster and there is less waiting.  It’s all very nicely put together and adapted for the use of the touch screen.  At times the DS games feel like they make use of the touch feature in a gimmicky sort of way (which keeps with Nintendo’s style this generation), but some of the touch screen use in Pokemon is actually quite efficient and even builds upon the gameplay.

Beating the Elite 4 and completing all of the game’s content are my first goals.  After that, I’ll evaluate whether or not I can attempt catching them all.  I’m going to make it this time!  Anyone else pick up one or both of the new Pokemon titles?

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  • Back in the old gbc days I chose Chikorita as well, however I wouldn’t say it will make the game easier, if I remember correctly.

  • I just beat the Flying Gym and it was nasty tough. I went at it with just Chikorita at level 16 and had to use 5 potions to beat it.

    After the gym I caught a Mareep which is an Electric sheep pokemon. I’m contemplating leveling one of those up since it has an ability that paralyzes the enemy pokemon if they hit the Mareep.

  • I was looking forward to their release, but wasn’t sure what day they came out — I thought I missed it when I went to see Alice in Wonderland today and there was a commercial for them before the movie started. Good to know I didn’t miss the release date by too much. Looking forward to playing this game again!

  • I have a copy of each on order for my daughter and I. I went through Amazon.com though, so with a Sunday launch we’ll have to wait a couple of days before ours our delivered.

    I’m planning on going with Totodile, having done very well with Piplup in Diamond. (And poorly with Chimchar in Platinum. Fire being hard mode, I feel your pain.) My daughter though is all about fire. She’ll take Cydaquil, I have no doubt.

  • Watching an episode of Pokemon from the latest season a few weeks ago(season 13?!?)the nostalgia that ensued was a reminder of the simplicity of life ” back in the day”, and the simplicity of video games. The experience was a fine example of how far video games have come, for better and worse. Although the episode was of a recycled format and storyline of episodes past, this recycled aspect was what made it so genuine. Perhaps the experience was mostly clouded by my recollections of childhood, but the feeling of relief was not- relief in it’s survival.

  • I haven’t played a Pokemon title for about 5-7 years. I was wondering, would I be able to jump in and enjoy if i wear to purchase it now or would it be a steep learning curve? Love to get back in but I don’t have the time to dedicate a long time learning. (If that even makes sense lol)

  • @DietX: You’ll be fine. The big thing is learning which elements are susceptible to which, and most of that it pretty intuitive.

    @Salty: Different Pokemon.

  • I’m wih Dietx I haven’t played a Pokemon game in awhile but they always were good rpgs, thinking about getting it.

  • @Dietx: Very easy to get into. They’ve followed the same format since the first day and they have plenty of How-To’s in-game. They’re a lot of fun to pick up and play. Since the old times they added things like day/night cycles with pokemon available only at certain times, breeding, and all sorts of additional features.

    @Salt: As Chris says, there are different pokemon in each. There might be 6 pokemon unique to each one with a special unique legendary pokemon as well.

  • I haven’t put a lot of time into a Pokemon game since the old days, but back then, I always made it a point to have a really ragtag team of pokemon.

    My main was almost always Raticate with his awesome Superfang, usually followed up by something cool like Gyarados 😀

  • I havne’t really gotten into a Pokemon game since Red/Blue/Green/Yellow, but me and my sister played the crap out of those. I tried a few years ago to get into Pearl but I never finished it. Bulbasaur was almost always my main Pokemon, he was the best.

  • Haha, nice. I’ll have a copy of Gold eventually, but I haven’t even beaten Platinum yet. I still have my copy of Pearl, too. And LeafGreen. And Blue…

  • @ Iumnio

    Because they use classic RPG mechanics. When Square started morphing how single player RPGs worked Pokemon basically took the FF3 and applied it to cock fights… err I mean Poke Battles.

    I just picked up Soul Silver today… I’m gonna Catch em all!

  • Nah I refuse to buy it. It’s a remake of an over ten year old game that itself was a remake of the red and blue games for the game boy color. Nintendo has been flogging that franchise for over 14 years, and the main series hasn’t evolved a bit.

    It’s like megaman games for me. I’ll check out the side games if they are good, but the cash in series (like those megaman starforce games) I ignore.

  • Is Pokemon HeartGold and SouldSilver the same game as pokemon red and blue? Just updated graphics?

  • @Dblade: A good game is still a good game even when it is remade. Furthermore, they’ve added to the game a great deal. Being a decade old, I remember almost nothing about the game. It’s also not a remake of red and blue either since it’s an entirely different character, location, etc.

    @Woota: No, it’s not at all the same game as red and blue.

  • Ok well the wife decided to let me go and buy it, now to choose between the two. Being a rehashed noob to the franchise, which should I pick up? I remember I liked Yellow back in the day, but always favored Blue over red if that helps answering 🙂

  • I like Heartgold. Graev went with SoulSilver. I think Heartgold might be the “more popular” version. (They’re soooo identical though, it’s just a matter of which pokemon are unique to your version)

  • well i ♥ Pokemon and i always play it because its really fun to enjoy and im a girl so i chose cyndaquil its so cute