5 Features That Make Pokemon HeartGold And SoulSilver A Must-Play (& 5 That They Should Have Included)
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Being a remake, HeartGold and SoulSilver had ample opportunity to improve over the originals. Here’s where they succeeded… and failed.
You Are Reading :5 Features That Make Pokemon HeartGold And SoulSilver A MustPlay (& 5 That They Should Have Included)
Category : Pokemon
The DS remakes of the second generation of Pokémon games are considered by many die-hard fans to be the best in the franchise. Legit copies can cost a potential buyer upwards of $100, the highest of any of the mainline games, due to the high demand and low supply. A mix of nostalgia and genuine love for the titles keep the games solidly within the public eye.
There are a few key changes that HeartGold and SoulSilver make to the original games that make them a must-play, but could Gamefreak have gone further? With just a few tweaks, it’s possible that the Gen 2 remakes could’ve reigned supreme over all others.
10 Must Play: Partner Pokemon In The Overworld
While traveling around the Johto region, HeartGold and SoulSilver have the first Pokémon in the player’s party walk with them outside of their Pokéball. This Partner Pokémon can be interacted with and can pick up items, but their main purpose is to make the player feel like they’re really traveling with their team. Not only does each Pokémon have a custom walking sprite, but their shiny variants have one as well. This extra effort on Gamefreak’s end lets their audiences feel more attached to their most often used monsters while immersing them further into the gaming experience.
9 Should’ve Added: More Sinnoh Cameos And Plotlines
Coming right after the release of Diamond and Pearl, one would assume that more content related to the newest region would’ve made its way into HeartGold and SoulSilver. Unfortunately, other than a brief meet-up with Crasher Wake and Maylene, there aren’t any notable Sinnoh cameos. This is a real missed opportunity on Gamefreak’s part, as even a minor Sinnoh plotline would’ve made the game the most expansive of the series.
8 Must Play: Easier National Pokédex Completion
Up until the release of the Generation 2 remakes, getting all of the Johto Pokémon in one game was a real hassle as well as a money-sink. In Generation 3, the only way the starters could easily be gotten was through the Gamecube spinoff games, Colosseum and XD.
If a player wasn’t able to spend a couple of hundred dollars buying all of the necessary equipment, they wouldn’t be able to catch ’em all. Condensing the experience into their handheld consoles was a smart and inclusive move on Nintendo’s part.
7 Should’ve Added: Changed Johto Level Progression
One of the more frustrating parts of Generation 2 is the wonky level progression throughout the story. It’s fine in the beginning when the opening leaders having an appropriate challenge level, but unfortunately, this quickly changes. The fifth, sixth, and seventh gym leaders can be fought in any order, which leads to them all being under-leveled.
Combined with their small teams, they pose little to no threat to a player that’s prepared at all. On the other hand, the Elite Four are way higher leveled, which forces the player to grind before fighting them. Bringing this back in the remakes is a decision that players still struggle to understand.
6 Must Play: Better Kanto Gyms
In Gold and Silver, after the player beats the Elite Four, they had the opportunity to re-visit the Kanto region. They could battle gyms 1-7 in any order, before fighting the 8th leader, Blue, and the previous champion, Red. While Blue and Red posed a significant threat to the player, the unfortunate truth was the others were complete pushovers, with lower leveled teams than Lance, who the player had just beaten. The remakes completely fixed this, revamping the leader’s teams to make them stronger and more fun to fight.
5 Should’ve Added: More Pokémon Variety
One of the biggest letdowns of Gold and Silver was the number of new monsters it introduced. Sitting at one hundred new Pokémon, it still has the smallest number of native Pokémon out of any region.
This showed in the original games, with most of the Pokémon found in the wild being from Kanto, but since the remakes were Fourth Gen, this should’ve been fixed right? Unfortunately not. While a few Pokémon from other regions are added post-game, the roster is still lackluster. There really shouldn’t be a stretch of water with only Tentacool.
4 Must Play: Battle Frontier
Introduced in Emerald, the Battle Frontier instantly became the most re-playable part of the game, due in part to its rogue-like design. Players could choose from pre-selected Pokemon, or bring their own depending on the facility. Each area had the player battling a large number of progressively harder trainers to see just how good they were at navigating the game’s mechanics. The amount of playtime this area added to the games was sizable, and, as an endgame challenge, Pokémon still has yet to top the Battle Frontier.
3 Should’ve Added: Sevii Islands
In FireRed and LeafGreen, players had the opportunity to go to the Sevii Islands, a wonderful added area. A slew of new adventures could be taken up, from saving a kid from a predatory Hypno to finding the remnants of Team Rocket and catching one of Johto’s legendary dog trio. For reasons unknown, Gamefreak decided not to bring them back with the arrival of HeartGold and SoulSilver, despite Kanto being a large part of the map. Hopefully, someday, this fan-favorite area will be brought back, but for now, audiences will have to wait.
2 Must Play: Re-battle Johto Gyms
Adding more optional game-time is almost always a good thing, and allowing players to revisit areas for a new challenge can keep players invested in the world. By giving each and every gym leader a new and improved team after a second victory over the Elite Four, the adventure through Johto begins all over again.
Pokémon from every region are showcased in their new lineups, giving the leaders a much-needed boost to their type variety.
1 Should’ve Added: Improved Victory Road
One of the more unique, yet possibly disappointing things Gold and Silver did with its Victory Road is remove all of the trainers. The reasoning behind this was that your rival defeated literally everyone in the cave, making him the one and only encounter at the end of the tunnel. An already questionable choice in the originals, the decision to keep the lack of opponents in the remake is puzzling. With more enemies, the level difference between the 8th gym and the Elite Four could’ve been made less egregious, removing the need to grind on wild Pokémon.
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