Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver

The player first encounters a member of Team Rocket in Slowpoke Well. The player's Totodile, which is one of the game's three starter Pokémon, follows him.

Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver are role-playing video games with adventure elements. The basic mechanics of the games are largely the same as their predecessors'. As with all Pokémon games for handheld consoles, gameplay is viewed from a third-person overhead perspective, and consists of three basic screens: a field map, in which the player navigates the main character; a battle screen; and the menu, in which the player configures their party, items, or gameplay settings. The player begins the game with one Pokémon and can capture more using Poké Balls.[2]

When the player encounters a wild Pokémon or is challenged by a trainer to a battle, the screen switches to a turn-based battle screen where the Pokémon fight. During battle, the player may use a move, use an item, switch the active Pokémon, or flee. Fleeing is not an option during battles against trainers. Pokémon have hit points (HP), which is displayed during battles; when a Pokémon's HP is reduced to zero, it faints and cannot battle unless taken to a Pokémon Center or healed or revived with a Pokémon skill or an item, typically a 'revive' medicine. If the player's Pokémon defeats the opposing Pokémon (causes it to faint), it receives experience points. After accumulating enough experience points, it will level up; most Pokémon evolve into a new species of Pokémon when they reach a certain level, or when certain conditions are met, such as how much a Pokémon statistically 'likes' its trainer.[2]

New features

Pokéwalker

In HeartGold and SoulSilver, the first Pokémon in the player's party can follow them in the overworld, echoing a mechanic in Pokémon Yellow where Pikachu follows the player. This mechanic was also used in a limited fashion in Pokémon Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum when the player is in Amity Park with a "cute" Pokémon. The player may talk to the Pokémon to see or check on how that Pokémon is feeling, and occasionally it may pick up items.[3] Additionally, a pedometer was bundled with each copy of the games called a "Pokéwalker", which allows players to transfer Pokémon from the game into the device and walk around with them, earning "watts" in the process, which can be exchanged for in-game rewards.[3]

A new minigame called the Pokéathlon[lower-alpha 4] uses the Nintendo DS touchscreen and allows Pokémon to compete in events such as hurdling.[4] The Japanese versions retain slot machines found in previous games, while the international releases of the titles replace the slot machines with a new game called "Voltorb Flip", described as a cross between Minesweeper and Picross.[5] Another new item, the GB Sounds, changes the background music to the original chiptune music from Pokémon Gold and Silver.[6]

A map of Johto and Kanto.

Similar to Pokémon Gold and Silver, Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver take place in the Johto and Kanto regions of the franchise's fictional universe. The universe centers on the existence of creatures, called Pokémon, with special abilities. The silent protagonist is a young Pokémon trainer who lives in a small town referred to as New Bark Town. At the beginning of the games, the player chooses either a Chikorita, Cyndaquil, or Totodile as their starter Pokémon from Professor Elm. After performing a delivery for the professor and obtaining a Pokédex from Professor Oak, he decides to let the player keep the Pokémon and start them on a journey.

The goal of the game is to become the best trainer in Johto and Kanto, which is done by raising Pokémon, completing a catalogue of Pokémon called a Pokédex, defeating the eight Gym Leaders in Johto for Gym Badges, challenging the best trainers in the region known as the Elite Four and the Champion, and then subsequently defeating the eight Gym Leaders in the Kanto region. Finally, the player may face off against Red atop Mt. Silver, who serves as the game's final boss.

Throughout the game, the player will battle against members of Team Rocket, a criminal organization originally from Kanto. They were originally defeated by the protagonist of Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen, and have attempted to come back as an organization, while awaiting the return of their leader, Giovanni. To attempt to contact him, they take over the radio tower and broadcast a message calling out to him.

While being the remakes of Gold and Silver, the games tie in plot elements of Crystal as well, such as the added emphasis on Suicune over the other legendary beasts, as well as the post-ending Battle Frontier; in Crystal, only the Battle Tower was available. Additionally, Johto and Kanto were given Generation IV features such as the Pal Park.

During certain points in the game, the player's rival will battle the protagonist in a test of skills. Additionally, the player will encounter Kimono Girls, who ask the player to do small favors—such as defeating a Team Rocket grunt—throughout the Johto region. After battling all of them in a row, they proceed to the area where the player encounters the game's legendary Pokémon mascot, Ho-Oh in HeartGold and Lugia in SoulSilver, and perform a dance to summon them. As per the originals, the other legendary Pokémon can be obtained later on.

HeartGold and SoulSilver were released in 2009, ten years after Gold and Silver's initial release for the Game Boy Color. Shigeki Morimoto, the games' director, commented on the development of the remakes: "The first thing that I knew I needed to bear in mind was to respect the feelings of those people who'd played Gold and Silver ten years before. I think that players have very strong memories of the game, so they'd think things like 'Ah, this trainer is still strong' and 'If I do this here, this is going to happen'. I knew I needed to respect these feelings."[8] However, Morimoto also felt he needed to make sure that the games would feel as new games to those who began playing Pokémon in recent years on the Game Boy Advance or the Nintendo DS.[8] An in-game author surrogate of Game Freak's President in Celadon City states that the team strove to make a game that would appeal to players with fond memories without "redoing the same thing". He also states that making the game was a "rewarding challenge".[9] On the differences between the remakes and the originals and how the names bore out of that, Morimoto said "With HeartGold and SoulSilver, the way in which trainers and Pokémon relate has become a major theme and this has been added to the story. We came up with the titles HeartGold and SoulSilver as we decided these were appropriate to express this theme."[8] HeartGold and SoulSilver introduced many new features that were absent in the original Gold and Silver, several of which came from the previously released Nintendo DS Pokémon games, Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum.[8]

Rumors that Nintendo planned to remake Pokémon Gold and Silver started circulating in early May 2009 after the Japanese television show Pokémon Sunday ended by announcing a "world-exclusive first announcement" that would be made on its next show. Kris Pigna of 1UP.com speculated that this alluded to a possible remake of Gold and Silver for the Nintendo DS, due to gold and silver disco balls hanging in the background. Pigna further reasoned that this would be consistent with the previously released titles Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen which were enhanced remakes of the original Pokémon Red and Blue.[10] Several days later, Nintendo officially confirmed that Gold and Silver were being remade as HeartGold and SoulSilver and released their official logos. It was also announced that the games would contain numerous updates, although they declined to reveal any specifics.[11] The games were released for the Nintendo DS on September 12, 2009 in Japan to coincide with the tenth anniversary of the original Gold and Silver release.[12] Junichi Masuda stated on his blog that "we, Game Freak have spent long and firm time developing above two titles [sic]", and that "'Pokémon Gold & Silver' will be back with far more excitement."[13]

At the 2009 Pokémon World Championships, Nintendo stated that HeartGold and SoulSilver would be released in North America between the months of January and March, Europe sometime around May and June, and Australia in April. "Announcing these much-anticipated game launches at The Pokémon World Championships allows us to give the news directly to the legions of fans who represent the true heart and soul of Pokémon," a spokesperson said.[14] As the games approached release, from February 27 to March 13, 2010, North American video game retailer GameStop hosted a promotion in which players of Pokémon Diamond, Pearl, or Platinum could use the games' "Mystery Gift" function to download a free Jirachi Pokémon to their game.[15] A "Pikachu-colored Pichu" could be downloaded using Wi-Fi that, when taken to the Ilex Forest in-game, unlocked a "Spiky-eared Pichu".[16] The games were released in North America on March 14, 2010,[17] in Australia on March 25, 2010,[18] and in Europe on March 26, 2010[19] except in the Netherlands and Dutch speaking Belgium where they released on April 2, 2010.

• Official website (US)
• Official website (in Japanese)